FECHA: 0000-00-00 00:00:00
FUENTE: Embassy Panama
PRIVACIDAD: CONFIDENTIAL
REFERENCIA: VZCZCXYZ0001PP RUEHWEBDE RUEHZP #1477 2091643ZNY CCCCC ZZHP 281643Z JUL 06FM AMEMBASSY PANAMATO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8647INFO RUEABND/DEA WASHDC PRIORITYRUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITYRUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 001455
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2016
TAGS: PGOV, SNAR, KCRM, PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA REELS FROM LOSS TO KEY ANTI-DRUG OFFICIALS
REF: PANAMA 1423
Classified By: Ambassador William A. Eaton - Reasons 1.5 (b and d)
1. (C) The sudden July 20 resignation of Panama's top
anti-drug prosecutor, Patricio Candanedo, has dealt a harsh
blow to a law enforcement community that was already reeling
from the suspicious July 19 death of Franklin Brewster, the
top counter-narcotics detective in the Judicial Technical
Police ("PTJ," the GOP's FBI-like agency.) A group that
purports to be linked to the FARC has put forth
unsubstantiated claims of responsibility for Brewster's death
as part of a broader campaign of retaliation against GOP and
U.S. officials. Although President Torrijos said that he is
"very concerned" about the state of Panama's
counter-narcotics institutions, Attorney General Ana Matilde
Gomez denied that these agencies are in crisis. Clearly a
setback for counter-narcotics efforts in Panama, this
episode's full impact remains to be seen, but it cannot help
but erode already weak public confidence in the GOP's law
enforcement institutions. End summary.
Veteran Anti-Drug Prosecutor Quits
----------------------------------
2. (C) Candanedo, a 27-year veteran prosecutor and close
collaborator with U.S. law enforcement agencies, announced
July 20 that he was quitting his post as the Public
Ministry's (PM's) top counter-narcotics prosecutor. He said
that the GOP is poorly equipped to combat what he maintains
is a rise in organized crime, drug trafficking, and gun
running in Panama. Candanedo led Panama's participation in
the multilateral "Twin Oceans" operation that netted
Colombian druglord Pablo Rayo Montano on May 16. He said
that, since Rayo Montano's arrest, he has seen a growing
climate of "attacks" instigated by those with possible ties
to Rayo Montano, including some powerful Panamanian
government, business, and media figures.
3. (C) Candanedo downplayed publicly the notion that AG
Gomez had forced him out by punishing him over a series of
supposed administrative lapses as payback for an old grudge.
(Note: As a young PM official about a decade ago, Gomez was
fired for allegedly disobeying an order involving the
handling of an arrested drug suspect. Since returning the
head the PM as Torrijos' AG, she appeared to pursue a
vendetta in forcing the departure of several officials that
she believed played a role in her own ouster. End note.)
Privately, however, Candanedo made clear that he felt Gomez
had trumped up administrative complaints against him over
what he maintains were insignificant management failures
(e.g., not signing routine documents within mandated
periods). She put him on a month of unpaid leave on June 17
and, upon his return to work on July 17, she slapped him with
more sanctions for alleged administrative "negligence." With
more such punishment apparently in the offing, Candanedo
decided to quit.
Shawdowy Group Claims Role in Detective's Death
--------------------------------------------- --
4. (SBU) As reported reftel, Brewster's July 19 death came
sixteen days after his apparent poisoning. As head of the
PTJ's "Sensitive Investigations Unit" composed of USG-vetted
officers, Brewster was a close USG collaborator and played a
lead role for the GOP in the "Twin Oceans" operation.
Although lab tests remain incomplete, Panama's medical
examiner told the press July 20 that Brewster died from
ingesting an insecticide-like substance.
5. (C) On July 21, the PTJ and various news agencies
received an anonymous fax claiming that Brewster was killed
in retaliation for his part in "Operation Alamo," an element
of the "Twin Oceans" operation. The fax claimed that a
heretofore unknown "Operacion Factura Roja" ("Operation Red
Invoice") has a hit list of another eight drug enforcement
officials. This was followed by an anonymous July 23 email
to several news agencies claiming that a campaign has been
mounted to use phosphate or paraquat to "eliminate agents of
the CIA-ATU" in Panama. The note also claimed that the
"Factura Roja" cell in Panama has obtained 50 kilograms of C4
explosive and cellular detonators and that it has the
"technical assistance" of FARC "specialists."
6. (C) Although the July 21 and July 23 threats could be
hoaxes, Post cannot completely dismiss their authenticity and
we have heightened our security posture (septel).
Comment: Temporary Setback or Big Blow to Our CN Efforts?
--------------------------------------------- ------------
7. (C) Given the pivotal role that both Brewster and
Candanedo played in the Rayo Montano case, among others,
their sudden loss is clearly a setback for U.S. drug
enforcement efforts in Panama. Although President Torrijos
said that he was "very concerned" about these developments,
AG Gomez denied that Panama's law enforcement agencies are in
crisis. Our immediate challenges are to: (1) assist the GOP
in conducting a robust investigation into Brewster's death
and, (2) focus the AG on shoring up the prosecutor's office
and keeping it from going into a full tailspin. While the
full impact of these developments remains to be seen, the
confluence of these events - together with the recent
drug-related charges filed against the GOP's drug prosecutor
in Colon, Aminta Corro - cannot help but erode already weak
public confidence in the GOP's law enforcement institutions.
Moreover, they raise the troubling specter that powerful
interests possibly linked to the Rayo Montano case may have
begun a campaign to intimid ate law enforcement officials in Panama.
End comment.
EATON
