US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA30

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GUATEMALA 000030 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINR, EAID, SNAR, GT 
SUBJECT: BERGER NAMES PROFESSIONAL, EXPERIENCED CABINET 
 
REF: GUATEMALA 0022 
 
Classified By: PolCouns David Lindwall for reason 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (SBU) Summary and introduction: On January 7, 
President-elect Oscar Berger announced the members of his 
cabinet.  He also named eight "policy coordinators" 
(super-ministers) to head functional areas.  It is not clear 
what their relationship will be to the ministers, but Berger 
has described them to us as his policy advisors with 
responsibility for coordinating implementation by the Cabinet 
ministries and independent agencies.  The Berger team is made 
up of experienced professionals drawn from the private sector 
and civil society groups that supported his campaign. 
Several are former ministers and some are his personal 
friends.  Very few professional politicians were named to the 
Cabinet, as Berger's electoral coalition (GANA) was made up 
of three small parties that had no previous presence in 
Congress or the Executive.  Two women and two Mayan 
indigenous representatives were named.  Berger scored a major 
coup in recruiting CALDH Director LaRue to head the 
Government's human rights office, assuring implementation of 
a progressive human rights policy. Press commentary has been 
largely favorable.  End summary and introduction. 
 
The Inner Circle 
---------------- 
2. (C) Executive Secretary for Coordination - Eduardo 
Gonzalez Castillo.  Gonzalez is a prominent banker and former 
Minister of Economy who coordinated the GANA presidential 
campaign.  Gonzalez is Berger's closest advisor, and was the 
architect of GANA's campaign platform.  He is a member of 
Guatemala's economic elite (his father is a major coffee 
exporter and bank owner and his mother is from the Castillo 
family that owns the largest brewery), and his presence in 
the government is a guarantee that private sector interests 
will not be ignored.  Gonzalez, who holds a degree in 
business administration from the University of Pennsylvania, 
is an advocate of trade liberalization and modernization of 
the state.  He is dynamic, self-confident and views 
Guatemala's interests as inextricably linked to the United 
States.  He speaks fluent English. 
 
3. (C) President's Private Secretary - Alfredo Antonio Vila. 
Vila is a businessman (sugar producer) and long-time 
associate of Berger who held important jobs in the Municipal 
Government of Guatemala City while Berger was Mayor (heading 
the water and public transportation services).  He holds a 
law degree, but has never practiced.  He served as Director 
for the Chamber of Free Enterprise.  Vila served as Berger's 
private secretary during the campaign, and maintained 
communication with the Embassy. 
 
4. (C) Secretary General of the Presidency - Jorge Arturo 
Arroyave.  Like Vila, Arroyave was a close collaborator of 
Berger's during his tenure as Mayor of Guatemala City. 
Arroyave, who holds a law degree from the public University 
of San Carlos, was Secretary General of the Municipality of 
Guatemala under Berger, and served previously as the head of 
the Civil Registry. 
 
Policy Co-ordinators 
-------------------- 
5. (C) Implementation of the Plan of Government Coordinator - 
Richard Aitkenhead Castillo.  Aitkenhead (47) is an economist 
who served as Minister of Economy and later as Minister of 
Finance for Presidents Serrano and De Leon.  In the 
center-right Arzu administration, Aitkenhead served as head 
of the Peace Commission and Coordinator for International 
Assistance.  Aitkenhead holds a masters degree in public 
administration from Harvard.  He is a supporter of free 
trade, is pro-U.S. and is expected to be the coordinator of 
economic policy in the Berger government.  Aitkenhead speaks 
fluent English. 
 
6. (C) Coordinator for Security and Defense - Otto Perez 
Molina.  Former General Perez Molina is the Secretary General 
of the Patriotic Party, one of the three parties that made up 
Berger's electoral coalition (GANA).  Perez Molina was forced 
to retire from the military by President Portillo (who 
retired all 20 generals when he assumed office).  Perez 
Molina served as Army intelligence chief in 1992-1993, and 
represented the military during negotiations with the 
guerrillas that led to the signing of a comprehensive peace 
accord in 1996.  The Archbishop's Human Rights Office (ODAG) 
told the Embassy in 1994 that they had no evidence of Perez 
Molina's involvement in human rights abuses.  Perez Molina is 
not a personal friend of Berger's, but was a key ally during 
the campaign.  Berger has delegated to Perez Molina 
coordination of all security matters, including 
responsibility for the Ministries of Defense and Government 
(i.e. the police).  Perez Molina does not speak English. 
 
7. (C) Coordinator for Political Reform and the Institutions 
of the State - Mario Fuentes Destarac.  Fuentes Destarac is 
the Dean of the Law School of the Jesuit Rafael Landivar 
University, and was the legal advisor to Berger's 
presidential campaign.  He writes a weekly op ed in daily "El 
Periodico," and was an outspoken critic of the Portillo 
Government.  Fuentes Destarac was the Secretary of the 
Constitutional Court and is considered one of Guatemala's 
leading constitutional lawyers. 
 
8. (C) Coordinator for Investment and Competitiveness - 
Miguel Fernandez.  Fernandez is a prominent businessman who 
owns Guatemala's largest in-bond processing plant.  His 
company employees 14,000 workers and produces clothing for 
Levis and the Gap, among others.  A classmate in elementary 
and high school, he is one of Berger's closest friends. 
Fernandez is also the Director of the Guatemalan branch of 
the Harvard-affiliated business school INCAE. 
 
9. (C) Coordinator for Modernization of the State - Harris 
Whitbeck.  Whitbeck (69) is a prominent businessman 
(construction), former American citizen and founding member 
of the FRG, who quit the Portillo government in 2002 to join 
the Partido Patriota.  The Partido Patriota originally named 
Whitbeck its presidential candidate in the 2003 elections, 
but when Berger threw his hat in the ring, Whitbeck 
graciously declined his nomination and supported the Berger 
campaign.  Whitbeck coordinated rural development projects 
for two FRG governments (1983-4, 1999-2002), and got to know 
many mayors and rural community leaders.  He was able to 
build on these contacts to increase Berger's support in rural 
areas during the campaign.  Whitbeck (like Berger) is a 
strong supporter of decentralization.  His son, Harris 
Whitbeck Jr., is a correspondent for CNN. 
 
10. (C) Coordinator for Megaprojects and President of the 
Social Investment Fund - Luis Flores Asturias.  Flores (56) 
was Vice President in the government of Alvaro Arzu 
(1996-2000).  Flores' first career was dentistry, where he 
rose to be professor in Guatemala's leading public and 
private universities.  He studied dentistry at the University 
of Alabama.  He got into politics in 1987, when he became one 
of the founders of the center-right National Action Party 
(PAN), and was elected to Congress for PAN in 1990.  Flores 
is a life-long friend of former President Alvaro Arzu, and 
was drafted into politics by Arzu.  When Arzu's faction of 
the PAN lost the party leadership in 2001, Flores Asturias 
got out of politics, but returned in 2003 to support another 
friend, Oscar Berger. 
 
11. (C) Coordinator for Local Development - Rodolfo Paiz 
Andrade.  Rodolfo "Fito" Paiz is one of the heirs to 
Guatemala's largest supermarket fortune, and has been active 
in politics since the restoration of democracy in 1984.  The 
Harvard-educated Paiz served as Minister of Economy for the 
Christian Democratic government of Vinicio Cerezo 
(1986-1990), and was candidate for President for his own 
small party (DIA) in the 2003 elections.  When he lost the 
first round election, he publicly endorsed Berger in the 
runoff election.  Paiz is articulate and speaks English 
fluently. 
 
12. (C) Coordinator for Tourism - William Kaltschmitt. 
Kaltschmitt was the President of Guatemala's Olympic 
Committee and first Guatemalan Ambassador to Cuba after the 
restoration of diplomatic relations in 1998.  He comes from a 
prominent business family and owns a business that imports 
agricultural chemicals. 
 
Ministers 
--------- 
13. (U) Foreign Affairs - Jorge Briz Abularach (see reftel). 
 
14. (U) Defense - BG Cesar Augusto Mendez Pinelo (see septel). 
 
15. (C) Minister of Government - Manuel Arturo Soto Aguirre. 
Soto was Berger's third choice for Minister of Government, 
after human rights activist Helen Mack (although Mack is 
prepared to serve on a Security Advisory Council Berger 
intends to establish) and businessman Carlos Vielman turned 
down the offer.  Soto is a long-time judge and former 
magistrate of the Supreme Court.  He served as a congressman 
for the FRG in 1991-1995, and joined the Partido Patriota in 
2002.  He was considered briefly as a vice presidential 
running mate to Harris Whitbeck for the Partido Patriota in 
the 2003 elections.  His selection as Minister of Government 
was a concession to Otto Perez Molina, who has been put in 
charge of security policy. 
 
16. (C) Minister of Finance - Maria Antonieta del Cid.  One 
of two women on Berger's team, Del Cid is the Director of the 
Monetary Board, Director General of the (private) Banco del 
Quetzal, has worked on Central American issues for the IMF, 
and is a former Vice President of the Bank of Guatemala.  She 
is highly respected in banking circles in Guatemala.  She 
holds a degree in economics from the University of Illinois. 
 
17. (C) Minister of Economy - Marcio Cuevas.  Cuevas is a 
prominent businessman (textiles) and the Chairman of the 
Non-Traditional Exporters Association.  He is a long-time 
contact of the Embassy, a supporter of free trade, and was an 
active opponent of the FRG government.  He served as Vice 
President of the private sector umbrella organization (CACIF) 
until recently.  He is positively disposed towards the U.S. 
 
18. (C) Minister of Agriculture - Alvaro Aguilar.  Aguilar is 
a non-traditional exporter who served as General Manager of 
the Non-Traditional Exporters Association.  He is an engineer 
by training.  Aguilar worked on the unsuccessful Berger 
presidential campaign in 1999, and was a major supporter in 
the 2003 campaign. 
 
19. (C) Minister of Health - Marco Tulio Sosa.  Sosa is a 
businessman and chemical engineer whose tenure as Minister of 
Health under Alvaro Arzu (1996-1999) was viewed as highly 
successful.  Though not a health professional, Sosa 
introduced innovations in the Health Ministry during his 
first term (including introducing public-private partnerships 
and reducing corruption in the purchase of medicines and 
equipment) which gained the Arzu administration a positive 
image in providing public health.  Sosa served as a 
congressman for the center-right PAN party in 1991-1995. 
 
20. (C) Minister of Communication and Public Works - Eduardo 
Castillo.  Castillo was the Deputy Mayor for Guatemala City 
during Berger's terms as Mayor.  He is an architect by 
training and managed the infrastructure and construction 
projects for the capital. 
 
21. (C) Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources - 
Manuel Salazar Tezaguic.  Salazar Tezaguic is one of two 
Mayan Indigenous representatives in the cabinet.  He is a 
cultural anthropologist, musician and professor of philosophy. 
 
22. (C) Minister of Energy and Mines - Roberto Gonzalez. 
Gonzalez is a consultant for private energy companies in 
Guatemala.  He worked closely with Berger in the municipal 
government of Guatemala City, where he served as deputy 
director of the waterworks (EMPAGUA) and general manager of 
the municipalities public transportation system. 
 
23. (U) Minister of Education - not yet named. 
 
24. (C) Minister of Labor - not yet named.  We have heard 
that Jorge Lewis, General Manager of Fritolay's Guatemalan 
subsidiary, has been offered the position, but that he has 
not made a decision yet on whether he will accept. 
 
Other Berger Team Members 
------------------------- 
25. (C) Presidential Spokesperson - Rosa Maria de Frade.  De 
Frade was the press spokesperson for Berger's presidential 
campaign and was the architect of his public affairs 
strategy.  She has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University 
of Madrid, and served as Guatemala's Ambassador to Costa Rica 
and Venezuela during the Arzu Administration.  Most recently 
she was the director for human resources for Pepsico's 
regional operations. 
 
26. (C) Peace Secretary - Victor Montejo.  Montejo is a 
naturalized U.S. citizen of Jacalteco Maya origin.  He holds 
a Degree in Anthropology from the University of California. 
He was elected as a Congressman for the GANA coalition in the 
2003 election. 
 
27. (C) Secretary for the Presidential Commission for Human 
Rights (COPREDEH) - Frank LaRue.  LaRue, an American citizen, 
is a prominent human rights activist and is the founder and 
director of the Legal Action Center for Human Rights (CALDH). 
 He is also a professor of human rights at the Jesuit Rafael 
Landivar University.  Berger had long told us that he wanted 
to include human rights leaders to serve in his government, 
and his recruitment of LaRue is a major coup for civil 
society groups that have for many years watched governments 
assign a low priority to advancing human rights.  Along with 
the nomination of other representatives of civil society, the 
LaRue nomination demonstrates Berger's genuine interest in 
having a socially and politically progressive government, 
belying the characterization carried by the U.S. press of a 
"return to the conservative governments of the last 20 years." 
HAMILTON