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C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 001468 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR, WHA/OAS,L/LEI FOR TORRES, INL; 
DEPT OF JUSTICE/CRIM ORJALES, TOLEDO, DEPUTY USAG BSWARTZ; 
US MARSHAL SERVICE PLEASE PASS TO CHRIS DUDLEY; 
DEA FOR OF,OFI,DO,DCO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2016 
TAGS: OVIP PREL PTER SNAR KCRM KJUS OAS DR TD VE
SUBJECT: U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES AT OAS JUSTICE 
MINISTERIAL IN SANTO DOMINGO APRIL 24-26 
 
Classified By: Charge d'affairs Lisa Kubiske.  Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  On April 24 and 25, U.S. Attorney General 
Alberto Gonzales attended the 6th Regular Meeting of 
Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General of the Americas 
(REMJA-VI), held in Santo Domingo.  A hour-long conversation 
with President Leonel Fernandez provided suggestions for 
improving the U.S. image in Latin America and ruminations on 
the Iraq war, while a shorter meeting with Attorney General 
Francisco Dominguez Brito dealt with law enforcement 
cooperation and the REMJA-VI mechanism. Senior Dominican 
government spoke of concern with issues surrounding 
criminality and rule of law, as suggested by a specific 
request for a criminal indictment in the BanInternacional 
bank fraud case.  A bilateral discussion with Trinidad and 
Tobago focused on the radical group Jamaat al-Muslimeen and 
on T&T's deteriorating relations with Venezuela. End summary. 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) On April 24 and 25 U.S. Attorney General Alberto 
Gonzales attended the 6th Regular Meeting of Ministers of 
Justice and Attorneys General of the Americas (REMJA-VI), 
held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  In addition to 
the business of the conference, the Attorney General had 
lengthy meetings with Dominican President Leonel Fernandez 
and Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito.  The 
Ambassador hosted a working lunch that brought the Attorney 
General together with key Dominican cabinet members and law 
enforcement officials.  The Attorney General gave an 
interview to the legal specialist of a widely read daily 
newspaper. 
 
------------------- 
President Fernandez 
------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) During the evening of April 24, President Leonel 
Fernandez received AG Gonzales for an hour at the 
presidential palace.  The Ambassador and U.S. PermRep to the 
OAS Amb. John Maisto, DOJ deputy chief of staff, and poloff 
accompanied.  Throughout the call Fernandez was philosophical 
and spoke freely about his views. 
 
-- Justice Sector 
 
Fernandez noted that improvement in the justice sector began 
under his watch, with an increased emphasis on transparency, 
building public confidence, and efficiency.  He admitted 
encountering difficulties in the fight against corruption, 
which he found to be highly politicized, especially in the 
judiciary.  He said that if the ruling Dominican Liberation 
Party (PLD) captured additional congressional seats in the 
May 2006 elections, there would be an opportunity to appoint 
politically untainted judges.  (Note: Fernandez' comment 
mirrors the popular perception that Mejia-administration 
judicial appointees will not convict members of Mejia's 
opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) for 
corruption-related offenses.)  Upon questioning by the 
Attorney General, Fernandez suggested that judicial 
corruption is being countered by improved salaries and 
benefits packages for judges. 
 
-- Military to Military Relations 
 
Fernandez described bilateral military relations as going 
"very well" in general terms, though he noted "We're always 
expecting more technology transfer, equipment, and training" 
from the United States. 
 
-- Regional Perception of the United States 
 
AG Gonzales noted a U.S. concern that the United States is 
perceived as caring only about Iraq.  Fernandez commented 
that the United States should break out of its historic, but 
understandable, pattern of concentrating upon countries in 
crisis ("A lot of good friends in the regon are somehow 
being neglected").  Fernandez saidthe United States should, 
instead, actively rewad good governance and democratic 
stability throuh increased contacts.  One example could be a 
 
visit by President Bush to the Dominican Republic. The 
Ambassador pointed out that President Bush had begun his 
administration with a Latin American trip (i.e., to Mexico). 
Fernandez countered that the U.S. national agenda had changed 
following the attacks of September 11. 
 
Fernandez hoped that the United States would make increased 
use of "soft power" in the region, which he defined largely 
as the awarding of scholarships, as well as cultural and 
athletic exchanges.  Fernandez provided examples of what he 
viewed to be the successful projection of "soft power":  the 
current Cuban practice of awarding medical school 
scholarships to students from developing nations, and Russian 
scholarships to that still-functioning Cold War relic, the 
Partice Lumumba University in Moscow.  "Why can't the United 
States have a program like this?"  The Attorney General and 
Ambassador Maisto noted that there are thousands of Latin 
American students in the U.S., and the U.S. plans to do more. 
 
-- Global War on Terror:  Afghanistan and a "Mistake" in Iraq 
 
Shifting focus, the Attorney General noted adverse comments 
in the hemisphere on the global war on terror and criticisms 
of Guantanamo. He inquired as to the impact in the Dominican 
Republic. 
 
Fernandez thought neither issue to be a "problem" in the 
country, mainly because most people are not well informed. 
"Speaking frankly and as a friend," Fernandez commented that 
the "second Iraq war" had little to do with terrorism and 
therefore was a "conceptual mistake."  Fernandez said, in 
comparison, the war in Afghanistan was a "natural reaction" 
and "the right thing to do."  Taking a long view, Fernandez 
said, the Iraq war was a strategic mistake, as it eliminated 
a military counterbalance to Iran.  Responding to the 
Attorney General's reply that genuine fear of Iraqi weapons 
of mass destruction was the cause of the most recent 
conflict, Fernandez said his opinion would have been the 
same, even if WMD had been found. Fernandez said that the 
general public concern over Iraq is strictly limited, rightly 
or wrongly, to the high world price of oil as experienced 
through the high price of gasoline. 
 
-- Iran 
 
Fernandez concluded that Iran is "bluffing."  He urged the 
United States "not to play into their game," suggesting that 
that would only embolden others (i.e., North Korea and 
Venezuela).  He said, "The world is against Iran" and 
predicted diplomatic victory for the United States on the 
Iranian nuclear issue in the United Nations. 
 
-- CAFTA-DR 
 
Fernandez expressed surprise that both U.S. ambassadors 
expressed concern about the lack of Dominican progress toward 
CAFTA implementation and the specific apprehension that the 
DR could miss its own July 1 deadline. Fernandez had been 
told by his chief negotiator that negotiations were on track 
and on time.  "Well, then," he said, "if not July, then 
August."  The Ambassador warned against slippage and informed 
the President of a North Carolina textile firm that had 
recently decided to make a USD 100 million investment in 
Nicaragua -- a lost opportunity for the Dominicans. 
 
-- Narcotrafficking 
 
The Attorney General praised international cooperation on 
narcotrafficking. Fernandez said that rises in Dominican 
crime rates are due to narcotraffickers and the drugs with 
which they are paying their Dominican employees. 
 
-- OAS General Assembly 
 
Setting the state for the June 4-6 event, Ambassador Maisto 
said that the OASGA theme of "governance and development for 
a knowledge society" is truly important. It connects last 
year's theme of "delivering the benefits of democracy" to the 
biggest challenge facing democratically elected governments 
 
in the hemisphere:  governing democratically.  Fernandez 
agreed with this point and emphasized the technological 
dimensions of the issue. 
 
------------------ 
AG Dominguez Brito 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (U) Dominican Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito 
expressed to AG Gonzales in the margins of the plenary 
histhanks to the USG, especially to USAID, for assistance on 
law enforcement administration and reform.  He then discussed 
philosophies of controlling narcotics and crime control and 
the reorganization and institutionalization of the REMJA. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Dominguez Brito noted the persistence of a domestic 
drug problem, despite the effort to stop the inflow of drugs, 
particularly at seaports and airports.  He suggested that an 
increased emphasis on street-level distributors, whom he 
described as micro-traffickers, might be in order.  Noting 
that the average age of a "youth gang" participant had 
increased, Dominguez Brito commented that the country should 
revisit its anti-drug strategy with an eye toward dismantling 
youth gangs before their relative power increases.  In 
relaying U.S. anti-crime strategies, AG Gonzales spoke 
generally of "Project Safe Neighborhood," a USG initiative in 
which federal authorities fight gun use and other crime on a 
local level.  Gonzales offered to share additional 
information regarding this and other strategies. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Dominguez Brito suggested the OAS justice 
ministerial would benefit greatly from institutional changes. 
He thought this best accomplished by the creation of a 
triumvirate of the past, current, and future presidents, who 
could meet to plan REMJA's substantive agenda.  Dominguez 
Brito suggested that the next REMJA meeting could be held 
somewhere in the United States.  AG Gonzales replied that he 
would consider these suggestions and said that he also wants 
to increase REMJA's effectiveness.  Later, at the REMJA 
plenary, AG Gonzales endorsed the idea of creating the 
triumvirate. 
 
¶7. (SBU) On the margins of other meetings, the Dominican 
Attorney General relayed his concerns regarding two 
extradition matters:  the frustrated petition for extradition 
from the United States of Sam Goodson (aka Shlomo Ben Tov), 
rejected on appeal by a U.S. magistrate for insufficient 
documentation of probable cause, as well as the extradition 
request, pending in New York state, for Dominican national 
Jeffery Pena Bencosme, accused of killing a policeman in 
Santiago, Dominican Republic. . 
 
------------------------ 
Am Embassy Working Lunch 
------------------------ 
 
¶8. (C) On the afternoon of the April 25, 15 senior Dominican 
officials joined the Attorney General, the Ambassador OAS 
PermRep and senior Embassy and DOJ staff at the Ambassador's 
residence for a working lunch.  The majority of Dominican 
officials limited themselves to praising USG cooperation in 
the areas of legal reform and law enforcement, Dominguez 
Brito and Presidential Legal Advisor Cesar Pina Toribio asked 
specifically for assistance in obtaining a U.S. criminal 
indictment against U.S.- Dominican dual national Luis Alvarez 
Renta, a prominent businessman charged in the penal case for 
the 2003 fraudulent collapse of Banco Internacional 
(Baninter).  Both said that a U.S. criminal investigation and 
subsequent indictment would assist in the collection of a 
civil award of approximately USD 173 million won in federal 
court in South Florida and would further facilitate 
proceedings against Alvarez Renta in the Dominican Republic. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In an exchange of ideas on the most pressing issues 
facing both the United States and the Dominican Government, 
AG Gonzales stressed that terrorism remained the single most 
important justice-related issue facing the United States. 
When he asked the 15 Dominicans present for their views, only 
Dominguez Brito answered.  The answer was immediate and 
 
uncontradicted:  criminality and rule of law issues were the 
issues considered most critical for the Dominican government, 
though the country needed to be ready to face terrorism as 
well. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Bilateral meetings - Trinidad and Tobago 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Terrorism featured much more prominently in a 
bilateral meeting between the Attorney General and Trinidad 
and Tobago's Attorney General John Jeremie. 
 
-- Terrorism 
 
The Attorney General, joined by the Deputy Assistant Attorney 
General, DOJ Deputy Chief of Staff, and poloff, heard details 
regarding the persistence of the Jamaat al-Muslimeen, an 
indigenous Islamic terror group responsible for an attempted 
coup in 1990.  The 5000-member-strong group funds itself 
through drug trafficking, gun running, and Islamic charities, 
possibly with links to Pakistan. The criminal core of the 
group is estimated at roughly 500 members. The Jamaat are 
"number 1" in Jeremie's priority list. 
 
According to Jeremie, there remains a palpable fear regarding 
the group; a fear exacerbated by a 1990 amnesty for 113 of 
the coup participants, as well as the general failure of 
successive governments to control the group's activities. 
Still, Jeremie asserts, the current government is "making 
progress" in the war on terror with the arrest for incitement 
of Jamaat leader and founder Imam Yasin Abu Bakr.  Jeremie 
suggested that the authorities had "broken the back of 
Jamaat" with this arrest, but he conceded that much work 
would still need to be done with the senior judiciary, whom 
he described as "infected" by corruption. 
 
Jeremie described current anti-terror laws as sufficient, 
noting that the UN-modeled Terrorism Act contains a maximum 
25 year term for incitement to violence.    He made it a 
point to thank Gonzales for the FBI's assistance in helping 
stop a recent spate of bombings in Port of Spain.  The 
Attorney General replied, "We'd be happy to consider other 
assistance." 
 
-- Corruption and Extradition 
 
For Jeremie, the fight against corruption is the area where 
insufficient progress is being made, and the area where the 
USG might best be able to help.  He calls corruption a 
"significant problem that has affected the very heart of 
government."  Though the USG has helped with indictments in 
the case of a corrupt former Prime Minister, the USG has not 
yet met the extradition request for ex-minister Brian Kuei 
Tung, accused of fraud in a Piarco airport development 
project.  Jeremie gently contrasted this status with what 
noted to be good relations with the British on mutual legal 
assistance.   Commenting on the intersection of corruption 
and extradition, Jeremie said that extraditions were some of 
the easier judicial processes the Trinidad and Tobago 
government could undertake, as the lower magistrates are "not 
as touched by corruption." 
 
The Attorney General replied,"Let's see what we can do." 
 
-- Venezuela 
 
Acknowledging that there was probably nothing that the United 
States could do in this area, Jeremie nevertheless relayed 
his opinions regarding the deteriorating relationship with 
the Chavez regime. Jeremie thought the turn of the 
relationship came when Trinidad and Tobago,s Prime Minister 
took a contrary position on Chavez, Petrocarribe oil 
distribution scheme.  That resulted in a personal 
"falling-out" between the two men, the outgrowth of which was 
Venezuelan support for the Jamaat.  As an example of this 
support, Jeremie sited a locally well-known picture of a 
Jamaat leader climbing on board a Venezuelan tank. He 
concluded by noting that the Trinidadian-Venezuelan 
 
relationship had deteriorated to such a point that "the days 
where we could broker the peace between you and Mr. Chavez 
are long gone." 
 
 
-- Regional Warrants 
 
The Attorney General inquired as to the Trinidadian position 
on the backing of warrants, a process by which one nations, 
warrant would be enforceable in another state.  After noting 
that such a scheme was already in practice in Europe, Jeremie 
found it to be "a difficult sell in practical terms" for 
Latin America because of differing human rights situations in 
the states in the region. 
 
While the Trinidad government does back warrants for other 
sovereign island states in the region, based largely on a 
commonality of legal systems and "a certain amount of due 
process," an OAS proposal for hemispheric warrant backing 
would be "ahead of the curve." 
 
¶11.  (U) This cable was cleared by WHA/OAS.  The Embassy sent 
a copy of the draft to the Office of the Attorney General on 
April 28 by secure e-mail (B Swartz) and has not received DOJ 
comment. 
KUBISKE