US embassy cable - 03GUATEMALA1728

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 001728 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2013 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KCRM, KJUS, GT 
SUBJECT: INTERIOR MINISTER COMMENTS ON ASSAULT AGAINST 
PUBLISHER 
 
REF: GUATEMALA 1658 
 
Classified By: PolOff Robert E. Copley for reasons 1.5 (b). 
 
1. (C) Summary:  The Ambassador met on June 27 with Interior 
Minister Reyes Calderon to express concern over the June 24 
criminal attack of the home of newspaper publisher Jose Ruben 
Zamora, and to urge a thorough investigation.  Reyes Calderon 
said that the Public Ministry was investigating the case, 
despite the lack of cooperation by Zamora.  He stressed that 
he has no reason to doubt that the assault had occurred the 
way Zamora described it, but added that the facts that have 
surfaced so far do not add up.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) The Ambassador paid a call on Minister of Interior 
Jose Reyes Calderon on June 27 to raise, inter alia, our 
concerns over the June 24 criminal attack on the home of "El 
Periodico" editor and GOG critic Jose Ruben Zamora (reftel). 
The Ambassador told Reyes Calderon that it is critical that 
the GOG conduct a thorough investigation of the incident. 
Reyes Calderon acknowledged the importance of resolving this 
case and said that his Ministry was doing everything it could 
to assist the Public Ministry which, he repeatedly pointed 
out, is legally in charge of the investigation.  Reyes 
Calderon said he hoped Mr. Zamora would cooperate more fully 
with the investigation because it was extremely important to 
get to the truth of what happened in such a high profile 
case, and his cooperation, which has so far been limited, was 
essential. 
 
3. (C) Reyes Calderon stressed that he had known Zamora 
personally for many years and considered him to be a man of 
honor.  He commented, however, that a number of factors in 
Zamora's account of the incident are unusual.  For example, 
Reyes Calderon said that in "typical" acts of intimidation, 
the aggressors use masks to terrorize the victim and usually 
destroy some of the victim's property to heighten the terror 
and to demonstrate their control of the situation.  According 
to Zamora, the group that attacked him included a woman and 
wore no masks.  They spent around two hours threatening 
Zamora in his house.  According to Reyes Calderon, two hours 
would be an extremely risky and unnecessary amount of time to 
spend in the home if the goal was simply to deliver the 
message that Zamora should tone down his attacks on the 
government or on organized crime. 
 
4. (C) Reyes Calderon said he had been able to inspect the 
entire house and observed no sign of violence (Note: RSO and 
PolOff visited the Zamora house about six hours after the 
incident and observed no signs of violence in the rooms they 
visited.  Zamora appeared unhurt and one of his teenage sons 
with whom they spoke showed no sign of physical abuse and 
seemed unusually calm given his recent ordeal (reftel). End 
note).  No fingerprints have been found in the house except 
for those of the family and household staff, according to 
Reyes Calderon, who finds it strange that the attackers would 
make no attempt to hide their faces, yet manage not to leave 
fingerprints during two hours in the house.  He also pointed 
out that the Zamora house is less than one hundred yards and 
in the direct line of sight of a guarded gate controlling 
access to the residential area.  According to Reyes Calderon, 
all of the license plates recorded by the guards the morning 
of the incident belonged to residents of the neighborhood 
(Note: EmbOffs entered the neighborhood by a different gate 
several blocks from the main entrance in an Embassy vehicle. 
The guards at this gate were unsure of the location of 
Zamora's house, and granted access without requesting 
identification.  Typically residential security guards 
provide very little security and would have nothing to gain 
and possibly their lives to lose if they admit to witnessing 
an assault such as the one on Zamora. End note). 
 
5. (C) The Ambassador told Reyes Calderon that, especially in 
view of the political tension surrounding the electoral 
campaign, clarifying the Zamora case was in everyone's 
interest.  He urged Reyes Calderon to continue providing all 
assistance to the Public Ministry to carry out a serious and 
thorough investigation. 
 
6. (C) Comment: The attack against Zamora and his family 
continues to generate significant interest in the press, and 
other journalists have stepped forward to say that they, too, 
have been threatened.  The incident has generated concern 
that political or criminal sectors opposed to change could 
engage in further violence during the election campaign in 
order to protect their interests.  The GOG recognizes the 
importance of investigating the incident, and Reyes Calderon 
has told us that he is committed to providing all assistance 
to the investigation.  Important facts about what happened at 
the Zamora residence on the morning of June 24, however, are 
still not known, and the success of any investigation will 
depend to a large extent on cooperation between government 
investigators and Zamora. 
LINDWALL