REGIONAL OUTREACH TO GOMEL REGION HIGH, SUPERVISED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000608 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON PHUM BO SUBJECT: REGIONAL OUTREACH TO GOMEL REGION HIGH, SUPERVISED BUT HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL MINSK 00000608 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (U) Summary: On June 1-2, Ambassador traveled to the regional capital city Gomel and surrounding villages to conduct public outreach. Opposition and civil society representatives described the repressive conditions in which they exist, but the civil society representatives also criticized the democratic coalition for not involving them more in recent elections. Authorities arranged meetings with representatives of Gomel's free economic zone and tours of the Gomel palace and war museum. Ambassador and Emboffs visited a private farm in Dobrush and paid a visit to a Vetka school where the Embassy donated computers. English teachers and students at the Gomel regional library thanked the Embassy for English-language materials donated to the American Corners and asked about the FLEX program and summer language courses in the U.S. Despite close supervision by local activities, Embassy outreach to the Belarusian people was not hindered. End Summary. Authorities Welcome Ambassador -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On June 1, police met Ambassador, Protocol Assistant, and Poloff 60 kilometers outside of Gomel and, "for security," escorted the Embassy vehicle to the Oblast' Executive Committee (Oblispolkom) in downtown Gomel to meet the head of the Oblast' Council of Ministers Valery Selitsky, deputy head of the ideology department Yevgeny Mitkevich, Gomel State University officials and Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRCM) representatives, and the state media. Selitsky, who did most of the talking, bragged about Gomel's GDP per capita surpassing Minsk's and the city's 10 percent increase in overall industrial output last year. He admitted the agriculture sector lagged behind in development, but was improving and produced much of Belarus' meat and milk, including for export to Russia and Ukraine. (Note: The Gomel region is the most radioactive region in Belarus.) According to Selitsky, Gomel was on the right path, but faced a dwindling population and needed more investment. ¶3. (SBU) Siletsky claimed Gomel authorities had a dialogue with the local opposition, who were able to meet supporters without harassment. However, he proceeded to chastise opposition activists, calling them "political businessmen" who made a good living off foreign funding. He further �00A;stated that 90 percent of the region's electorate voted for Lukashenko on Election Day because they had jobs, medical care, housing and, most importantly, lived in a stable country without war. According to Siletsky, people were more concerned with economics than politics. Free Economic Zone -------------- ¶4. (U) Mitkevich and the local state media accompanied Ambassador and Emboffs to Gomel's Free Economic Zone (FEZ) "Raton," which comprises 35 industries totaling USD 120 million in investment-60 million of which was foreign capital from 19 countries, mainly Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Russia. Ninety percent of the FEZ' output is exported, despite large domestic demand, and the companies reinvest their profits in the Gomel region rather than sending it abroad. Director of the FEZ Aleksandr Skvortsov told Ambassador 31 people worked for his organization, which has in the last five years exceeded its assigned goals. According to Skvortsov, the FEZ and local authorities had eliminated much red tape for the companies, including problems with the registration process. He doubted a rise in energy prices would have an affecton production, although transportation costs accunted for much of companies' expenditures. Skvotsov claimed the government did not interfere wit companies' activities. Cultural Stops -------------- ¶5. (U) Ambassador visited the Gomel regonal library to donate English language material to the American Corners located there. Ambassaor spoke to a group of approximately 35 English lnguage students and teachers (Note: We understan the Gomel governor rejected our request for theAmbassador to speak to students at the local univesity. The university rector privately apologize for this.) The teachers thanked the Embassy forproviding teaching material that presented authetic English they otherwise had no access to. One teacher showed interest n possible summer programs in the U.S. for Belarusian English teachers an a FLEX alumnus thanked the Embassy for giving her the chance to study in the U.S. and asked Ambassador to ensure more students had the same opportunity. Ambassador noted the U.S. MINSK 00000608 002.2 OF 003 would do all it can to keep exchanges-but the GOB has not been helpful on this score. ¶6. (SBU) Gomel authorities arranged a tour of the new "Museum of War Glory," which contains displays of weapons from ancient Belarus, relics of WWI and WWII, and modern weapons and technology. At one point in the tour, the guide showed Ambassador a map of the Stalin Line and explained how during operation Barbarosa, this "line of defense" halted the Nazi invasion and forced the Germans to proceed north and south rather than directly east. (Note: In 2005, Lukashenko spent a fortune renovating the defense line, which was all but out of commission by the time WWII began. He created a fictitious history around its "heroic defense" of the Soviet Union during the Nazi invasion (reftel).) The director embarrassingly agreed when Ambassador related what he understood to be the uselessness of the "Stalin Line." What Dialogue With Opposition Parties? -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Without local supervision, Ambassador met with the regional head of opposition presidential candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich's campaign team, Vladimir Katsora, and two colleagues. Katsora noted problems working with other local parties and criticized efforts to hold another Congress of Democratic Forces, claiming that such discussions were wasting precious time. He laughed when Ambassador relayed Selitsky's statement that authorities did not harass the opposition. Katsora has been arrested twice this year, the last time for participating in an unsanctioned rally that had not yet taken place. Youth activists were constantly being arrested and others were losing their jobs. Katsora said his mission was to help those repressed, preserve the opposition, and mobilize the people. However, this would be difficult with their lack of resources and the lack of optimism among the population. Local TV positioned outside the meeting place queried Ambassador why he was there. Ambassador noted he wanted to h ear the views of Belarusian citizens and encouraged the media to cover these views as well. Ambassador stressed the U.S. supports peaceful democratic means for societies to work out their rightful and natural political differences. NGOs -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Ambassador and Poloff had supper with civil society activists, who too complained about lack of dialogue with local authorities. Their largest criticism, however, was directed at Western NGO financers for supporting "show" NGOs that spend most of their time traveling to foreign conferences. Although gaining international recognition was fine, more attention and funding needed to be spent on building and supporting grassroots networks that were more accessible to the people. These activists, who represented women's rights, justice, and health organizations complained that while they had successfully collected signatures for the last presidential campaign, the democratic coalition did not engage them in further election activities, although they were prepared to do more for the campaign. Time On The Farm -------------- ¶9. (U) On June 2, Ambassador and Emboffs visited a private farm in Dobrush, just outside of Gomel, where farm owner Saveliy Balabolov and his family gave a tour of their homestead. Saveliy, looking uncomfortable in an old suit that he probably rarely wore, showed off his tractors and combines, explaining that new GOB subsidies and loan programs made it easier to purchase needed equipment. Though not as technologically advanced or as large as the typical farm in the U.S., Saveliy seemed to be running an efficient enterprise that resembled much of what would be seen in the American heartland. At first Saveliy seemed nervous about having such company, which included Mitkevich and journalists, but relaxed after Ambassador showed interest in seeing his swine operation. Inside the swine barn, Saveliy-regardless of his suit-climbed into the pen and slapped a sow out of its slumber to show Ambassador her size. He proceeded to show his grain mill and started cursing about the price of new equipment that worked ju st as well as the antiquated equipment he used. A Trip To Vetka -------------- ¶10. (U) The next stop was a small village called Vetka, known MINSK 00000608 003.2 OF 003 for its school of historic "old Belarusian" iconography, its traditional embroidered cloth called "rushniki," and the high radioactive fallout it received after the Chernobyl tragedy. Ambassador and Emboffs met the director of grammar school No. 2 Svetlana Biran, other school administrators, and several students. Biran appreciated the two computers the Embassy donated and hosted Ambassador and Emboffs to tea and student presentations. Two students sang modern Russian pop songs and a dozen younger students spoke, in English, about the geography and history of the U.S. When away from Mitkevich's supervision, Biran told Ambassador about Vetka's poor economic standing and how the good doctors, teachers, and educated elite had moved away. Many students suffered from alcoholic parents and/or abuse and she ridiculed the Soviet model of education had more minuses than pluses. Interestingly, Biran had just returned from a trip to Germany where she ha d met with local teachers-an exchange that had no government involvement and developed after meeting some German teachers who had came to Belarus to provide humanitarian aid. A Village Tragedy -------------- ¶11. (U) On the way back to Minsk, Ambassador visited the site of several country estates of the former local nobility located in villages near Gomel. Mitkevich insisted in accompanying the Ambassador on these visits along with a police escort and other local officials. In the village Chervoni Bereg (Red Beach),the director of the local agricultural institute showed Ambassador the site of a monument being built in memory of the children killed by Nazis in WWII. According to the director, Germans converted the local mansion into a hospital for their wounded. However, they were short of blood, and therefore, gathered 2,000 area children between the ages of 6 and 14 years, drained them of blood, and threw their bodies in a pit near the mansion. The mayor said this atrocity was common during WWII, but Chervoni Bereg was the most infamous. Comment -------------- ¶12. (SBU) During the visit to Vetka, Mitkevich took Ambassador aside and complained about Ambassador "violating" local hospitality by having meetings with people not organized by the host government. He claimed he would have been happy to organize meetings with the opposition as well as with "other political parties." Ambassador thanked Mitkevich for his offer of "hospitality," but stressed that a guest also has a right to see what he would like in a district freely. Also, Ambassador noted that if Mitkevich wanted to organize a "roundtable" with local political figures, he could have suggested it himself before the trip. Furthermore, the Embassy had made no secret of the visit to opposition party premises. Mitkevich backed off. Interestingly, Ambassador's visits to rural historical sites seemed a revelation to Mitkevich and even the police escort-who left their vehicles to see the ruins of churches and estates they never knew existed in their own backyard. Privately they thanked Ambassador for showing them a part of their own country and history previously unknown to them. Lesson: outreach works! Krol