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 ASUNCION 000668 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA FOR A/S NORIEGA, PDAS DERHAM 
STATE PASS TO USAID LAC/AA 
NSC FOR KIM BREIER 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER KCRM AR BO BR CO PA VE
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY: UPDATE ON CUBAS KIDNAPPING INVESTIGATION 
AND FARC ACTIVITY 
 
REF: A. ASUNCION 00589 
 
     ¶B. ASUNCION 00246 AND PRECEDING 
     ¶C. ASUNCION 00232 
 
Classified By: PolOff Mark Stamilio, reasons 1.4(b),(c),(d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
¶1. (U) As reported in the press, a dissident Patria Libre 
party (PPL) member testified that a Colombian national who 
advised the PPL faction responsible for the kidnapping and 
murder of former President Raul Cubas's daughter, Cecilia 
Cubas (ref B), recommended that the group kill Ms. Cubas 
after ransom negotiations faltered.  Prosecutors have 
suggested that the Colombian adviser was FARC "Foreign 
Minister" Rodrigo Granda.  According to the witness's 
testimony, the adviser also encouraged the PPL to establish 
an armed wing in Paraguay.  Six additional PPL members now 
face criminal charges based on the witness's testimony, 
bringing the total to 28. 
 
¶2. (S) Paraguayan Attorney General Oscar Latorre shared with 
the Ambassador new evidence showing additional email 
communication between the PPL in Paraguay and senior FARC 
leaders in Colombia, and between the PPL and a FARC operative 
possibly based in Argentina.  Among other things, the new 
evidence indicates that the PPL communicated with the FARC 
regarding at least one other kidnapping for ransom prior to 
the Cubas kidnapping. 
 
¶3. (U) Additionally, prosecutors are investigating reports 
that six FARC members entered Paraguay by way of Bolivia to 
assist with the Cubas kidnapping, and reports that a presumed 
FARC member was involved in an attempted kidnapping in Ciudad 
del Este (ref A).  End Summary. 
 
Testimony of Dissident PPL Member 
--------------------------------- 
¶4. (U) In a pre-trial deposition before a judge in late 
April, dissident PPL member turned police informant Dionisio 
Olazar Balbuena testified that a Colombian national 
accompanied Osmar Martinez, the leader of the PPL faction 
believed to be responsible for the Cubas kidnapping and 
murder, to a meeting in Paraguay.  Olazar testified that the 
Colombian national used the alias "Comandante Santiago" and 
served as an adviser to the Martinez faction in connection 
with the kidnapping.  Based on Olazar's general description 
of Comandante Santiago -- white male with graying hair, 
glasses, and a "Central American" accent -- prosecutors have 
suggested that he may have been FARC "Foreign Minister" 
Rodrigo Granda.  (Note: Paraguayans sometimes refer to any 
unfamiliar Spanish accent as "Central American."  End Note.) 
 
¶5. (U) According to Olazar, the Martinez faction perpetrated 
the Cubas kidnapping "to recover money from those who had 
stolen it from the people."  Their plan was to demand an 
initial USD 300,000 as "punishment," and then negotiate a 
ransom of USD 3 million - 5 million.  When negotiations with 
the Cubas family faltered, Comandante Santiago recommended 
that the group kill Ms. Cubas, and then left Paraguay. 
Olazar testified that Comandante Santiago also encouraged the 
PPL to establish an armed wing in Paraguay. 
 
¶6. (U) Olazar testified that he quit the PPL after a 
falling-out with PPL leader Juan Arrom.  (Note: Arrom is 
accused of orchestrating the 2001 kidnapping of Maria Edith 
Bordon de Debernardi, and was granted refugee status in 
Brazil after he was allegedly tortured by authorities in 
Paraguay.  End Note.)  According to Olazar, the falling-out 
occurred when he questioned Arrom about the accusations 
against him in the Debernardi case.  Olazar further testified 
that Martinez, Comandante Santiago, and two unnamed Deputies 
from Brazil's Workers Party (PT) tried to convince him to 
rejoin the PPL in support of South America's leftist movement. 
 
¶7. (S) Comment: Some aspects of Olazar's testimony are 
self-serving and inconsistent with sensitive reporting.  For 
instance, the PPL formed its armed wing at least ten years 
ago, and according to sensitive reporting, Comandante 
Santiago actually told the PPL that it needed to strengthen 
its political wing so that the armed and political wings 
would better complement each other.  Olazar's focus on the 
formation of an armed wing may be an attempt to exploit the 
public's concerns about security in Paraguay and thereby 
inflate the significance of his testimony. 
¶8. (S) Comment continued: Also, according to sensitive 
reporting, Olazar was previously unable to identify a 
"Central American" accent as anything other than a 
non-Paraguayan accent.  Further, it is unlikely that he met 
Granda and cannot identify him more positively than the 
general description he provided to the Attorney General's 
Office.  In Post's assessment, it is also unlikely that 
Granda is Comandante Santiago. 
 
¶9. (S) Comment continued: Finally, sensitive reporting 
indicates that Olazar kept some distance from the PPL after 
his falling-out with Arrom, but never quit the party.  He 
continued to attend PPL meetings, which is how he obtained 
the information he imparted to the Attorney General's Office 
and in his testimony.  Having been outed as a member of the 
party, however, and no longer in good graces with Arrom, who 
will likely remain its leader, Olazar is hoping to save his 
own skin by cooperating with the authorities and minimizing 
his involvement in PPL activities.  End Comment. 
 
Growing Rap Sheet 
----------------- 
¶10. (U) Six additional PPL members now face criminal charges 
based, in part, on Olazar's testimony.  According to Olazar, 
those members were present at a January PPL meeting during 
which Martinez called for a vote on Ms. Cubas's fate.  Three 
of the six supported Martinez's decision to kill Ms. Cubas. 
All six face charges as accomplices for failing to report the 
crime to the authorities.  A total of 28 individuals now face 
charges in the case: 
 
-- Osmar Martinez 
-- Anastasio Mieres 
-- Jose Martinez 
-- Francisca Andino 
-- Asael Salas 
-- Aldo Meza 
-- Vasiano Acosta 
-- Manuel Portillo 
-- Juan Martinez 
-- Pedro Chamorro 
-- Lidia Samudio 
-- Rosalba Jara 
-- Amalia Britez 
-- Hernan Nunez 
-- Emiliano Rojas 
-- Jose Hidalgo 
-- Manuel Cristaldo 
-- Magna Meza 
-- Osvaldo Villalba 
-- Carlos Espinola 
-- Sebastian Osorio 
-- Lorenzo Gonzalez 
-- Agustin Acosta 
-- Angel Acosta 
-- Blas Franco 
-- Gustavo Lezcano 
-- Aristides Vera 
-- Roque Rodriguez 
 
New Email Evidence 
------------------ 
¶11. (S) According to evidence Paraguayan Attorney General 
Oscar Latorre shared with the Ambassador, on July 12, 2004, 
the day Martinez is believed to have met with Granda in 
Caracas, Venezuela (ref C), Granda emailed senior FARC leader 
Raul Reyes on Martinez's behalf to report on the status of 
plans and preparations for the Cubas kidnapping.  The 
evidence indicates that Granda then put Martinez in contact 
with a FARC operative (alias "Hermes") who has an email 
account registered in Argentina (cocobolivar@yahoo.com.ar). 
(Note: According to press reports, the Paraguayan authorities 
believe Hermes is part of a FARC cell in Buenos Aires.  The 
evidence Latorre shared with the Ambassador indicates that 
Martinez met Hermes in Brazil, perhaps on his way back to 
Paraguay from Venezuela.  End Note.) 
 
¶12. (S) The evidence also indicates that the PPL communicated 
with the FARC regarding at least one other kidnapping for 
ransom, in June 2003, roughly one year before the Cubas 
kidnapping.  The exchange was between alias "Javier" and 
alias "Arturo" by means of the musguero@hotmail.com email 
account later linked to Martinez in the Cubas investigation 
(ref B).  The drafter used the same agricultural references 
("fruit" to refer to the victim, "crop" to refer to the 
kidnapping, etc.) that Martinez and Granda later used to 
discuss the Cubas kidnapping.  Paraguayan authorities' 
analysis of the communication suggests that the kidnapping 
victim in the June 2003 case was a Brazilian national (based 
on an allusion to the color "yellow-green," the predominant 
color in Brazil's national flag) and that the PPL requested 
the assistance of a FARC advisor (based on an allusion to a 
"member of the cooperative"). 
 
Other FARC Activity 
------------------- 
¶13. (U) Prosecutors are investigating reports that six FARC 
members entered Paraguay by way of Bolivia to assist with the 
Cubas kidnapping.  Separately, police in Ciudad del Este 
reportedly thwarted an attempt to kidnap a relative of "a 
well-known physician" by a group that reportedly included a 
Colombian national named Jose Raul Castro Fernandez. 
Paraguayan authorities reportedly told the press that Castro 
"could be a member of the FARC." 
KEANE