THE GAMBIA: DEMARCHE ON UNSC RACE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANJUL 000612 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2016 TAGS: PREL UNSC GT VE GA SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: DEMARCHE ON UNSC RACE REF: A. STATE 162359 ¶B. BANJUL 439 ET AL Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D) ¶1. (C) Ambassador made ref a demarche October 2 to Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary William Joof (Deputy Formin equivalent),stressing that Venezuelan President Chavez's UNGA speech further demonstrated that Venezuela's election to the UNSC would seriously undercut its ability to address world problems constructively. In his oral presentation of ref a points, Ambassador urged the GOTG to reconsider any previously-made commitment of suppport for Venezuela's UNSC candidacy in light of Chavez's UNGA speech and left non-paper with excerpts of Chavez's statements contained in ref a. ¶2. (C) As in past discussions (ref b),Joof insisted that the GOTG had yet to finalize its position on the competing Venezuelan and Guatemalan candidacies for the UNSC, denying "rumors" that the Gambians had pledged their support to Venezuela. He recognized that Chavez's UNGA speech was "not appropriate for a statesman," adding that he (Joof),as a member of the GOTG's UNGA delegation, had met with the Guatemalan Formin on the margins and had "taken note" of the latter's pitch for support. Joof undertook to inform us as soon as the GOTG had decided whom to support in the upcoming UNSC contest. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: Our judgment remains that the GOTG will likely support Venezuela in the UNSC vote, following reports of economic, oil-related blandishments offered by Chavez to the GOTG and other African states at the July African Union Summit here (ref b). END COMMENT. STAFFORD