Cablegate: Electoral Board Exposes Narco-Candidates

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SNAR PE
SUBJECT: ELECTORAL BOARD EXPOSES NARCO-CANDIDATES

Sensitive But Unclassified, Please Handle Accordingly.

1. (U) Summary: The National Electoral Boa...

id: 88634
date: 12/7/2006 22:47
refid: 06LIMA4621
origin: Embassy Lima
classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SNAR PE
SUBJECT: ELECTORAL BOARD EXPOSES NARCO-CANDIDATES

Sensitive But Unclassified, Please Handle Accordingly.

1. (U) Summary: The National Electoral Board (JNE) on
November 14 identified more than 200 candidates in local
elections who had lied on their resumes, including some who
had hidden ties to narcotrafficking. Most of the publicized
narco-candidates did not win. Despite evidence of
narco-influence, the JNE President said the number of
narco-candidates was not/not rising, but rather increased
official scrutiny of candidate lists had led to more
discoveries. Former Interior Minister Rospigliosi disagreed,
and claimed the presence of narcos in public office was
becoming more widespread. Whatever the case, political
parties must step up to the challenge of policing candidate
lists and culling candidates with questionable pasts. End
Summary.

2. (U) The National Electoral Board on November 14 (five days
before regional and municipal elections) found that 214
candidates had lied on their resumes (which the JNE requires
of all candidates), including 156 who had failed to mention
past criminal charges. Many candidates hid links to
narcotrafficking. The JNE passed this information to the
Prosecutors Office for further investigation. Some high
profile media reports about the discovery followed.

3. (U) In some cases, the deceptions and links to
narcotrafficking were serious. For example, Humberto Chavez
Penaherrera, an APRA mayoral candidate in a San Martin
(Huallaga Valley) district, had a criminal record and is the
brother of a convicted narcotrafficker. (Note: Chavez
Penaherrera and another APRA candidate linked to
narcotrafficking were subjects of front page stories leading
to accusations that APRA Secretary General Mauricio Mulder
had not properly vetted APRA candidate lists. End Note.)
Pucallpa Mayor Luis Valdez Villacorta, an independent, was
re-elected despite being linked to local narcotraffickers and
the murder of a local journalist. Luis Sante Zubia Cortez,
of Si Cumple in Moquegua, was removed from the party list
before the elections and detained by authorities after the
JNE announced he was wanted for embezzlement.

4. (SBU) JNE President Enrique Mendoza told Poloffs that the
influence of narcotraffickers was not necessarily worse than
past years, but that increased and more systematic scrutiny
of candidate lists had led to discoveries that may not have
been made in previous years. He noted that during the recent
regional/municipal elections, the JNE, for the first time,
had reviewed resumes and looked for inconsistencies. Mendoza
said Peru needed a massive voter education campaign to
increse citizen awareness about the election process and to
prevent narco-penetration of the political system in the
future.

5. (SBU) Former Interior Minister and counternarcotics expert
Fernando Rospigliosi told Poloffs that "many more
(narcotrafficker sympathizers) were elected than you think."
He highlighted a number of pro-coca radical candidates in
Huanuco, San Martin, and the VRAE who are not explicitly
narcotraffickers but allegedly received their financial
support. Unlike Mendoza, Rospigliosi said the
narcotraffickers' influence in the elections had increased,
primarily because candidates needed cash and narcotraffickers
had large amounts of that on hand. He further observed that
the election of pro-coca candidates was proof of
narcotrafficking influence.

6. (SBU) Comment: JNE oversight revealed the shady
backgrounds of many candidates in November's municipal
elections, but the information emerged only days before the
voting. Peruvian political parties (even one as well
organized as APRA) are vulnerable to candidates with easy
access to large amounts of cash. The JNE deserves credit for
exposing an ongoing problem, but the parties will need to
develop stricter internal controls to eliminate influence of
illicit money and questionable candidates. It is unclear
whether parties, whose credibility is low and whose oversight
capabilities are minimal, will be up to the task. End
Comment.
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