US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA206

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000206 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, KDEM, PHUM, GT 
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS ROLANDO 
MORALES 
 
 
1.  (U) Dr. Rolando Morales Chavez (47) of the Union Nacional 
para la Esperanza (UNE) party was elected President of 
Congress on January 14, 2004, as part of a governability pact 
negotiated between the ruling GANA party and the center-left 
UNE and center-right PAN blocks in Congress.  Morales is a 
close political ally of UNE Secretary General (and 
unsuccessful Presidential candidate) Alvaro Colom. 
 
2.  (U) Morales is a medical doctor by profession, with a 
medical degree from the San Carlos University of Guatemala 
and an MPA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel 
Hill.  He has been active in center-left politics since 1993. 
 He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1995, and was one of 
the founders of the DIA party in 1997.  He again ran 
unsuccessfully for Congress on the far-left ANN slate in 
1999, and joined the UNE in 2001.  He was elected to Congress 
on UNE's national list in November, 2003. 
 
3.  (U) Morales is married to Lucy Lainfiesta, a social 
worker who is also active in UNE.  They have two children. 
Morales speaks fluent English, but prefers to use Spanish in 
official meetings. 
 
Revolutionary Past 
------------------ 
 
4.  (SBU) There are unconfirmed reports that Morales provided 
medical assistance to members of the Armed People,s 
Revolutionary Organization (ORPA) during the internal 
conflict. 
 
Victim of Electoral Violence 
---------------------------- 
 
5. (U) Morales was shot twice (in the leg and hand) by 
unknown assailants on November 9, 2003, only hours before the 
voting centers opened for the first round of the 2003 general 
election.  His aggressors made no attempt at robbery, and the 
attack was widely believed to have a political motive. 
 
Early Signs: Dialogue, Transparency, and Human Rights 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
6. (SBU) Since his appointment as President of the Congress, 
Morales Chavez has sought to facilitate dialogue with other 
political factions and to increase transparency in Congress. 
He publicly opened the ceremonial door of the Congress 
building and its galleries to the public, after former 
President of Congress Efrain Rios Montt had ordered them shut 
four years ago.  Morales met publicly with Human Rights 
Ombudsman Sergio Morales shortly after taking office, 
publicly promising to consider increasing funding for the 
Ombudsman's office.  He also publicly expressed his personal 
support for a proposed International Commission to 
Investigate Clandestine Groups (CICIACS). 
 
7.  (SBU) At a January 26 meeting with the Ambassador, 
Morales invited members of the Governing Board of Congress 
from other parties to attend, and projected a warmly 
collegial style.  He was clearly comfortable with USG 
interlocutors and professed a commitment to work together 
with us on areas of shared interest.  In a telcon the 
following day with the Ambassador, he said he had expressed 
publicly his support for a renewal of authority to conduct 
joint anti-drug exercises and operations in Guatemala. 
HAMILTON