MFA OFFERS VOTE SWAP ON U.S. ICTY NOMINEE

UNCLAS QUITO 002761 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP, S/WCI, L/UNA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KJUS PHUM EC SUBJECT: MFA OFFERS VOTE SWAP ON U.S. ICTY NOMINEE REF: STATE 218465 ¶1. In response to Reftel, the Embassy October 12 delivered to the Ecuadorian foreign ministry a non-paper and CV in support of Judge Theodor Meron, the USG's candidate for re-election to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In a follow-up meeting October 14, Luis Arellano, the MFA's office director for UN affairs, told Poloff that Ecuador's UN mission was receiving CVs and candidacy letters from numerous countries. In early November, the mission would assemble the package, attach a recommendation, and pouch the materials to Quito for the MFA's final determination. ¶2. Arellano agreed that Judge Meron's qualifications were impressive, but offered no hint of Ecuador's intended vote. The GoE had no candidate in the ICTY election, but was looking for USG support for MFA Legal Advisor Marcelo Vasquez, Ecuador's nominee for the International Law Commission. Aware (from prior Embassy demarches) the USG did not engage in vote trading, Arellano nonetheless pitched a tit-for-tat arangement. ¶3. Post requests instructions should Department wish to break from standard practice and support a vote swap for the USG's ICTY candidate. KENNEY