AMBASSADOR MAISTO'S SEPTEMBER 27-28 VISIT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 001961 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN AND WHA/USOAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS PHSA KDEM OTRA OAS GT BH HO SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MAISTO'S SEPTEMBER 27-28 VISIT TO GUATEMALA Classified By: Ambassador James Derham, Reason: 1.4(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: During a September 27-28 visit to Guatemala, U.S. Ambassador to the OAS John Maisto promoted "relevant multilateralism" in a number of fora and discussed the Guatemala-Belize dispute with the Belizean Ambassador to Guatemala and with senior officials in the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry. Ambassador Maisto urged his interlocutors to take full advantage of the good offices of the OAS to advance Guatemala-Belize negotiations. End Summary. ¶2. (C) U.S. Permanent Representative to the OAS John Maisto began his official meetings in Guatemala on September 28 with a breakfast with Belizean Ambassador to Guatemala Alfredo Martinez, hosted by Ambassador Derham at the residence. Ambassador Martinez presented his interpretation of the dispute between the two countries, and expressed particular concern about the recent construction of an access road to the Guatemalan expatriate community of Santa Rosa, noting that the paved road was provocatively (and deliberately) constructed within Belizean territory. Martinez opined that the construction of the road could be construed as bad faith on the part of the GOG as it ran counter to agreements to remove the community from Belizean soil. However, Martinez praised the recent appointment of Gert Rosenthal as Guatemalan Foreign Minister, and expressed hope that Rosenthal could resolve the road issue and generally bring under control recalcitrant figures on the Guatemalan side (most notably the GOG's Belize Commission). ¶3. (C) Ambassador Martinez also recounted recent developments in the delineation of maritime boundaries, which he reported to be stalled by a Guatemalan refusal to accept a proposal for a tripartite maritime ecological park preserve that encompassed the disputed waters. Martinez noted that Belize and Honduras had agreed to give Guatemala "sovereignty" over an eight mile-wide maritime corridor (half ceded by Belize and half by Honduras). Guatemala had insisted on the term "sovereignty" even though part of the corridor extended beyond the twelve nautical mile territorial limit; Belizean representatives are asking their lawyers for a legal interpretation of this anomaly, Martinez said. The tentative settlement - which Martinez judged to be much more generous that anything that Guatemala could achieve through an international judicial ruling - was jeopardized by the GOG opposition to the maritime park proposal. Martinez blamed the GOG position for the extremely acrimonious exchanges between the Honduras and Guatemala at a tripartite meeting in Panama shortly before Rosenthal took over as Minister of Foreign Affairs. ¶4. (C) Ambassador Maisto noted that OAS Secretary General Insulza recently had a positive meeting with Guatemalan and Belizean representatives, and stated that the "good offices" of the OAS were available for facilitating resolution of disputes and/or obstacles in the process. During subsequent discussion of the UN Security Council Race, Ambassador Maisto suggested that it was not too late for the GOB to consider issuing a statement to release its fellow Caricom members from a commitment to not vote for Guatemala, provided that a positive development occurred in the border negotiations process. Martinez noted that some of the other Caricom members use Belizean opposition as an fig leaf for other motives for supporting Venezuela. ¶5. (SBU) Acting Foreign Minister Marta Altolaguirre received Ambassador Maisto during his Foreign Ministry courtesy call; the other two Vice Ministers, Luis Fernando Andrade and Anamaria Dieguez, also joined the meeting. Two of the principal themes of the meeting were trafficking in persons (one of Altolaguirre's personal concerns) and the UNSC race. Ambassador Maisto mentioned the availability of OAS good offices for the Guatemala-Belize dispute and stressed the need for a positive gesture by the GOG. VFM Andrade asked if starting the process of relocating Santa Rosa residents would be considered such a positive gesture; Ambassador Maisto responded that it would. ¶6. (U) Ambassador Maisto's final event before departing Guatemala was a presentation to International Relations students at the Jesuit Rafael Landivar University. Ambassador Maisto gave the students an extensive briefing on the OAS and its role in strengthening and promoting democracy in the Western Hemisphere - with emphasis on the InterAmerican Democratic Charter and the OAS role in election monitoring - and he underlined how U.S. policy supports these goals. During a subsequent question and answer session, Ambassador Maisto fielded questions on topics such as elections in Nicaragua and Mexico, free trade agreements, Guantanamo prisoners, and corruption. ¶7. (U) Ambassador Maisto has cleared this cable. Derham