COLOMBIA: CULTURAL CONVENTION NOT ON CONGRESSIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BOGOTA 001582

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

IO/UNESCO - M. CHRISTINA NOVO
IO/PPC - RICHARD WILBUR
EB/TPP/MTA - LINDSAY CHASON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2016
TAGS: ETRD SCUL PREL CO
SUBJECT: COLOMBIA: CULTURAL CONVENTION NOT ON CONGRESSIONAL
AGENDA

REF: STATE 19851

Classified By: Political Counselor Jeffrey DeLaurentis;
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) The GOC voted to adopt the UNESCO Convention on the
Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural
Expressions in October, but has since made no effort to
secure the required Congressional approval. The Convention
is not currently on the legislative agenda; Congress is out
of session until after the March 12 congressional elections.
The next session runs from March 15 through June 20 and
presidential elections will take place on May 28. Given that
the Convention must be approved by the relevant Committees in
both the House and Senate, as well as both the full House and
Senate, it is unlikely that ratification will take place
before the end of June. Moreover, MFA has not yet received
the official request from the Ministry of Culture to
introduce the Convention to Congress. MFA's UNESCO office
expects ratification to take more than a year (not including
3-4 months for review by the Constitutional Court). There
has been little Colombian press coverage of the Convention;
articles have been factual and did not advocate for or
against the Convention.


2. (C) A public campaign seeking to persuade Congress not to
ratify the Convention, such as offered reftel, would be
unproductive, in our view, during the campaign season. It is
unlikely Congress will address this issue before the new
President's inauguration on August 7.
DRUCKER