US embassy cable - 03GUATEMALA555

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 000555 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, SNAR, PHUM, GT, CACS 
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH ATTORNEY GENERAL DE LEON 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  In a dinner conversation February 28, De 
Leon told the Ambassador that he would seek to energize 
investigations of murdered American citizens and labor 
leaders, to beef up his office on money laundering 
investigations and said that, if invited, he would attend the 
next high-level meeting on counter-narcotics cooperation with 
the Ambassador.  He professes to be a big supporter of the 
proposal to investigate clandestine groups, but opposes the 
human rights, ombudsman,s key role in the selection of 
members.  End summary. 
 
2. (SBU) De Leon and his wife hosted the Ambassador and Mrs. 
Hamilton to dinner February 28.  This was mostly a social 
occasion, but covered the following substantive topics: 
 
Murdered American citizens 
------------------------------------ 
3. (SBU)   The Ambassador briefed De Leon on his meeting, 
February 27, with the special prosecutor assigned to American 
citizen cases (septel), commenting that she and her two 
assistants seemed sincere and well-intentioned, but 
over-whelmed by the difficulty of the cases (to which she was 
assigned after initial investigations were bungled or 
non-existent).  Would it be possible to take her out of the 
normal duty rotation, in order to lighten her caseload?  De 
Leon avoided saying yes, but did agree to another suggestion, 
that he meet with her to review progress in the cases every 
month or two.  The Ambassador said he would continue to meet 
with her every two months, noting that progress in these 
cases is a high priority for us and that they could figure 
prominently in Congressional debates on CAFTA approval and 
the like. 
 
Labor rights 
--------------- 
4. (SBU)  The Ambassador briefed De Leon on the AFL-CIO GSP 
petition, telling him that unresolved cases of threats and 
violence against labor leaders figure centrally in the 
petition.  To date, none of the cases of the last two years 
has been resolved.  Could he take an interest in these cases 
and seek to energize the prosecutors handling them?  De Leon 
said he would. 
 
Clandestine Group Investigation Proposal 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
5. (SBU)  De Leon professed to be a strong supporter of the 
need to investigate and prosecute clandestine groups but, 
toward the end of the evening, returned to this topic to say 
he opposed having the Human Rights Ombudsman produce the 
slate of names for three members (as proposed by Human Rights 
Watch official Jose Miguel Vivanco).  De Leon was so adamant 
about this seemingly innocuous feature of the proposal that 
it belied his claim to favor it. 
 
Counter-narcotics meeting 
--------------------------------- 
6. (SBU)  The Ambassador tweaked De Leon for pledging 
personally to attend the February 21 high-level meeting on 
drug cooperation only not to be represented at all.  Looking 
sheepish, De Leon said he had meant to come but got tied up 
in the teachers, strike and that, in any event, the public 
ministry had not been invited this time.  The Ambassador said 
we would check with the foreign ministry about participation. 
 
Money laundering investigations 
----------------------------------------- 
7. (SBU)  The Ambassador told De Leon frankly that his office 
on money laundering investigations is seriously understaffed, 
that the financial analysis unit in the tax superintendency 
is raring to go but has a weak partner in the public 
ministry.  De Leon acknowledged the point and promised to 
beef up the office significantly, when he gets a total of 150 
new auxiliary prosecutors in about another month. 
 
8. (SBU) In an unsolicited comment, De Leon gave our visa 
revocation of Attorney Fernando Linares a big thumbs up. 
 
Bio note 
----------- 
9. (SBU)  De Leon,s wife, Maria del Maria Carpio Nicole, is 
the daughter of former vice president Roberto Carpio Nicole 
(1985-1990) and the niece of politician and newspaper editor 
Jorge Carpio Nicole, who was assassinated in 1993.  Her first 
cousin, Jorge Carpio,s son, was married to Karen Fischer, De 
Leon,s special prosecutor on corruption.  The De Leon,s 
have a 15-year-old daughter, Michelle, who lives with Mrs. De 
Leon's sister and two cousins in Boston, attending high 
school there, out of the De Leons, concern that his job puts 
her security at risk in Guatemala.  The De Leons spent a year 
at the Kennedy School at Harvard in the late 1980s; he was a 
classmate of Jose Maria Figueres, who was subsequently 
(1994-1998) President of Costa Rica.  The  De Leon's live in 
a modest home 15 kilometers outside Guatemala City. 
HAMILTON