EMBASSY GUATEMALA'S 90-DAY PLAN: FIRST QUARTER 2004

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000025 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/AS NORIEGA AND WHA/PPC ALAIN NORMAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2014 TAGS: PREL AMGT GT SUBJECT: EMBASSY GUATEMALA'S 90-DAY PLAN: FIRST QUARTER 2004 REF: 03 STATE 349946 Classified By: Ambassador John Hamilton for reason 1.5 (d). ¶1. (C) Oscar Berger's assumption of power on January 14 opens the door to an improved bilateral relationship and increased GOG cooperation with us in a wide range of areas. Embassy Guatemala's highest priority goals for the first quarter of 2004 will be to establish a positive, solid working relationship with the new administration, negotiate the terms of an Article 98 agreement with the GOG and secure Guatemalan Congressional approval for an extension of the Mayan Jaguar counter-narcotics exercises. Building Bridges to the New Government -------------- ¶2. (C) Embassy Guatemala's highest priority goal during these next 90 days will be to build on our positive relationship with President-elect Oscar Berger and his team of advisors and Cabinet members, to cement the relationship and ensure that the Berger government is responsive from the outset to USG interests. The Ambassador and Country Team members briefed Berger and his most senior advisors on USG bilateral priorities in December, 2003, and will use introductory calls on new ministers to raise specific action requests on pending matters. We have received assurances from Berger that he will continue the highly productive bilateral inter-agency working group meetings on counter-narcotics cooperation and trafficking in persons. We will use the next 90 days to get to know the members of the new government at every level and to build on Berger's political will to address the pending matters in our bilateral relationship. Negotiating an Article 98 Agreement -------------- ¶3. (C) Attempts to get the Portillo government to negotiate an Article 98 Agreement were consistently and successfully thwarted by Portillo's senior foreign policy advisors, including Foreign Ministers Orellana and Gutierrez. We have raised our interest in concluding an Article 98 Agreement with President-elect Berger and his advisors, and they have expressed an openness to the proposal. In our early meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs-designate Briz, we will request an expedited time-table for negotiating an Article 98 Agreement. Our goal for the first quarter of 2004 will be to reach agreement with the GOG on the text of an Article 98 Agreement, with Congressional ratification to follow, possibly in the second quarter. Extending Mayan Jaguar -------------- ¶4. (C) In December, 2001 Guatemala's Congress ratified an agreement authorizing U.S. troops to enter Guatemala to participate in joint counter-narcotics exercises. These exercises, called "Mayan Jaguar" in Guatemala ("Central Skies" in the U.S.),have been successful at disrupting cocaine trafficking patterns through Guatemala. Host government authority to conduct these exercises expired in December, 2003, and the current Congress adjourned without approving an extension. We have already advised President-elect Berger that securing a two-year extension of Mayan Jaguar will be one of our highest priorities with the new government and Congress. Berger is a strong supporter of USG counter-drug efforts in Guatemala, and we will urge him to send Congress before February a draft legislative decree authorizing the extension. We will lobby the major legislative blocks to secure prompt Congressional ratification. HAMILTON