ACTION PLAN FOR PSI AGREEMENT WITH GUATEMALA

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000985 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: DECL: 10 YEARS TAGS: PREL PARM PHSA KTIA MNUC GT SUBJECT: ACTION PLAN FOR PSI AGREEMENT WITH GUATEMALA REF: A. SECSTATE 79091 ¶B. GUATEMALA 8 Classified By: Robert Copley, Political-Military Officer. Reason: 1.5 (b&d). ¶1. (C) We discussed the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and proposed ship-boarding agreement with the MFA in December 2003 (Ref B). We have been careful in following up to avoid distracting the Berger administration from our highest priority which is the achievement of an Article 98 agreement with Guatemala. We will be able to aggressively pursue the PSI after we have an Article 98 agreement with the GOG. End Summary. -------------- Action Plan -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The first step is to get Guatemala to publicly endorse the proliferation statement of principles. Our continuing informal discussions lead us to believe that the MFA has nearly wrapped up its internal consultations. MFA officials have indicated that endorsement may be less than a month away. We will then build on our recent successes under the Maritime counter-narcotics agreement (in force since February) to propose the ship-boarding agreement. The required internal consultations over the terms of the ship-boarding agreement could be lengthy. We note that such consultations for the maritime agreement took years, despite our regular engagement. We expect that much of the underbrush has already been cleared due to the similarities with some of the terms of the maritime agreement and the consultations already underway for the statement of principles. However, the military is necessarily a key player in these internal consultations, and is currently completely distracted by President Berger's far-reaching force reduction to be completed by June 30. Our goal is to assist the MFA in rapidly reaching agreement with the terms of the ship-boarding agreement, or a viable GOG counter-proposal, as the basis for formal negotiations with Department participation. Once a final text is achieved, we will need to cooperate with the MFA in lobbying the Guatemalan Congress for the 2/3 majority vote required for such an agreement to take effect. ¶3. (C) Comment: We believe the GOG will be responsive to our request for a PSI, which is less politically sensitive to the GOG than an Article 98 agreement. Rushing PSI now risks diverting the GOG from Article 98, or worse, tempting the GOG to postpone a hard decision in favor of an easier one. HAMILTON