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C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 001044 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA CABINET RESHUFFLE LEAVES TORRIJOS WEAKER 
WITHIN PRD, STRONGER AS PRESIDENT -- A LOOK INSIDE PRD 
POLITICS 
 
REF: A. PANAMA 0824 
     ¶B. PANAMA 0919 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM EATON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶1.  (C) The April 28 cabinet changes (Reftel A) exposed and 
intensified a rift dividing President Torrijos's inner circle 
from the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) rank and file. 
Although Torrijos and Consejo (Intelligence Chief) Leonel 
Solis succeeded in removing Minister of Government and 
Justice (MOGJ) Hector Aleman, Aleman's ouster enraged 
prominent PRD politicians, including Housing Minister Balbina 
Herrera.  Torrijos simultaneously gave a boost to the 
leftist, pro-Cuba PRD "Tendencia" faction, by naming former 
Dignity Battalions Chief Benjamin Colamarco as Public Works 
Minister (Reftel B).  Ex-convict Colamarco is known for his 
efficiency, if not his probity.  Aleman's former vice 
minister -- now MOGJ -- Olga Golcher, is a loyal PRDista but 
with little experience in security affairs.  In effect, the 
reshuffle makes MOGJ a branch of the Consejo.  Torrijos 
loyalist Solis, the shakeup's clear winner, will make the 
major decisions at MOGJ, possibly with help from former PDF 
Colonel Daniel Delgado, now customs chief, rumored to be 
named as Golcher's vice minister.  Torrijos eventually will 
have to face the party's discontent for forcing Aleman to 
step down, but probably not until 2007, when the PRD holds a 
convention to choose a new secretary general.  End Summary. 
 
A Personal Matter 
----------------- 
¶2.  (C) The late-April cabinet shakeup gave the Palace and 
Torrijos loyalists expanded powers but diminished the 
President's standing in his party.  Personal factors played a 
big role in Aleman's dismissal.  The pressure over control of 
security policy that had been building for months between 
Aleman and Consejo Solis, who Torrijos backed, finally boiled 
over in late April.  Torrijos tried to ease Aleman out of his 
cabinet post and into a specially created job related to 
Canal widening.  According to PRD sources, when Aleman 
refused to give up MOGJ, battle lines were drawn between the 
Torrijos-Solis-Real "Team Martin" and Aleman and Herrera and 
other PRD heavyweights, such as Labor Minister Reynaldo 
Rivera. 
 
Out of the Loop 
--------------- 
¶3.  (C) According to Embassy sources within the PRD, Minister 
Aleman was unhappy at being left out of the loop on security 
matters, particularly because Panamanian National Police 
Director General Rolando Mirones, Solis, and Torrijos 
habitually bypassed him.  (Note: In August 2005 Solis had 
been brought in from the SPI, the presidential bodyguard, to 
replace then-Consejo Javier Martinez Acha, a former Texas A&M 
roommate of Torrijos. 
 
Personal Rivalry 
---------------- 
¶4.  (C) Aside from Solis and Aleman's evident dislike for 
each other, a contributing factor, Embassy sources say, was 
that Aleman and Torrijos both were competing to buy the same 
piece of land on the Atlantic coast.  Aleman allegedly made 
disparaging comments to the Chinese Panamanian seller about 
Torrijos.  Word got back to Torrijos, who was not happy. 
 
"Low Morale" 
------------ 
¶5.  (C) A week before the shakeup in an April 20 meeting with 
POL Specialist, Comptroller General Dani Kuzniecky complained 
about low morale in the Cabinet, which he blamed on 
Torrijos's "confusing" management style.  Torrijos, Kuzniecky 
continued, was not informing cabinet members about rumored 
change and raising anxiety levels by sending mixed messages 
to several Cabinet members who claim not to know what to 
expect.  "How does he expect people to respect him?" 
Kuzniecky asked sarcastically. 
 
 
"I Earned It" 
------------- 
¶6.  (C) Four days before, Kuzniecky added, Hector Aleman -- 
"who is not my friend" -- for the first time opened up and 
told Kuzniecky that he was "sick of Torrijos."  Asked if he 
really was leaving MOGJ, Aleman replied that Torrijos had 
hinted at it in a conversation that was so confusing that 
Hector did not understand whether Martin meant to remove him 
from MOGJ and send him elsewhere, or to keep him there but to 
give him extra responsibilities.  Aleman allegedly told 
Torrijos, "My position in the cabinet is not a gift from you. 
 I have a position on the party board.  I earned it." 
 
A Screaming Match 
----------------- 
¶7.  (C) Aleman was so upset after his conversation with 
Torrijos that he shared it with "a few" PRD people, including 
Housing Minister Balbina Herrera.  According to Kuzniecky, 
Balbina then went to the Palace to talk to Martin.  When she 
was barred from the President's office, she allegedly got 
into a screaming match with Minister of the Presidency 
Ubaldino Real, yelling and cursing that he and Torrijos knew 
nothing about politics and that both of them would realize 
that soon enough.  Later, Aleman allegedly confronted 
Torrijos, with Aleman threatening that "he could talk" and 
the President allegedly replying that he also could talk but 
that Aleman's "dossier" was larger. 
 
Black List Forces A Backdown 
---------------------------- 
¶8.  (C) Another PRD source told us with many PRDistas 
supporting Aleman, on April 27 Aleman met with Herrera, 
Legislator Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, and presidential hopeful 
Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro, making sure that 
photographers were present, with the idea of pressuring 
Torrijos.  When word of the meeting spread, Real and Solis 
allegedly began making a black list of PRD officials who 
could lose their jobs, the movement to back Aleman lost some 
steam.  Navarro told Ambassador that when Torrijos and Aleman 
stopped talking to each other, he convinced the President to 
reach out to his long-time friend, Aleman.  To Navarro's 
horror, Aleman triumphantly refused to take the call. 
Navarro said he then brokered a reconciliation meeting that 
lasted nearly three hours.  Finally, Aleman decided to face 
the inevitable and step down.  But not wanting to return to 
his National Assembly seat, Aleman reluctantly accepted a 
small office at the Palace as member of a special Canal 
widening commission. 
 
Is Samuel Lewis (SLN) To Blame? 
------------------------------- 
¶9.  (C) One PRD current blames President Torrijos's close 
relationship with VP/Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro. 
"Part of this entire problem is SLN," a POL Specialist 
contact said.  "He is just too influential over Martin and it 
is widely known that Martin wants him to be his 
(presidential) candidate for 2009.  SLN has been the reason 
there have been so many internal disputes in the party." 
 
"Ungrateful" Martin 
------------------- 
¶10.  (C) Less than a week after the shakeup, a former PRD 
legislator told POL Specialist that many party members 
believe that Torrijos had acted "ungratefully" toward Aleman 
(who managed the 2004 Torrijos election campaign) by kicking 
him out of the cabinet, especially the way he did it. 
Confirming all the stories recounted above, he said, "Hector 
is badly hurt and if Martin thinks that he will forget this 
episode, he is wrong.  Hector will take revenge from the 
National Assembly."  True, Torrijos has the goods on Aleman's 
business with PNP motorcycles and prison kiosks but, he 
added, Aleman is well aware of the money both of them, among 
others, pocketed in exchange for approving the CEMIS contract 
(a scandal from early 2002).  More importantly, Hector knows 
about all of Martin's current businesses, he continued, the 
ones he is doing solo and the ones he is doing with Ubaldino 
Real.  (Comment: Real is known as being Torrijos's investment 
counselor, business partner and bag man.  End Comment.) 
 
 
 
Chump Change 
------------ 
¶11.  (C) The ex-legislator dismissed Aleman's participation 
in the Palace-based Canal expansion commission as "a fake," 
claiming that Aleman accepted the job on advice from party 
supporters and because he did not want to return to the 
Assembly.  But the source also claimed that Ubaldino Real, 
knowing that Aleman wanted to keep his connection with the 
Palace, had mocked Aleman by telling him that he would earn 
only $4000 a month in the expansion commission job, while the 
other commission members -- former Finance Minister Catin 
Vasquez (now replaced by Carlos Vallarino), Presidential 
Advisor Jorge Ritter, Media Advisor Jorge Sanchez, and Marcel 
Salamin -- would make $6000.  Aleman would make more money by 
returning to the Assembly ($7000 a month) than at the 
commission.  (Comment: Aleman apparently has filed the 
necessary paperwork to draw his legislative salary, while 
retaining his office at the Palace.  End Comment.) 
 
PRD Sentiment Negative 
---------------------- 
¶12.  (C) According to PRD Legislator Freidi Torres, sentiment 
in the PRD is turning against Torrijos.  In an April 19 
conversation with POL Specialist, Torres attributed 
Torrijos's diminished inner-PRD standing to "constant 
mistakes," "passing the ball" to PRD legislators (demanding 
votes on legislation that the Palace has not bothered to 
consult legislators about), and ignoring the party's 
grassroots.  The President's growing distance from the party, 
Torres added, is weakening his ability to control it.  Also, 
Torres said 11 PRD legislators (Franz Wever, Cesar Pardo, 
Rogelio Paredes, Marina Laguna, Maricruz Padilla, Benicio 
Robinson, Ruben DeLeon, Carlos Alvarado, and three others 
from indigenous comarcas) are openly meeting with Former 
President and Torrijos nemesis Perez Balladares.  Aleman 
recently was seen having lunch with Perez Balladares at a 
local PRD hangout, adding to speculation about internal PRD 
intrigue. 
 
Yuppies vs. Politicos 
--------------------- 
¶13.  (C) His point was echoed in a separate conversation with 
opposition Panamenista legislator Luis Cleghorn, who 
explained that PRD members are pushing hard against "Team 
Martin," who tend to be young professionals who do not really 
need a government job but have most of the high-ranking 
positions.  The old PRDistas, the ones who are used to "make 
a living from the state," identify with Aleman because they 
find themselves on the outside. 
 
What About Balbina? 
------------------- 
¶14.  (C) Torres recounted "a bad fight" that Balbina Herrera 
and technocratic Trade Ministr, Andy Ferrer, recently had 
outside the Palace, where Herrera openly cursed Ferrer. 
Herrera (and Aleman) are annoyed, Torres explained, because 
Torrijos pretends to listen to them but pays more attention 
to non-PRD members Ferrer and lawyer Jimmy Arias. 
 
"They Hate Each Other" 
---------------------- 
¶15.  (C) Comptroller Kuzniecky confirmed Torres's story. 
"They hate each other," he said, adding that every time Andy 
opens his mouth at the cabinet, Balbina makes a point to 
oppose him.  "He says white, she says black."  "Balbina is a 
political animal," Kuzniecky expounded.  "She is smart, 
aggressive and is used to get what she wants most of the 
time.  She is so good that she can be badmouthing someone and 
that person steps into the room and she can hug and kiss that 
person as if they are best friends.  I don't trust her for 
that, but I respect her because she works hard." 
 
Balbina To Run For Mayor 
------------------------ 
¶16.  (C) Herrera told Kuzniecky recently that she would run 
for Panama City Mayor in 2009.  She also told him that "she 
rather die" than support Samuel Lewis for President.  The one 
 
 
with the most PRD support for President is Mayor Juan Carlos 
Navarro, Herrera thought.  Her hatred for Andy Ferrer is 
partly because she sees Ferrer and Lewis as a "dupleta" 
("daily double").  They think alike and hang around together 
all the time and since the rumors for some time have been 
that SLN would prefer someone like Andy to be his VP instead 
of Aleman or Herrera, both Hector and Balbina dislike him 
even more, Kuzniecky said. 
 
Comment: Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows 
------------------------------------------ 
¶17.  (C) In a May 22 meeting with POL Counselor, and repeated 
to the Ambassador on May 28, Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro 
claimed that the controversial decision to name Noriega's 
former goon-squad chief Benjamin Colamarco to Minister of 
Public Works was not discussed at the PRD's national 
executive committee, an unusual omission.  Navarro called 
Colamarco's appointment "an unforced error."  When asked, 
"Who thought that was a good idea?" Navarro could not say. 
One interpretation is that Samuel Lewis did.  With his 
standing in the PRD's main faction (which includes Balbina 
and Hector) at rock bottom, Lewis (with backing from 
Torrijos) might be trying to boost his presidential ambitions 
by favoring the Tendencia faction (which includes Colamarco 
and Labor Minister Rivera).  Lewis also has been visibly 
campaigning on Balbina's turf in the impoverished San 
Miguelito district of Panama City.  Seen through this optic, 
Panama's May 9 vote for Cuba, Venezuela, and China in the UN 
Human Rights Commission -- which Lewis publicly defended -- 
appears as a further political sop for PRD leftists. 
 
¶18.  (C) During a conversation with DCM, Aleman said he 
remains loyal to Torrijos, and that he departed on good 
terms, although he hedged those statements enough to create 
considerable doubt about just how "true" to Torrijos he will 
prove.  He added that he has his differences with Torrijos 
mainly about the way he has ignored the National Assembly. 
Aleman claimed that Torrijos has surrounded himself with 
"yes" men who do not have the party's interests in mind.  He 
pledged that he would continue to voice his opinions 
internally, even if they meant disagreeing with the President. 
 
EATON