US embassy cable - 05ASUNCION355

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASUNCION 000355 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA A/S NORIEGA, PDAS DERHAM, DAS JEWELL; WHA/PD 
(GOULD); IIP (JORIA, MANES); R/PPR 
LAC/AA FRANCO 
NSC FOR KIM BREIER, TOM SHANNON 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, PTER, PGOV, SNAR, PREL, PA 
SUBJECT: Embassy Information Campaign Spotlights Connections 
Among FARC, Kidnappings, Drug Traffickers, Local Subversives 
and Police Corruption 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  Paraguayan law enforcement and the judiciary 
suffer from widespread public distrust.  Moreover, few 
people in this remote outpost at the end of a spur line are 
informed about Colombia and the insidious and powerful mix 
of insurgency, drug trafficking, kidnapping and other 
crimes.  Post decided that a forceful, factual campaign 
publicizing the GOP's findings regarding the FARC role in 
the Cubas kidnapping/murder, and drawing attention to FARC 
narcotics smuggling in Paraguay, would also advance US 
objectives to secure the extradition of Ivan Mendes Mesquita 
and reduce the promotion chances for drug-connected police 
commissioner Aristides Cabral.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
BASIC FACTS 
----------- 
2.  On 9/21/2004, Cecilia Cubas, daughter of Paraguay's ex- 
president Raul Cubas, was kidnapped in Asuncion.  Cecilia's 
abduction and the subsequent highly publicized search for 
her came to symbolize the violence and insecurity that 
plague Asuncion's residents.  Numerous individuals were 
arrested in connection with her kidnapping in the ensuing 
months although no trace of Cecilia was found.  On 2/14 news 
broke that investigators had established a link between her 
kidnappers and the FARC using evidence from email and cell 
phone communications.  On 2/16 her body was found in a 
tunnel underneath a home in the Asuncion area.  Drug- 
trafficker Mendes Mesquita, a prominent Beira Mar 
collaborator with FARC connections, was apprehended in 
Paraguay on 11/24/2004 and is currently being held under 
charges here.  His extradition has been requested by the 
U.S.  Aristides Cabral is a police officer who has protected 
drug traffickers for at least 4 years and is awaiting 
potential promotion by the Senate to the most senior ranks 
of the police.  His promotion would set back our CD program 
and call into question the GOP's seriousness about fighting 
corruption when it involves those linked to the most 
powerful Colorado Party politicians. 
 
REVIEW OF MEDIA COVERAGE 
------------------------- 
3.  Cecilia's kidnapping was front-page news in all of 
Asuncion's three major dailies for weeks after her 
abduction.  During the intervening months each paper 
dedicated multiple pages to the story every day.  Radio and 
television coverage throughout this time was equally heavy. 
With the February 14 revelations of the role of the FARC in 
the crime media coverage skyrocketed.  Finally, after her 
body was found, the story completely dominated all media 
outlets for weeks.  It was the only story covered on radio 
and television while the three dailies devoted an average of 
20 pages in each edition to the events surrounding the 
kidnap and murder.  Paraguay's media closely followed the 
Colombian press throughout the ordeal (and continue to do 
so) often running stories reporting on coverage in Bogota. 
 
EMBASSY PD EFFORTS 
------------------ 
4.   Over the years, FARC involvement in criminal activity, 
particularly drug trafficking, in Paraguay has been 
downplayed or ignored by Paraguayan officials and media.  In 
addition, widespread public sympathy for leftist 
organizations and distrust of government institutions makes 
belief in the GOP's claims of FARC activity difficult in 
many quarters.  The Embassy public affairs effort aimed to 
underline the reality of FARC involvement. 
 
5.  The week of the FARC revelations and discovery of the 
body, the Ambassador had made himself available to media 
after a previously-arranged press conference with visiting 
Millennium Challenge Account officials.  The orchestrated 
second press availability focused on the link between the 
FARC and various criminal elements in Paraguay.  The 
Ambassador specifically addressed FARC ties to drug- 
trafficker Mendes Mesquita and encouraged government 
officials and the public to take the necessary measures to 
improve public security. 
 
6.  On 2/25 Radio Nanduti broadcast a live interview with 
the Ambassador during its most popular morning program that 
centered on the same themes. During that interview, the 
Ambassador underscored the modus operandi of the FARC, that 
is, the nexus among FARC subversives, kidnappers, drug 
traffickers, and the police and other officials they bribe. 
This led into a discussion of Mendes Mezquita and Cabral. 
The interview was subsequently published repeatedly in 
newspaper coverage.  Paraguayan daily "ABC Color" also 
interviewed the Ambassador regarding the FARC and organized 
crime in Paraguay and published the interview in its 3/1 
edition.  Nanduti is the most influential radio station in 
Paraguay with approximately one million listeners while "ABC 
Color" is the most widely-read and influential newspaper, 
with a daily press run of 50,000.  PAS Asuncion arranged 
both interviews. 
 
7.  In addition, PAS and the Front Office verbally and 
electronically distributed open-source information on how 
the FARC operates.  This information was disseminated both 
in response to requests from journalists and policy-makers 
and at our own initiative. 
 
8.   COMMENT: A diplomatic mission taking a strong public 
stance is a two-edged sword in Paraguay.  Harsh criticism 
and vehement condemnation from knee-jerk anti-Americans, 
blind followers of leftist doctrine, and those who are paid 
by the traffickers or are beholden to politicians who 
benefit from the country's pervasive lawlessness, (whether 
land invasions, cattle rustling, contraband, embezzlements, 
shakedowns, drug trafficking, money laundering or 
kidnapping) is immediate.  Getting the truth out and in 
front of reasonable people, however, is more than worth the 
backlash in the short term.  In the long haul, the 
assistance of Chile, Colombia and perhaps others is vital in 
our struggle against criminal elements in Paraguay.  The 
more others are involved and our hand is less visible, the 
fewer risks there are for success by opponents of change who 
seek to brand President Duarte's security and public safety 
drive as capitulation to alleged U.S. designs. 
 
KEANE