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Viewing cable 04GUATEMALA245, DESPISED TAX AND CUSTOMS CHIEF ABADIO QUITS; IS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
04GUATEMALA245 2004-02-02 19:39 2011-08-30 01:44 SECRET Embassy Guatemala
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 GUATEMALA 000245 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR OASIA: CHRIS KUSHLIS AND BILL BLOCK 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2009 
TAGS: EFIN PGOV KCOR SNAR GT
SUBJECT: DESPISED TAX AND CUSTOMS CHIEF ABADIO QUITS; IS 
REPLACED BY WILLIE ZAPATA, WHO THOUGHT HE WAS BECOMING 
SUPERINTENDENT OF BANKS 
 
REF: A. 2003 GUATEMALA 772 
 
     B. 2003 GUATEMALA 2593 
 
Classified By: EconCouns Steven S. Olson for reason 1.5 (d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
1.  (C)  President Berger appointed respected banker and 
former Central Bank President Willy Zapata to be the new 
Superintendent of Tributary Administration on January 28. 
His exceptionally unpopular predecessor, Marco Tulio Abadio, 
quit as rumors circulated that the government sought his 
removal.  President Berger publicly called for civil 
society's views on Abadio's performance, knowing what the 
response would be, in a deft move to expedite Abadio's 
departure.  Abadio is widely considered the implementer of 
the former government's campaign of "fiscal terrorism" 
against its private sector opponents, though he may also have 
had his own agenda.  Zapata's appointment was a surprise. 
Only days earlier, he had called on EconCouns to report that 
he would become an advisor to Superintendent of Banks Douglas 
Borja until Borja could "retire" gracefully.  Zapata would 
then take over.  Borja had performed well on most occasions 
but was thought to have covered for cronies of former 
President Portillo, a childhood friend who appointed him. 
The problem was such that Borja's own money laundering 
investigators did not share all of what they knew with him. 
Zapata contrasted Borja's attitude with that of Central Bank 
president Lizardo Sosa, who did not have Berger's confidence 
but was insisting on riding out the remainder of his recently 
renewed term.  End Summary. 
 
Zapata New Head of Taxes and Customs (SAT) 
------------------------------------------ 
2. (U)  President Berger swore in respected economist and 
former central bank president Willy Zapata as new head of the 
Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT) on January 28. 
The SAT is the Guatemalan equivalent of the IRS and Customs 
Service combined.  The previous SAT superintendent, Marco 
Tulio Abadio, was held in contempt by the private sector and 
much of civil society, which saw Abadio as corrupt and as the 
implementer of the FRG government's policy of "fiscal 
terrorism" against its critics.  Abadio had resigned on 
January 23 as rumors circulated that he would be dismissed 
imminently.  True to character, Abadio fired a broadside 
against the press, particularly "El Periodico" president Jose 
Ruben Zamora, whom he called a tax evader and drug user as 
well as a slanderer.  He also lashed out at Berger for being 
manipulated by the press and using it to disparage him rather 
than calling him up and asking him to leave.  He warned that 
if anybody dared to push him any further, he would go public 
with the information he had collected on the "tax evaders" 
who backed the new government. 
 
Unsubtle Abadio Deftly Forced Out 
--------------------------------- 
3.  (C)  Abadio had a longstanding feud with the press, 
especially "El Periodico" and Zamora, who was particularly 
persistent and outspoken in condemning "fiscal terrorism." 
Abadio, not known for his subtlety, responded by practicing 
"fiscal terrorism" (never-ending audits and threats of 
criminal tax evasion charges) on Zamora.  Berger indeed used 
the press to put pressure on Abadio, but not, as Abadio 
implied, because he lacked the nerve to fire him.  Abadio 
still had two more years in his term, and Berger's legal 
grounds to fire Abadio depended on relatively vague language 
suggesting the authority to dismiss at the very beginning of 
a new administration if the President lacked confidence in 
the SAT chief.  The other route would have been to 
demonstrate malfeasance or nonfeasance, which offered the 
prospect of months of public mud wrestling over who was 
really to blame for missed tax targets:  Abadio or a 
recalcitrant private sector that caused some of his taxes to 
be thrown out by the courts.  Berger's public call for civil 
society to speak its mind was sure to generate a groundswell 
in support of the President's "lack of confidence" and belie 
Abadio's charges that Berger was acting solely to protect his 
tax evading cronies.  Abadio (who is smart, if not subtle) 
evidently saw what was coming and cut his losses while he 
could. 
 
Zapata Thought He Was Replacing Borja, Not Abadio 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
4.  (C)  Zapata did not expect to be the new head of the SAT. 
 He had told Econ Counselor only days earlier of Berger's 
plan to name him an advisor to Superintendent of Banks 
Douglas Borja until enough time had passed for Borja to 
"retire" gracefully.  Zapata, an insider in Berger's economic 
team who is close to economic policy coordinator Richard 
Aitkenhead and Minister of Finance Maria Antonieta de 
Bonilla, said that Borja's departure had already been 
negotiated and that he would be assuming the advisory role on 
Feb. 1.  A retirement date for Borja had yet to be set, but 
it probably would be within a couple of months.  Zapata would 
then take over as new Superintendent.  Zapata said that Borja 
recognized that the new government wanted him out because of 
his connections with former president Portillo, who appointed 
him.  Zapata said that Borja agreed to leave peacefully if 
the new administration would let him do so gracefully.  Borja 
and Portillo are said to have grown up together in Zacapa. 
 
5.  (C)  EconCouns spoke again with Zapata on February 29. 
Zapata said the change in plans and his move to the SAT were 
unexpected.  The government had not thought that Abadio would 
move out as quickly and easily as he did, and it did not have 
other willing candidates readily available.  Zapata admitted 
that taking on the SAT had given him pause, noting that the 
job would be "dangerous."  He said he looked forward to 
repairing the damage done to the institution during Abadio's 
tenure, but there were "bigger problems" he wanted to discuss 
in more detail the following week.  (Comment:  "Bigger 
problems" was undoubtedly an allusion to the influence of 
organized crime in Customs.) 
 
Borja Did Some Good, but Too Close to Portillo 
--------------------------------------------- - 
6.  (C) Zapata gave mixed reviews of the recent performance 
of the Superintendence of Banks (SIB) but expressed his 
confidence in the leadership of the SIB's financial 
intelligence unit (IVE).  He said he would seek to improve 
their anti-money laundering capabilities.  Zapata credited 
Borja with having done some good in his position, such as 
implementing new financial reform legislation and pursuing 
the criminal case against former banker and Portillo 
financier Francisco Alvarado McDonald.  However, Borja's 
actions were suspect in other areas, such as allowing the 
failed state mortgage bank (CHN) to absorb failed private 
Banco del Nororiente (BANORO), permitting a cover-up of the 
illegal activities of a friend of Portillo who ran the bank 
(Reftel A).  The friend, Bruno Straga, fled to his native 
Italy and allegedly sold a large Zacapa farm to Portillo for 
about $250.  Zapata mentioned examples of waste in the SIB's 
budget and sloppiness in handling sensitive banking 
information as areas where he would look to reform the SIB. 
 
7. (S) Zapata was aware that Borja's connections with the 
former administration left his own IVE reluctant to pass 
along to him information regarding particularly sensitive 
cases linked to Portillo or Portillo's allies.  Comment:  The 
problem is real.  IVE has been passing information to the 
Embassy for some time that it doesn't share with the 
Superintendent.  Most recently, in a meeting the day before 
with EconOff, IVE officials passed along information 
regarding suspicious transactions by former VP Reyes using 
U.S. bank accounts (this information has been relayed through 
appropriate law enforcement channels).  The information was 
provided with the request that the source not be revealed, 
even to others within the SIB.  End Comment. 
 
Lizardo Sosa Insists on Staying Put at the Central Bank 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
8.  (C)  Zapata contrasted Borja's willingness to step down 
with the defiant attitude of Central Bank President Lizardo 
Sosa, who vowed to stay on for the rest of his recently 
renewed term despite clear signals from the Berger 
Administration that he would not be included in executive 
branch consultations on policy.  Zapata didn't think it would 
be too much of a problem for the Berger government:  the 
Monetary Board controlled monetary policy, and the competent 
professional staff of the Central Bank, led by Vice President 
Mario Garcia Lara, would implement that Board's instructions 
whether or not Sosa chose to cooperate. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
9. (C)  The SAT was a mess, and Abadio had to go.  Both AID 
and the World Bank stopped working with the organization 
under Abadio's tenure, and he methodically removed many of 
its better-trained staff and replaced them with people he 
personally recruited.  He was widely considered the attack 
dog of confrontational former Vice President "Paco" Reyes, 
though former Finance Minister Weymann told EconCouns that 
Abadio had his own agenda (presumably of extortion) and was 
beyond anyone's control toward the end.  We note that Abadio 
was an early enemy of the FRG administration as Controller 
General until half-way through its term, when he suddenly 
shelved the "Panama Connection" case implicating Portillo, 
Reyes and others in offshore money laundering and was 
rewarded shortly after by being named to the more powerful 
SAT.  He is thought to have assiduously collected dirt on 
everyone he can, and we expect he can be very dangerous when 
cornered. 
 
8.  (C)  Zapata was a superb choice for the SIB, where his 
strategic vision and banking knowledge would have served him 
well.  Those same skills will be useful at the SAT, but he 
will also need to be fearless and tough if he intends to get 
corruption and organized crime out of Customs.  We know him 
more as a theorist than an operator, but longtime friends say 
he is actually quite tough and up to the task.  The inability 
of the IVE to share information freely within the SIB or with 
the Public Ministry (Attorney General's office) has been a 
serious weakness in Guatemala's anti-money laundering 
efforts.  Borja's replacement by Zapata is now by the 
wayside, but his replacement will still come about.  Current 
odds seem to favor Edgar Barquin, Borja's principal deputy 
and a career SIB official who was instrumental in building 
the IVE.  Barquin seems quite the opposite of Zapata, more an 
operator than a strategist, but he would still be an 
excellent choice. 
 
HAMILTON