Embassy Guatemala: January 2010 Merida Report

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000236

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
PLEASE PASS TO USAID/LAC/CAM KSEIFERT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SNAR KCRM KJUS EAID GT
SUBJECT: Embassy Guatemala: January 2010 Merida Report

REF: A) 09 STATE 114752; B) GUATEMALA 27; C) GUATEMALA 7
D) 09 GUATEMALA 1424


1. (U) In response to ref A, Post submits the information
below detailing Embassy Guatemala's

Merida activities for January 2010.

Issues for Washington


2. (U) Post conducted a review of Merida funding to date and
found that some FY 2008 funds

are still stalled in the procurement process in Washington and no
FY 2009 funding has been received at post. Post requests the
Department's assistance in expediting the release of these funds.
A more detailed review of post's Merida funding, along with post's
FY 2010 Merida funding request, will be provided septel.

Internal Developments


3. (U) Guatemala scored a major law enforcement victory with
the capture of former

President Alfonso Portillo on January 26. The capture was made
possible through the use of NAS helicopters which enabled
representatives of the UN-mandated International Commission Against
Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG),the Attorney General's Office (MP),
DEA, National Civil Police (PNC),and the military to quickly reach
Puerto Santo Tomas in eastern Guatemala to arrest Portillo and
ensure that he was brought before a judge in the capital within the
six-hour constitutional limit (ref B). (Note: Portillo was a
flight risk and driving to Puerto Santo Tomas would have taken at
least five hours through terrain controlled by DTOs.)


4. (U) CICIG presented the conclusions of its investigation
into the May 2009 murder of

prominent attorney Rodrigo Rosenberg on January 12. CICIG
concluded that Rosenberg arranged for his own murder. The
resolution of this case was important to show the Guatemalan public
that a high-profile murder investigation can be successfully
resolved in country (ref C). Following the conclusion of the
Rosenberg investigation, President Alvaro Colom moved forward with
his legislative agenda and announced a structured dialogue with the
private sector to discuss fiscal issues, social development,
governance (security),and economic recovery. The Embassy will
continue to encourage and closely monitor this dialogue.

Implementation Activities


5. (SBU) On January 22, the Charge, joined by President Colom,
inaugurated the Maritime

Intelligence Center (MIC) near Puerto Quetzal on the Pacific Coast,
which will bring together PNC, tax authorities (SAT),Joint
Interagency Task Force-South representatives, and DEA personnel to
identify suspicious cargo and maritime traffic along the Pacific
Coast. The MIC facility was fully established using GOG funds; the
USG will now provide training and equipment. (Comment: The MIC
furthers the Mission's objective of increasing maritime
intelligence in order to disrupt incoming drug-laden ships and
seize contraband. End Comment.)


6. (U) All remaining English Access Program students (700 in
all) began their studies in

January. Half of the USD 800,000 cost of this program is being
funded through the Merida Initiative.


7. (SBU) NAS helicopters flew two missions for DEA in
mid-January targeting U.S. fugitives.

The two Guatemalan military helicopters assigned to the mission
could not participate due to mechanical problems.


8. (U) CBP officers provided training to SAT and PNC on the
use of CT-30 kits at three different

land borders in January. The kit is composed of a fiber optics
scope, measuring density device, depth finder and other tools
necessary to locate compartments and contraband. This training
took place at three different land borders (Agua Caliente, Florido
and Ermita) between Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.


9. (U) Post's Law Enforcement Working Group met on January 26.
Post held its Merida

Initiative meetings on January 5 and 19.

Significant USG-Supported Host Nation Seizures


10. (SBU) USG law enforcement participation and/or intelligence
played an important part in

seizures in January 2010:

- January 4 - Guatemala City International Airport:
Seizure of 600,000 tablets of pseudoephedrine.

- January 27 - A suspicious aircraft flew into Guatemala,
first arriving in eastern Izabal Department and then quickly
diverting to northern Peten Department, where it eventually landed.
With the assistance of Joint Task Force-Bravo helicopters and the
Guatemalan Anti-Drug and Terrorism Aerial Intervention Task Force
(FIAAT),352 kilos of cocaine were seized. The alleged
narcotraffickers later returned to the aircraft and burned it.

- January 28 - Guatemala City International Airport:
Seizure of 27 kilos of pseudoephedrine in loose capsule form.

- January 30 - Guatemala City: Seizure of USD 420,000 and
arrest of one individual. Guatemala's anti-money laundering task
force (UNILAT) was heavily involved in this investigation and
believes it may be related to the December case in which police
arrested one individual and seized USD 1,000,120 (Ref D).

The Month Ahead


11. (U) Below are post's planned activities for February 2010:

- The contract for implementation of USAID's primary
Merida activities - The Community Action Fund, Youth at Risk crime
prevention and Community Based Policing - should be granted in
February 2010, with implementation activities to begin in March

2010.

- NAS plans to train police officers for the Police
Athletic League at the Police Academy.
MCFARLAND