GUATEMALAN GOVERNMENT PROMISES COLLABORATION WITH

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001296 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR KCRM PGOV ECON ETRD GT SUBJECT: GUATEMALAN GOVERNMENT PROMISES COLLABORATION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR TO COMBAT IPR VIOLATIONS ¶1. (U) Summary: Embassy officer and representatives of a private sector IPR association met with the Ministry of Government (MOG) to express concerns over IPR violations and to urge greater collaboration among Guatemalan government agencies on enforcement operations. Minister Torrebiarte acknowledged the problem as serious and agreed on greater collaboration and further discussions with the association. End summary. ¶2. (U) Poloff, along with representatives of private sector IPR association Fomento a la Propiedad Intelectual (FOMPI), met with Minister of Government Adela de Torrebiarte June 29 to express Embassy concerns over IPR violations and to urge greater GOG collaboration on enforcement operations, in follow-up to the Ambassador's meeting with FOMPI representatives and agreement to work together to strengthen application of Guatemala's IPR laws. ¶3. (U) Poloff noted that IPR violators are emboldened by the lack of enforcement operations and have a negative impact on legitimate American and Guatemalan producers. Poloff stressed that enforcement operations are important benchmarks for USTR's Special 301 annual review, and urged the Ministry to implement its IPR laws and to coordinate with the National Civilian Police (PNC) and the Attorney General's Office (MP) on enforcement efforts to deter piracy. ¶4. (U) Ricardo Villanueva, FOMPI president and General Manager of major local film distributor Circuito Alba, commented that several video clubs, including most recently Blockbuster, were buying and renting pirated DVDs. He estimated that 90 percent of CDs, 50 percent of cigarettes, 90 percent of films, and 20-25 percent of books are pirated, and that the price difference between a pirated DVD and an original DVD is Q115 (USD 15). ¶5. (U) FOMPI lawyer Jorge Paiz highlighted the recent success of the joint MOG-MP February raid in Guatemala City that targeted street vendors on Sixth Avenue in Zone 1, which has a heavy concentration of IPR violators. With the participation of 200 police officers, the raid resulted in the arrest of 11 persons who are now awaiting trial, and the confiscation of 33,000 pirated DVDs, adding to the 600,000 pirated DVDs confiscated during previous raids and held as trial evidence. Paiz, noting that Guatemala cannot compete globally with pirated goods, reiterated the need for greater collaboration among the MOG and MP on future operations to improve enforcement of IPR laws. ¶6. (U) Torrebiarte acknowledged that piracy is a serious problem that negatively impacts Guatemala's economy and global competitiveness and agreed to collaborate with other Guatemalan agencies on enforcement operations. She also agreed to have further discussions with the association. She noted that her son-in-law is franchisee of a Blockbuster and, therefore, understood the IPR association's concerns firsthand. Villanueva urged her to discuss the piracy issue with her son-in-law. ¶7. (SBU) In a private conversation with poloff following the meeting, Villanueva expressed satisfaction with Torrebiarte's positive response and looked forward to further discussions with the Ministry, but complained that AmCham's IPR committee is comprised of private sector lawyers who do not take any action. He added that a major problem is lack of capacity to effectively combat piracy, with only two prosecutors in the Attorney General's Office assigned to handle the wide range of IPR violations from drugs to garments to audio-visual products. Derham