US embassy cable - 05SANSALVADOR2964

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SAN SALVADOR 002964 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2025 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KSUM, KCOR, EINV, ETRD, ES 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAISES SUMMIT, ETHICS DECREE, FDR 
CONTROVERSY WITH PRESIDENT SACA 
 
REF: SALVADOR 2913 
 
Classified By: Ambassador H. Douglas Barclay.  Reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  On October 31, the Ambassador met with 
President Saca to review GOES support at the upcoming Summit 
of the Americas, the controversy regarding certification of 
the moderate left FDR Party, rumors of a new government 
ethics decree, and Secretary of Commerce Gutierrez recent 
visit.  Saca assured the Ambassador that he is only going to 
Mar del Plata because President Bush is going, that he 
intends to support the President and U.S. positions there, 
but that he is concerned about what Chavez will do. Saca 
expressed disappointment that the President was unable to 
visit El Salvador on his way to, or back from Mar del Plata, 
and extended another invitation for the President to visit 
sometime between now and the March 2006 national elections 
here.  On the FDR controversy, Saca said that the FDR will be 
given every opportunity to qualify as a political party, but 
that they must meet the legal requirements.  Saca told the 
Ambassador privately that he will sign a decree creating an 
Ethics Office in the Executive to prevent and watch over 
corruption.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) On October 31, the Ambassador met with Salvadoran 
President Saca at the Ambassador's request to review issues 
of mutual interest, including the Mar del Plata Summit, 
movement on an ethics law, and recent controversy over the 
certification of the Revolutionary Democratic Party (FDR), a 
moderate offshoot of the FMLN.  Saca was joined by Private 
Secretary to the President Elmer Charlaix; the Ambassador was 
 
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accompanied by DCM and Polcouns (notetaker).  The Ambassador 
recounted the success of the recent visit by Secretary of 
Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, thanked Saca for having convened 
all the Central American presidents, and remarked that 
Secretary Gutierrez had been very impressed by El Salvador's 
 
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potential to take advantage of the benefits of CAFTA-DR.  He 
added that Secretary Gutierrez had been impressed by Saca and 
his leadership in the region.  Saca affirmed that he, too, 
had been very impressed with Gutierrez and assured that El 
Salvador would comply with all CAFTA-DR requirements by 
December, but was concerned that Costa Rica would not likely 
ratify in time. 
 
3.  C) The Ambassador then recounted his earlier meeting with 
GOES Foreign Minister Francisco Lainez (reftel), in which the 
Ambassador asked that the Salvadoran government support USG 
positions at the Mar del Plata Summit, especially on the 
Summit Declaration and a separate declaration on Doha.  The 
Ambassador asked Saca to support U.S. positions and to take a 
leadership role in that regard among his neighbors. Saca 
replied that his government has always been a very close ally 
of the U.S., that he treasures his personal relationship with 
President Bush, and that the GOES would indeed support U.S. 
positions at the Summit.  He added that, because of this 
special relationship with President Bush, he had hoped that 
President Bush would have accepted his invitation to stop in 
El Salvador either on the way to Mar del Plata or on the way 
back.  Saca asked the Ambassador to convey an invitation to 
President Bush to visit El Salvador in the next few months, 
prior to the March 2006 national elections, since such a 
visit would be politically important for Saca and his ARENA 
party to defeat the FMLN.  The Ambassador assured Saca that 
he would pass the message.  Regarding the Summit, Saca said 
that there are now way too many summits and meetings, but 
that he is going to Mar del Plata only/only because President 
Bush is going and to support the U.S.  He said he was 
relieved that Castro would not attend the Summit because it 
would reduce the potential for mischief, but was concerned 
about Chavez' behavior at the Summit. 
 
4.  (C) The Ambassador then raised the controversy 
surrounding the certification of the FDR Party, and told Saca 
that Washington was concerned that the inability of the FDR 
to qualify not be tied to political motives rather than 
strict adherence to the law. (Note:  The Revolutionary 
Democratic Party, composed of disenchanted FMLN deputies, 
mayors, and other political leaders, had applied to the 
Supreme Electoral Tribunal for legal status over a month ago, 
and had submitted the legally-required 40,000 plus write-in 
signatures to qualify.  Late last week, the Tribunal 
completed its signature verification process, and found that 
some 5,000 signatures are, in essence, fraudulent.  The FDR 
leadership has accused the GOES of nullifying its signatures 
because FDR deputies in the National Assembly did not agree 
to support the re-election of the Attorney General, an ARENA 
stalwart.  End Note.)  Saca said that his government did not 
interfere in any way in the TSE decision to disqualify the 
signatures and that the TSE audit was strictly technical, and 
invited the Embassy to meet with TSE President Walter Araujo 
and view the evidence. (Note:  TSE President Araujo will make 
a presentation on this issue to Polcouns on November 1.  End 
Note.) Saca said there are "serious problems" with the FDR 
signatures, including massive fraud, and assured there is no 
political motive for him to block the FDR, since the FDR 
would clearly take votes away from the FMLN and would help 
weaken the left in the March 2006 elections, thus indirectly 
helping ARENA.  He stressed that the FDR will be given every 
opportunity to gather the 5,000 signatures it still needs to 
qualify, but that he will not interfere in the process to 
benefit the FDR if the FDR does not qualify under the law. 
Saca cautioned that not all FDR adherents are moderate left, 
but repeated twice that many of their leaders are "nostalgic 
FMLN," are not pro-American, and would certainly not support 
our efforts in Iraq, Cafta-DR, or many other issues important 
to the U.S. 
 
5.  (C) Asked by Ambassador about rumors Saca intends to pass 
a decree creating an Ethics Office in the Executive Branch, 
Saca privately confirmed that "they are not rumors, it's 
true." Saca said that he would sign the decree late October 
31 or early November 1, prior to his departure for Mar del 
Plata, but that he would not announce it until his return 
from the Summit because his schedule did not permit it.  He 
said he has instructed Technical Secretary to the Presidency 
Eduardo Zablah to convey the news to Zablah's Millennium 
Challenge interlocutors.  (Note:  Zablah is the GOES lead on 
the MCA process.  End Note.)  Saca said that the decree 
called for creation of an Executive Branch office whose 
principal roles would be "to prevent" corruption among 
Executive Branch employees and act as a watchdog on 
transparency issues, including government licitation 
processes. 
 
6.  (C) Comment:  Saca is clearly disappointed that that the 
President was unable to accept his invitation to stop in El 
Salvador and is hoping that a visit in the next few months by 
President Bush will help boost Saca and ARENA's chances to 
trounce the FMLN in the March 2006 national elections.  As 
Saca has said repeatedly, he feels he needs to increase the 
number of ARENA seats in the National Assembly substantially 
to be able to complete his agenda in his last three years, 
and give ARENA the momentum it will need to defeat the FMLN 
in 2009. Regarding the FDR controversy, both the GOES 
Executive and the TSE appear confident that they have the 
goods on the FDR, and are making it clear that, unless the 
FDR meets the legal requirements, they will not be certified. 
Barclay