US embassy cable - 04SANTODOMINGO1950

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 001950 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR (MCISAAC), L/LEI (FUENTES AND TAYLOR), PM 
JUSTICE FOR CRIM/OIA J. MAZUREK AND R. GOLDMAN 
US MARSHAL SERVICE PLEASE PASS TO C. DUDLEY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2014 
TAGS: CJAN, DR, KCRM, KJUS, SNAR, PREL, MARR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL PROMISES ARTICLE 98 AND 
EXTRADITIONS 
 
REF: A. STATE 52123 
 
     B. SANTO DOMINGO 683 
     C. SANTO DOMINGO 515 
     D. SANTO DOMINGO 795 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Hans. H. Hertell, reasons 1.5(b) and (d). 
 
 1.  (U)  Summary.  On March 24 Dominican Attorney General 
Victor Cespedes Martinez promised the Ambassador that he 
would act swiftly on the Article 98 agreement, facilitate 
extradition requests and work to improve the handling of 
narcotics/narcotrafficking cases in the Dominican Republic. 
End Summary. 
 
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Article 98 
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2.  (C)  The Ambassador received Attorney General Cespedes on 
March 24 at the Attorney General's request.  The Ambassador 
stressed the importance of swift movement on Article 98 and 
Cespedes stated that the USG could count on his immediate 
support.  Cespedes should receive the Article 98 agreement 
from the Foreign Ministry within days.  He will review it and 
forward it to the legal office at the Presidency.  The legal 
office at the Presidency will be the final stop before the 
agreement is sent to Congress for ratification.  Cespedes 
said he will push for immediate ratification once the 
agreement in the Congress. 
 
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Extraditions 
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3.  (C)  On extraditions, Cespedes stated confidently that no 
other Latin American country, and perhaps no other country in 
the world, works as closely with the USG on extradition 
requests.  He said he wanted to continue the close 
relationship and ensure that the process was 
institutionalized.  For the first time, he told Emboffs to 
contact him directly in regard to any extradition case 
instead of sending requests and questions to Assistant 
Attorney General Francisco Cadena Moquete.  He stated his 
desire to have the best extradition record of any Dominican 
Attorney General. 
 
4.  (C)  When the Ambassador asked about the release on March 
23 of Lourdes Ivelise Machuca, a fugitive for whom we had 
requested extradition in October 2003, Cespedes appeared 
unaware of the extradition request.  He told us that he would 
re-arrest Ms. Machuca and she would be extradited in the same 
manner in which Josefina Rojas was re-arrested and extradited 
(reftel B).  Cespedes told us that he signed a medical 
release order for her because she is suffering from "suicidal 
tendencies."  He said she is hospitalized and receiving 
treatment.  On March 25 poloff supplied the Attorney General 
with another copy of the extradition request for Ms. Machuca. 
 
 
5.  (C)  Within the last week, Cespedes has signed 17 
provisional arrest warrants for fugitives believed to be 
located in the Dominican Republic.  The signed orders have 
been passed to the local authorities and Embassy DEA, LEGAT 
and U.S. Marshal offices.  One of the provisional arrest 
warrants is for Ramon Garcia, (reftel C) a fugitive who was 
arrested and released by the GODR last year. 
 
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Narco-trafficking and Money Laundering 
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6. (SBU)  The Ambassador asked Cespedes what could be done to 
improve prosecution of narcotics/narcotrafficking cases. 
Cespedes said that nacrotrafficking policy has strengthened 
quite a bit in recent years.  He said he had given directives 
for a mandatory process which attaches a single prosecutor to 
all phases of a given narcotics case, in effect, reducing the 
possibility of case tampering by an interceding prosecutor. 
Arrest warrants and legal confirmation papers must be signed 
at the time of capture.  According to Cespedes, all 
narcotrafficking cases are treated with the utmost care.  He 
told us that we should notify him personally if we encounter 
any irregularities with any of the prosecuting officials in 
narcotrafficking cases. 
 
7.  (C)  Cespedes said there is little he can do in 
narcotrafficking and money laundering cases in regard to 
asset forfeiture.  He stated the Dominican money laundering 
law is new and untested.  He said that he would work with the 
DNCD in any way possible to assist them in seizing assets, 
however, he pointed out, asset seizure responsibility does 
not lie in his office. 
 
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Comment 
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8.  (C)  Attorney General Cespedes is of questionable 
character.  Until he became Attorney General, there had been 
no extradition cases in which an arrested fugitive had been 
released rather than returned to the USG (reftel B).  He has 
misled us in the past and we believe he has lied directly. 
The Ambassador previously expressed USG concerns about the 
Attorney General to President Mejia and President Mejia told 
us that he planned to remove the Attorney General from his 
position (reftel D). 
 
9.  (C)  At this juncture, Cespedes seems eager to please the 
USG.  It appears that he is fighting for his job or perhaps a 
"promotion" (e.g., to the Supreme Court bench, as rumored in 
the press).  It is possible that he has heard rumors that the 
USG has questions about him. This may be the motivation for 
his sudden desire to cooperate with us. 
HERTELL