DOMINICAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER COMMENTS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 003004

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/OAS;
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD;TREASURY FOR OASIA-LCARTER
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2015
TAGS: PHUM PGOV DR PTER HA OAS
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER COMMENTS ON
HAITI, TERRORISM, OAS


Classified By: DCM Lisa Kubiske. Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) The DCM and econ officer called on Deputy Foreign
Minister Alejandra Liriano in her office, May 23 and
discussed the selection of a Deputy
Secretary General at the Organization of American States

SIPDIS
(OAS),repatriations of Haitians, anti-terrorism
conventions, racial discrimination,
Dominican consulates, and recent alien smuggling cases.

OAS Assistant Secretary-General
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2. (C) The Dominican Republic, though a supporter up to now
of Ramdin of Surinam, is not firmly wedded to that position
and DCM encouraged the MFA to consider Leal. Liriano did not
reject that possibility though it appears the country is
talking with several other countries.

Details: The Dominican Republic has long been thinking of
supporting Ramdin, for reasons of strategic relations with
CARICOM, who favor him. However, some of the countries the
Dominicans are friendly with have pointed out that Ramdin
doesn,t speak Spanish, and so there is some
"reconsideration" going on. Other Latin American countries
are concerned that in the event of a crisis a non-Spanish
speaker would have difficulty in communicating the OAS
message. DCM told Liriano that the USG is not likely to
announce our position until near the end, but that we are
thinking of supporting Leal. Leal, DCM noted, was a Central
American, and both the United States and the Dominican
Republic had hoped for a Central American candidate for
Sec-Gen originally. Liriano agreed that could be a
consideration. Liriano agreed that Leal had great experience
and reputation, and that he got along well with others. On
the other hand, she worried that putting a former foreign
minister in the Asst Sec-Gen job would set a precedent that
OAS members might not always want in the future (bar too
high).

Repatriating Haitians
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3. (C) Bottom line: The Deputy Foreign Minister was already
sensitized about the human rights issue and has now heard our
most recent explicit expression of concern. The problem is
&complex8 and the MFA is not the only driver (or even the
main driver) of this issue. We hope that the Dominicans will
now factor in our concerns also and start to make some
changes in procedures of handling illegal Haitians.

DCM expressed concern over the repatriation of illegal
Haitians in the form in which it had been done. The
Dominican Republic was opening itself to charges (however
inaccurate) of ðnic cleansing8 and raising the specter
(true or not) of the Central European-style mass deportations
of the 1930s. There are international norms. How the
country repatriates illegals matters, and the Dominican
government needs to think about its reputation. Liriano
agreed that the way it was done - picking people up off the
streets - inevitably led to abuses that should not occur and
exposed abuses not consistent with the country's own
principles and commitments on human rights and anti-racism.

The issue was complex, she said. It included fraud and crime
by Haitian-Dominican rings who sent Haitian women across the
border to beg and other things. The people being repatriated
sometimes didn't have documents on either side of the border.
And, the Dominican-Haitian border is extremely porous; the
country needs both technology and manpower, and the resources
for these, to tighten it up. (DCM mentioned the border
assessment team that the USG/Southcom is sending in July, and
Liriano expressed appreciation and thanks.) At present, she
continued, the Dominican Republic does not even have a way to
ensure that the Haitians who come for market day in Dajabon
return to Haiti at the end of the day. She said "if we
deport 3000 Haitians, another 3000 show up the next day.".
And, there is not a well-functioning government in Haiti (the
poorest country in the Western Hemisphere) with which to sign
a bilateral agreement.

Liriano said that Fernandez and team had tried to make some
improvements in the first Fernandez administration. Perhaps
Haitian temporary workers could be given identity cards and
there were at least some other options available.

Liriano, in reply to DCM,s question, said that the Migration
Office has been working on drafting the implementing
regulations to the Migration Law - regulations that would
implement the country's international commitments and those
of the revised law. She emphasized that even with more laws
the solution to the problem depends on adequate resources,
technology and the ability to pay border agents a sufficient
income to discourage corruption.

Finally, when Fernandez said to the press that the
repatriations would be continuing, he was re-affirming a
sovereign right to repatriate individuals who had entered
illegally and to send a message to Haitians that the border
was not wide open, she said. DCM commented that mass
round-ups seemed a poor way to handle this.

Postscript: The decision to repatriate, she said, was made
by the Directorate of Migration. Since the time of this
conversation, many repatriated Haitians have returned to the
Dominican Republic, our sources tell us.

Terrorism
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4. (SBU) DCM brought along a chart that had appeared in the
Department's unclassified annual terrorism report showing the
12 UN conventions against terrorism, as well as the signing
and ratifying countries. The Dominican Republic is behind in
signing and ratifying these, DCM said, and the USG is
interested in seeing it catch up to the rest of the world.
Liriano was interested and promised to investigate the status
of efforts on each one.

Racial Discrimination
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5. (SBU) DCM gave a heads up that Embassy officers (and most
recently, a Peace Corps volunteer) had experienced a number
of incidents of racial discrimination and that DCM would be
discussing with the Ambassador how to handle this. Liriano
said to let her know which private clubs weren't admitting
our African-American officers and what else was happening and
that the government might be able to help, since
discrimination was against the country's policies. She said
cases involving discrimination were important to the
Dominican Republic because of their role in the United
Nations with anti-discrimination efforts. Embassy will
follow up with Liriano.

Dominican Consulates
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6. (SBU) DCM noted the Dominican government's application for
an official Dominican consulate in Philadelphia. Liriano
asked if there was any word from the State Department on that
or the question of regularizing Dominican diplomatic and
consular personnel.

Alien Smugglers
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7. (C) Next topic wasx the activity of Russian and Ukrainian
alien smugglers in the Dominican Republic, and the successful
arrest and deportation of two of them last week -- via Miami,
where they were arrested. Might the Dominican Republic want
to consider requiring visas for these nationalities? Liriano
thought the visa requirement already existed. Liriano noted
that the government (Ministry of Tourism) has launched a
campaign to attract Russian and Ukrainian tourists to the
country and as a result had eased restrictions on their
travel. Russians and Ukrainians can obtain visas once they
are in the Dominican Republic. Note: DCM and Emboffs will
meet June 3 with the Under Secretary for Consular Affairs to
further discuss this topic.


8. (U) This report and other extensive material is available
on our SIPRNET site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo< /a> .l.
KUBISKE