VZCZCXYZ0006
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #0051 0541737
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 231733Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1117
INFO RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/23 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCOR GT
SUBJECT: Under Pressure, Guatemalan Congress Voids Nomination of 
Corrupt Chief of Public Defense 
 
REF: 09 GUATEMALA 929 
 
DERIVED FROM: DSCG 05-1 B, D 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On February 9, the Guatemalan Congress voted to 
annul the selection of Remberto Leonel Ruiz Barrientos as head of 
the Institute for Public Criminal Defenders. Though originally 
chosen by a vote of 96-1 (with 61 abstentions or no-shows), the 
Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) revealed extensive 
derogatory information on Ruiz, implicating him in bribe-taking, 
embezzlement, and sexual harassment. The Constitutional Court 
ordered the Congress to review the selection. CICIG, the Ambassador 
and Emboffs successfully encouraged party leaders to restart the 
process and select an appropriate candidate. The Congressional 
decision requires the Postulation Committee to select a new slate 
of three candidates to present to Congress. End Summary. 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) On February 9, the Guatemalan Congress voted to annul 
Remberto Leonel Ruiz Barrientos' appointment as head of the 
Institute for Public Criminal Defenders (IDPP) and to restart the 
process to select a new candidate. Congress originally confirmed 
Ruiz in January by a vote of 96-1. However, since then, multiple 
allegations of professional impropriety cast doubt on his 
suitability to lead the organization. The charges, substantiated by 
the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), 
include 46 disciplinary complaints against Ruiz during his stint as 
a judge in Zacapa from 1995-1998, six of which ended with a 
punishment of some sort. Civil society and CICIG also accused Ruiz 
of having accepted a bribe to free a prisoner accused of murder 
between 1995-1998 and that he had sexually harassed multiple women. 
According to CICIG, Ruiz later joined the Attorney General's office 
and surreptitiously removed all of his own disciplinary files. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) The Constitutional Court ordered Congress to revisit Ruiz's 
nomination after various parties questioned the integrity of the 
process and Ruiz's character. Ruiz originally formed part of a 
three candidate slate that had been selected by a Postulation 
Committee. The other candidates included the then-head of the IDPP 
Blanca Stalling and leftist candidate Fanuel Garcia. Following 
public pressure to withdraw, Stalling did so. Despite questions as 
to whether her departure legally tainted the process, since the law 
mandates that Congress select from a panel of three, Congress 
proceeded and selected Ruiz. The Constitutional Court reviewed the 
case and ordered Congress to vote again, following strong pressure 
from CICIG. The process will start again with the formulation of 
the Postulation Committee and the presentation of a new 
three-candidate slate to Congress. 
 
 
 
¶4. (C) Following consultation with CICIG and other embassies, the 
Ambassador and Emboffs successfully encouraged party leaders to 
restart the nomination process. According to press reports, at the 
beginning of the day, a sufficient number of congressmen had agreed 
to reconfirm Ruiz. However, the Ambassador's intervention with 
opposition leader Otto Perez Molina shifted the congressional 
balance in favor of annulment. Members of the dissenting Grand 
National Alliance (GANA) and Republican Front of Guatemala (FRG) 
benches, usually reliable legislative partners for the governing 
National Union for Hope (UNE), walked out. One influential Member 
of Congress told POL/ECON Counselor that Ruiz had promised dozens 
of jobs in exchange for congressional support. 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) Comment: Coming in the wake of the troubled congressional 
election of the new Supreme Court in fall 2009, the Congress' 
selection of Ruiz was a disappointment (Ref A). The situation 
forced civil society, CICIG, and the USG to again badger the 
Congress into not installing an inappropriate candidate in a senior 
judicial position. Politically, it is notable that FRG and GANA 
broke from the governing UNE. Such dissent could be indicative that 
the coalition is fraying amid pre-electoral maneuvering. We will 
join civil society and CICIG in engaging closely with the Congress 
to encourage a better outcome next time around. 
MCFARLAND