CZECHS ON UNGA AND CUBA RESOLUTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRAGUE 001252 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2016 TAGS: UNGA PREL PHUM EUN CU UN EZ SUBJECT: CZECHS ON UNGA AND CUBA RESOLUTION REF: A. STATE 163498 ¶B. STATE 168341 Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Michael Dodman, for reasons 1.4 (B) & (D) ¶1. (U) Polec Counselor and Poloff met October 6 with Czech MFA UN Department Director Jan Kara to discuss Czech impressions of UNGA to date, and specifically Ref A proposal on the Cuba embargo resolution (note that Ref B was received subsequent to our meeting. Several issues in Ref B were covered in our meeting and are reported below; remainder will be covered in a follow-up meeting). UNGA Resolution on Cuba embargo -------------- ¶2. (C) Kara was skeptical about the USG proposal to include language condemning the human rights situation in Cuba in the expected UNGA Resolution condemning the U.S. embargo of Cuba. He stressed that the Czechs fully support the human rights language the USG has proposed (and confirmed that he has reviewed the proposal with the MFA Human Rights Department, with whom we had discussed Ref A on September 29). Kara noted that the USG proposal would be discussed among EU members in the upcoming COHUM meeting (October 10) and CONUN (October 11). He could not predict whether or not the EU as a whole would support, but felt that regardless the idea had no chance of success in the UNGA, where he expects most members will object on procedural grounds to a proposal to add human rights criticisms to the embargo resolution. Acknowledging that no progress on Cuba could be expected in the Human Rights Council, Kara wondered why the USG was not proposing to introduce a resolution on Cuban in the Third Committee. Guatemala versus Venezuela -------------- ¶3. (C) Kara, who had just returned from several weeks in New York, said he could not predict the outcome of the October 16 vote for the UNSC. He said that the Czech Republic remains a strong supporter of Guatemala, and confirmed that the Czechs are working to lobby other countries to vote against Venezuela. When pressed for details, Kara said that Czech UN Ambassador Martin Palous was undertaking the effort personally in New York, and could provide no details on specific targets or results. (Note: Palous, the former Czech Ambassador in Washington, is a former dissident and strong supporter of human rights, notably in Cuba. We believe he will be an passionate advocate for votes against Venezuela.) Czech UNSC campaign -------------- ¶4. (C) Kara discussed the Czech campaign for a UNSC seat in 2007, estimating that the Czech Republic has secured 80 votes for its bid as opposed to 30 for Croatia (the Czechs' only rival for the seat). Kara thought the Croatians probably lost votes as a result of President Mesic's visit to Cuba for the Non-Aligned Summit. New Secretary General -------------- ¶5. (C) Kara had little to say about the likely new SYG, except to note that FM Ban did not have the force of personality that had proven important to the successes of previous SYGs. GRABER