US embassy cable - 05ASUNCION1329

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASUNCION 001329 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA A/S NORIEGA AND PDAS DERHAM 
STATE ALSO FOR DS/T/ATA 
STATE PASS TO USAID LAC/AA 
BUENOS AIRES FOR LEGAT WILLIAM GODOY 
NSC FOR SUE CRONIN 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, PINR, KCRM, PA 
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY: UPDATE ON CUBAS KIDNAPPING CASE 
 
REF: ASUNCION 01119 AND PRECEDING 
 
1. (U) Summary: On October 13, a Paraguayan judge indicted 15 
suspects in the kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas. 
Several of the defendants have ties to the leftist Free 
Fatherland Party (Partido Patria Libre, or "PPL").  The judge 
stayed the proceedings with respect to three individuals who 
were accused in the early stages of the investigation.  The 
Cubas family reportedly has received death threats in recent 
weeks.  PPL faction leader Osmar Martinez repeated earlier 
admissions that he has amicable relations with the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and supports 
armed struggle as a means to overthrow elected governments. 
End Summary. 
 
2. (U) On October 13, a Paraguayan judge indicted 15 suspects 
in the kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas, daughter of 
former President Raul Cubas (reftels).  All 15 of the 
suspects were indicted on charges of kidnapping, murder, and 
criminal association.  Two of the suspects were also indicted 
on documents charges.  The various defendants' involvement in 
the case ranged from masterminding the crime, to conducting 
surveillance of the victim, to making logistical arrangements 
in connection with the house where the victim was held and a 
safe house for members of the criminal gang. 
 
3. (U) Several of the defendants have ties to the PPL.  At 
least one of them, Aldo Meza, appears in a PPL kidnapping 
rehearsal video seized in 2003 during the investigation of 
the 2001 kidnapping of Maria Edith Bordon de Debernardi 
(reftels).  Meza and at least two other suspects in the Cubas 
case have been implicated in the Debernardi kidnapping. 
Meza's sister, Magna Meza, is serving time for her conviction 
in the Debernardi case. 
 
4. (U) The following 15 suspects were indicted on October 13: 
 
-- Osmar Martinez, leader of a militant PPL faction and 
suspected mastermind of the Cubas kidnapping 
-- Anastasio Mieres, a PPL member 
-- Jose Martinez, a PPL member and Osmar Martinez's brother 
-- Francisca Andina, a PPL member 
-- Asael Salas, a PPL member 
-- Aldo Meza, who appears in the PPL kidnapping video 
-- Vaciano Acosta, alias "Luciano" 
-- Manuel Portillo, alias "Saul" 
-- Pedro Chamorro, alias "Emilio" 
-- Lidia Samudio, alias "Tania" 
-- Rosalba Jara Drakeford, alias "Ana Rosa" 
-- Jose Hidalgo Ayala, a former policeman 
-- Sebastian Osorio Gonzalez 
-- Jose Domingo Martinez Duran 
-- Roberto Otazu Busto 
 
5. (U) The judge stayed the proceedings with respect to the 
following three individuals who were accused in the early 
stages of the investigation: 
 
-- Marciana Amalia Benitez, whose stolen identification card 
apparently was used by a member of the criminal gang to 
obtain a cellular phone; 
 
-- Hernan Nunez Sanguina, whose stolen identification card 
also apparently was used by a member of the criminal gang to 
obtain a cellular phone; 
 
-- Emilio Rojas Garcete, whose stolen identification card 
apparently was used by a member of the criminal gang to 
purchase the house where Ms. Cubas was held. 
 
6. (U) The Cubas family reportedly received death threats in 
recent weeks.  The authorities believe the threats were 
related to the former First Lady's public support for the 
prosecution in her daughter's case.  The family has filed a 
criminal complaint against the perpetrators of the threats, 
but their identity remains unclear. 
 
7. (SBU) In statements to the press, Osmar Martinez repeated 
earlier admissions that he has amicable relations with the 
FARC and supports armed struggle as a means to overthrow 
elected governments.  Despite also repeating incriminating 
statements that he communicated with FARC leaders by means of 
an email account that has been connected to the kidnappers, 
Martinez denied any involvement in the kidnapping and 
asserted that he and his fellow PPL members were being 
persecuted because of their leftist ideology.  (Comment: The 
evidence against Martinez and other members of his militant 
PPL faction seems irrefutable and Martinez's claims of 
political persecution frivolous.) 
KEANE