ECUADOR TILTING TOWARD SUPPORTING G-4 RESOLUTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 001786 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2015 TAGS: PREL EC UNSC UNGA SUBJECT: ECUADOR TILTING TOWARD SUPPORTING G-4 RESOLUTION REF: A. QUITO 1775 ¶B. SECSTATE 137602 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires AI, for reason 1.4 (b&d). ¶1. (C) The Italian Ambassador informed the Charge on July 29 that FM Parra had called him to discuss the G-4 resolution. After earlier saying the GOE would abstain, Parra now said that President Palacio had decided to support the G-4 resolution. Palacio's decision came after a call (date unspecified) from Brazilian President da Silva. ¶2. (C) The Charge shared our impression from Palacio on July 28 (Ref A) that he agreed that UNSC reform should be more carefully considered, was still considering the issue, and might even vote against or abstain. Subsequent to his conversation with the Italian, the Charge referred to the G-4 issue, including Ref B points in a note to Palacio forwarding unrelated material. ¶3. (C) For his part, the Italian Ambassador said he would speak to his Foreign Minister recommending a call by the Italian Prime Minister to dissuade Palacio from voting in favor of the G-4 resolution. ¶4. (C) Comment: We believe Palacio to be very susceptible to high-level lobbying. It will be hard to counter Lula's call, given the Brazilian leader's standing here. If Parra's claim that Palacio has committed to Lula is true, a call from Rome is unlikely to suffice. MEMMOTT