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C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000043 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/01 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PM KJUS
SUBJECT: Martinelli's Wish is Supreme Court's Command: Attorney 
General Suspended 
 
REF: 09 PANAMA 756; 10 PANAMA 29 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Stephenson, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
Summary 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) Panama's Supreme Court has voted 5-4 to temporarily suspend 
Attorney General Ana Matilde Gomez pending trial on a charge of 
abuse of authority. Removing Gomez became feasible only after 
President Martinelli appointed two new justices to the court last 
month who were widely viewed as personally beholden to the 
President (Ref A).  The move has been expected for some time (Ref 
B) but was executed with surprising swiftness during a four-day 
span while Martinelli and top cabinet officials were out of the 
country. A constitutional debate over who has the authority to name 
Gomez's interim replacement - Gomez or the executive branch - has 
arisen and is serving as a proxy for the larger conflict between 
Martinelli's quest for control of the government versus  the 
development of robust democratic institutions in Panama.  Both the 
Attorney General and the President have nominated separate 
replacements.  Despite the GOP's attempts to distance Martinelli 
from the court's decision, his immediate proposal of a replacement 
has prompted questions about his role in the ouster of the AG. 
Press coverage has been very negative, and civil society is again 
protesting what it sees as an attack on democracy by the executive 
branch.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know 
 
 
 
¶2. (C) Notionally, the court's suspension of Gomez is temporary. 
However, it appears unlikely that she will retain her post for the 
remaining five years of her ten-year term, regardless of the merits 
of the case against her.  Ex-Supreme Court Justice Edgardo Mola 
stated in the daily Panama America that "Everything seems to 
indicate that we are facing a political verdict by the Supreme 
Court...this smells final to me." Despite the fact that abuse of 
authority is not a felony - which is the  constitutional threshold 
allowing the court to remove a sitting Attorney General - the court 
ordered her suspended by a 5-4 margin.  The five justices voting in 
favor of suspension were a combination of appointees from the 
Mireya Moscoso administration (her Panamenista Party is now in the 
governing coalition) and two of Martinelli's new picks, Alejandro 
Moncada  and Wilfredo Saenz, who was acting in his capacity as an 
auxiliary justice in place of the recused justice Jose Abel 
Almengor (Ref A). The four dissenting justices were opposition PRD 
appointees.  Three of the opposition votes were abstentions, 
meaning that the court must wait one week to formalize its 
decision. 
 
 
 
¶3.  (C) The two votes from Moncada and Saenz were critical, as the 
justices they recently replaced, Esmerelda De Troitino and Adan 
Arjona, were considered by post to be the most ethical and 
competent justices on the court.  Of the suspension, Troitino 
commented in daily La Prensa that " I did not expect this decision. 
A petition for separation from the post (of AG) should have a 
foundation in law and in justice, elements that involve a certainty 
that a crime was committed.  I don't see what the judicial argument 
is that the Attorney General has committed a crime.  This is the 
chronicle of a death foretold. The truth is, I am glad I'm no 
longer there. Twisting the law...it's a shame." 
 
 
 
Out of Touch in Davos - and at Home 
 
 
¶4. (C) In addition to the suspension, the court ordered Gomez not 
to leave the country, again unusual for a non-felony case. 
Meanwhile, many top officials of the Martinelli administration were 
abroad when the decision was announced:  President Martinelli and 
Vice President/Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela were in 
Switzerland attending the World Economic Forum, while Minster of 
Economy and Finance Alberto Vallarino and Minister of Commerce 
Roberto Henriquez were elsewhere in Europe on official business. 
Minister of the Presidency Demetrio "Jimmy" Papadimitriu was 
"Acting President". 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) The absence of cabinet ministers became an issue when the 
focus shifted to the debate about Gonzalez's interim replacement. 
Immediately after her suspension, Gomez named auxiliary prosecutor 
Luis Martinez as acting Attorney General.  At the same time that 
she was announcing that Martinez was taking over, the presidency 
released a statement naming Giuseppe Bonissi as the replacement AG. 
The press has jumped on the executive branch's move, questioning 
how the cabinet named Bonissi when they were not able to meet to 
discuss the choice, as is required by the constitution. 
Papadimitriu scrambled to justify the odd timing and method of 
Bonissi's selection, acknowledging that the cabinet had not met but 
that President Martinelli had designated Bonissi "from abroad". 
The full cabinet is to take the issue up when they meet Tuesday, 
February 2nd. 
 
 
 
¶6. (C) Should the cabinet sanction the choice of Bonissi, however, 
they must still submit his name to the National Assembly for 
approval on two separate occasions, once in committee and once 
before the plenary session.  This would theoretically have to be 
accomplished in four days, before Gomez's suspension becomes 
official.  Further casting doubt on the actions of the executive, 
notes La Prensa, is their use of the term "suplente" or auxiliary, 
to describe Bonissi.   This term was removed from the constitution 
in the reforms of 2004, leaving unclear what role the President's 
office expected Bonissi to fill. 
 
 
 
Constitution a Proxy for Wider Battle 
 
 
 
¶7. (C) The constitutionality of the inner workings of the cabinet 
have received less attention than the controversy surrounding what 
some call conflicting passages in the document itself.  According 
to Article 224, the Attorney General has the authority to name an 
interim replacement, while article 200 says that the cabinet and 
President have the right to name the (presumably permanent) 
Attorney General. Constitutional scholar Carlos Pedrischi declared 
that there is no conflict in the constitution and that the choice 
is Gomez's to make. Pedrischi reasons that the section of the 
constitution that allows the AG to name a temporary replacement 
specifically addresses the situation in which the country now finds 
itself.  The president of the Panamanian bar association concurred 
with Pedrishci's assessment, noting that the board of directors of 
the bar would be issuing their opinion on the matter. 
 
 
 
¶8. (C) The constitutional struggle to name a successor serves as 
proxy for the larger battle; in effect, focusing on the 
constitutionality of a seemingly minor point allows the press to 
sound the alarm about the systemic threat to Panamanian democracy 
 
 
in the only way they currently can while still reporting straight 
facts.  The editorial pages have been more explicit in denouncing 
what has been seen as a concerted campaign by Martinelli to 
undermine independent institutions, including the Controller 
General, the Supreme Court and now the Attorney General.  The 
appointment of the two new justices, Almengor and Moncada (Ref A) 
was seen as key, as the court has the power to legitimize any 
actions by the executive as he focuses the machinery of the state 
on other institutions and political opponents. 
 
 
 
Opposition Pipes Up 
 
 
 
¶9. (C) The opposition PRD stirred to life to comment on the crisis, 
with Balbina Herrera, loser to Martinelli in the presidential 
election last year, describing Martinelli in a radio interview as a 
"Chavez of the right".  Martinelli's predecessor, Martin Torrijos, 
said that "when politics becomes judicial, then justice ends up 
politicized, and society and democracy lose in the conjunction." 
Even Martinelli advisor Jose Blandon Sr. voiced disapproval, 
saying "Today's judgment reflects a politicization of 
justice....this is the beginning of the end of institutions in this 
country".  Partido Popular president Milton Henriquez, brother of 
the commerce minister, told Poloffs the day before the firing that 
he thought Gomez would survive her travails.  When he was proven 
wrong the next day, he said that the suspension "reaffirms the 
perception that the judicial branch is manipulated by outside 
powers that want to take control of the Attorney General's office." 
 
 
 
 
¶10. (C) Referring to the fragility of the Panamanian state, Former 
Ambassador to the U.S. Federico Humbert Arias said in an editorial 
in the leading daily La Prensa titled 'Where is Panama?' that "the 
storm we see coming, as a result of the hammer with which the 
executive has attacked the judiciary -causing serious fissures - is 
worrying."  Humbert went on to question what he characterized as 
the absence of civil society and the main opposition party, the 
PRD, as well as a lack of associates and friends near to the 
president willing to speak out.  He singled out Minister of 
Government and Justice Jose Raul Mulino in particular, as one who 
fought "man to man" against the military dictatorship in the 
1980's. 
 
 
 
¶11. (C) Civil society has not been able to effectively counter 
Martinelli and in general seems reluctant to act, or resigned to 
accept, the gradual erosion of independent institutions . However, 
Polcouns was informed by prominent civilista Aurelio Barria that 
there will be large demonstration February 3rd . "You will be 
surprised by how many people will come" to a demonstration planned 
to take place in front of the Attorney General's office, according 
to Barria. (Comment: We do not predict a large turn-out, as we 
believe Martinelli's reputation of punishing people by going after 
their core economic interests - cancelling government contracts, 
sending MEF auditors to their businesses, etc. - is an effective 
deterrent.) 
 
 
 
¶12. (C) Gomez was relatively popular with the public but does not 
enjoy an unblemished reputation and her effectiveness has been 
widely questioned among civil society, even by longtime supporters 
like professor and journalist Miguel Antonio Bernal, her former 
mentor.  Bernal told Polcouns that Gomez should be replaced for her 
failings and there were many legitimate reasons to remove her, but 
 
 
that this was not the right way, and that removing her now was 
counterproductive in building Panamanian institutions. 
Nonetheless, she has become a symbol of institutions under siege, 
and has hinted that she may take her case to international fora 
such as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
 
 
¶13. (C) Leading editorials have argued that Martinelli's actions 
show he doesn't understand the basic tenets of democracy. They 
express real concern that Martinelli is running the campaign to 
remove Gomez as part of his goal to eliminate any independent 
person or institution capable of checking his power.  It now 
appears as though he really believed the he could simply name 
Bonissi as the new AG, without anyone noticing or caring. 
 
 
 
¶14. (C) The costs to Panama of such actions are not likely to be 
confined to institutional or constitutional problems.  With the 
deterioration of Panama's judicial independence and a lack of 
ability to enforce contracts, Panama's business and investment 
climate will suffer.  We have seen in other countries in the region 
how deteriorating faith in democratic institutions has given rise 
to populist leaders who work to further erode those institutions as 
checks and balances.  We will coordinate closely with WHA on 
appropriate ways to signal USG support for strong democratic 
institutions.  As a modest first step, we propose declining an 
invitation for an embassy officer to speak at an upcoming 
conference aimed at increasing American investment in Panama - and 
explaining to the GOP why we are not currently able to champion 
Panama as a great place to invest. 
STEPHENSON