RWANDA STILL UNDECIDED ON GUATEMALA

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000987 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C, P AND IO/UNP PLEASES PASS TO KARA MCDONALD AND BRIAN HARRIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2016 TAGS: PREL UNSC VE GT SUBJECT: RWANDA STILL UNDECIDED ON GUATEMALA REF: A. STATE 171368 ¶B. STATE 171921 Classified By: POLOFF GLEARNED, REASONS 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) This is an action request for A/S Frazer. Please see paragraph 3. ¶2. (C) On 13 October Charge delivered demarche (ref B) to Foreign Minister Murigande emphasizing that the USG considered the vote to be one of the most important decisions the UNGA would make this year. Murigande noted that Rwanda, while approached by the USG, had never been lobbied by the government of Guatemala noting that Venezuela pressed him personally on his visit to Havana for the NAM conference in September. Charge reiterated that, unlike Venezuela, Guatemala had contributed and recently lost troops supporting UN missions and that a decision to support Guatemala would not be inconsistent with Rwanda's regional neighbors. Murigande acknowledged USG position and observed that "you should feel confident that whatever chances they (Venezuela) had were squandered by the horrible speech at the UN". ¶3. (C) Action request. Murigande said that the Prime Minister and President were currently "unavailable", but he would contact them and call Charge with an answer this weekend. Post thinks that a call from A/S Frazer to Foreign Minister Murigande or President Kagame would strongly reinforce the USG's position and may convince the GOR to vote for Guatemala. Please see paragraph 4 for contact information. End action request. ¶4. (C) Mobile phone numbers: Rwanda country code: (250) President Paul Kagame: 0818.2007 and 0830.2414 Foreign Minister Dr. Charles Murigande: 0830.4545 THURSTON