T&T NOT AFTER CARICOM SEAT ON SECURITY COUNCIL;

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT OF SPAIN 000972

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CAR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2016
TAGS: PREL CARICOM TD
SUBJECT: T&T NOT AFTER CARICOM SEAT ON SECURITY COUNCIL;
UNSC VOTE


Classified By: CDA, Eugene P. Sweeney for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The MFA has corrected a recent press report
implying a T&T push for a regional Caricom seat on the
Security Council. However, we believe a T&T bid to fill an
upcoming UNSC vacancy would not be surprising. According to
the Guatemalan Charge here, T&T has decided to support
Guatemala over Venezuela for this year,s UNSC vacancy,
credible information we have heard from no other source. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) On August 15, PolChief and PolAsst met with MFA
Multilateral Affairs Division Director Susan Gordon and
Senior Multilateral Affairs Officer Roanna Gopaul. Among
other topics, we sought clarification of alleged statements
on Security Council reform by Foreign Minister Knowlson Gift,
which were reported in the August 14 edition of the Trinidad
Guardian and included in post,s local press summary. Gift
was responding to reporter,s questions, following a meeting
with the Japanese Minister for Gender Equality and Social
Affairs, in which Japan,s quest for a permanent seat on the
council was raised. The article quoted Gift as saying: 8We
would like to see the process broadened, the membership
process broadened and to that end, any broadening of the
structure should not exclude Caricom aspiring to be on the
Security Council8.


3. (U) Gordon expressed her frustration with the
inaccuracies in the article and said that Caricom member
states had not historically been excluded from Security
Council membership: Trinidad and Tobago was elected to the
council in 1985, while Jamaica and Barbados had also served.
Gordon emphasized that Gift was simply reiterating the
GOTT,s and Caricom,s general desire for Security Council
reform and for the democratization of the Council which would
make its membership more reflective of today,s realities in
the international arena. On our way out of the meeting, we
met Minister Gift himself who also expressed his dismay at
the low level of reporting in the Guardian article.


4. (U) Asked about the current status of Caricom,s
discussions regarding Guatemala,s and Venezuela,s competing
candidacies for the Latin American and Caribbean seat on the
Security Council to be vacated by Argentina, Gordon said
that, contrary to recent reports, Caricom had not made a
final decision in favor of Venezuela. She conceded that
Guatemala is not a popular choice with a number of Caricom
members, both because of its border dispute with Belize and
because of the possibly adverse effect on certain Caricom
members of Guatemala,s banana policy in the WTO. However,
she said other Caricom members have reservations about
Venezuela,s candidacy and have asked the Chavez government
to clarify its intentions with respect to Bird Island.


5. (C) COMMENT: We suspected that something was fishy
regarding the Guardian story and this confirms that it was
sloppy journalism. Gift,s statement to the press may,
however, presage a GOTT run for a UNSC opening in the near
future. This would certainly be in line with Prime Minister
Manning,s desire to cut a larger figure on the regional
stage. Regarding the UNSC vote, the Guatemalan Charge here
recently told Charge privately that T&T has pledged to vote
for Guatemala. Given T&T,s troubled relations with
Venezuela we find that statement credible and even logical,
though to our knowledge neither Minister Gift nor anyone else
in the MFA has passed this information on. END COMMENT.
SWEENEY