CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION: PERU UNLIKELY TO PAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 004212 SIPDIS THE HAGUE FOR CWC DEL E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2015 TAGS: PARM PREL PE CWC SUBJECT: CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION: PERU UNLIKELY TO PAY ITS DUES TO THE ORGANIZATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS (OPCW) REF: SECSTATE 178946 Classified By: Political Counselor Alexander Margulies. Reason: 1.4(d ). ¶1. (U) Polcouns presented the demarche on persuading Peru to pay its dues to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (Reftel) to Julio Garro, the Foreign Ministry's Director of Multilateral Affairs, on 9/27. ¶2. (C) Garro said that it was highly unlikely that Peru would pay its dues to the OPCW for the forseeable future. He explained that Peru is behind in most of its dues to international organizations, has been unsuccessfully lobbying the Ministry of Finance (MEF) for the past three months to obtain the funds needed to cancel its debts, has been told by MEF to expect continued austerity next year, and is preserving its best political chits to press MEF for payment of its United Nations dues should Peru be elected to the UN Security Council in 2006. Garro also indicated that should Peru's candidate to preside over the Conference of State Parties to the CWC have to withdraw, the Latin American Group may well nominate the Venezuelan candidate, as Caracas has expressed interest in this position. STRUBLE