HONDURAN VICE FM GIVEN INPUT FOR DRAFTING UNCHR

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 000574 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CCA, WHA/CEN, AND WHA/PPC STATE FOR DRL AND DRL/MLA, IO, AND INR/AN/IAA E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2014 TAGS: PHUM PINR PREL KDEM CU HO CHR SUBJECT: HONDURAN VICE FM GIVEN INPUT FOR DRAFTING UNCHR CUBA RESOLUTION REF: A. WAGNER/PIERCE E-MAILS 03/09-10 ¶B. FISK/PALMER TELCON AND FAX 03/09 ¶C. TEGUCIGALPA 531 ¶D. TEGUCIGALPA 503 ¶E. TEGUCIGALPA 468 ¶F. TEGUCIGALPA 365 ¶G. TEGUCIGALPA 307 ¶H. STATE 20401 ¶I. STATE 13279 (ALL NOTAL) Classified By: Ambassador Larry Palmer; Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) DCM and PolOffs met March 10 with Vice Foreign Minister Anibal Quinonez and MFA Senior Advisor Policarpo Callejas on the issue of drafting the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) resolution on Cuba. The meeting followed the Secretary's March 9 meeting with President Ricardo Maduro in SIPDIS Washington (refs A and B). Quinonez appeared not to have yet received a readout of the Secretary's meeting with Maduro from GOH participants. Thus, DCM briefed Quinonez on the meeting, most notably Maduro's agreement to draft a UNCHR Cuba resolution. EmbOffs gave Quinonez copies of past UNCHR Cuba resolutions, UNESCO statements on the crackdown on dissidents in Cuba and the awarding of the 2004 UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize to Cuban dissident poet and journalist Raul Rivero, and U.S. goals for the 2004 resolution (which EmbOffs had previously given Quinonez). EmbOffs emphasized that the U.S. was hoping for a draft resolution ASAP, as the plan was to have a resolution introduced in Geneva March 15. ¶2. (C) Callejas stressed that, by agreeing to draft the resolution, the GOH was definitely putting at risk Cuban signature of a pending bilateral convention on maritime borders. Quinonez noted that this issue would likely be spun negatively by the opposition and the press. ¶3. (C) Callejas then asked what, if anything, was the U.S. doing for Honduras in return. DCM replied that the Secretary and Maduro had discussed several areas of bilateral cooperation and the Secretary had asked the Honduran Ambassador to the U.S., Mario Canahuati, to follow-up with WHA A/S Noriega on specific issues. ¶4. (C) Later in the afternoon, Ambassador spoke with President Maduro upon his return from Washington to thank him for his support on the UNCHR Cuba resolution. Maduro said that he had agreed to commit Honduras to draft the resolution as a matter of principle, noting that the U.S. was Honduras' closest ally and that drafting the resolution was the right thing to do. He added, however, that he too was concerned about the maritime border agreement with Cuba. Maduro said that the pending agreement was a high priority item for Honduras that may be affected as a result of his decision. He agreed to discuss with the Embassy how the resolution was progressing tomorrow. ¶5. (C) Comment: It is clear that the decision to draft the UNCHR resolution on Cuba was President Maduro's and not supported by career MFA officials. Post notes with interest the fact that Quinonez and Callejas had not yet received instructions on how to proceed from Foreign Minister Leonidas Rosa Bautista, who returned to Honduras with President Maduro. While we expect the MFA to dutifully draft a resolution, it is clear that considerable guidance, coaxing, and perhaps pushing, will be required from this end to ensure that the proposed resolution has teeth and that it is submitted on time. End Comment. PALMER