US embassy cable - 03GUATEMALA2827

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 002827 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, EAID, PINR, GT, OAS 
SUBJECT: IN PORTILLO'S ABSENCE, ELECTION HOLIDAY LAW 
CAUSING GROWING FRICTION 
 
REF: GUATEMALA 2796 
 
Classified By: PolCouns David Lindwall for reason 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: President Portillo traveled to Panama without 
vetoing the controversial election holiday bill (reftel), and 
opposition to the legislation has taken on a fever pitch. 
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal called on Portillo (who 
returns on the afternoon of November 4) to veto the law 
because of the impediments it creates to the election 
process.  The OAS and EU observation missions, several of the 
domestic observation efforts and we have issued public 
statements urging Portillo to veto the law.  Opposition 
candidates are calling openly for civil disobedience.  FRG 
legislative leaders met with the Ambassador late on November 
3 to argue that the law simply needed to be "clarified" by an 
executive decree, but the Ambassador urged them to weigh-in 
with the Executive to veto the bill as it is already creating 
confusion with voters and raising political tensions on the 
eve of elections.  Portillo assured us through his Foreign 
Minister that he would veto the bill if a compromise could 
not be reached.  With public pressure growing, we expect him 
to address the issue publicly on his return to the country. 
End summary. 
 
2. (C) Opposition to the recently passed election holiday 
bill (reftel) is creating an escalation in political tensions 
as sectors of the opposition and civil society begin to 
realize the impact it could have on discouraging voters. 
Many also see this as another in a long series of attempts by 
the FRG to manipulate the elections, and they are determined 
that this is where they will hold the line. The OAS Election 
Observation Mission, joined by two domestic missions, held a 
press conference on November 2 calling on President Portillo 
to veto the bill.  They argued that the law would create 
serious impediments to the electoral process by discouraging 
people from traveling.  The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) 
held a press conference on November 3 also calling on 
Portillo to veto the bill, saying that the law forbid the TSE 
from working on election day and threatened penalties for 
providers of support services to the TSE. 
 
3. (C) The Ambassador met with the legislative leadership of 
the FRG on the evening of November 3 at their request to 
discuss the bill.  The FRG was represented by Majority Leader 
Aristides Crespo, First Vice President of Congress Zury Rios, 
FRG Vice Presidential candidate Edin Barrientos, Minister of 
Finance Eduardo Weymann and FRG legal representative Jorge 
Arevalo.  The FRG leaders argued that the TSE was biased 
against them, that the domestic observation mission was 
partial and under the influence of their arch-enemy Frank 
Larue, that the Human Rights Ombudsman was in league with 
their critics, and that the private sector was determined to 
keep their laborers (who are largely FRG supporters, 
according to the FRG) from voting by not letting them return 
to their distant homes to vote on election day.  The FRG 
leaders said that they were not going to protest the TSE 
partiality against them, but were determined to force 
landowners to let migrant workers go home to vote.  That was 
why they passed the election holiday law, and that is why 
they stand by it.  In response to our earlier appeals to them 
for reconsideration (reftel), they were proposing an 
Executive Decree "clarifying" what productive work could be 
done over the three-day holidays, and it would include 
letting TSE members work, keeping hotels and gas stations 
open and authorizing journalists to work. 
 
4. (C) The Ambassador told them that the USG shares their 
concern that all laborers be allowed to vote.  He said, 
however, that the law, even with the amendment they were 
proposing, would continue to create confusion and was more 
likely to discourage voting and unnecessarily stoke the 
political confrontation only days before the election.  He 
urged the FRG leaders to seek ways to diminish tensions in 
these closing days of the campaign, and said that we thought 
the only way to address the current impasse was for President 
Portillo to veto this legislation, and for Congress to draft 
a new law before the second round. 
 
5. (C) On November 4, the official gazette published 
Executive Decree 700-2003 "clarifying" the Labor Code's 
definition of essential services, expanding the categories 
contained in the election holiday bill (still not signed and 
published) to include electric and water services, 
journalism, gas stations, hotels and employees of the TSE. 
The "clarification" (when many sectors were expecting a 
presidential veto) further fueled rising political tensions. 
The private sector organization CACIF held a press conference 
to denounce the holiday law as "another example of FRG 
fraud."  The major opposition parties, which had earlier 
called for civil disobedience against the law, have called a 
press conference for the afternoon of November 4. 
 
6. (U) The Embassy released a press statement on the morning 
of November 4 calling on employers to ensure that their 
employees are able to go home to vote, and calling on the 
government to veto the law.  The Embassy press statement 
follows: 
 
"Declaration on the Election Holiday Law:  The United States 
Embassy wishes to affirm publicly our view, which we have 
been expressing privately to the Government of Guatemala 
since Saturday.  A fundamental change in the rules under 
which elections are being carried out so close to election 
day can only have the effect of undermining public 
confidence.  We do not think a unilateral clarification of 
the law would be sufficient to restore public confidence. 
Therefore, we respectfully call on the President to veto this 
legislation.  We believe such a veto imposes a moral 
obligation on all employers to take extraordinary steps to 
ensure all employees are able to exercise their right to 
vote.  We call on all national and international observer 
missions to verify that there has been no impediment to the 
right to vote." 
 
7. (C)  GANA Vice Presidential candidate Eduardo Stein phoned 
the Ambassador on November 4 to report that our statement 
had just been read aloud at an (OAS-sponsored) Forum of 
Political Parties, to general relief and approbation.  Stein 
could not have been more profuse in his thanks. 
 
8. (C) President Portillo is scheduled to return from Panama 
on the afternoon of November 4.  He assured us (through 
Foreign Minister Gutierrez) and similarly assured a visiting 
delegation from the Robert Kennedy Center that he would veto 
the law if agreement could not be reached to reform it.  The 
President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal is to meet with 
Portillo on the afternoon of November 4 to press for a 
presidential veto. 
 
9. (C) Comment: With only five days left before national 
elections, the flap over the election holiday law has 
generated renewed tensions and fears of bad behavior by the 
FRG on election day (the FRG leaders, in the meeting with the 
Ambassador, again pledged to respect the results and to 
behave peacefully during the elections).  We expect Portillo 
to veto the law, but the debate has already taken a toll on 
confidence in the electoral process. 
HAMILTON