FMLN TRIES TO CONTROL DAMAGE FROM ACCUSATIONS OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 000560 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/13/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL ES CO PTER PARM SUBJECT: FMLN TRIES TO CONTROL DAMAGE FROM ACCUSATIONS OF FARC TIES Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Deborah Kennedy-Iraheta, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Recent press reports on ties between the Colombian FARC guerrillas and the Salvadoran opposition Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN) party have party leadership scrambling to explain itself. Documents reportedly seized in recent Colombian military actions and subsequently published by the El Pais newspaper in Spain, clearly lay out recent and extensive communications between the FARC and Jose Luis Merino Hernandez (a.k.a. Ramiro Vasquez),a senior FMLN party official. Mauricio Funes, the FMLN presidential candidate, who up to now has been the golden boy of the party and the face of the "new" FMLN, quickly denied the charges in their entirety. Other FMLN party sources have not been so quick to dismiss the allegations against Merino, and privately give us the sense that the party knows that if the allegations are proved true, it will need to act swiftly and decisively to mitigate the damage. ARENA officials, who have thus far been circumspect in their comments, must certainly see this as an electoral gift by the FMLN, which has been favored to win in early opinion polls. End Summary -------------- "Ramiro" and the FARC -------------- ¶2. (U) Salvadoran newspaper headlines have been dominated over the last several days by allegations of ties between the opposition Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN) party and Colombian FARC guerrillas. The storm of publicity began with the publication of a story in the Spanish daily newspaper, El Pais, entitled "The FARC Papers Implicate Chavez" which referred to links between the FARC and the Venezuelan President. The documents in question were reportedly found on FARC-owned computers seized in Colombian military operations along the Ecuadorian border in March of this year. The documents discuss at length military and financial ties between Chavez and the FARC. ¶3. (C) According to the documents, a Salvadoran man called "Ramiro" from the FMLN was facilitating contact between the FARC and Australian arms dealers in order for the FARC to purchase rifles, grenade launchers, and missiles. "Ramiro" has been identified as Jose Luis Merino, an FMLN party official and Deputy in the Central American Parliament. (Note: Indeed, FMLN contacts commonly refer to Merino as "Ramiro." End note.) The documents also indicate that, as part of its campaign to seek international support, the FARC had offered $10-12 million dollars to support the FMLN in the 2004 elections. The FARC also allegedly offered to help the FMLN conduct kidnappings in El Salvador. -------------- FMLN Denies Everything -- Ramiro who? -------------- ¶4. (C) Mauricio Funes, the FMLN Presidential candidate in the 2009 election was quick to reject the accusations against Merino. He claimed that the press stories had no new information and that there was no evidence of connections to Merino. He echoed the vehement denials of FMLN spokesman Sigfrido Reyes who called the accusations a "typical Hollywood story." While acknowledging that "Ramiro Vasquez" is Merino's FMLN nom-du-guerre, Funes added that the pseudonym "Ramiro" had been used by several other FMLN militants. Funes has also suggested that the FMLN may pursue a legal case against the Colombian government for defamation. -------------- ARENA Claims the High Ground -------------- ¶5. (C) While disclaiming any political motive with respect to the upcoming elections, El Salvador's ARENA government has been quick to call for investigations. Minister of Public Security and Justice, Rene Figueroa is quoted as saying that the issue of arms trafficking is serious and dangerous and that any investigation "will not be contaminated by pre-election politics." Figueroa also announced that the Salvadoran Government will send a team to Colombia to investigate these specific charges and links between the FMLN and the FARC. Vice Minister for Public Security Astor Escalante told PolCouns May 12 that he had not been personally involved in the GOES follow up to the allegations made in El Pais and Salvadoran newspapers over the weekend regarding FARC-FMLN ties. However, he said he knew Figueroa was actively involved in talks with the Colombians, both with the Colombian Ambassador in San Salvador and soon, if not already, in Bogota. Escalante was short on detail, but quite confident these allegations would be pursued by the GOES and beneficial to ARENA in 2009 elections. -------------- -- FMLN Worried, Waiting for the Next Shoe to Drop -------------- -- ¶6. (C) FMLN Deputy and Coordinator for Relations with the U.S. Hugo Martinez sought out PolCouns May 12 in order to relay a conversation he had earlier that day with FMLN General Coordinator Medardo Gonzalez. The primary message, which Martinez repeated twice, was that while there were contacts with the FARC during the Salvadoran Civil War, official contacts had not continued. While there was no doubt and no surprise that some "personal" contacts had been maintained since then, contacts with the FARC of the sort alleged in the Salvadoran press were not the policy of the FMLN. The FMLN had converted itself into a political party at the end of the Salvadoran Civil War and believed a "humanitarian solution" to the conflict in Colombia was appropriate. ¶7. (C) Martinez acknowledged that ARENA was certain to use these allegations against Merino in the Salvadoran election campaigns. Indeed, he felt ARENA was merely warming up at this point. If the allegations are proved true, he said, there would be consequences inside the FMLN because of the damage it could do to the party and its aspirations to win the Salvadoran presidency in 2009. Martinez speculated that if the allegations against Merino turn out to be true, they are likely to be attempts to grab the power and influence that Merino had developed, especially in the mid-ranks of party officials. First, though, the party would wait to see the promised report from INTERPOL expected on May 15. ¶8. (C) Merino, Martinez said, was not a well known individual outside of FMLN circles, but was extremely influential. He characterized Merino as more radical than the FMLN's hard line (i.e., Medardo Gonzalez and VP Candidate Sanchez Ceren). Martinez noted the institutional balance that had existed between Gonzalez and Sanchez Ceren, both with roots in the Popular Liberation Forces (FPL),a violent offshoot of the Salvadoran Communist Party (PCS),and Schafik Handal and Merino, both with roots in the PCS. Those represented by Merino, he said, were a sector that could not be excluded from party leadership. ¶9. (C) As to the possible effects on the FMLN's campaign, Martinez acknowledged that if the allegations proved true, there would be damage. Indeed, he lamented FMLN Presidential Candidate Mauricio Funes' response to the press which Gonzalez had reportedly described as "stupid". Funes sought to downplay the validity of allegations made in the press, suggesting the pseudonym used by the press to identify Merino (Ramiro) could refer to anyone. Martinez described Funes' responses as weak. He said Funes must be worried about the potential fallout. Perhaps grasping for straws, he said the FMLN could hope that ARENA might try to overplay its hand as it had with the Suchitoto case and others. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) Based on the FMLN's urgency in communicating with us, relaying a message from the highest levels of the party, and from the body language of the messenger, it is clear that the FMLN is concerned at the likely fallout for the 2009 elections. There is also clear concern over Funes' initial fumble on the issue. It was clear that Martinez, at least (though perhaps not everyone in the FMLN) was shocked by the scope of these allegations. It remains to be seen, however, if allowing Merino's head to roll (as was strongly suggested by Martinez as a likely outcome) will minimize the damage to the FMLN's charm offensive for the 2009 elections and to the Funes campaign. KENNEDY-IRAHETA