VZCZCXYZ0046
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #0769/01 1101441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201441Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9457
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000769 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC KOMC GT KCOR PM
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN END USE CHECKS UNRELIABLE IN 
GUATEMALA - 05-985279 AND 05-985856 
 
REF: A. GUATEMALA 690 
 
     ¶B. SECSTATE 09461 
     ¶C. IIR 68389941 
 
¶1.  (SBU) EconOff attempted to conduct a pre-license end-use 
check on potential US munitions exports to private Guatemalan 
distributor, Poligonos S.A.  Due to unreliable GOG 
counterparts, private sector practices that lack 
transparency, porous borders, and generally weak law 
enforcement, meaningful end-use checks cannot be done on 
sales to Guatemala.  Guatemala is a violent country awash in 
legal and illegal firearms.  The quantity of US origin 
firearms and munitions that enter Guatemala through legal 
channels is very small compared to the overall market.  And 
while there is no apparent economic rationale for legally 
imported US weapons to enter the black market or regional 
arms trade, it is not currently feasible to evaluate 
compliance with US export end-use regulations (REF A).  The 
existing legal framework, which includes licensing of all 
levels of arms and munitions distribution and use, is not 
adequately implemented and therefore applies only to the 
relatively small legal trade.  End summary. 
 
------------------------------ 
Failed GOG Regulatory Entities 
------------------------------ 
¶2.  (SBU) The Department of Arms and Munitions Control 
(DECAM), within the Ministry of Defense, has primary 
responsibility for regulating the import, export, 
distribution, ownership and carrying of firearms, munitions, 
and other types of weapons in non-military hands.  The 
national police (PNC) and customs, share enforcement 
responsibility of these regulations.  Due to the combination 
of a lack of resources, incompetence, corruption, and the 
sheer enormity of the task, DECAM recognizes that it only 
effectively regulates a small portion of the weapons in the 
country.  IAPEDES, an NGO advocating arms control, estimates 
the number of guns outside of GOG security forces at over two 
million, of which less than 15% are registered in some form 
or other by DECAM.  There are no reliable statistics on the 
extent of the illegal arms trade. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) DECAM has been implicated in numerous scandals over 
the years, from licensing gang members with arrest records to 
carry AK-47s, to running their own illegal arms distribution 
operations.  Most gun dealers interviewed by EconOff claim to 
have experienced some level of extortion by DECAM officials 
in the past.  Even a perfect regulatory body would rely on 
effective customs enforcement and border controls to regulate 
weapons import and export.  Guatemalan borders are extremely 
porous and everything from chicken to people is routinely 
smuggled in and out of the country.  Carolina Rca, Director 
of the Tax and Customs Authority ha repeatedly admitted her 
own lack of control overcorrupt customs officials at formal 
ports of entry, and acknowledges the multitude of illicit 
crossing points along the country's various borders.  The PNC 
is the third GOG agency with enforcement potential, but they 
also suffer from a lack of resources, training, and 
widespread corruption at the lower levels (REF B). 
 
----------------------- 
No Reliable Information 
----------------------- 
¶4.  (SBU) Unfortunately, the failure of the country's 
regulatory agencies to control arms sales cannot be offset by 
reliable intelligece on arms movements.  There is currently 
no civlian intelligence agency, and the discredited military 
intelligence organiation is generally in disarray.  There 
has never been transparent civilian regulation of the arms 
sector.  With such a murky history, it is difficult to have 
confidence in private sector agents who have their own 
interests in filtering the Embassy's understanding of local 
market conditions. 
 
------------------------------ 
Blue Lantern on Poligonos S.A. 
------------------------------ 
¶5.  (SBU) EconOff visited Poligonos facilities and met with 
owners Jesus ARRIAZA and his son Juan Diego (REF C).  The 
family run business - son Manolo Jesus ARRIAZA is also listed 
as an owner - has one store in a shopping mall in downtown 
Guatemala City.  The location appears relatively secure in a 
larger shopping complex with security personnel.  The owners 
claim to keep detailed lists of all customers and sales, 
although Post has no way to confirm the validity of these 
lists.  The store is also known by its prior name, Safari 
Shooting, which according to Jesus Arriaza was Remington 
Arms' exclusive Guatemalan distributor from 1995 to 1999 when 
 
their business was much bigger (he claimed it was the largest 
in Guatemala) with locations throughout the country.  Arriaza 
described how they changed names after Safari Shooting was 
run out of business and had their licenses revoked by corrupt 
DECAM officials in October 1999.  He alleged that DECAM 
officials, working with organized crime and angered by his 
refusal to pay bribes, revoked his licenses and illegally 
opened their own competing operations to replace his (he 
himself claimed to have started his business as the son of a 
General).  Arriaza went on to discredit much of his 
competition in the sector, alleging corruption, dirty deals 
with the military, illegal re-export and a host of other 
sordid activities. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Arriaza said he has since come to terms with new 
DECAM leadership and has been legally operating under the 
name Poligonos since July 2004.  His stated intention is to 
retake his lost market share, justifying his large orders of 
munitions (his current operation does not appear large enough 
to move major quantities in retail sales).  He says he does 
not currently supply other businesses but plans to re-enter 
that market as he expands operations.  DECAM confirmed to the 
Embassy that Poligonos S.A. is a licensed firearms and 
munitions importer and distributor, but would not comment on 
Safari Shooting and the previously revoked license.  Listed 
Guatemala City intermediary, Kabat, is unknown to Arriaza. 
Kabat appears to be a customs clearing service company 
located near Guatemala City's international airport. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Comment: End-Use Checks Simply Not Reliable 
------------------------------------------- 
¶7.  (SBU) Responsible GOG agencies admit their inability to 
adequately monitor or control the arms and munitions trade. 
Law enforcement is generally ineffective at supporting the 
regulators, and there are currently no intelligence services 
capable of monitoring the sector.  Private sector actors 
invariably produce stacks of unverifiable, hand-written 
"evidence" of their own compliance, and spiral into a 
he-said-she-said slandering of their competitors' practices, 
leaving Post with no way of sorting out fact from fiction. 
Against this backdrop, Post cannot verify local compliance 
with USG export end-use regulations. 
DERHAM