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### Viewing cable 05PANAMA1930, PANAMA'S "COSMETIC" CABINET RESHUFFLE.

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
05PANAMA1930 | 2005-09-22 14:01 | 2011-05-29 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Panama

`

    This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PANAMA 001930

    SIPDIS

    SENSITIVE

    DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN/SCHIFFER AND INR/B
    SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

    E.O. 12958:N/A
    TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PM POL SPECIALIST
    SUBJECT: PANAMA'S "COSMETIC" CABINET RESHUFFLE.

    Summary
    -------

    ¶1.  (SBU) The long-awaited GOP "re-organization," rumored
    since last April, was finally announced by President
    Torrijos on Saturday, September 3.  Despite high
    expectations for in-depth Cabinet changes, in the end, just
    as GOP Embassy contacts predicted, changes were minimal,
    leading many in the opposition to label them as "merely
    cosmetic." (Note: a July 2005 Dichter and Neira poll showed
    that 7 out of 10 Panamanians wanted Torrijos to make major
    changes in his cabinet).  Only two Cabinet members, four
    Vice ministers and some national-level directors were
    replaced.  The most important changes affected the
    Panamanian National Police, Customs and the Immigration
    Directorate --all law enforcement agencies.  The rest of the
    changes were reshuffles within the government with the
    arrival of newcomers who either have ties to the President
    or to his Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).  Although
    Torrijos could announce further changes, his "re-
    organization" will not convince many Panamanians that
    Panama's government now will move easily to solve what they
    believe are the country's paramount problems: unemployment,
    violent crime and, corruption.  End summary.

    Panamanian National Police (PNP)
    --------------------------------
    ¶2.  (SBU) Prior to making most of his appointments public,
    on August 23, President Torrijos announced that Vice
    Minister of Finance Rolando A. Mirones, Jr. would become the
    new PNP Director General replacing Gustavo Perez.  The GOP
    held the change of command ceremony on September 5.  Despite
    numerous rumors about who would replace Perez, Mirones was a
    surprise choice.  Discipline ruled within the GOP's inner
    circle, which successfully protected the identity of the
    nominee.  For over a month before his appointment, Mirones
    had been attending security trainings below the radar of a
    vigilant media.  Mirones is a tax lawyer, whose only
    previous public position before serving as Vice Minister of
    Finance (2004-2005) was as Internal Revenue Director under
    the Perez Balladares Administration (1994-1999).  A Torrijos
    insider told EmbOff that Mirones had been chosen "for being
    a tough guy and a loyal one."

    ¶3.  (SBU) During the 2004 presidential campaign, Mirones was
    a constant TV guest personality defending the Torrijos
    candidacy and the "new" PRD platform.  A young but balding
    lawyer, who the press nicknamed "Kojak," Mirones is
    notorious for his bad temper, sarcasm and lack of patience.
    During his year as Vice Minister of Finance, Mirones
    submitted several formal complaints before the Public
    Ministry on corruption cases committed by the previous
    administration.  Unfortunately, his rush to submit
    complaints produced sloppy work.  Improper legal formats led
    to dismissal of several cases by the courts.  Mirones' tough
    stance on enforcing the Torrijos administration's February
    2005 fiscal reforms gained him plenty of enemies among the
    business and professional communities.  Mirones' list of
    achievements as Vice Minister of Finance for a year include
    uncovering and transferring for prosecution over 100 illegal
    vehicle exonerations; uncovering a network of corrupt
    employees from the internal revenues directorate, and
    identifying five relatively unknown law firms involved in
    fraudulent requests for property tax exonerations. The
    public has high expectations for new PNP Director General
    Mirones as crime rate has increased and he is expected to do
    something about it soon.

    ¶4.  (SBU) During Mirones' change of command address, he said
    that he would manage the PNP "rigorously, with discipline,
    honor and transparency."  It is still to be seen if, as PNP
    Director General, Mirones does not favor his father-in-law's
    well-known restaurant "Jimmy's steakhouse" in the PNP
    biddings for procurement of meals. (Note:  The PNP has
    approximately 15,000 agents and its current food provider,
    Niko's Caf, collects about $2 million every eight months.
    End note.)

    ¶5.  (SBU) Orcila Vega de Constable, formerly Director of the
    Financial Analysis Unit (overseeing suspicious bank
    transactions), was appointed Vice Minister of Finance to
    replace new PNP Director General Mirones.  Constable has
    long ties with the PRD and was appointed with the influence
    of First Lady Vivian de Torrijos, a close friend of hers.
    Constable is a lawyer with a master's degree in maritime
    law.  Constable served as a public employee for over 20
    years at the former Ministry of Treasury (now Ministry of
    Finance).

    Customs
    -------
    ¶6.  (SBU) New Customs Director Daniel Delgado Diamante
    (nicknamed by the media "3D") arrives at the Customs
    Directorate after his attempts to have a Vice Ministry of
    Public Security created, which he would head, were
    unsuccessful.  Delgado is a former Panamanian Defense Forces
    (PDF) Colonel, who got a law degree after the U.S. invasion
    of Panama.  Delgado is what some Panamanians refer to as
    "recycled soldier," active in the governing PRD, who
    successfully reinserted himself into society after his
    military past.  Delgado moves to Customs Director from the
    Ministry of Foreign Relations (MFA), where he served as
    Secretary General since September 2004, a position he held

    SIPDIS
    during the PRD Perez Balladares administration (1994-1999).
    One of the PRD's security "experts", Delgado's widely
    rumored "deepest desire" is to become PNP Director General.
    Despite his recycling into civil society, Panama's PNP law
    prohibits former soldiers to head the PNP.  Many believe
    Delgado's "military personality" is probably an asset for
    managing Customs, an office with many internal procedural
    and corruption problems.  One of Delgado's first duties will
    be to oversee the transference of the Customs Directorate
    from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Government
    and Justice.  Delgado has been an Embassy contact for many
    years and has already expressed his intention to continue to
    work with the Embassy in his new capacity.

    ¶7.  (SBU) Delgado replaces Julio Kennion (Sept 2004-Sept
    2005).  In Kennion's case, Embassy contacts reported that he
    was not working out within two months of his appointment in
    September 2004.  Kennion has been assigned a low-profile
    position in the Presidential Palace.

    National Security Advisor (Consejo)
    -----------------------------------
    ¶8. (SBU) Torrijos' loyal follower, supporter, employee, and
    political confidant Leonel Solis is the new Executive
    Secretary at the Council for Public Security and National

    SIPDIS
    Defense, known as the Consejo.  Solis is a hardcore PRD
    member who has worked with Torrijos since Torrijos was Vice
    Minister of Government and Justice under the Perez
    Balladares administration (1994-1999).  A straight talker,
    Solis says what he thinks and is not afraid of defending his
    point of view.  Before being appointed at the Consejo, Solis
    had served as Director of the Instituional Protection
    Service (SPI), Panama's equivalent to the Secret Service,
    whose offices are located at the Palace.  From his position
    as SPI Director, Solis was able to keep a low profile with
    little public exposure, which allowed him to do private
    political work for Torrijos.

    ¶9.  (SBU) Solis was considered by many to be a "natural"
    to replace Gustavo Perez at the PNP, yet Solis always told
    EmbOffs that he was lobbying not to get the PNP Director
    General's position for several reasons, the most important
    one being his bad relationship with Minister of Government
    and Justice Hector Aleman, who would have been his
    immediate supervisor at the PNP.  Once at the PNP, Solis
    would have bypassed Aleman and reported directly to
    President Torrijos.  Aleman would have found that hard to
    accept --probably a reason for Solis's appointment to the
    Consejo.

    ¶10.  (SBU) Although the Consejo's main offices are located
    about 10-15 minutes away from the Palace, Solis has kept an
    office near the Palace to keep himself close to the action.

    ¶11.  (SBU) Solis replaces Javier Martinez Acha, Torrijos's
    college roommate at Texas A&M and the godfather of
    Torrijos's daughter.  Martinez Acha reportedly had
    escalating personal and professional disagreements both with
    Torrijos and First Lady Vivian Torrijos.  Torrijos
    repeatedly proposed appointing Martinez Acha as General
    Manager of the state-owned savings bank, Caja de Ahorros,
    only to refuse final confirmation of the appointment due to
    their constant frictions.

    Immigration
    -----------
    ¶12.  (SBU) Ricardo Vargas' appointment as new Immigration
    Director was another surprise.  Vargas had been Panama's
    Ombudsman's First Alternate since 2002.  An active member of
    the governing PRD, Vargas is a young lawyer who belongs to
    the PRD's "new" face, but whose family has ties to
    "hardcore".  During his time as Ombudsman's First Alternate,
    Vargas specialized in monitoring prison conditions and
    reporting on the former government's human rights
    violations.  Ombudsman Juan A. Tejada and most of his staff
    are Partido Popular members (former Christian Democrats),
    and many times had disagreements with Vargas, who they
    considered overly critical of the Moscoso administration.
    Ombudsman Tejada was known for raising public awareness of
    corruption under the Moscoso administration, but also was
    willing to give her credit for her accomplishments.

    ¶13. (SBU) Vargas replaces Ramon Lima, who was forced to
    leave the Immigration Directorate after media reported that
    his law firm, specifically his lawyer daughter, was
    conducting immigration business before his office as
    Director General.  Despite the obvious conflict of interest,
    Lima clung to his position and insisted that there were no
    wrongdoings.  Finally, forced by a private message from
    President Torrijos to leave, Lima stepped out.

    Cabinet changes -- Education
    ----------------------------
    ¶14. (SBU) Ministry of Education Juan Bosco Bernal and
    Minister of Social Development (MIDES) Leonor Calderon were
    the only Cabinet members replaced.  Bernal took the blame
    for not being able "to control" striking teachers
    associations during the CSS (social security) demonstrations
    and strike in May and June 2005.  Bernal will go back to
    teaching at the University of Panama, though there are
    rumors that he has been offered an ambassadorship.  Bernal
    was replaced by his former deputy, Miguel Angel Caizales, a
    former head of Panama's Council of Rectors.

    Social Development
    ------------------

    ¶15. (SBU) According to rumors, MIDES Minister Calderon had
    long been frustrated by frictions with the First Lady's
    Office over social issues and was apparently forced out by
    the First Lady.  MIDES follows children, women, family,
    youth, disabilities and adoption issues, many of them
    favorite topics of Mrs. Torrijos, who usually takes the
    lead.  As a MIDES office director recently told EmbOffs,
    "the First Lady's Office should assist us, should support
    us, because we are the ones who execute the plans not they.
    Mrs. Torrijos does not want to understand that."  As a
    result of Calderon's departure, a Ministry Director and a
    senior psychologist have threatened to depart.  Calderon, a
    loyal PRD activist with a good reputation within her party
    and within local NGOs would not have willingly left her
    position.  Torrijos appointed her as Palace Coordinator for
    International Cooperation, a position specifically created
    for her.

    ¶16. (SBU) Calderon was replaced by Maria Roquebert, who will
    took office on September 15, 2005.  Roquebert was called
    back from Germany were she was serving as Panama's
    ambassador since March 2005.  Before her appointment as
    ambassador, Roquebert worked for Germany's Frederick Ebert
    Foundation, where among others, she served as regional
    director for Latin America.  Roquebert is the sister-in-law
    of Jorge Eduardo Ritter, a close advisor of President
    Torrijos.

    Comment
    -------
    ¶17. (SBU) President Torrijos disappointed the Panamanian
    public with his long-awaited Cabinet changes because they
    turned out to be a mere reshuffle with no change in
    government plans or strategies.  Many Torrijos supporters
    hoped he would make bold changes during the May-June Social
    Security (CSS) reform crisis.  They never materialized.
    Internal critics have drawn attention to the GOP's feeble
    public relations apparatus and have called for the
    appointment of a professional public relations/
    communications chief.  Another evident issue is Torrijos's
    apparent unwillingness to confront his ministers, even when
    they are widely seen as ineffective or counter-productive.
    Instead of confronting the people in his government who
    impede his efforts, Torrijos prefers to reward them with
    consolation prizes such as positions created within the
    Presidential Palace.  Many observers wished that Torrijos
    had announced in-depth changes well before his September 1
    address to the National Assembly, so that he could have
    publicly addressed his new plans with his new
    administration.  That did not happen.  Instead he waited
    until September 3, a Saturday, during his visit to the tiny
    town of Tole in the western province of Chiriqui to make the
    formal announcements.

    Arreaga

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