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DE RUEHZP #0014/01 0041621
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 041621Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY PANAMA
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INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
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RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0306

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000014 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC VE CU PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA:  FIRST VP AND FM SAMUEL LEWIS' FIRST 2008 
MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: 2007 STATE 170857 AGREMENT CHANNEL 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William A. Eaton.  Reasons:  1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Panamanian First VP and FM Samuel Lewis touched up: 
 
-- President Martin Torrijos' impending trip to Cuba and 
perceived Cuba-Venezuela tensions; -- his exasperation at 
Chavez's ability to rise like a phoenix; 
-- his February travel to New York during Panama's UNSC 
Presidency; and 
-- Torrijos' continuing clashes with PMG over internal party 
elections, Supreme Court magistrate nominees, and the budget 
 
during his January 2 meeting with Ambassador.  (Note: 
Ambassador presented reftel demarche and diplomatic note 
during this meeting.  (SEPTEL)) End Summary. 
 
---------------- 
Torrijos to Cuba 
---------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) "In the next week or two" Torrijos would be traveling 
to Cuba to accompany his daughter for medical exams, Lewis 
informed Ambassador.  "Of course, he will have to meet with 
Cuban officials while he is there."  Lewis added that 
Torrijos would try to secure appointments with Raul Castro 
and others to get "a first-hand feel of the mood and emerging 
politics." 
 
¶3.  (C) "It's clear that Raul and Chavez have very strained 
relations," Lewis asserted, reflecting on his last trip to 
Cuba a couple of months ago.  While Chavez and Castro 
obviously had a very close relationship, in Chavez's mind 
Chavez came next after Castro in the "pecking order," 
something that did not endear Chavez to Raul or to Raul's 
camp followers.  Lewis asserted that friction between Cuba 
and Venezuela was evident in a number of conversations that 
he had with a broad range of Cuba officials.  Lewis promised 
that he would provide a read-out of Torrijos' upcoming visit. 
 
----------------------- 
The Phoenix-like Chavez 
----------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Noting that Chavez was "bloodied" after his failed 
referendum, Lewis expressed his frustration and bewilderment 
about the sudden turn of events "in favor of Chavez" with 
respect to his efforts to broker the release of FARC 
hostages.  The discovery and arrest of "Chavez's agents" 
delivering bags of money to Argentina should have been a blow 
to Chavez as well.  ("I am still scratching my head about 
(Argentine President) Cristina Fernandez's reaction to the 
arrests in Miami," Lewis added. "She should have taken the 
high road and expressed or feigned horror that a foreigner 
might try to subvert the election.  Instead, she basically 
admitted that she too was culpable.")  Now, with the prospect 
of the release of FARC hostages, Chavez had risen once again 
like a phoenix and seemed to be successfully painting 
Colombian President Uribe as the bad guy, Lewis explained. 
Lewis said that he worried even more about the safety of the 
hostages; "The FARC could simply kill them and blame their 
deaths on 'military operations' conducted by Colombian 
government forces. Uribe must be regretting that he ever 
opened the door to Chavez on the hostage issue." Lewis said 
that Torrijos and other regional leaders had been calling 
Uribe to give him moral support.  Ambassador responded that, 
more than private calls, Uribe would probably appreciate even 
more public statements of support; Lewis demurred. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Lewis to be in NY for Panama's UNSC Presidency 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5.  (C) "I plan to spend about two weeks in New York City 
during Panama's Security Council Presidency," Lewis said. 
 
Additionally, Lewis said that he would bring his family along 
so that he could combine business with pleasure.  (Note: 
Panamanian schools have their summer break from January to 
March.)  Lewis provided no insights into any specific 
proposals that Panama might try to advance during its UNSC 
Presidency. 
 
----------------------------------- 
PMG: Clashes with Torrijos Continue 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Venting at length that National Assembly President 
Pedro Miguel Gonzalez (PMG) was damaging Panama, the 
governing Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD), President 
Torrijos, Lewis said that relations between PMG and Torrijos 
were frosty.  (Note:  PMG remains under federal indictment in 
connection with the 1992 murder of a U.S. serviceman and the 
attempted murder of another.)  For example, before entering 
the main hall for January 2 swearing-in ceremony for the 
Supreme Court's new president and two new magistrates, PMG 
and Torrijos were held in small anteroom.  "They did not 
exchange a single word or even make eye contact for over ten 
minutes," Lewis said Torrijos later told him. 
 
¶7. (C) Concerning the various races for seats on the PRD's 
National Executive Committee (CEN), Lewis said that PMG was 
constantly shifting his focus from one seat to another 
keeping current occupants and contenders on edge.  Currently, 
PMG was toying with the idea of running against Panama City 
Mayor and First CEN Sub-Secretary Juan Carlos Navarro.  "Juan 
Carlos will win that seat easily," Lewis asserted regarding 
his cousin.  Shifting his target from one seat to the next 
though ultimately worked to PMG's advantage in terms of 
advancing his desire to secure greater power and leadership 
in Panama and within the PRD, Lewis said.  Asked by 
Ambassador whether PMG would be re-elected National Assembly 
President, Lewis emphatically said, "No! That will never 
happen. He has burned too many bridges.  The President has 
the votes -- and Pedro Miguel knows it -- to prevent his 
re-election." 
 
¶8. (C) PMG had recently lost two battles in the National 
Assembly.  Lewis confirmed that PMG had wanted one of his 
cronies to get one of the Supreme Court magistrate seats. 
Torrijos, however, worked behind the scenes to rally votes in 
favor of Oyden Ortega and Jeronimo Mejia who were eventually 
elected.  When PMG started counting noses, Lewis said, PMG 
realized that he did not have the votes for his candidate and 
so abandoned him.  Turning to the budget, PMG tried to hold 
up approval of Torrijos' budget pending reinstatement of 
funds to be managed by individual deputies for projects in 
their districts (partidas circuitales) as well as the 
inclusion of a number of pet projects.  Torrijos, Lewis said, 
called PMG's bluff, met with individual deputies, and told 
those deputies that failure to approve his budget would mean 
that funds for projects in their districts would dry up. 
Torrijos was happy to operate at the 2007 budget levels, but 
made it clear that he would make up funding gaps for his high 
priority projects by taking funds intended for the districts 
of those deputies who voted against his budget.  "Torrijos 
told the deputies that he would make it crystal clear who was 
responsible for roads not being paved in various deputies' 
districts," Lewis said.  "The deputies quickly got into line 
and pushed PMG to approve Torrijos' budget." 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶9. (C) Lewis' portral of Torrijos' reluctant need to see 
Cuban officials when he visits Cuba for medical treatment for 
his daughter was undercut by his statement that Torrijos 
would be seeking out an appointment with Raul Castro.  His 
discussion of Cuba-Venezuela tensions is really nothing new, 
but provides a fig leaf that Panama can serve as an 
interlocutor with major players in the hemisphere.  Ditto on 
his discussion of Chavez, Fernandez, and Uribe -- no real 
substance, but no real desire to move beyond private 
engagement to public statements.  Hopefully, Lewis' lack of a 
clear idea of what Panama wants to do in the UNSC during its 
presidency means that Panama's month at the helm of the 
Council will be uneventful, perhaps even one without a time 
consuming, but ultimately resultless, thematic debate.  As 
concerns PMG, by all reports, whatever relationship PMG and 
Torrijos may have had at one time is now in tatters. 
Torrijos is now having to spend more time and energy on 
legislative matters, but he is also prevailing on his top 
legislative priorities.  His victories in the National 
Assembly, however, do come at the political cost of twisting 
PRD deputies' arms at a time when the PRD internal election 
process is just warming up.  Most interesting perhaps, if 
unsaid, is that it looks like Lewis has shelved his plans for 
a presidential run:  there was  no mention of his 
presidential campaign, and he plans to be in New York during 
the peak of the internal PRD political season. 
EATON