US embassy cable - 03GUATEMALA2796

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 002796 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINR, EAID, KDEM, GT, OAS 
SUBJECT: GOG WORKING ON SOLUTION TO MAJOR FLAP OVER 
ELECTION HOLIDAY LAW 
 
 
Classified By: PolCouns David Lindwall for reason 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: The Guatemalan Congress passed a law on 
October 28 forbidding "any productive activity" on election 
day, the day before and the day after, ostensibly to enable 
migrant workers to return to their homes to vote.  Minister 
of Labor Moreira told reporters that the law forbid all but 
four basic services from being performed on those days (not 
including electricity or water).  Civil society and the 
private sector complained that the law would shut down gas 
stations and prohibit journalists from working, among other 
things, and accused the FRG of passing the law in order to 
create confusion and keep voters at home.  Following a call 
from the Ambassador to Foreign Minister Gutierrez on November 
1 asking that the GOG veto the law, Gutierrez called the 
Ambassador on November 2 to say that both President Portillo 
and FRG Secretary General Rios Montt agree that the law must 
be amended, and that a special session of Congress will be 
called for that purpose on November 4.  Gutierrez said 
Portillo is prepared to veto the law if Congress does not 
amend it.  End summary. 
 
2. (SBU) In its final regular session before the elections, 
Guatemala's Congress passed a law on October 28, only 
introduced that morning by the FRG, amending the Labor Code 
to make election day (both rounds) and the days immediately 
prior to and after the elections national holidays.  The law 
went beyond the normal holiday statues, however, by expressly 
forbidding "any productive activity" except public 
transportation, police and private security guards, hospitals 
and "first aid services provided by the fire department and 
Red Cross."  The law goes on to say that the Ministry of 
Government (i.e. the police) would help the Labor Ministry 
enforce this law, unlike the other holidays contained in the 
labor code.  With the elections only days away, many 
congressmen were out on the campaign trail.  Others were 
clearly not paying attention.  There was little discussion of 
the law, and all the parties present approved the measure, 
with only one dissenting vote by a Unionista congressmen. 
The private sector reacted immediately to oppose the measure, 
arguing that it would obligate businesses that had to remain 
open those days to pay their laborers holiday wages. 
 
3. (C)  Minister of Labor Victor Moreira told reporters on 
October 31, however, that the text of the law was quite clear 
in "forbidding all productive activity," and that any sectors 
not specifically exempted by the law would not be able to 
operate, even if they did pay their laborers holiday wages. 
Moreira's interpretation of the law (which appears consistent 
with the text) set off a firestorm of controversy as it 
became clear that gas stations, hotels, restaurants and 
supermarkets would be closed, discouraging voters from 
traveling far from home to vote.  It also became clear that 
electrical and water workers would not be allowed to work, 
nor were officials of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal 
exempted, meaning that election workers could be fined for 
holding the elections. 
 
4. (C) The Ambassador called Foreign Minister Edgar Gutierrez 
on November 1 to express concern about the potential impact 
of the law and to urge him to weigh-in with President 
Portillo to veto it.  Gutierrez acknowledged that the law had 
problems, and promised to raise it with President Portillo on 
his return to the country (later that evening).  The 
Ambassador spoke with OAS Election Observation Mission head 
Valentin Paniagua and EU Election Observation chief 
Sakellariou on November 1 to urge them to express their 
concerns over the law directly to Gutierrez, strengthening 
his hand in urging Portillo to veto the bill. The OAS and EU 
called Gutierrez and are considering issuing a press 
statement on November 2 to keep pressure on the GOG to find a 
solution. 
 
5. (C) Foreign Minister Gutierrez called the Ambassador on 
November 2 to say that he had spoken with President Portillo 
about the law, and that Portillo (and FRG Secretary General 
Rios Montt) agree the law should be modified.  Congress will 
call a special session on November 4 to remove the second 
paragraph from the law, leaving the days as holidays, but not 
forbidding any productive activity.  If Congress can not 
muster the two-thirds majority needed to reform the law, 
President Portillo is prepared to veto it, according to 
Gutierrez.  The Ambassador noted to Gutierrez that time is of 
the essence, as the confusion caused by the law is already 
creating doubts in the minds of voters who will have to 
travel out of town to vote. 
 
6. (C) Minister Moreira told us that the law was an 
initiative of Vice President Reyes Lopez (who was acting as 
President in Portillo's absence from the country).  It was 
drafted by FRG Party Whip Aristides Crespo and FRG 
Congressman from San Marcos Department Carlos Bautista. 
Moreira said he was never consulted on the bill.  He told us 
the intent was clearly to allow voters to travel to their 
homes to vote without penalty of their jobs, but agreed that 
the law would have the effect of discouraging voters. 
 
7. (C) First Vice President of Congress Zury Rios told us the 
law was drafted specifically to enable cane cutters on the 
south coast to travel to their communities to vote.  She said 
that the FRG had heard from its local party leaders on the 
Pacific coastal plain that the landowners were discouraging 
the migrant cane cutters from going home (in many cases 
several hours away) to vote, threatening to not pay them for 
the days they were absent.  She was very defensive about the 
law, which she viewed as enfranchising large numbers of FRG 
supporters unfairly being threatened by the landowners with 
the loss of pay if they were not back in the fields by Monday 
morning after the elections.  Following a long discussion of 
the text of the law, she acknowledged that it "could be 
misinterpreted" and agreed to look at it again with a view of 
revising it. 
 
8. (C) Comment: The controversial election holiday law, while 
approved by the absent-minded opposition legislators as well, 
is widely viewed as another attempt by some in the FRG to 
create confusion on election day and discourage voter 
turn-out.  President Portillo is seized with the need to 
reform or veto the law before it creates more political 
tension in the final days leading up to the election, and we 
understand Rios Montt is also on board.  We expect this 11th 
hour irritant to the election process to be resolved soon. 
HAMILTON