EL SALVADOR UPDATE ON REGIONAL SECURITY PLAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 001006

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR D. FISK
DEPARTMENT FOR ANNE PATTERSON AND TOM SHANNON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/24/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KCRM KHLS ES GT HO MX
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR UPDATE ON REGIONAL SECURITY PLAN

REF: SAN SALVADOR 837

Classified By: Ambassador Charles L. Glazer for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. On May 21 emboffs met with Acting Minister
of Public Security and Justice Astor Escalante to
review progress on the GOES Regional Security plan raised in
reftel. Escalante assured emboffs that the GOES team is
working on the project to more fully develop the plan, but
that the next meeting of representatives from the
interested parties (Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador)
will be in June. Though El Salvador is taking steps to
develop this comprehensive regional security plan, it is
post,s assessment that USG help and leadership will be
needed to make this a reality. End Summary.


2. (C) El Salvador,s Acting Minister of Public Security
provided emboffs an update on efforts to advance a regional
security plan focused on enhanced police cooperation. The
plan will focus initially on developing protocols and
regulations that address concrete operational issues such as
procedures for maritime interdiction when vessels move from
one country,s jurisdiction to another, placement of police
attaches in countries throughout the region, cooperation
among countries in the protection of witnesses and victims,
and joint training and operations to stem the flow of
precursor chemicals and synthetic drugs, among other actions
(see reftel).


3. (C) In a separate, parallel process, the Attorneys
General of the region will meet a second time in Mexico,
June 7-8, to discuss efforts to improve cooperation in
investigations and prosecutions with a focus on the gang
problem facing the region. A first step is negotiating
agreements and protocols to facilitate the sharing of
information amongst the countries. At present, there is no
established framework for information sharing between the
various law enforcement agencies. If agreed, working level
groups would then be established to work out the details and
overcome the logistical problems and security concerns.


4. (C) Another topic that will likely be on the agenda of
the AGs is the ability to jointly investigate and/or
prosecute cases. This involves not only information sharing
but also extradition and mutual legal assistance issues.
Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador do not extradite their
own nationals, and it is unlikely that El Salvador will have
an extradition law in the foreseeable future. Honduras and
Guatemala both have relatively new wiretapping laws,
something the GOES is keenly interested in, but prevented
from doing by their own Constitution.


5. (C) COMMENT: Organized crime and gang activity in
Central America, and especially in El Salvador, Guatemala
and Honduras, account for thousands of homicides each year
with growing evidence of collusion and use of the gangs by
transnational drug and alien smuggling rings. Law enforcement
agencies in the countries are outnumbered by gang members,
woefully ill-equipped to confront gangs and organized crime,
and some are themselves infiltrated by criminal elements.
While USG agencies have stepped up cooperative law
enforcement efforts considerably within the region, USG
resources dedicated to helping our closest neighbors address
the gang/transnational crime problem are inadequate. We see
promising signs that the Salvadoran government recognizes the
need to tackle this problem regionally. However, for El
Salvador (and the Central American countries) to construct a
viable anti-gang/transnational crime strategy, they will need
more assistance from our government, including resources to
hire, train, and equip additional police officers,
prosecutors, and forensic experts, inter alia. In addition,
Salvadoran and other Central American penal institutions are
overcrowded and ineffective, and will no longer be able to
house or rehabilitate its growing prison population as the
criminal justice system improves and deportation of violent
criminals increases. As the Campeche Group moves forward in
developing a comprehensive transnational crime strategy, we
should be prepared to provide a significant level of
assistance, while keeping the ultimate resolution of the
problem in the hands of the Central Americans.
Glazer