Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03GUATEMALA533
2003-02-27 18:02:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

VICE PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO CUBA SPURS SPECULATION

Tags:  PREL PHUM CU GT UNCHR 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000533 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2013
TAGS: PREL PHUM CU GT UNCHR
SUBJECT: VICE PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO CUBA SPURS SPECULATION

REF: A. GUATEMALA 317


B. GUATEMALA 511

Classified By: Robert E. Copley for reason 1.5(b).

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000533

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2013
TAGS: PREL PHUM CU GT UNCHR
SUBJECT: VICE PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO CUBA SPURS SPECULATION

REF: A. GUATEMALA 317


B. GUATEMALA 511

Classified By: Robert E. Copley for reason 1.5(b).


1. (C) Summary: A glowing press conference by Vice President
Reyes after an official visit to Cuba fueled speculation that
some in the GOG are reconsidering Cuba policy. Reyes hinted
that Guatemala would abstain on the Cuba vote at the UNCHR,
did not rule out voting with Cuba, and said that he brought
an invitation from Castro for an official visit by President
of Congress Rios Montt. The Ambassador had two separate
conversations with the Foreign Minister and President
Portillo (ref B). Portillo said the FRG was reacting to
decertification; he promised a calm, rational decision on the
CUBA HR vote. End Summary.


2. (U) After a seven-day official visit to Cuba and a
four-hour meeting with Castro, Vice President Reyes told
reporters on February 19 that Guatemala would do well to
emulate Castro's policies on education, medicine, tourism,
and agriculture. Cheerfully handing out Cohiba cigars, the
Vice President spent nearly an hour extolling the virtues of
the Cuban system. Although the Cuban budget for education is
smaller than Guatemala's, Reyes said Cuba accomplishes three
times as much with it. Reyes went so far as to say that what
he had seen in Cuba almost made him want to move there
(opposition press cartoons depicted people taking up a
collection to pay his airfare). Even before his departure,
Reyes recorded a national address that was broadcast during
his trip in which he expressed gratitude for the work of
Cuban doctors in Guatemala. Reyes said Guatemala could solve
its medical problems if Guatemalan doctors were more like
their Cuban counterparts (Comment: Ex FonMin Orellana told
DCM that Cuba had asked Reyes to increase the GOG's payment
for Cuban Doctors).


3. (U) Reyes was vague on the UNCHR vote. In response to
direct questions, he refused to rule out voting with Cuba,
but hinted that an abstention would be a more likely outcome.
Reyes insisted that Castro never mentioned the issue in
their meeting.


4. (U) Reyes said he found Rios Montt open to the possibility
of an official visit to Cuba when he conveyed Castro's
invitation. Aristides Crespo, Secretary General of the FRG
party and right-hand-man to Rios Montt, has avoided the issue
except to deny speculation that a Cuba visit would hurt the
FRG's electoral prospects in the eyes of its largely
anti-Communist support base. Reftel reports Crespo, on the
floor of Congress, calling for support of Cuba at the UNCHR.


5. (C) We recently heard from the Foreign Ministry that a
March bilateral, usually held at the Vice-Minister level, has
been upgraded by the Ministry to a full Ministerial. The
agenda will review "all aspects of the relationship."


6. (C) At a February 20 dinner that included Foreign Minister
Edgar Gutierrez, the Ambassador asked what is going on with
Vice President Reyes and his remarks praising the Castro
regime. The Foreign Minister said he, too, had been
surprised by Reyes Lopez' comments, and met with him to hear
about his trip to Cuba. The Ambassador told Gutierrez that
the Vice President's remarks, especially about the UNCHR
vote, looked like an intentional poke in our eye driven by
pique over decertification. He added that a Guatemalan
abstention in Geneva would undermine Guatemala's hard-won
credibility on human rights, and asked if the GOG was willing
to throw this away simply to annoy us. Gutierrez
acknowledged that Reyes' statements had been unhelpful, and
assured us that the GOG would consult us on the human
rights situation in Cuba before President Portillo makes any
decision on the UNCHR vote.


7. (C) The Ambassador reiterated these arguments to President
Portillo on February 25 (ref B). Portillo candidly said the
FRG was flirting with CUBA to annoy the USG, due to
decertification (which hurts the FRG's electoral chances) and
perceived USG blocking of a Rios Montt candidacy. The
Ambassador' urged Portillo not to squander the prestige the
GOG had acquired in the last two years on Cuba and said the
USG would ask the GOG to vote yes on a Cuba human rights
motion. Portillo was non-committal, but said the GOG would
make a decision after things had calmed down.


8. (C) Comment: Cuba is not a significant domestic issue. VP
Reyes' flirtation with Cuba probably is in fact a poke in the
eye of the USG. We will continue to engage the GOG on this
issue.
HAMILTON