US embassy cable - 04PANAMA2661

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PANAMA 002661 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, PM, LABOR, HUMAN RIGHTS,POLMIL 
SUBJECT: PANAMA PROTESTS: THE STORY BEHIND BOCAS VIOLENCE 
 
REF: PANAMA 892 
 
 
Classified By: CHARGE CMCMULLEN for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C)  A peaceful protest in a north coast town far from 
the capital against an electric company veered into violence 
on October 24 after a radical group exploited local tensions 
and attacked the national police (PNP) with iron bars and 
Molotov cocktails, injuring 28 people including 24 officers. 
The PNP released all 22 detainees after the incident on a 
judge's order, who cited improper arrest procedures.  The GOP 
continues its dialog with the local community to reduce the 
prospect of more violence.  This confrontation revealed a key 
PNP vulnerability -- i.e., its inability to respond 
effectively to violence in remote areas.  It is a 
vulnerability that mischief-makers, including radical labor 
leaders, could exploit to their advantage.  End Summary. 
 
 
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DISGUST WITH BANANA COMPANY'S ELECTRICAL SERVICE 
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2.  (U)  On October 22, several hundred irate residents of 
Almirante, Bocas del Toro blocked the road connecting the 
plantations of the Bocas Fruit Company (BFC) to the capital 
with burning tires and 55 gallon drums filled with stones. 
The BFC supplies Bocas residents with electricity and potable 
water.  Residents already frustrated with a thirteen-hour 
power and water outage, turned to protest when a power surge 
caused a fire that gutted several apartment buildings.  The 
power outage had disabled the town's water system and 
firefighters lacked water to extinguish the blaze. 
 
 
3.  (U)  Earlier this month, Almirante and other Bocas 
residents blocked the BFC road in a peaceful protest after 
the BFC raised the price of electricity.  Following 
high-level GOP intervention, the residents opened the road 
after the BFC agreed to reverse the price hike. 
 
 
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BAD COPS INFILTRATE PROTEST... 
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4.  (C)  According to one government account, on October 24 
the peaceful protest turned violent because former PNP 
officer and convicted drug trafficker Nazario (or Nazareno) 
Silvano Gonzalez and dozens of his cronies infiltrated the 
peaceful protesters.  Gonzalez's followers included other 
former PNP officers dismissed for drug offenses.  When PNP 
officers attempted to clear the road with tear gas, criminal 
elements threw Molotov cocktails, stones, and fireworks. 
They attacked PNP officers with metal bars, breaking arms and 
legs.  They also kidnapped three PNP officers and held them 
for five hours.  Some 28 people were injured, some of them 
seriously, including 24 police officers.  According to one 
governmental source, the original community marchers withdrew 
from the protest when it turned violent.  Government 
officials believe Gonzalez escaped to Costa Rica. 
 
 
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...OR WAS IT A LEFTIST UNION? 
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5.  (C)  According to other police and government sources, 
leftist construction workers union SUNTRACS (see reftel) 
joined the protest on October 23 and incited the group to 
violence.  Police observed the Bocas SUNTRACS leader and 
numerous red SUNTRACS flags at the scene. 
 
 
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DETAINEES RELEASED, CLAIM POLICE ABUSE 
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6.  (SBU)  The PNP detained 22 people in connection with the 
protests.  Despite Minister of Government and Justice Hector 
Aleman's reported vow to use a "hard hand" against the 
violent protesters, the PNP released the detainees during the 
evening of October 26 after municipal judge Teresa Morales 
ruled that Almirante officials did not follow proper 
procedures in making the arrests.  The released detainees 
claim that the PNP brutally beat them in detention and the 
media published pictures of their injuries. 
 
 
7.  (SBU)  On October 27, SUNTRACS formally asked the 
Ombudsman's office to investigate.  The Ombudsman's office, 
which sent a fact-finding mission to Bocas del Toro to 
investigate on October 26, plans to ask the PNP's office of 
internal affairs and the Ministry of Government and Justice 
for a report.  The GOP is maintaining a dialog with Almirante 
residents, who acknowledge that the government has been 
helpful. 
 
 
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COMMENT 
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8.  (C)  The violence reflects poorly on the PNP's ability to 
maintain order in one of Panama's more remote areas.  PNP 
officers failed to control the crowds and failed to defend 
themselves from an admittedly violent gang of thugs, leading 
to a large number of police injuries.  PNP detentions did not 
withstand judicial scrutiny.  Gonzalez and some of his 
cronies are former PNP agents.  While Gonzalez and other 
instigators do not appear to be big time traffickers, the 
PNP's inability to control even "small fry" in this 
drug-soaked region looks bad.  And one can only speculate why 
a judge freed all 22 detainees accused of aggravated assault 
after MOGJ Aleman said publicly that he would take a hard 
line with violent offenders.  To top it off, the evidence 
suggests that the detainees were abused in police custody. 
While GOP sources have portrayed the violence as an isolated 
incident caused by "habitual criminals," violence could 
reemerge if the GOP cannot put an end to recurring disputes 
that pit citizens against the Bocas Fruit Company. 
 
 
9.  (C)  The alleged participation of Cuban-funded SUNTRACS 
in the violent protest could portend more opportunistic 
violence.  SUNTRACS led violent protests in Panama City in 
September 2003 following the dismissal of Social Security 
Chief Ian Jovane.  Nonetheless, fears by rank-and-file PNP 
officers that the release of the protesters augurs open 
season on PNP officers appear overblown. 
 
 
 
 
MCMULLEN