RSO MEETING WITH NEW COMANDANTE OF POLICE

S E C R E T ASUNCION 000657

SIPDIS

DS FOR DS/IP/WHA, DS/IP/ITA, WHA/BSC CCROFT, MDASCHBACH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2018
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL PA
SUBJECT: RSO MEETING WITH NEW COMANDANTE OF POLICE

Classified By: Philippe Furstenberg, RSO
Reason 1.4 (d)


1. (S) SUMMARY: On September 11, RSO met with the new
Comandante of the Paraguayan National Police (PNP),Federico
Acuna Araujo. Araujo reaffirmed his commitment to supporting
the US Embassy's security needs and thanked the RSO for the
large number of training opportunities the Embassy provides
the PNP. In a frank conversation, however, the new
Comandante seemed cautious about fighting police corruption,
describing more obstacles than opportunities. END SUMMARY.


2. (S) RSO requested a courtesy call based on the August 16
nomination of Acuna as the new Comandante of Police.
Although Acuna's seniority did not warrant the nomination,
his selection was generally seen as a sign of commitment on
the part of the Lugo government to nominate a serious
official whose background was as clean as can be found in a
career PNP official.


3. (S) Acuna began the conversation by saying that the major
problem facing the PNP is the recent increase in crime and
the associated security concerns among many Paraguayans.
Asked to theorize on the reason for the recent uptick, the
Comandante quickly claimed that inflation and the associated
decrease in real purchase power is the source of the increase
in crime. The Comandante said that over 40 percent of
Paraguayans live on less than 300,000 Guaranis per month
(approximately $75). He added that over the past year, the
price of meat has increased over 80 percent from about 12,000
Guarani to 20,000 Guarani per kilo. The price of milk
increased from 3,800 Guaranis to over 5,000 Guaranis per
liter. Comandante Acuna said that fewer and fewer people can
afford to eat and more are turning to crime as a means of
feeding themselves and their families. Only half-jokingly,
the Comandante referred to an evening in Asuncion as a scene
from the television network "Animal Planet" where the
predators come out at night.


4. (S) Segueing into Police corruption, the RSO asked what
the Comandante could realisticly achieve to improve the PNP.
The Comandante demurred, saying that until poverty is
addressed, no progress can be made. Referring to the
frequent police officer call for higher salaries (starting
PNP police officers earn the national minimum wage of 1.4
million Guarani per month (approximately $350)),the
Comandante said the government would never be able to
increase police wages while fellow citizens are starving.


5. (S) Acuna lamented the loss of the small Paraguayan
farmer and the urban migration to the every-growing shanty
towns along the river. Accusing Brazilian landowners of
duping small Paraguayan farmers into leasing their land for a
pittance, Acuna said that they leave a lifestyle of plentiful
food for one of lack of employment and starvation.


6. (S) When asked about his priorities within the PNP, Acuna
pulled out a copy of a strategic plan dated May, 2008 in
which he proudly called for the creation of a type of
community policing that would break greater Asuncion into
walkable sectors monitored by foot patrols, motorbikes and
automobile support. He also spoke of dividing the current
police precincts into "preventive" and "investigative" police
entities. For every two "preventive" precincts, there would
be one "investigative" precinct to conduct follow up and
reactively support their proactive partners. RSO noted that
in order for the foot patrol officers to earn the trust of
the community, they would have to be upright and honest. The
Comandante quickly responded that unless the officers were
paid more, it would be unrealistic to expect them to behave
differently than they currently do (--using observed and
invented violations to solicit bribes).


7. (S) Acuna closed by commenting that his reorganization
would not occur until the PNP received more cars with GPS
capabilities and more communication equipment. Noting that
such an operation would cost a lot to maintain, Acuna seemed
to imply that such a reorganization is not imminent.


8. (S) COMMENT: Although the new Interior Minister speaks
publicly of his committment to strengthen the Paraguayan
National Police and to fight police corruption, Comandante
Acuna seemed resigned to more of the same. Ready to defend
Police corruption as inevitable and to lay the blame anywhere
but at the feet of his officers, Acuna offerred little more
than a proposed paper shuffle as his most ambitious proposal.
Combining Acuna's statement that the PNP will not improve
absent an increase in salary with his acknowledgement that no
salary increase is politically feasible could lead to a
dreary conclusion in the near term. Comandante Acuna may be
talking above of his pay grade, however, when discussing what
is politically feasible. Nonetheless, given how central
police reform can be in terms of controlling corruption, the
RSO office and the Embassy will seek to engage Acuna -
through ATA, ILEA and Phase II of the MCC Threshold Program -
in an attempt to assist the PNP and strengthen one of
Paraguay's weakest institution. END COMMENT

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AYALDE