GUINEA BISSAU: AMBASSADOR FOCUSES ON DRUGS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 001463

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, INL/AAE
ACCRA ALSO FOR USAID/WA
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA AND DEA
LAGOS FOR DEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2017
TAGS: EFIN SNAR PREL PU
SUBJECT: GUINEA BISSAU: AMBASSADOR FOCUSES ON DRUGS,
COOPERATION IN FAREWELL

Classified By: Ambassador Janice L. Jacobs for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
--------------

1. (C) The Ambassador visited Bissau to cut the ribbon on
the soon-to-be-opened office space and say good-bye in her
final trip as Ambassador to Guinea-Bissau. She found a
country that is earning the trust of donors and cleaning up
its finances. At the same time, it is losing ground in the
fight against drug trafficking and does not seem to have
noticed it needs to start a fight against drug addiction.
END SUMMARY.

GOOD NEWS ON FINANCIAL FRONT
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2. (C) Prime Minister Martinio N'Dafa Cabi told the
Ambassador that his Government has made positive steps toward
financial stability. He noted that all accounts had been
centralized to facilitate transparency. Paying civil servant
salaries is still a priority for the GOGB and even though it
just paid two months worth of back wages, there are still
four months of arrears. Only once that has been accomplished
can reforms be tackled, said Cabi, such as restructuring and
reducing the civil service. President Joao Bernardo "Nino"
Vieira reiterated that salaries were the biggest financial
challenge.


3. (C) Budget Director Romao Varela told Poloff at a
reception to celebrate the imminent opening of the Embassy's
liaison office in Bissau that the Government will raise
enough donations to cover its 2006-2007 budget gap.
Contributions from the EU, Spain, China and notably Angola
will help close the over USD 22 million shortfall. A
balanced budget will qualify Guinea-Bissau for an IMF
post-conflict assistance grant, an accomplishment the GOGB
has been working toward since President Vieira took office on
October 1, 2005.

BAD NEWS ON THE DRUG FRONT
--------------

4. (C) In a July 7 meeting with the Ambassador, PM Cabi
responded to post,s June 13 diplomatic note expressing
concern over the firing of Judicial Police Chief Orlando da
Silva. He noted that a response had just been sent to Dakar,
although it has not yet been received. The diplomatic note
was leaked by a member of the GOGB and it has gotten
considerable press play. Cabi's official explanation of da
Silva,s firing described a bureaucratic misstep. He also
noted that drug trafficking is extremely dangerous business
in Bissau and without international support the country will
make little progress. A replacement for da Silva has still
not been named.


5. (C) The Ambassador explained the Major's List to Cabi and
said Guinea-Bissau was in danger of making the list as a drug
transit country when the interagency panel convened next year
-- a step which would impact our ability to provide aid. She
urged the GOGB to redouble efforts to make sure that does not
happen and offered U.S. support if credible partners could be
identified.


6. (C) Brazilian Ambassador Joao Cruz reached out to the
Ambassador to find ways our countries could continue our
cooperation in Guinea-Bissau to include fighting drug
trafficking. He linked flagrant corruption and increasing
concerns over security to drug trafficking. In fact, he is
so concerned about security that he recently hired all new
embassy guards and is now heightening the walls around his
compound. His main frustration is echoed frequently among
the diplomatic corps in Bissau and Dakar: if material support
is provided to the GOGB, what assurances are there that it
will not be used by police or military to facilitate drug
trafficking?


7. (C) Cruz suggested targeting law breakers in Bissau
through deportation or extradition. He noted, however, that
approach would require strong partners in the police force

DAKAR 00001463 002 OF 002


and judiciary and it is not clear at this point who those
would be. Another difficulty is the country,s lack of a
prison. Vieira told the Ambassador that a prison is a
priority to fight drug trafficking in earnest.


8. (U) Trafficking through Guinea-Bissau is not the
country's only drug problem. More and more, consumption is
affecting the population. To raise the profile of the issue,
the Ambassador and a reporter from Kansare, a Bissau
newspaper, visited the country's only addiction treatment
center just outside the capital. Pastor Domingos Te, who
runs the church-sponsored center, said crack use never
existed a few years ago but at least 10 of his 50 enrollees
admit to crack addiction. A crack addict interviewed by the
Ambassador said a gram of cocaine a few years ago cost about
USD 140 (70,000 CFA). Today, because of the widespread
availability, it has dropped to about USD 16 (8,000 CFA). He
said it can be gotten in any neighborhood in Bissau and many
of his acquaintances are users and dealers.

COMMMENT
--------------

9. (C) Guinea-Bissau seems headed in two directions at once.
This Government has garnered the trust of international
donors in a way the previous government never did. Financial
transparency and counter-corruption measures, as well as the
removal of corrupt former Finance Minister Victor Mandinga,
have contributed to the success. At the same time, there
does not seem to be any champion left in the GOGB to fight
drug trafficking. Cabi seems to be sincere and have the
nation,s best interest at heart, but his comment about the
dangerousness of trafficking may have been an acknowledgement
that he has no backing to fight the likes of kingpins like
Interior Minister Baciro Dabo or members of the military.


10. (C) With technical assistance on hold until credible
partners can be identified in the police, our emphasis on
drugs needs to shift toward broader engagement. We will
continue to raise the specter of the Major,s list and we
will work with Dakar- and Bissau-based diplomats and the
UNODC on the creation of a mini-Dublin group for West Africa.
INL support for the UNODC,s upcoming program in Bissau to
monitor and report on drug trafficking will be a centerpiece
of our assistance. END COMMENT.


11. Visit Embassy Dakar's SIPRNet Web site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/af/dakar.
JACOBS