GUINEA-BISSAU FORMS NEW GOVERNMENT AND SCORES

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAKAR 000864

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, INL, DRL/AE AND INR/AA
ACCRA ALSO FOR USAID/WA
LAGOS ALSO FOR DEA
LISBON ALSO FOR DAO
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA AND DEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV SNAR ECON PHUM PU
SUBJECT: GUINEA-BISSAU FORMS NEW GOVERNMENT AND SCORES
MAJOR DRUG BUST

REF: DAKAR 0381

Classified By: CDA Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
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1. (U) Guinea-Bissau has a new consensus government headed
by Martinio N,Dafa Cabi, a vice president of the Party for
the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC).
President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira chose Cabi out of a
field of three choices presented by the coalition of parties
that voted no confidence in Prime Minister Aristides Gomes.
Cabi made a strong start by halting expenditures and calling
for fiscal responsibility. He vowed to improve cashew policy
and hit corruption and drugs. His vow to address drug
trafficking comes after Vieira publicly called on his
Government to address the growing problem and after the
country,s second largest drug seizure on April 3. Three
people are being held for trial in the cocaine bust including
two members of the military, one of them extremely close to
Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Batista Tagme Na Waie.
END SUMMARY.

MEET THE NEW BOSS
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2. (C) New Prime Minister Martinio N,Dafa Cabi told PolOff
his priorities were to fight corruption, revamp cashew export
policy and bring transparency and responsibility to the
Finance Ministry. One of his first acts as Prime Minister on
April 16 was to freeze all government expenditures and order
an accounting for all transactions since the announcement of
the no confidence vote in Aristides Gomes, government on
March 19. Cabi said his goal was to get the house in order
and restore confidence before asking for any foreign
assistance. He put Issufo Sanha, who served as Economy
Minister under Gomes, in charge of the Finance Ministry. The
move will surely reinforce Cabi,s efforts to bring
transparency to the process as Sanha was almost universally
considered the star of the Gomes government for his ethics,
pragmatism and strategic planning.


3. (C) Reinforcing his message of attacking corruption and
drug trafficking, former Defense Minister Helder Proenca was
noticeably absent from the goQrnment roster. Proenca,s
involvement in the drug trade is an open secret in Bissau.
However, Proenca will continue to wield considerable
influence behind the scenes and some candidates in next
year,s legislative elections will undoubtedly look to him
for campaign financing.


4. (C) Cabi also told PolOff he will focus on cashew policy.
Gomes, failed policies caused farmers and the Government
major losses last year. He has vowed to negotiate with
Indian buyers to address their concerns. The largest, Olam
International, closed its operation in Bissau because of
harassment to pay bribes by former Finance Minister Mandinga.
Cabi said he will hew to the fair market price instead of
setting an arbitrarily high price as the Government did last
year.

DRUG SEIZURE AND ARRESTS
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5. (C) The military doesn,t seem to have time for politics
these days for it is reeling after the April 3 seizure of 635
kg. of cocaine. Colonel Rui Flak, a close friend and advisor
to General Tagme, a seaman named Augusto Armando Balanta, and
civilian Malam Sadio were apprehended transporting the drugs
from a rural airstrip to Bissau. Cohorts escaped with the
rest of the estimated 2.5 ton shipment because Judicial
Police making the arrest did not have enough vehicles or
weapons. The traffickers were so confident in the safety of
their operation after using the same route undisturbed for so
long that they were not even armed to protect their USD 53
million cargo.


6. (C) The two soldiers are being held in a military prison
and Sadio is in a civilian holding cell. Flak is widely
rumored to be the trigger puller in the 2004 death of
Tagme,s predecessor, former Armed Forces Chief Verrissimo
E

Seabra Correia, a crime which has never been investigated.
Under Bissau-Guinean law, all military personnel caught in
&flagrante delito8 must be held in a military prison, but
since the men are accused of a civilian crime they will be
tried by a civil court.


7. (C) Attorney General Jorge Fernando Ribeiro, who in
January attended the International Visitor Program entitled
&Administration of Justice in the U.S.,8 moved quickly to
preserve samples of the seized cocaine and publicly destroy
the rest. Samples were passed to Interpol Canada and are
also available for U.S. officials. Ribeiro and Eduardo Costa
Sanha, President of the Superior Military Court, told PolOff
they are collaborating closely to proceed with the trial for
the three accused men: all of whom have signed confessions.
They understand international observers are watching the case
and expect justice to be delivered through fair and
transparent trials.


8. (C) The operation and subsequent destruction of the drugs
would not have been possible without UN intervention. The
operation was carried out with a UN photographer present.
Shortly after the operation, then presidential security chief
(now the Minister of the Interior) Baciro Dabo entered
Judicial Police headquarters demanding to take possession of
the drugs. He immediately dropped his demands and left when
he saw Daniel Ruiz, Deputy to the Representative of the
Secretary General, standing guard with police.

SIPDIS

COMMENT
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9. (C) Perhaps the most important aspect of the change in
government is that it happened through peaceful,
constitutional means. The military had no apparent role and
the capital remained calm through the transition. The new
government has less than one year to operate before
legislative elections in spring 2008. There is little that
can realistically be accomplished in that time, but the
climate in the capital is one of cooperation given the
collaborative way in which the Gomes government was brought
down. However, as is usually the case in Bissau-Guinean
politics, the Government will probably dedicate much of its
energy to getting its members elected next spring. In terms
of cashew policy and corruption, almost any steps taken would
be improvements over the past government.


10. (C) It appears the police action was instigated by the
police and UN. Its success shows there are still honest,
dedicated people in the police, judiciary, and even the
military who are interested and capable of fighting drug
trafficking. However, their resources remain extremely
limited and their personal safety is constantly in jeopardy.
The UN had to buy the gas for the police vehicles. Post
submitted a request to provide a counter-narcotics police
official to UNODC in Bissau (reftel). If the position were
funded, the officer could provide similar support to
Bissau-Guinean police in future operations. The UNDP says it
is now ready to contribute as much as USD 100,000 if the U.S.
can provide a person for the position. END COMMENT.


11. (U) Visit Embassy Dakar's SIPRNet site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/af/dakar.
JACKSON