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RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
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C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 001111 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EWWT ECON PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA:  NEW CANAL MINISTER DISHES 
 
 
Classified By: POLCOUNS Brian R. Naranjo.  Reasons:  1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) While ostensibly reaching out to make himself 
available to address concerns U.S. firms may have concerning 
the canal expansion project, recently appointed Minister of 
Canal Affairs (and former Comptroller General) Dani Kuzniecky 
was more intent on dishing on the Panama Canal Authority 
(ACP) and cabinet dynamics during his June 28 meeting with 
POL. If the Embassy received any complaints from American 
companies regarding difficulties or problems with bidding on 
canal expansion work, the Embassy should contact  him 
immediately, Kuzniecky said, "the sooner the better."  Having 
dispensed with his offer to assist the Embassy with U.S. 
firms who had concerns about the canal expansion project, 
Kuzniecky dished on his dealings with ACP Administrator 
Alberto Aleman Zubieta and the ACP board and discussed the 
inner workings of Torrijos' cabinet.  End summary. 
 
------------------------------------ 
ACP Administrator and Minister Clash 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
¶2.  (C) Asserting that Aleman "thought that he could 
manipulate me since I am new," Kuzniecky relayed a clash that 
he had the week of June 18 with Aleman, "the emperor," 
regarding the ACP's public relations efforts.  Kuzniecky 
said, "The PR campaign stinks.  Aleman keeps up this nonsense 
presentation highlighting the administration of the canal. 
We are past that point.  The referendum is over.  We now need 
to keep people informed of the progress that we are making. 
To do so, Kuzniecky pressed against Aleman's refusal to 
translate canal expansion-related documents into Spanish, 
particularly those posted on the ACP's website.  Responding 
to Aleman's complaint that such a translation project was 
"too expensive," Kuzniecky said he lost his cool and 
retorted, "It is ridiculous the amount of money the canal 
makes and the amount of money it wastes in needless and 
useless studies.  Now you are being thrifty with the money 
needed to translate documents into Panama's official 
language?"  At the end of this meeting, Aleman invited 
Kuzniecky to his office for coffee and to show Kuzniecky the 
blueprints for the new office of the Canal Affairs Minister. 
The minister told POL he passed on the coffee and told 
Aleman, "I do not want a new office.  We could use that money 
for translation purposes."  Kuzniecky said he read "hundreds" 
of papers to get up to speed on canal operations and the 
expansion process" and indicated that Aleman was surprised 
"to find himself dealing with a lawyer who reads the fine 
print."  ACP Board Member Eduardo Quiros confirmed for 
POLCOUNS on July 2 that the board had been pressuring Aleman 
to more effectively publicize the ACP's implementation of the 
expansion project, particularly the translation of key 
information into Spanish. 
 
------------------ 
ACP Board Dynamics 
------------------ 
 
¶3.  (C) Kuzniecky noted that the ACP Board was now meeting 
once a week.  Furthermore, each board member belonged to at 
least two sub-committees that were also meeting at least once 
a week.  Kuzniecky provided POL the following insights into 
the ACP Board's dynamics: 
 
-- First VP and FM Samuel Lewis controlled ACP Board Member 
Adolfo Ahumada's vote.  (Note:  Ahumada was re-appointed to 
the board on June 29.  He also serves as Lewis' closest 
advisor at the MFA.) 
 
-- Eduardo Quiros, a close associate of former President 
Mireya Moscoso, controlled fellow Panamenista Party member 
Norberto Delgado's votes.  "Thank God," Kuzniecky said, 
"Delgado is a jerk."  Quiros also reaches out to Tono 
Dominguez who Kuzniecky characterized as very smart and 
apolitical.  Kuzniecky asserted, "Dominquez hates Aleman." 
Quiros told POLCOUNS on July 2 that Kuzniecky was a 
"top-notch" minister who was quickly learning the ropes of 
the ACP and particularly of the expansion project, a 
remarkable endorsement for an ardent Panamenista to offer for 
any PRD member like Kuzniecky. 
 
-- Mario Galindo controlled the votes of fellow Movement of 
Liberal Republican Nationals (MOLIRENA) party member Billy 
Quijano. 
 
-- Robert Roy and Eloy Alfaro were at times independent, but 
Kuzniecky said at other times they followed the line of 
former President Ernesto "El Toro" Perez Balladares, a member 
of the governing Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD). 
 
-- Abel Rodriguez, Kuzniecky said, was "an old engineer who 
has lost his way." 
 
-- Through newly appointed board member Ricardo de la 
Espriella, current Panamanian President Martin Torrijos would 
be better informed of developments on the ACP, Kuzniecky 
asserted. 
 
-- Kuzniecky said newly appointed board member Guillermo 
Chapman appeared to be more independent. 
 
----------------------------- 
Kuzniecky Dishes Cabinet Dirt 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Referring to the ongoing investigations into former 
head of the National Maritime Service (SMN) Ricardo Traad and 
of the head of the Social Security System (CSS) Rene Luciani, 
Kuzniecky asserted that President Torrijos had "not yet 
recovered" from the "blows" Attorney General Ana Matilda 
Gomez had delivered "one after the other" prior to the 
Organization of American States General Assembly (OASGA) in 
early June.  Kuzniecky said Torrijos was more upset by the 
Luciani case explaining, "Luciani has been a public servant 
for thirty years and never before had a case before the 
Attorney General.  Then this matter comes up and, though the 
Attorney General has to do her job, Ana Matilda does 
everything to try to humiliate him."  For example, knowing 
that he was not at Luciani's mother's home, Gomez nonetheless 
sent the Technical Judicial Police (PTJ) to raid his 84-year 
old mother's home in search of Luciani.  Ever since these 
cases arose, "Torrijos' mood has been bad, and he curses more 
often these days," Kuzniecky asserted.  At the last cabinet 
meeting (date unknown), Kuzniecky said that Torrijos told the 
assembled ministers that he would soon resume holding cabinet 
meetings in the interior so that citizens could confront them 
directly with their questions as to why they were not doing 
their jobs. 
 
¶5.  (C) Turning to rumors of a cabinet shuffle, Kuzniecky 
said that the rumors had been circulating for months because 
"Martin does not know how to get rid of people.  He never had 
the guts to ask me to leave as Comptroller General since he 
could not fire me, but instead made me Canal Affairs 
Minister."  Immigration Director Ricardo Vargas, Kuzniecky 
said, would not be fired, but instead would be "promoted to 
Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo) with more money, more perks, 
but no way to hurt Torrjos."  (Note:  On June 29, Vargas was 
elected Ombudsman by the National Assembly.) 
 
¶6.  (C) During Torrijos June trip to Brazil, Kuzniecky said, 
it became apparent that the relationship between Lewis and 
Minister of Commerce and Industry Alejandro Ferrer had 
deteriorated.  "I noticed that they kept away from one 
another."  On one motorcade movement, Lewis confided to 
Kuzniecky that Ferrer was "insufferable and had become a 
burden," Kuzniecky added.  Nonetheless, Kuzniecky conceded 
that Ferrer remained very close to Torrijos. 
 
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Comment 
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¶7.  (C) No U.S. company, to date, has come forth to Embassy 
to complain about the bid process to participate in the canal 
expansion project. Kuzniecky's remarkable candor though opens 
the door a crack into the often hermetically sealed world of 
the ACP's top leadership and especially of Torrijos' cabinet. 
 Post has learned from other quarters that the Attorney 
General's high-visibility investigations have put Torrijos 
and key figures in his administration (e.g., Minister of 
Housing Balbina Herrera, Minister of the Presidency Ubaldino 
Real) on the defensive.  Torrijos' anguishing over cabinet 
changes that seem to be perpetually in the offing but never 
come to fruition has become a permanent element of 
speculation on the political gossip circuit.  As for 
competition between Ferrer and Lewis, post is not surprised. 
Lewis and Ferrer are associated with different law firms that 
are often in close competition.  Ferrer, with the recent 
signing of the Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA), has enjoyed 
at least a temporary ascendency relative to Lewis who himself 
aspires to succeed Torrijos as president.  Post has also 
heard that possible presidential aspirant Balbina Herrera 
sounded out Ferrer for support possible out of consideration 
that Ferrer's strong reputation with business leaders might 
bolster Herrera's standing with the private sector. 
Eaton