DEFEATING VENEZUELA IN THE 2006 ELECTION FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L NOUAKCHOTT 000289 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR IO/UNP BHARRIS, WHA/PPC RYONEOKA, AF/RSA RHOUSTON AND AF/W E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2016 TAGS: PREL UN UNSC GT VE MR SUBJECT: DEFEATING VENEZUELA IN THE 2006 ELECTION FOR NON-PERMANENT SEAT ON THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL REF: A. STATE 20173 ¶B. NOUAKCHOTT 144 Classified By: Ambassador Joseph LeBaron, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) On March 9, DCM called on MFA Director for International Organizations Amb. Telmidi Ould Mohamed Amar to follow up on Embassy's February 14 dipnote (Ref B) encouraging Mauritania to vote for Guatemala in the 2006 election for the non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. ¶2. (C) Telmidi said he understood the reasons why the USG opposed Venezuela's candidacy and said the minister was aware of the issue and of its importance to the USG. Talmidi indicated that Mauritania was disposed to voting for Guatemala, but said the MFA needed first to see if the AU and Arab League take a stand on the issue, noting that these groups often do not take positions in such issues outside their region. He added that the matter will likely come up in the September 2006 NAM summit in Havana, but seemed less concerned about that outcome. Telmidi promised that the ministry would respond to our dipnote. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: Mauritania's membership to the AU was suspended following the August 3 coup, limiting even further the government's ability to influence an AU decision. As well, should the AU decide to back Venezuela, Mauritania would feel compelled to back the decision as a show of solidarity with an organization that is strongly supporting its democratic transition process. The same is true for the Arab League, where the transitional government has been staying closely aligned with AL policies both in an effort to maintain its legitimacy and to offset its decision to maintain full relations with Israel. Venezuela may also play on the fact that Mauritania is the world's newest petroleum exporter, although we have not seen any evidence of that yet. END COMMENT. LeBaron