US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA362

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 000362 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT, WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2014 
TAGS: PTER, ASEC, PREL, GT 
SUBJECT: COUNTERTERRORISM ACTION GROUP -- GUATEMALAN 
RESPONSE 
 
REF: STATE 14279 
 
Classified By: PolMilOff Rob Copley for reason 1.5 (b) and (c). 
 
1. (C) Summary: Few of the G-8 diplomatic missions to 
Guatemala have counter-terrorism (CT) programs, and we 
detected no overlap among them.  None of the other missions 
have conducted formal assessments of Guatemala's CT needs. 
However, there is a consensus that Guatemala's greatest CT 
weakness is a lack of coordination within the government that 
results in lack of control.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) The embassies of Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Germany, 
and Switzerland in Guatemala are not currently engaged in any 
programs that enhance CT capabilities and have no CT programs 
planned for 2004.  Per reftel instructions, in addition to 
G-8 embassies, we included Spain, Australia, and Switzerland, 
and note that Russia and Australia do not have embassies in 
Guatemala.  Information on the limited Italian, French, 
Spanish and Canadian programs is provided below. 
 
Italy 
----- 
 
3. (C) Commercial Attache Pino Carabalona said his government 
has no bilateral CT programs in Guatemala but does provide 
one Italian official through the European Union to work with 
the Guatemalan Police. 
 
France 
------ 
 
4. (C) DCM Laurent Martin told us his government has no CT 
programs planned for 2004, nor does it have any current law 
enforcement programs that enhance Guatemalan CT capabilities. 
 Martin said that his government provides some training to 
the SAAS (Guatemalan Secret Service), but he does not 
consider the training CT related. 
 
Spain 
----- 
 
5. (C) Security Chief Gerardo Otero told us his government 
held a conference in Spain in 2003 to discuss a bilateral CT 
treaty and that in November, 2004 Spain would host a 
conference in Bolivia on the globalization of organized crime 
and terrorism.  Otero said Guatemalan officials would attend. 
 Spain has provided general assistance to the Police Academy 
in the past and has a pending GOG request to continue that 
assistance, but Otero had no information as to whether the 
request would be approved by his government.  In a slight 
difference of opinion on Guatemala's CT needs, Otero cited 
lack of awareness, saying that Guatemalan officials 
underestimate the global nature of the threat due to 
misperceptions based on the small role they play and the 
relatively low number of special interest aliens they believe 
transit Guatemalan territory. 
 
Canada 
------ 
 
6. (C) Political Counselor Ginette Martin told us that Canada 
channels its CT programs through multilateral organizations 
such as the OAS, and said that this support tends to focus on 
the softer side of security (Note: the German, Swiss, and 
Japanese representatives all said they work through 
multilateral organizations also, but none could provide 
details. End note).  Martin mentioned a Canadian fund for 
institutional reform that has not been tapped due to problems 
with Guatemala's Attorney General.  She said the fund could 
be redirected to strengthen capabilities in the security 
area, although not specifically to CT programs.  Martin added 
that her embassy was concluding the first phase of a 3-year, 
$400,000 initiative aimed at improving crime scene 
investigation by the Guatemalan police.  Martin also said 
that Canada has funded expert exchanges among security 
officials in support of the "Framework Treaty on Democratic 
Security."  Martin further stated that Guatemalan authorities 
have been included in witness protection and money laundering 
programs conducted in Mexico by the Royal Canadian Mounted 
Police, but she had no further details.  Martin felt that the 
Berger administration is too new, at this stage, for any 
realistic discussion of its unmet CT needs. 
 
Consensus on Needs 
------------------ 
 
7. (C) Aside from the Canadian and Spanish representatives, 
all of the other officials agreed that Guatemala's greatest 
CT need is to establish control over its territory.  Nearly 
everyone had examples of serious security problems at 
Guatemala's airports and borders. 
8. (C) Comment:  Most members of the CTAG represented in 
Guatemala are important donors to economic development and 
Peace Accord-related bilateral assistance programs.  While 
there has been growing interest in strengthening cooperation 
in fighting transnational crime, and terrorism specifically, 
assistance efforts remain focused largely on economic 
development issues. We will exploit the growing interest of 
CTAG embassies in Guatemala in increasing coordination on 
enhancing the rule of law and fighting transnational crime. 
WHARTON