US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO2095

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 002095 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/PCC,WHA/EPSC, INL; 
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON;LABOR FOR ILAB; 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD; TREASURY FOR OASIA-LCARTER 
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, SNAR, DR, Dominican Politics 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN POLITICS # 22: INVESTIGATING HIPOLITO 
MEJIA 
 
 
1. (SBU) This is #22 in our current series on politics in the 
Dominican Republic: 
 
Investigating Hipolito Mejia 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
Politically motivated Santo Domingo District Attorney Juan 
Hernandez Peguero would like for the public to expect 
Hipolito Mejia to go to jail.  Hernandez told the press on 
Monday. April 11, that yes, he was looking into the 
connections between narcotics trafficker Quirino Paulino and 
senior members of the Mejia administration, particularly in 
connection with the irregular appointment of Paulino as a 
military officer and the subsequent promotion of Qurino to 
the rank of captain.  The papers carry Mejia,s signature. 
Miguel Soto Jimenez, head of the military at the time, told 
investigators that he had advised Mejia against signing the 
decree, without effect. 
We learned on April 13, that the DA Hernandez had issued a 
subpoena for Mejia to appear in court on April 19 to testify 
in connection with &any and all matters related to the 
Paulino case.8  Today,s papers all carried the news in bold 
headlines, along with Mejia,s assertion that not only will 
he appear on the 19th but he will also go on television the 
previous night to give his version. 
Mejia has been feeling the heat.  At a political meeting over 
the weekend of April 9-10, he waved a document at reporters 
and read out a list of names of individuals he said had been 
indicted by the U.S. court in the Paulino case.  No one named 
had held a position in Mejia,s administration. 
On April 13 Attorney General Francisco Domnguez Brito told 
journalists that the Dominican government has received no 
list, official or unofficial, from the USG.  That was correct 
when he said it.  Our pol/legal officer conferred with him 
informally later that the day, indicating we had no idea 
where Mejia had gotten the list.  The Ambassador called the 
AG that evening. 
At a press dinner for the Ambassador shortly afterward, 
senior journalists were eager to know whether Mejia,s 
information was correct.  The Ambassador told them that the 
USG does not comment on ongoing investigations. 
In fact, Mejia,s list was indeed accurate and complete ) at 
least for the Quirino indictment.  We speculate that he may 
have obtained it from the defense attorney of any of the 
several accused already under arrest in the United States. 
Under U.S. evidentiary disclosure rules, they will have 
received a copy of the Federal indictment with all names. 
One other encounter to note: District Attorney Hernandez 
Peguero called on the Ambassador a week ago, on April 6, for 
a rambling conversation in which he expressed the hope that 
the USG might share with him as soon as possible the 
information debriefed from Paulino in New York.  The 
Ambassador heard him out, told him that the U.S. would 
provide the information officially and through channels at 
the appropriate time, and reminded him that certain Dominican 
law enforcement offices had been found to have leaked USG 
information directly to Quirino before the arrest. 
Hernandez didn't have much to say after that. 
The President names each District Attorney.  Although the DAs 
are part of the structure of the Public Ministry (Department 
of Justice) headed by Attorney General Dominguez Brito, the 
AG does not have the unlimited authority, because he cannot 
remove them.   Only the President can do that.  Hernandez 
Peguero has the authority to look into the Quirino case, 
since the seizure of Paulino,s 1380 kg of cocaine occurred 
in downtown Santo Domingo.  Our contact in the Attorney 
General,s office comment that their relations with the Santo 
Domingo DA still, still continue to be good (&todavia8 ) 
and we read the implication that the DA,s grandstanding 
hasn,t been helpful). 
 
2. (U) Drafted by Michael Meigs. 
 
3. (U) This piece and others in our series can be consulted 
on our classified SIPRNET site 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/  along with 
extensive other material. 
HERTELL