US embassy cable - 05ASUNCION767

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASUNCION 000767 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC AND EB/IFD/OIA 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/AA 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR SCRONIN AND LYANG 
NSC FOR KIM BREIER 
TREASURY FOR OSIA MAUREEN WAFER 
TREASURY FOR OTA WARFIELD, VAN KOCH, MILLAR 
COMMERCE FOR ITA SARAH COOK 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KWMN, MARR, OVIP 
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC UPDATE, JUNE 4-10 
 
REF: A. ASUNCION 744 
 
     B. ASUNCION 357 
 
1.  (U) Summary 
---------------- 
-- Rehabilitation Center Opens to Aid TIP Victims 
-- Duarte's New Appointments 
-- Council of Magistrates Administers New Testing Process 
-- Military Changes of Command 
-- Visit of Massachusetts State Senator Brown 
 
Rehabilitation Center Opens to Aid TIP Victims 
--------------------------------------------- - 
2.  (U) On June 8, the Ministry of Women inaugurated a new 
center for the rehabilitation of victims of trafficking in 
persons (TIP). The Center is funded in part through the 
memorandum of understanding, signed last September, which 
granted USD 155,000 to assist the GOP in combating TIP. The 
center will be staffed with psychologists, sociologists, and 
attorneys to assist victims who have been recently 
repatriated to Paraguay. The Ministry will also sponsor 
training seminars for local authorities to raise awareness 
about TIP issues and how the Center can assist victims, 
including the filing of criminal charges. The Minister of 
Women, Maria Jose Argana Mateu, and the Ambassador both spoke 
at the event highlighting the importance of combating 
Trafficking in Persons in Paraguay. The Center will open this 
month. 
 
Duarte's New Appointments 
------------------------- 
3.  (U) On June 7, President Duarte appointed former Vice 
Minister of Agriculture, Gustavo Nelson Ruiz Diaz, as the new 
Minister of Agriculture, replacing Antonio Ibanez who 
resigned on June 5 after allegations regarding his 
involvement in illicit meat sales to the National Police 
became public (ref A). Diaz, a recognized engineer in rural 
development who holds a Master's degree in agronomy from 
Oklahoma State University, asserts that he will modernize and 
enhance the technical profile of the ministry, replacing 
administrative personnel with experts in agriculture. 
Publicly, President Duarte charged him with combating 
corruption in the ministry as well as producing a favorable 
cotton crop in the upcoming harvest season. 
 
4.  (U) President Duarte,s former private secretary and the 
son of Antonio Ibanez, Jose Maria Ibanez, announced on June 9 
that he would accept a new position as Ambassador to the 
European Union in Brussels, Belgium.  Local press reported 
that Duarte had originally looked to Ibanez to replace Leila 
Rachid as the next Foreign Minister. However, during a press 
conference yesterday, Ibanez claimed that he could not accept 
the Foreign Minister position due to pressing family 
obligations.  (Note: It is understood he is referring to 
allegations regarding his father's involvement in the meat 
scandal. End Note.)  Duarte had paved the way for Ibanez to 
become the next Foreign Minister by appointing him as his 
political and international affairs advisor last week, 
despite criticism that he needed more international 
experience and was too junior for the position (ref A). 
(Note: Ibanez is 37 years old.) 
 
Council of Magistrates Administers New Testing Process 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
5.  (U) Per reftel (B), on February 16, the Council of 
Magistrates, a constitutionally mandated institution with the 
authority to nominate and select members of the judiciary, 
adopted a series of criteria to make the selection process 
more transparent and just. As part of the process, an 
examination was administered by the Judicial School under the 
Council to account for 20 percent of the score used to fill 
31 vacancies for criminal judges, of which 28 were new 
positions and 3 were existing seats. There were 535 
applicants, of which 186 signed up for the exam and 175 
actually took the exam.  The questions were selected at 
random from a pool of 600 pre-selected questions covering the 
Constitution, penal and procedure codes, Public Ministry 
Organic Law, and issues related to money laundering. Critics 
have voiced concern that the test score represents only 20 
percent of the selection criteria and there is no feedback 
regarding the remainder of the scoring, noting specifically 
the ambiguity of the evaluation of the interview and the low 
weight given to experience and Doctorate Degree. 
 
Comment: While the selection criteria still afford 
opportunities for influence peddling, the test represents a 
noteworthy step in the right direction towards introducing 
fairness and transparency. End comment. 
 
Military Changes of Command 
--------------------------- 
6.  (U) During a press conference on June 9, Minister of 
Defense Gonzalez announced that the Commander of the Army, 
General Luis Nicanor Bareiro Spaini will be replaced by 
Division General Ruben Alviso Gonzalez (current Chief of 
Staff of the Joint Staff) and that the Commander of the Navy, 
Admiral Julio Cesar Baez Acosta, will be replaced by Rear 
Admiral Miguel Caballero Dellaloggia (current Commander of 
the Navy,s War Fleet). General Jose Key Kanazawa Gamarra, 
Commander of Military Forces, and General Roberto Vera 
Ortega, Commander of the Air Force, will remain in their 
positions. Changes of command are to take place the morning 
of June 10. Though the press had been discussing the 
possibility of military leadership changes throughout the 
week, the actual announcement still came as a surprise. 
Unsubstantiated rumors indicated that Admiral Baez was let go 
because of recent increased media coverage over alleged 
corruption at the navy,s repair facility; General Bareiro 
was let go because he allegedly was not in agreement with the 
military,s increased support of law enforcement activities. 
Additional leadership changes at lower levels are scheduled 
to take place in the near future. 
 
Visit of Massachusetts State Senator Brown 
------------------------------------------ 
7.  (U) From June 6 - 10, post,s Office of Defense 
Cooperation (ODC), in coordination with the Paraguayan 
chapter of the Center of Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS), 
hosted a visit by Massachusetts State Senator Scott Brown as 
part of its State Partnership Program.  Brown participated in 
a series of conferences with civil society and military 
leaders promoting greater transparency between civil society 
and the military in debating the role of the military in a 
democratic society.  Brown, a member of the Massachusetts 
National Guard, in addition to being a State Senator, also 
met leading members of Paraguay,s Congress stressing the 
importance of transparency and challenging them to provide 
the military the resources it needs to meet the tasks it is 
assigned, including disaster relief, road construction, and 
police support.  The visit was well received by military and 
Congressional leaders reinforcing the merits of the strong 
exchange program post has created between the Massachusetts 
National Guard and the Paraguayan military. 
WILLIAMS