INTERNATIONAL WOMAN OF COURAGE AWARD NOMINEE:

UNCLAS ASUNCION 000729

SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/IWI ABOTTNER AND SPEDROARIAS AND WHA/BSC
MDASCHBACH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM PA
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL WOMAN OF COURAGE AWARD NOMINEE:
ROCIO VALLEJO

REF: STATE 99729


1. (U) Post nominates Paraguayan anti-corruption prosecutor
Ms. Rocio Vallejo as our nominee for the 2009 Secretary's
Award for International Women of Courage. Ms. Vallejo's
personal information requested in reftel is as follows:

-- Full legal name of nominee: Hilda Maria del Rocio Vallejo
Avalos
-- Job title / association: Prosecutor, Economic Crimes and
Anti-Corruption Specialized Unit of the Public Ministry
-- Date of birth: June 24, 1969
-- Place of birth: Paraguay
-- Citizenship: Paraguay
-- Address: Economic Crimes and Anti-Corruption Specialized
Unit of the Public Ministry, Chile and Haedo, Asuncion,
Paraguay
-- Telephone: (595-21) 452-639
-- E-mail: valrocio@gmail.com
-- Passport number: 757819 Paraguay


2. (U) Ms. Vallejo has long been an anti-corruption crusader
and strong advocate of justice and equality. She has taken
on some of the country's most difficult corruption cases, and
prosecuted some of Paraguay's most powerful and corrupt
political figures. She is the highest-ranking female
prosecutor in the Public Ministry's Economic Crimes and
Anti-Corruption Specialized Unit, and is known for standing
firm against immense political pressure to dismiss corruption
cases. She serves as a role model for Paraguayan women,
particularly those interested in seeking justice, equality,
and transparency as lawyers. In addition to her
prosecutorial duties, she serves as an instructor at the
Public Ministry's Prosecutor Training Center. Ms. Vallejo
takes on considerable risk virtually every day by pursuing
criminals who frequently have ties to entrenched criminal
syndicates and corrupt organizations.


3. (U) The following are summaries of some of the key cases
Ms. Vallejo has investigated and/or prosecuted in the past
few years:

-- Former president Juan Carlos Wasmosy, who she accused of
fraud and embezzlement related to a banking scandal. Thanks
to her efforts, a tribunal convicted Wasmosy in 2002 -- the
first time a Paraguayan president had been convicted in
modern history -- and sentenced him to four years in prison.
After an intermediate appellate court overturned the
conviction, she appealed the case.

-- Former Itaipu Dam director and current Colorado Senator,
Victor Bernal, who Ms. Vallejo is currently investigating for
possible fraud and embezzlement as well as possible electoral
criminal activity. She is investigating whether Bernal
financed the Colorado Party's presidential candidate using
funds from Itaipu Dam Binational Enterprise, a government
entity. (NOTE: Paraguay jointly administers Itaipu Dam with
Brazil. END NOTE.) Bernal's defense attorney attempted to
have her barred from taking this case, but her supervisor
instead confirmed her as the lead prosecutor. She faces
significant political pressure from several Colorado
politicians who could be convicted in this case as a result
of her efforts -- including former president Nicanor Duarte
Frutos. The Supreme Court has now urgently agreed to review
the case -- and the prosecution remains stymied.

-- Former foreign minister Ruben Melgarejo Lanzoni and former
prosecutor Juan Claudio Gaona, who are being investigated by
Ms. Vallejo for extorsion and embezzlement. She formally
charged Lanzoni and Gaona with bribery this year; their case
remains pending. She has endured both political pressure and
provocation from defendants and defense attorneys in this
case.

-- Guido Planas, the son-in-law of Paraguayan Supreme Court
Justice Oscar Bajac, who Ms. Vallejo is investigating for
embezzlement, fraud and forgery. The Supreme Court appointed
Planas as a bankruptcy trustee in charge of selling all the
remaining assets of several banks that filed for bankruptcy,
including Multibanco, Banco Nacional de Trabajadores, Oga
Rape, Banco Plus and Financiera Plata. Defense attoreys
filed charges alleging that she should be recused from the
case for personal bias and prejudice against Planas, but her
supervisor rejected this motion and retained her in this
case.


4. (U) Many politicians have pressured Ms. Vallejo, who is
up for re-appointment next year, to drop charges in her
higher profile cases. (NOTE: Paraguay's prosecutors must be

reconfirmed in their positions every five years. Many
prosecutors avoid prosecuting rich or powerful persons
precisely to avoid having their appointments blocked by those
well-connected targets of prosecutions. But not Ms. Vallejo.
END NOTE.) The Paraguayan Judicial Magistrate Council
(JEM),the entity that oversees judicial ethics, opened a
politically-driven "investigation" against Ms. Vallejo
because of her anti-corruption efforts. It bears noting that
both Ms. Vallejo, and the Economic Crimes and Anti-Corruption
Specialized Unit that she works for, have received training
by the U.S. Department of Justice and USAID under Paraguay's
Millennium Challenge Threshold Program (Plan Umbral) focused
on combating corruption and modernizing the Paraguayan state.
Ms. Vallejo's competence, integrity, professionalism, and
courage under intense pressures to "not rock the boat" all
call for her recognition with this award.


5. (U) Mr. Michael Edwards is the POC for women's issues. His
contact information is as follows: edwardsmg@state.gov or
595-21-213-715 extension 2129.

Please visit us at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/asuncion

Fitzpatrick