US embassy cable - 03GUATEMALA1902

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GUATEMALA 001902 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/23/2013 
TAGS: SNAR, PREL, KDEM, PGOV, KJUS, KCOR, KCRM, GT 
SUBJECT: STATUS OF GUATEMALAN COUNTER-NARCOTICS COOPERATION 
 
REF: A. GUATEMALA 1679 
 
     B. GUATEMALA 1693 
 
Classified By: Ambassador John Hamilton for reason 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: GOG cooperation in the war on drugs has had 
several concrete successes in the past six months, and there 
has been further progress since the June 30 Inter-Agency 
meeting in which the Ambassador participated.  A quick run 
down on 
our benchmarks: cocaine seizures have increased fourfold; 
extraditions have resumed; more than $19 million in drug 
profits have been seized; Guatemala's major trafficker is on 
the run; five tons of cocaine evidence held by the courts has 
been destroyed; an asset forfeiture law was passed by 
Congress, and the courts have accelerated the sale of seized 
assets; a counter-narcotics maritime agreement has been 
signed and passed to Congress for ratification; and 
regulations controlling precursor chemicals have been 
officially published.  Not all benchmarks have been fully 
met, however.  And the GOG is clearly not keen on 
investigating a (non-drug) corruption case that may involve 
President Portillo. Nonetheless, we believe a decision to 
fully recertify Guatemala is warranted. We recommend 
developing new benchmarks for evaluating the GOG's 
counter-narcotics cooperation for the next year.  End summary. 
 
2. (C) Three years of steadily declining cooperation by the 
GOG in the war on drugs came to an end in March when, as a 
result of our decertification, the GOG put together an 
inter-institutional team (including members of the executive, 
judiciary, legislature and Attorney General's Office) to 
provide concrete actions in response to our counter-narcotics 
concerns.  The inter-agency process in Washington identified 
nine benchmarks that would be the measures by which 
"recertification" would be considered.  The GOG has dedicated 
considerable energy and political capital to meeting each of 
these benchmarks over the past six months.  Several of the 
benchmarks have been fully met; others have been 
substantially met.  Reftels outlined the status of compliance 
with the benchmarks through the end of June.  During the past 
four weeks there have been several further advances, 
especially in the areas of the bilateral counternarcotics 
maritime agreement, SAIA institutional development, 
police-prosecutor cooperation, asset forfeitures and 
collaborative efforts to make seizures. 
 
3. (C) Other areas have not seen the same level of successes. 
 The Attorney General's office is prosecuting a major scandal 
of the Social Security Institute (IGSS) and removed the 
ineffective money laundering prosecutor Lilly Chinchilla (at 
our request), but has just named her to head the 
anti-corruption prosecutor's office.  While that office 
focuses on official corruption cases, not narcotics cases, 
the naming of Chinchilla to head that unit was a setback for 
anti-corruption efforts in Guatemala.  The Attorney General's 
decision was widely viewed as aimed at protecting President 
Portillo from potential prosecution in a corruption scandal 
known locally as the Panama Case.  Whether that case involves 
drug money laundering is not clear. 
 
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PROGRESS SINCE THE JUNE 30 IAWG MEETING 
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BILATERAL COUNTER-NARCOTICS MARITIME AGREEMENT SIGNED AND 
AWAITING RATIFICATION 
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4. (U) On June 19, Foreign Minister Edgar Gutierrez and the 
Ambassador signed the bilateral counternarcotics maritime 
agreement. The agreement had its first of three required 
readings before Congress in early July, and was assigned to 
the International Affairs Committee for review. The agreement 
was approved by the committee on July 15 and returned to 
Congress, where it will be considered in the next 
extraordinary session.  In committee it enjoyed the support 
of all the major parties, and we do not anticipate 
significant opposition to it when it is considered in 
extraordinary session. 
 
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SAIA REGULATIONS AMENDED TO PROVIDE FOR PERIODIC POLYGRAPH 
AND URINALYSIS TESTING 
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5.  (U)  The GOG provided us with the final copy of the 
internal regulations for the anti-narcotics police (SAIA in 
Spanish).  The regulations were signed by the Director of the 
National Police and placed into effect on June 25. The 
regulations only provided for polygraph and urinalysis 
testing to be conducted upon initial entry into the unit, and 
not at irregular intervals throughout an officer's career as 
we had recommended.  The Ambassador raised this with the 
Minister of Government, and NAS Director raised with the 
director of the SAIA, and they amended the SAIA regulations 
to include periodic retesting.  The target is for testing 
every six months, beginning in August.  We will continue to 
monitor the implementation of this initiative to evaluate its 
overall effectiveness. 
 
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POLICE-PROSECUTOR NARCOACTIVITY TASK FORCE FORMING 
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6. (U) Per ref A, on June 17 the Attorney General and the 
Minister of Government signed an agreement that commits the 
two institutions to form combined task forces in the areas of 
money laundering and narcoactivity.  The agreement states 
that these task forces were being formed as a result of the 
success of the existing task force on anticorruption.  We 
have received a copy of the internal regulation for the 
pre-selection and periodic retesting of personnel assigned to 
the unit. This screening will include local polygraph and 
urinalyses testing for involvement in corrupt activities and 
the use of illicit substances. It will have the first ever 
financial disclosure and periodic background investigation. 
Though still in its developmental stages, this initiative 
will be a model for other programs. 
 
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LIQUIDATION OF SEIZED ASSETS 
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7. (U) The Judicial Branch has begun auctioning off seized 
aircraft. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the 
chief of the judicial warehouse met with NAS Director to 
explain the process for the sale of seized assets. The 
legislation they are using is Decree 69-71, which was signed 
in 1971. It was further amplified last November with 
Agreement 81.002, which establishes a period of two months 
for interested parties to claim seized property. This 
agreement only affects those items in the warehouse that were 
seized before January 1, 1999. Currently there is a list of 
fourteen aircraft that are available for auction. The 
aircraft were seized as far back as 1983.  The judicial 
warehouse is also auctioning off other items. It is estimated 
that approximately 10% of all of the seized property was 
derived from narcotrafficking activities. 
 
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ITINERANT JUDGES TO EXPEDITE WARRANT PROCESS AND MAKE IT 
SECURE 
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8.  (U) In an effort to expedite the issuance of search 
warrants and prevent the release of sensitive law enforcement 
information, the Supreme Court has agreed to name two judges 
to serve as itinerant judges in the nationwide service of 
warrants and arrests. The chief magistrate told us this week 
that he now has the two judges identified, but that he was 
awaiting the vehicles and assigned PNC personnel. The naming 
of these judges will greatly enhance the ability of the 
courts to move to any given location and conduct enforcement 
activities with a minimum of detractors or loss of 
information. Its will also increase the speed at which law 
enforcement activities could be conducted. 
 
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SEIZURES RISING 
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9. (U)  Between January 1 and July 24, 2003, the GOG seized 
3,718 kilos of cocaine.  Since March, JIATF)South has 
reported 41 suspect air tracks. Although the Guatemalan 
military has not responded to every event, they have 
responded to every event they have been asked to by us. Given 
communication limitations, often information does not reach 
the Guatemalans with sufficient time to respond adequately. 
They have however, developed a response plan, which includes 
dedicating aircraft in the various parts of the country to 
respond with the SAIA and Public Ministry to just such 
events. Of those 41 reported events, the Guatemalans were 
able to respond to ten.  Two of these resulted in the largest 
seizure this calendar year.  Since the GOG improved its 
response mechanisms, suspect tracks have diminished over 
Guatemala.  We are also seeing traffickers switching to 
nighttime flights; to overflights of Guatemala directly into 
Mexico; and to flights that include stops for random periods 
of time in neighboring countries and which start up too close 
to Guatemala to permit an opportune launch. 
 
10. (U) Control of drug trafficking at the points of entry 
(i.e. airports, land border crossings and seaports) remains 
deficient, especially at the airport.  In conjunction with 
DEA, NAS and TAT at post, the GOG has targeted major 
trafficker Otto Herrera, and has conducted important 
disruption operations against his organization.  Herrera 
himself is on the run, after losing over $14 million in drug 
proceeds seized by the GOG at one of his former safe houses. 
 
 
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COMMENT: 
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11. (C) A comment on seizures:  According to CNC data, 
Guatemala seized an estimated 5.6% of the cocaine moving 
through, over or around Guatemala in 2002. Seizures in 2003 
at mid-year stood at 150% of the total for 2002, thus 
increasing the seizure rate by a significant but 
indeterminate amount (since we have no data on illicit 
narcotic flows for 2003). For purposes of comparison, CNC 
estimates the USG seizure rate of cocaine entering the US at 
only 12.2%. The two situations are not all together 
comparable, however, in that Guatemala lacks an end-game 
capability for overflights, whereas the U.S. does have an 
end-game capability. Our point is that the relatively low 
seizure rate here is not in and of itself a measure of 
political will or the lack thereof. 
 
12.(C) Further comment: If Guatemala is recertified, it is 
critical that momentum be maintained by presenting the GOG 
with new benchmarks that would represent our standard for 
measuring continued cooperation for the next year.  With a 
new government assuming office in January, 2004, it will be 
important to get movement on the new benchmarks started by 
the current government so that time is not lost in the 
transition.  Post welcomes inter-agency views on priorities 
for benchmarks for the coming year. 
HAMILTON