US embassy cable - 05ASUNCION593

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000593 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC 
NSC FOR KIM BREIER 
TREASURY FOR OSIA MAUREEN WAFER 
TREASURY FOR OTA WARFIELD, VAN KOCH, MILLAR 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KCRM, PINR, PA 
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY: MOI "MEDDLING" PROMPTS RESIGNATION OF 
POLICE CHIEF 
 
REF: ASUNCION 557 
 
Classified By: Political Chief James P. Merz for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d 
). 
 
1. (C)  On 4/21, Carlos Zelaya, Paraguay's Police Chief 
resigned and was replaced by Fidel Isasa Palacios, Paraguay's 
fourth officer to lead the police since Duarte became 
President in August 2003.   According to SENAD Director 
Ibarra, Zelaya resigned over frustration with "meddling" in 
internal police affairs by Interior Minister Benitez.  On 
4/19, Benitez made an unannounced visit to a police station 
and observed several off-duty police officers drinking beer. 
Instead of taking up the matter directly with Zelaya, 
however, he called President Duarte.  When Duarte, in turn, 
called Zelaya to ask, "Why are your folks getting drunk on 
the job?" Zelaya could only reply, "I have no idea what you 
are talking about."  Zelaya was embarrassed and furious.  Two 
days later, he resigned. 
2.  (U)  Ibarra maintains this experience speaks volumes 
about the institutional culture disconnect between the Chief 
of Police and the Minister of Interior.  While the latter 
retains some administrative authority over the Police Chief, 
the Chief is ultimately responsible to the President who can 
hire and fire him.  Ibarra flags as equally important the 
fact that senior police officials do not respect the 
authority of a civilian with no military/police experience as 
is the case with Benitez.  To that end, Ibarra thought 
selection of Mario Agustin Sapriza Nunez as the Interior 
Ministry's new deputy minister for internal security a wise 
one.  Sapriza Nunez is a former Police Chief himself and will 
serve as liaison between the Interior Minister and the 
Police.  Given his experience and rank as a police official, 
Sapriza should likely command far greater respect and 
authority than Benitez in his relations with the Police. 
3.  (U)  On a broader scale, Ibarra spoke to the problem 
police and military officials have exercising authority over 
their peers.  Police and military officials come in together 
as a class and are promoted through the ranks together as a 
class.  When one of them becomes the Chief of Police, it is 
not unusual that he has working under him many of the 
classmates with whom he has passed through the ranks over the 
past 25 years.  While his title would suggest he exercises 
authority over them, Ibarra maintained that Paraguayan 
culture dictates he treat them as his friends rather than his 
subordinates.  Such a relationship undercuts his authority. 
The conclusion Ibarra draws is that it is better that your 
subordinates fear you than like you and as such that senior 
ranking officials should not hire their friends.  Ibarra 
retired from the military as a colonel and many of the folks 
with whom he served in the military have asked him for a job. 
 As a rule, however, Ibarra maintains that he has refused to 
hire them out of concern his friendship with them would 
undercut his authority. 
4. (C)  Comment:  The Paraguayan National Police have a 
well-deserved reputation for being incompetent and corrupt. 
Benitez, a young and pro-active former mayor,  relatively 
green to politics on the national scale and under pressure 
from the President to improve the reputation of the police, 
has adopted an aggressive stance in his dealings with the 
police issuing high-handed directives and outing bad 
practices such as drinking on the job.  In so doing, he rubs 
up against what is perceived as the institutional culture and 
domain of the National Police.  He is also vulnerable to 
accusations of seeking photo-op opportunities by addressing 
relatively small police sins while deeper problems remain. 
Isasa Palacios spoke vaguely to this issue when, upon taking 
office, he announced his first priority was to "rebuild the 
morale" of the police corps.  Isasa may have found himself 
swimming against the tide of public opinion as well as the 
President, however, as both the public and the President are 
far more concerned about the state of public security than 
the morale of the police.  Several days later, Isasa Palacios 
affirmed it was essential the police take measures to 
reestablish a sense of public security as its leading 
responsibility. 
KEANE