Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 06PANAMA919, PANAMA: REHABILITATING THE DICTATORSHIP

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #06PANAMA919.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06PANAMA919 2006-05-12 21:40 2011-05-28 00:00 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Panama
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHZP #0919/01 1322140
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 122140Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY PANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8052
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 2285
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1009
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 0629
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 0876
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL//J5/J2/POLAD//
C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000919 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PM VE CU
SUBJECT: PANAMA: REHABILITATING THE DICTATORSHIP 
 
REF: A. PANAMA 0824 
     B. 04 PANAMA 0896 
     C. 05 PANAMA 1729 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM EATON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 
-------------------- 
1.  (C) A joke making the rounds in Panama is that the only 
ex-Panamanian Defense Force (PDF) officer who hasn't found a 
job in the Torrijos government is Manuel Noriega.  The 
late-April elevation of former Dignity Battalions chief 
Benjamin Colamarco to the cabinet as Minister of Public Works 
is why the joke bites.  (See Reftel A, "President Torrijos 
Shakes Up Cabinet.")  According to one estimate, some 40 
former PDF officers are working for the GOP, not counting 
many civilians with close ties to Noriega, some of them 
convicted criminals like Colamarco. 
 
2.  (C) The growing prominence of former Noriega cronies in 
the GOP -- and that includes national assemblyman Pedro 
Miguel Gonzalez, presumed killer in 1992 of U.S. service 
member Zak Hernandez -- is more of a threat to Panama's 
democratic credibility through flourishing corruption, 
non-transparent practices, intolerance to criticism, and 
stifling the media than through any potential overt attack on 
the state.  No one (so far as we know) is plotting the 
dictatorship's return.  And it is true that, after the 
1999-2004 Moscoso government, no one can accuse former 
Noriegistas of cornering the market in corrupt practices or 
press manipulation.  The 21-year dictatorship was the most 
corrupt era in Panama's history. 
 
3.  (C) Meanwhile, the silence in Panama that has greeted the 
step-by-step rehabilitation of the dictatorship -- from the 
so-called opposition parties or from civil society -- is 
deafening.  Even those who stridently opposed Noriega during 
the 1980s, such as Roberto Eisenmann of La Prensa, are not 
excited.  Eisenmann told the Ambassador that he perceives no 
"left-ward lurch," that Colamarco has paid his debt to 
society and has proven competence, and that Panama is a small 
society with limited experienced personnel. 
 
4.  (C) Martin Torrijos himself was close enough to the 
action during the Noriega years to be subjected to 
allegations of involvement in a 1985 Noriega-linked, 
drug-related kidnapping, which he prevented from appearing in 
the press just days before the 2004 election.  (See Reftel B 
-- "Torrijos Team Stifles Election Eve Bombshell.")  Could it 
be a coincidence that in 2005 Torrijos appointed the 
kidnapper's wife, Lorena Rodriguez de Mata, as Consul General 
in Hamburg? 
 
5.  (C) Colamarco's elevation is one more reason to be 
disillusioned with the idealism and promise for reform that 
greeted the 2004 Torrijos election victory.  Instead, the GOP 
more and more looks like a continuation of Noriega's 
government, sans Noriega.  How much does that matter?  The 
USG may be concerned that the growing ranks of Noriega 
supporters within the GOP, with their proven authoritarian 
affinities and record of disregard for press freedoms and 
human rights, may be less friendly toward the United States 
and more open to regional autocrats, like Castro and Chavez, 
than proven democrats.  Also, it is possible that public 
opinion will turn against Torrijos and focus on a "no" vote 
in the upcoming Canal widening referendum.  (See Reftel C, 
"Panamanian Insiders accuse Torrijos Government of Poor 
Planning and Public Relations, Procrastination and Bad 
Political Judgement."  End Summary and Analysis. 
 
Rehabilitating the Dictatorship 
------------------------------- 
6.  (C) With the naming of Benjamin Colamarco as Public Works 
minister, the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party's (PRD) 
links to its past as the political vehicle for Panama's 
1968-1989 military dictatorship now are in full view.  Since 
taking office in 2004, President Torrijos has done many 
favors for Noriega-era PRD "dinosaurs" and has placed many of 
them -- including Noriega's immediate family -- in positions 
of power and influence in his government.  Nonetheless, 
Torrijos has publicly stated that Manuel Noriega, who faces 
several 20-year sentences for numerous past offenses, will be 
jailed whenever he returns to Panama following his planned 
release from U.S. custody in November 2007. 
 
Who is Benjamin Colamarco? 
-------------------------- 
7.  (C) Benjamin Colamarco, who now controls a $235 million 
public works budget, was commander of Dignity Battalions 
(DB), which Noriega created in 1988.  The DB functioned as 
Manuel Noriega's private army, essentially a goon squad, 
whose job was to intimidate and terrorize the citizenry 
through torture and murder.  Elements of the DB fought U.S. 
forces during the 12-20-1989 Just Cause invasion that 
overthrew the Noriega regime and restored democracy to 
Panama.  (Note: The GOP gave the Embassy no notice or warning 
of its planned cabinet changes.  End Note.) 
 
8.  (C) Colamarco served nearly four years in prison 
(1990-1993) for "assaults against State personnel."  Torrijos 
named Colamarco "coordinator of the popular masses" in 2000. 
During Fidel Castro's visit to Panama in 2001, Colamarco 
attended a university event to honor the Cuban dictator with 
pro-Cuba SUNTRACS labor union leaders Genaro Lopez and Saul 
Mendez.  In the present GOP, Colamarco served as land 
registry chief within the Ministry of Economy and Finance 
(2004-2006).  On the eve of President Bush's arrival in 
Panama in November 2005, Colamarco publicly criticized the 
Iraq invasion, which he called "a violation of international 
law," embarrassing Torrijos and VP/Foreign Minister Samuel 
Lewis.  Colamarco also was the driving force behind a 
late-2005 draft law that aimed to remove property rights 
currently held by hundreds of foreigners -- including 
American citizens -- notably in Bocas del Toro.  (Embassy 
advocacy led the GOP to amend the law's more troublesome 
provisions.) 
 
9.  (SBU) Colamarco's wife, Marta Amado, sister of Noriega's 
mistress, the notorious Vicky Amado, currently is Panama's 
Postal Director. 
 
Hector and Balbina 
------------------ 
10.  (C) Perhaps the best known of Torrijos's Noriega-era 
appointments are Hector Aleman, who recently resigned from 
his post as Minister of Government and Justice, and Housing 
Minister Balbina Herrera.  Both currently are members of the 
PRD leadership.  Both have "reinvented" themselves and have 
shown that they are willing and able to cooperate with U.S. 
officials.  In the late 1980s, Aleman was the pro-Noriega 
leader of FENASEP, the public employees union.  Mayor of San 
Miguelito and PRD firebrand in the late 1980s, later elected 
to the National Assembly, Balbina is famous for starting a 
public brawl that forced the cancellation of President Bush's 
sole public appearance during his 1992 visit to in Panama. 
 
Pedro Miguel Gonzalez: Wanted For Murder 
---------------------------------------- 
11.  (C) The Torrijos government has given privileged access 
to funds and favors to Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, the presumed 
murderer of U.S. Army Sgt. Zak Hernandez in 1992.  According 
to Panamenista legislator Luis Cleghorn, Pedro Miguel's 
requests for his community (district 8-10, Panama's largest) 
gets special treatment from the public works and housing 
ministries and from FIS, the president's social investment 
fund.  (Comment: FIS in effect is an official presidential 
slush fund with a corrupt reputation.  End Comment.)  The GOP 
is careful to invite Gonzalez to virtually every GOP event. 
Also, according to Embassy sources, the GOP is about to ask 
the National Assembly's Canal affairs committee (chaired by 
PRD moderate Tomas Altamirano) to create a sub-committee to 
follow the Canal expansion project which will allegedly be 
chaired by Pedro Miguel Gonzalez.  The action would be taken 
as a nod to the PRD's leftist "Tendencia" faction.  It would 
also, one assumes, open up possibilities for graft on Canal 
contracts 
 
Warning Given to Torrijos 
------------------------- 
12.  (C) In 2001, the Embassy political section demarched 
Torrijos as Secretary General of the PRD about his perceived 
close ties (they had appeared together in news photos and 
appeared to be the best of friends) and frequent meetings 
with Gonzalez.  The section chief reminded Torrijos that 
Gonzalez was a wanted man in the United States.  Torrijos 
replied that the Embassy should not worry about him, 
Torrijos, as he was pro-American.  But he added that the 
Embassy would have to understand that Pedro Miguel's father, 
Gerardo, was important in the PRD (he had been party 
president), and that Torrijos had to act out of respect to 
the Gonzalez-Vernaza family, which came from Veraguas, where 
his father, Omar was from. 
 
Sandra and Thays Noriega 
------------------------ 
13.  (C) In 2004 President Torrijos appointed Noriega's 
daughter, Sandra, as consul at the Panamanian Embassy to the 
Dominican Republic, where Torrijos is known to have business 
interests.  Torrijos also appointed Sandra's younger sister, 
Thays, as foreign service third secretary, who failed the 
entrance exam (although she had the highest score of her 
group).  When asked to comment on Sandra's and other 
Noriega-era appointments, former GOP Secretary of Plans, 
Ibrahim Asvat said, ambiguously, "They just don't perceive 
they are doing something that might turn off the electorate." 
 In 2004, Asvat had characterized Sandra's appointment as the 
action of "a government of rookies." 
 
A Long Cast of Characters 
------------------------- 
14.  (C) In 2005 Torrijos pardoned Juan Barria Jimenez, 
murderer of U.S. citizen Raymond Dragseth and Embassy Panama 
FSN Fernando Brathwaite during Operation Just Cause on 
December 20, 1989, after serving 15 years of a 20-year 
sentence. 
 
(SBU) Elias Castillo, who served one year (1990-1991) for 
embezzlement during his term as Noriega-era treasurer of 
Panama's City Hall, is currently National Assembly president, 
with approval from Torrijos. 
 
(U) Jorge Ritter, Noriega's foreign minister, is a 
presidential advisor and speech writer. 
 
(SBU) Daniel Delgado, a former PDF colonel, intelligence 
staff officer, and close military collaborator with Omar 
Torrijos and Manuel Noriega, is Director of Customs, rumored 
to be in line for Deputy Minister of Government and Justice. 
 
(SBU) Aristides Royo, a Panamanian president hand-picked by 
the military without having to bother with messy elections, 
now is Panama's ambassador at the OAS. 
 
(SBU) Orville Gooding, Noriega's Finance and Economy 
Minister, in whose office the U.S. military found millions of 
dollars in cash, now is a Torrijos economic advisor. 
 
(U) Francisco "Pancho" Rodriguez, Noriega's final hand-picked 
president, whom Noriega placed in office after annulling 
Guillermo Endara's 1989 election victory prior to Just Cause, 
is also a Torrijos economic advisor. 
 
(U) Former PDF Major Severino Mejia, a former Noriega 
aide-de-camp, is advisor to the Minister of Government and 
Justice. 
 
Comment 
------- 
15.  (C) In a sense, the Torrijos government's choice of 
personnel exemplifies "the PRD being the PRD."  Former PRD 
President Ernesto Perez Balladares (1994-1999) had forced the 
entire Noriega crowd below decks.  By appointing them to 
positions of power, Torrijos hopes to gain political 
advantage over PB within the PRD.  The Embassy is watching 
the GOP's conduct carefully to judge whether the new 
appointments and changes in ideological coloration also 
signal a change in political direction or foreign policy. 
 
EATON