Skip to content

Wikileaks Guatemala: “Collapsing” Rule of Law

March 7, 2011

Newspapers in Guatemala exploded with a discussion of the WikiLeaks cables the week of 13 February 2011. Newspapers first reported on cables sent from the US Embassy in Guatemala that spoke to the level of control drug cartels have over parts of the country. The most significant cable, 09GUATEMALA106, was sent by Ambassador McFarland to the State Department on 6 February 2009. The cable included a great deal of information about the state of affairs in Cobán, Alta Verapaz, and concluded that the rule of law is “collapsing” and that the city’s law enforcement and judicial institutions are overwhelmed and insufficient. The cable states that the state is quickly losing control in Cobán, a process which has already taken place in Zacapa and Izabal, as well as portions of Jutiapa, Chiquimula, San Marcos and Petén. The Embassy recommended that action be taken immediately, because “[w]ithout outside intervention, Cobán will join the growing list of areas lost to narcotraffickers.”

Arrest of Suspected Zetas in Alta Verapaz. Courtesy of Johan Ordonez, AFP/Getty Images

The Embassy based these comments on information gathered from both anonymous and official sources during two trips USAID and Embassy officers made to the region in January 2009. An anonymous resident of Cobán told US officials that three groups of narcotraffickers were present in Cobán: the Lorenzana family of Zacapa, represented in Cobán by Walter Overdic Mejía; the Mendoza family of Izabal, led by “El Loco” Turcios in Cobán; and more than 100 Zetas from Mexico. The source stated that Los Zetas had arrived in Cobán at the invitation of Overdic Mejía, who thought he could enter into partnership with them. In the end, however, Los Zetas attempted to take over, buying land on the route to Mexico, openly using the airport, and paying immigration officials to obtain Guatemalan passports and other documents. US officials also visited poor neighborhoods in Cobán where members of Los Zetas are rumored to reside. The cable commented that “many idle youths” were out and about on the streets who “could easily be manipulated by outsiders with money.”

The source also reported having seen a particular police officer, whose name was redacted, escorting Los Zetas. This police officer is also believed to have worked for, and subsequently betrayed, both Guatemalan trafficking families in the past. The behavior of the National Civil Police (PNC, Policía Nacional Civil) has also been suspect. They did not respond, for example, to a shoot out between rival organizations, which took place 500 meters from the police station. Mayors of nearby towns reported to USAID officers that most residents believe that the police chief and his officers are cooperating with the cartels. Because of this, residents are reluctant to report crimes to the police and prefer to make denunciations to municipal authorities.

The cable notes that the military may also be compromised. The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG, Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala) reported that checks made out to Colonel Carlos Adolfo Mancilla were found in the residence of Overdic Mejía’s bodyguards. Since then, Mancilla has been promoted to Brigadier General and made Deputy Chief of Staff.

The mayor of Cobán, Leonel Chacón, became “visibly nervous” when asked about security in Cobán and stated that narcotraffickers were sometimes present in town, but did not have a negative effect on daily life. Other sources, however, painted a different picture. These sources stated that local cocaine use was growing and that many farmers and taxi drivers now play a role in the narcotraffickers’ transportation networks.

The cable also raised questions about the integrity of the judicial system. A local judge, who CICIG believes has passed rulings favorable to local narcotraffickers, refused to go into detail about narcotraffickers in Cobán, though he did recognize that they were present. He is, he said, doing the best he can given the “new realities” that exist. A Criminal Prosecutor who works in Cobán for the Attorney General’s Office stated she would like to prosecute cases against narcotraffickers but is afraid to do so. USAID sources in Cobán agreed that, out of fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, judges and attorneys ignore the presence of Guatemalan and Mexican cartels.

In response to this information, McFarland stated that “[w]holesale restructuring of the ROL apparatus—not mere personnel changes—would be required for the state to adequately reassert its authority.”

In a separate cable sent on 24 December 2009, McFarland reported that Carlos Castresana, the former head of CICIG, stated that 60% of Guatemala was already controlled by Mexican cartels and that if Guatemala became a narco-state, El Salvador and Honduras would soon follow.

Ronaldo Robles, Social Communications Secretary of the Presidency, issued a statement on 14 February 2011, which declared that the WikiLeaks cables were “subjective assessments of individuals at the Embassy.” Speaking particularly of the information about Cobán, he stated that the information was out of date, as the situation in Cobán had completely changed. This final statement referred to Colom administration’s decision, made on 19 December 2010, to declare a state of siege in Alta Verapaz, to strike a blow to narcotrafficking. Originally declared for 30 days, the state of siege was extended an additional 30 days, and was officially lifted on 18 February 2011.

These cables clearly reveal cartels to be making headway in Guatemala, and show various Guatemalan institutions to be unable to address the challenge.

3 Comments
  1. Tony Ryals permalink
    March 8, 2011 11:47 pm

    It appears to me that U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Stephen G. McFarland, like his boss Hillary Clinton, lost President Nixon’s ‘war on drugs’ decades ago.I’d say that McFarland’s boss, Hillary Clinton’s undeniable free airplane rides aboard the cocaine trafficker’s Guantanamo rendition plane with tail number N216RR, should be proof enough for both of them of that.Duh.
    The only question is is Hillary really as stupid as she pretends or did she know the
    Gulfstream II she was riding on had ties to the cocaine traffickers’ Guantanamo rendition plane ? Or does she now take the view so many years after resumed political enemy,Richard Nixon, kicked off her and his unending ‘war on drugs’,that ‘if you can’t beat em join em ?’It sure looks like she has, but what does that say about Ambassador McFarland ? When will the sheep look up ?

    I was looking for an article from around 2009 in which Hillary Clinton actually put pressure on the Mexican government to cover up the investigation of the plane that crashed with over 3 tons of cocaine aboard coming from South America with that coke after doing a rendition flight to Guantanamo.Both Bill and Hillary went from legal huge debts to huge unexplained offshore accounts after their stay at the White House.In truth their offshore accounts in the Caymans and probably in terrorist money laundering Sheik Mohamed Al Rashid bin Maktoum’s Dubai or whwerever else should be confiscated
    and an investigation of their criminal activities undertaken.Unfortunately Barack Osama Obama is part of their and the CIA’s and Israel’s criminal gang and until they are ousted it will only get worse.
    After all how much heroine was being produced in Afghanistan under the Taliban and how much is being produced and sent to Europe and the U.S.under W Bush CIA and now UNDER Barack Osama and Hillary Clinton and the CIA’s reign of terror !?
    Their cover up of the rendition plane as well as the Jeb Bush and Homeland Security connected Skyway Communications of Lakeland,Florida and Royal Sons holding company continues to be covered up.
    Hillary promises or lies about bringing traffickers to justice but unfortunately it appears that she is one.Skyway Communications is also a stock fraud against American investors that bought those DC 9s with that fraud and the SEC OF EX CHAIR CHRIS COX AND NOW MARY SCHAPIRO ARE GUILY OF AIDING COCAINE TRAFFICKING AS WELL.

    extrados.mforos.com/606888/6391401-avion-cia-con-coca-mafia-ruso-judia-giuliani-cardoen/

    [cia-drugs] Hillary Clinton flew on plane owned by company linked to CIA renditions and organized crime

    roadsend
    Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:10:13 -0700
    waynemadsenreport:
    Hillary Clinton flew on plane owned by company linked to CIA renditions and organized crime publication date: Oct 15, 2007 Previous | Next October 15, 2007 — Hillary Clinton flew on plane owned by company linked to CIA renditions and organized crime On September 24, 2007, a Gulfstream II (tail number N987SA) crashed landed in Yucatan, Mexico with 3.3 metric tons (3.7 tons) of cocaine on board.

    The plane had recently been sold to Donna Blue Aircraft, Inc. of Coconut Creek, Florida, a firm owned by two Brazilians, and re-sold, shortly before the crash, to two Florida businessmen. N987SA had also flown patterns to and from Guantanamo Bay similar to those flown by CIA rendition aircraft Before being sold to Donna Blue, the Gulfstream had been owned by Air Rutter International, a firm with offices in Garden City, New York; Long Beach and Irvine, California, whose owner is Arik Kislin, the son of Sam Kislin. N987SA was owned by Kislin’s business partner, William Achenbaum, an owner, along with Arik Kislin, of Manhattan’s Hotel Gansevoort.

    Air Rutter leased out the aircraft. WMR has learned that another Air Rutter Gulfstream II (tail number N216RR) has flown presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, including a January 2007 stop in Des Moines, Iowa. The plane, which has a crew of 3, including a jump seat for a flight attendant, and can handle up to 13 passengers, has a fully galley, a private lavatory, plush leather seats, conference seats and table, CD/DVD entertainment system, a 21 inch monitor, satellite telephone system, and even an espresso machine.

    On October 9, 2007, WMR reported: Arik’s uncle, Semyon (Sam) Kislin, a member of the New York City Economic Development Board and immigrant from Odessa, has poured substantial political donations into the past campaigns in New York of Hillary Clinton and [Rudolph] Giuliani. He has also contributed to past campaigns of New York Senator Charles Schumer, former Republican Senator Alphonse D’Amato, and President Bill Clinton. The Center for Public Integrity has previously reported that a 1996 Interpol report connected Sam Kislin’s Trans Commodities, Inc. to two reputed Uzbek mobsters, Lev and Mikhail Chernoy.

    The Interpol connected Kislin’s firm to the Chernoys’ fraud and embezzlement schemes. Kislin confirmed that Mikhail Chernoy had been employed by his Trans Commodities firm. The Chernoy brothers are citizens of Israel. [The Chenoys have been linked to a worldwide empire of front companies and corporate shells in Monaco, the Bahamas, Cyprus, Switzerland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Israel, the Cayman Islands, Western Samoa, London, Isle of Man, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Brighton Beach (Brooklyn), Liechtenstein, and Vanuatu].

    Between 1994 and 1997, Sam Kislin and his wife Ludmila, gave Giuliani $14,250 in contributions. In 1997, after Giuliani maxed out on his GOP contributions, $9.7 million, Kislin donated $30,000 to Giuliani through the Liberal Party, the other ticket on which Giuliani was running for re-election as mayor. In May 1999, Sam Kislin co-chaired a Giuliani Senate race fundraiser at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in New York. The gathering raised $2.1 million for Giuliani’s aborted senate campaign. Arik Kislin contributed $1000 to Giuliani’s 1995 mayoral campaign and his Blonde Management shared office space with Sam Kislin’s Trans Commodities. Sam Kislin, his wife Ludmila, their son David, and daughter Regina gave $2000 to Schumer’s 1998 Senate campaign.

    Sam also gave Schumer’s opponent, D’Amato, $1000. Sam Kislin is also a prominent supporter of the United Jewish Appeal and Israel. Arik Kislin gave Hillary Clinton $4000 in 2006, specifically on Sept. 12, 2006. That same day an Olya Kislin also donated $4000 to Hillary Clinton. On October 1, 2007, the New York Post reported that an ex-employee of Air Rutter, Mark Billey, subsequently arrested on federal child sex charges, said he noted a number of armed U.S. Marshals at Air Rutter’s facilities in Long Beach, however, given the connection between the firm and Clinton, the federal agents may have been part of Senator Clinton’s Secret Service detail.

    Clinton has made several fundraising visits to the Los Angeles area over the past year. On October 9, WMR also reported that Arik Kislin is associated with another airline company, Skookum Air, Inc. Government records indicate that Clinton’s N216RR was owned by Skookum Air, as well as Air Rutter International, with the actual registered owner listed as GS-II Holdings, LLC, a firm registered in Delaware with offices listed at 35 E. 21st St. Suite 500, New York, NY. On October 4, 2007, when Senator Clinton visited Chicago to attend a “Republicans for Hillary” fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency, N216RR was parked at Chicago Midway Airport.

    Recently, N216RR has been put up for sale.

    ……………..

    ”Increasing suspicion even more was the suggestion, in a report of a committee of the European Parliament, that in addition to having been used in drug trafficking the Gulfstream II had flown CIA rendition flights to Guantanamo.” – Daniel Hopsicker , madcowprod.com

    Mexico,CIA,Guantanamo Rendition Plane, Cocaine, Homeland ‘Security’

    ”Increasing suspicion even more was the suggestion, in a report of a committee of the European Parliament, that in addition to having been used in drug trafficking the Gulfstream II had flown CIA rendition flights to Guantanamo.” – Daniel Hopsicker , madcowprod.com

    Subject : rendition,cocaine plane, guantanamo, yucatan

    Republicans,Drugs and Money: Guantanamo Rendition Plane, Cocaine, Homeland ‘Security’,Money Laundering,Stock Fraud by Tony Ryals

    In April,2006 it was revealed that a plane owned by Skyway Communications of Lakeland,Florida and Royal Sons holding company using Huffman Aviation(where Mohamed Atta trained before 9/11),as its address and paradoxically rented by the Howard Dean’s Democrat presidential campaign of 2004 had been busted by the Mexican army at the Ciudad Del Carmen,Campeche airport on the Yucatan Peninsula with over 5.5 tons of cocaine on board.

    http://www.indymedia.org.nz/article/74598/mexicociaguantanamo-rendition-plane-coca

  2. February 13, 2015 6:34 pm

    Pensar a veces tampoco está tan mal y si vemos obvios los hábitos extraños del hermano… lo que nos pendiente asentir los nuestros un abrazo

Trackbacks

  1. Wikileaks Guatemala: “Collapsing” Rule of Law « UNREDACTED | The Daily Conservative

Comments are closed.

%d bloggers like this: