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### Viewing cable 08SANJOSE263, BERROCAL STEPS DOWN AS MINISTER OF PUBLIC

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08SANJOSE263 | 2008-04-07 20:08 | 2011-03-17 18:06 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy San Jose

Appears in these articles:
http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-17/Investigacion/NotasSecundarias/Investigacion2712620.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-17/Investigacion/NotasSecundarias/Investigacion2712631.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-17/Investigacion/NotasSecundarias/Investigacion2712622.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-17/Investigacion/NotasSecundarias/Investigacion2712633.aspx

`

    VZCZCXYZ0000
    OO RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHSJ #0263/01 0982016
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    O 072016Z APR 08
    FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9581
    INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
    RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 4225
    RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 1333
    RUEABND/DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN HQ WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN JOSE 000263

    SIPDIS

    SIPDIS

    DEPT FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/AND, INL AND INR

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2018
    TAGS: CS PREL PGOV SNAR MASS PINR
    SUBJECT: BERROCAL STEPS DOWN AS MINISTER OF PUBLIC
    SECURITY; ALLEGES FARC TIES TO COSTA RICA

    REF: A. 07 SAN JOSE 2073
         ¶B. 07 SAN JOSE 1999

    Classified By: CDA Peter M. Brennan for reasons 1.4 (d).

    ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Minister of Public Security Fernando Berrocal
    stepped down on March 30 after asserting that the
    FARC was connected to elements of the "political sector" in
    Costa Rica.  Berrocal's comments came in the aftermath of a
    March 14 raid on a suspected FARC safe house.  His departure
    came less than 24 hours before he was to testify on the issue
    before the National Legislature, fueling political and media
    speculation.  In public and private, President Arias and
    Minister Arias reiterated that there were no Costa Rican
    links to the FARC, that the GOCR had nothing to hide, and
    that Berrocal's unfounded comments had gone too far.  An
    exculpatory letter from President Uribe buttressed their
    arguments.  This controversy may not die quickly; Berrocal
    has provided documents supporting his claims to President
    Arias who turned them over to the Legislature.  Berrocal
    wants to testify as a "private citizen" in mid-April.  For
    our part, we will engage the new Minister (Janina del
    Vecchio, septel) to continue the successful partnership
    developed with Berrocal and his ministry.  We will also urge
    the GOCR to harden the permissive environment which has
    tolerated FARC supporters and activities for too long.  END
    SUMMARY.

    =========================================
    BERROCAL IS OUT, BUT HE DIDN'T GO QUIETLY
    =========================================

    ¶2. (SBU) On March 30, Fernando Berrocal stepped down as the
    Minister of Public Security, in a not-so-amicable political
    divorce from the President and his brother, Minister of the
    Presidency Rodrigo Arias.  According to Casa Presidencial,
    the GOCR did not want to "politicize" the "sensitive"
    FARC-Costa Rica issue by having Berrocal testify on the
    matter before the Legislature the next day.  Berrocal
    insisted to the media that he neither resigned nor was asked
    to resign.  He said that he and President Arias had agreed
    that he should leave office "for reasons of state."

    ¶3. (SBU) Berrocal ignited this political firestorm on March
    15, by asserting publicly that information obtained from
    the laptop computer of deceased FARC leader Raul Reyes linked
    members of the "Costa Rican political sector" to the
    FARC.  Led by the PUSC party (part of the Arias
    administration's own pro-CAFTA coalition), incensed
    legislators summoned Berrocal to appear on March 31 and to
    "name names."  Berrocal's comments followed a raid on an
    alleged FARC safe house near San Jose on March 14, where
    $480,000 of FARC cash was found.  As the media has widely
    reported here, the stashed cash was described in detail by
    information obtained from Reyes' laptop, and discovered in
    the home of long-time FARC collaborators Francisco Gutierrez
    and Cruz Prado.

    ¶4. (U) Since his departure, Berrocal has written two letters
    to President Arias, which he released to the media and posted
    on the internet.  In the first letter (dated March 31), which
    also ran as an Op-ed in leading daily La Nacion, Berrocal
    asked to exercise his "constitutional right" to speak to the
    Legislature, anyway, as a private citizen.  In the second
    letter (dated April 1 and published April 3), Berrocal said
    he had documents from the Drug Control Police (PCD), the
    intelligence service (DIS), the National Police of Colombia,
    and other sources which he planned to share with the
    Legislature.  Berrocal's document package is to be reviewed
    by a special commission (see below).

    ¶5. (U) The second letter, titled "The Country Must Know",
    described the FARC as having made Costa Rica a "safe haven"
    for their operatives, and stressed that the FARC and
    narcotrafficking were one and the same, at least since 2000.
    While Costa Rican contact with the FARC before that date was
    part of the country's long tradition of offering asylum and
    political refuge, contact after the FARC turned to
    narcotrafficking reflected "unacceptable indifference,"
    "ingenuity" or "virginal complicity," according to Berrocal.
    His letter insisted that he never claimed to have a specific
    "list" of Costa Rican politicians with links to the FARC.

    ============================================
    ARIAS BROTHERS: BERROCAL WENT TOO FAR, AGAIN
    ============================================

    ¶6. (C) During his April 1 meeting with visiting WHA DAS
    Kirsten Madison, President Arias denied there was any list
    of Costa Rican politicians associated with the FARC, despite
    Berrocal's assertions.  Arias said that Berrocal is welcome
    to testify to the Legislature as a private citizen, but not
    as Minister.  Minister Arias and the President echoed a
    similar message all week, in press releases, press
    conferences and interviews.  Both reiterated that the there
    were no Costa Rican political links to the FARC, that the
    GOCR had nothing to hide, and that Berrocal stepped down
    because the GOCR did not share his "unfounded" views, which
    "raised false expectations," and "jeopardized current and
    future investigations."  Minister Arias has also stressed
    publicly that Berrocal was set to leave government on May 1,
    anyway; all the Arias administration did was accelerate his
    departure by a few weeks.

    ¶7. (U) On April 2, President Arias told a press conference
    that he had called Colombian President Uribe, generating a
    letter from Uribe denying that any material discovered from
    the Reyes's laptop "up to now" linked the FARC to Costa Rican
    politicians.  Arias' comments and the text of the Uribe
    letter have received wide media coverage.  So have comments
    by Colombian VP Santos, insisting to a Costa Rican journalist
    that the FARC is a "real threat" to Costa Rica, suggesting
    that the GOC may discover additional information about
    FARC-Costa Rican ties in the future, and labeling the FARC a
    threat to the entire continent.  Meanwhile, the GOCR
    dispatched a delegation including VP (and Justice Minister)
    Laura Chinchilla, FonMin Bruno Stagno and Attorney-General
    Francisco Dall'Anese on a fact-finding mission to Bogota
    April 4.

    ===============
    THIS AIN'T OVER
    ===============

    ¶8. (SBU) This controversy may not die quickly.  The special
    legislative commission formed to investigate Berrocal's
    allegations and hear his testimony intends to meet.  Berrocal
    has announced he would be available to appear before the
    Legislature in mid-April.  A skeptical media has focused on
    the "up to this point" caveat of Uribe's letter, while
    opinion polls taken the week of March 31 depict a suspicious
    public.  Over 75 percent in one poll believe Berrocal's exit
    was wrong and do not believe they have the full story yet
    about his departure.  Over 90 percent believe the
    Attorney-General should fully investigate the entire affair.

    ¶9. (C) PUSC and opposition PAC legislators have been asking
    in public and private for more information, while Berrocal's
    predecessor as minister, Rogelio Ramos, has asked to meet
    with the Embassy.  (A PUSC party member, Ramos's activities
    while minister have been regularly questioned by Berrocal,
    the media and others.)  President Arias publicly acknowledged
    that Ramos came to see him the day before Berrocal was
    sacked.  Ramos has threatened to us that if the GOCR (or we)
    criticize his performance, he will publicize dirt he has on
    the Arias Administration.

    =======
    COMMENT
    =======

    ¶10. (C) Both sides have mishandled this affair.  Berrocal's
    poorly-timed and unsupported allegations of FARC links to
    Costa Rica apparently were the last straw for the Arias
    brothers.  The ex-minister's talk-first, think-later approach
    on sensitive law enforcement and counter-narcotics issues had
    gotten him in trouble before.  On the other hand, if the
    Arias administration team hoped the furor would fade quickly
    and quietly, they have thus far been proved wrong.

    ¶11. (C) There may be some truth on both sides, however.
    Berrocal is correct, in our view, to highlight the
    permissive, it-can't-happen-here atmosphere that has allowed
    FARC ties to continue for years, including direct contact
    with left-of-center political elements in the country.  The
    brothers Arias were probably also correct in assuming that
    the political distraction from Berrocal's testimony would be
    harder to manage than the fallout from his hasty departure.
    At least one PUSC legislator reportedly was conditioning his
    continued support for CAFTA on the GOCR not permitting
    Berrocal to testify as minister and/or his removal from
    office.

    ¶12. (C) We will quickly engage with new Minister del Vecchio

    to maintain the excellent counter-narcotics and law
    enforcement cooperation set in motion by Berrocal.  It took
    some time to overcome his skepticism about confronting the
    international drug trade, but he became a full and successful
    partner in the end.  We will also urge the GOCR to stand firm
    against the FARC.  Gutierrez and Prado may have violated
    Costa Rican money laundering laws, for example, in their
    house purchase.  Vice Minister of Public Security Lascarez
    told us (during DAS Madison's visit/call last week) that he
    felt this provided grounds for prosecution.  Media reports
    over the April 5-6 weekend suggest Bogota may ask for
    extradition of the couple.  New terrorism financing
    legislation, which might have been more easily used against
    them, has not been passed, however.  This affair strengthens
    our regularly-repeated argument that the GOCR needs to
    improve its counter terrorism laws.
    BRENNAN

`