VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #1204/01 3071559
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031558Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0339
INFO WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001204 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN ETRD EAID PGOV GT
SUBJECT: GOG: Mixed Results on Transparency 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: NGOs and private sector leaders have complained that 
access to public information declined significantly during the 
Colom administration.  They point to lack of executive leadership, 
its failure to implement the 2005 presidential decree, the 
cancellation of a Berger-era (2003-2007) e-government system 
(SIGOB, which allowed citizens to monitor progress of GOG goals 
online), declining usage of Guatecompras, the GOG's transparent 
procurement system and the slow implementation of the Freedom of 
Information Law (FOIL).  GOG officials counter that the passage of 
the Freedom of Information Law and the creation of a Vice Ministry 
for Transparency within the Ministry of Finance are evidence of GOG 
commitment to transparency.  END SUMMARY 
 
 
 
Decreased Access to Public Information 
 
 
 
¶2. According to a report on access to information carried out by 
"Accion Ciudadana," the Guatemalan Chapter of Transparency 
International, public access to government information in Guatemala 
has decreased since 2006. The report shows that only four out of 
ten requests for public information were accepted without requiring 
personal identification or additional explanations (contrary to the 
requirements of the FOIL), and it mentions that only three FOIA 
requests in ten receive a response. The report also shows declining 
transparency in the various institutions studied (executive, 
judicial, Congress, and municipalities). 
 
 
 
¶3. Accion Ciudadana questioned the GOG's commitment to transparency 
due to its failure to enforce existing measures designed to 
increase transparency and accountability.  The Colom administration 
failed to enforce a 2005 decree (General Rules to Access Public 
Information in the Executive Branch and its Entities) requiring 
public institutions to present annual accountability reports, and 
to respond to inquiries for public information within 20 days of 
the request.  It also detailed what type of information had to be 
included in the official websites. 
 
 
 
¶4. NGOs and private sector leaders have also complained that the 
Social Cohesion Council (which oversees a number of First Lady 
Sandra Torres' social programs) has been unwilling to provide 
sufficient information on beneficiaries of its flagship conditional 
cash transfer program, My Family Progress, to members of Congress. 
In a January 2009 decision, Guatemala's Constitutional Court 
ordered the Social Cohesion Council to provide information on 
beneficiaries to auditing entities, such as Congress and the 
Comptroller General's Office.  Despite the ruling, the government 
has not yet provided information to Congress. The Colom 
Administration went further, noting that information on 
beneficiaries for the other social assistance programs "Bolsa 
Solidaria" (Food Assistance Program) and "Escuelas Abiertas" (open 
schools during weekends) would also be treated as confidential.  No 
challenges to the Government's failure to comply with the 
Constitutional Court ruling have yet been filed. 
 
 
 
Significant declines in e-government systems 
 
 
 
¶5. Accion Ciudadana's study found that e-government systems 
designed to increase transparency have shown significant declines 
in usage. For example, the Colom Administration cancelled the 
highly-regarded Presidential System for Measuring Program Results 
(SIGOB), which allowed citizens to monitor progress of GOG goals 
online and sort the impact of government programs by department and 
municipality.  Also, the web-based government procurement system, 
Guatecompras, has seen significant declines in usage. Guatecompras 
was implemented in 2003 and law requires all government purchases 
over Q30,000 ($3,600) to be published on its website. According to 
the GOG's own Ministry of Finance records, use of the system 
decreased by 45 percent from 2006 to 2008 as the amount of 
resources that were channeled through Guatecompras declined from 
Q19.2 billion ($2.3 billion) to Q10.6 billion (Q1.26 billion) 
during that period. Municipalities have been the public entities 
that have most frequently avoided the use of the system. 
 
¶6. Marvin Flores, Accion Ciudadana's expert on transparency and 
Government Procurement issues, noted that the legal framework 
mandating the use of Guatecompras has been strengthened, but 
loopholes have enabled public entities to find new ways to evade 
using the system.  For example, government entities can channel 
spending through quasi-governmental or non-governmental entities 
such as trust funds, NGOs, and international organizations.  These 
entities have less robust transparency and accountability rules and 
spending through these entities has increased over the past two 
years.  Officers of these parallel spending structures are not 
employed by the GOG and therefore not subject to anti-corruption 
laws.  Proposed reforms to trust fund rules would mandate spending 
through trust funds be conducted through Guatecompras.  If enacted, 
this would increase transparency in trust funds. 
 
 
 
Freedom of Information Law bright spot 
 
 
 
¶7. After years of negotiations, the Freedom of Information Law was 
approved by Congress in September 2008 and entered into force in 
April 2009. The law, if enforced, could be an important tool to 
improve transparency in public entities and eliminate corruption. 
 
Article 10 of the law requires public entities to post basic 
information, such as names and salaries of public officials and 
information on public contracts and procurement, on their websites. 
In addition to this information, executive branch agencies are 
required to post information on budget spending, advisors and 
travel expenses.  Per Article 19, all public entities (including at 
the departmental and municipal levels) are required to create 
information units to process requests from the public. 
 
 
 
¶8.  A recent random check carried out by Accion Ciudadana of 37 
national-level public entities revealed that some have not yet 
complied with the law.  Eight of those entities had not created the 
information units required by law and 19 had not published the 
names and salaries of their workers. Among the entities that had 
not complied with the law are the Ministry of Interior, the 
Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Agriculture.  However, the 
report noted full compliance by the Ministry of Finance, the 
Guatemalan Central Bank, and the Social Security Institute. 
 
 
 
¶9. Accion Ciudadana also carried out a random check of 22 
municipalities, and found that none had published basic financial 
information as required by the Freedom of Information Law. 
However, 14 had taken initial steps to create the information units 
as required by Article 19.  David Gaitan, Accion Ciudadana's expert 
on the FOIL, underscored that whatever its drawbacks, the free 
access to information law complies with international standards and 
is a concrete step forward in improving transparency.  He added 
that implementation, though slow, was not substantially worse than 
implementation of similar laws in other developing countries. 
 
 
 
GOG Ministry of Finance lonely champion of transparency 
 
 
 
¶10.  In public and private statements, most GOG officials rarely 
comment on the transparency beyond platitudes on the need to make 
government more transparent.  The one exception is the Ministry of 
Finance (MOF) where transparency seems to be a genuine priority. 
Ministry officials frequently discuss the need for greater and more 
open exchange of information flows on spending both with the public 
and between ministries.  To further this goal, in 2008, the MOF 
created a new vice-ministry charged with overseeing transparency in 
government spending.  A recently arrived resident treasury advisor, 
Jim Carpenter, has been charged with improving transparency in the 
budget formulation process as one of his principal tasks.  Former 
Vice Minister of Finance Carlos Barreda commented to Econoff that 
transparency is important to the MOF since opaque and confusing 
budget and spending methodology perpetuates both actual and 
perceived corruption in Guatemala.  This is a major impediment to 
passing legislation badly needed to raise taxes and improve 
collections in Guatemala.  Since tax reform is the top priority of 
the MOF, so is transparency. 
 
¶11. COMMENT: Except at the Ministry of Finance, transparency does 
not appear to be a top administration priority.  First Lady Sandra 
Torres de Colom has created bureaucratic structures, particularly 
through trust funds, to shield the high-profile Social Cohesion 
Council social programs from transparency efforts.  Without strong 
leadership and pressure from the presidency, ministries and 
mid-level bureaucrats have less incentive to use Guatecompras 
rather than a parallel structure that provides individual 
procurement officers more flexibility in contracting.  Improvement 
in transparency could come from executive leadership, but is more 
likely to come from public pressure, particularly from NGOs such as 
Accion Ciudadana.  These entities can mobilize the press and 
pressure the courts to enforce rulings on transparency and press 
for full implementation and compliance with the Freedom of 
Information Law.  Such pressure has not yet materialized. 
Robinson