NARCOPOLITICS THREATENS LOCAL ELECTIONS IN JUTIAPA

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000696 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED SENSITIVE/SIPDIS CAPTION) E.O. 12958:N/A TAGS: KCRM ASEC SNAR KDEM PHUM PGOV GT SUBJECT: NARCOPOLITICS THREATENS LOCAL ELECTIONS IN JUTIAPA (CORRECTED COPY) THIS IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (U) The eastern department of Jutiapa has become notorious for the deadliest electoral district in Guatemala as narco-tainted violence eliminated yet another pre-candidate. Jos Morn, the Guatemalan Republican Front's (FRG) pre-candidate for Mayor of Jutiapa, was gunned down in his home on March 29. Moran's death is the latest in a series of deaths in Jutiapa Department of mayoral hopefuls in the upcoming election. ¶2. (U) Jutiapa, bordering El Salvador, has become deadly ground for mayoral candidates across the political spectrum. Edwin Martinez, National Advancement Party's (PAN) pre-candidate for Mayor of Jalpatagua, was killed in Guatemala City in June 2006. Elmar Palma, Grand National Alliance's (GANA) pre-candidate for Mayor of Atescatempa, was killed in February 2007 in Atescatempa. ¶3. (U) Jutiapa mayoral pre-candidate Marcel Magno Lemus, from the National Unity of Hope (UNE),survived an attack by masked gunmen in July 2006, but his daughter did not. Lemus is currently under police investigation for narco-trafficking. Pre-candidate Basilio Cordero, also from UNE, received death threats in November 2006. Cordero formally accused Congressman Manuel Castillo, who is also running for Mayor of Jutiapa, of making the threats. In February 2007, Francisco Ramos, a Jutiapa mayoral hopeful from the Patriotic Party (PP),declined to run due to security concerns. ¶4. (SBU) Congressman Castillo is running for Mayor of Jutiapa with his own civic organization (the Castillo Committee) after being expelled from PAN and UNE for alleged links to drug cartels. Castillo's brother, Mayor of San Jose Acatempa, Jutiapa, is currently under investigation for money laundering. The Castillo brothers are running an expensive campaign, providing land, ambulances, electric appliances, and helicopter transport services to the local community to curry political support. ¶5. (SBU) Alvaro Colom told Embassy officials that he is hesitant to run any UNE candidates in Jutiapa out of fear that the candidate would be narco-tainted. Some Embassy contacts claim that only candidates approved by drug trafficking organizations can run for Congress or for mayor of various towns in Jutiapa, Zacapa, and Izabal Departments. Anyone who attempts to defy this practice is allegedly subject to intimidation and physical harm. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: The spate of election violence in Jutiapa exemplifies the extent to which narco-trafficking is controlling the electoral landscape and is a sobering reminder of how election violence does not discriminate but affects all political parties. With signs of escalating narco-electoral violence as elections approach, an OAS observer mission is needed on the ground as soon as possible to monitor and possibly discourage the penetration of political parties and campaigns by organized crime. Derham