SWISS PRESS CUBANS ON USINT TREATMENT, AND DRAW A

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 001157 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA DAS MADISON, WHA/CCA, OFM, L E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/13 TAGS: PREL PGOV CU US SUBJECT: SWISS PRESS CUBANS ON USINT TREATMENT, AND DRAW A BLANK REF: A. A) HAVANA 1076 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. B) BERN 1126 AND PREVIOUS ¶C. C) STATE 162119 Classified By: COM MICHAEL E. PARMLY FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (C) SWISS AMBASSADOR LOUIS BRIEFED USINT LATE MORNING 14 DECEMBER, JUST AFTER HIS MEETING WITH CUBAN MINREX DIRECTOR FOR NORTH AMERICA JOSEFINA VIDAL. DRAWING ON INSTRUCTIONS HE HAD RECEIVED LAST WEEK FROM BERN, AT HIS 12/14 MEETING AT MINREX, LOUIS PRESENTED VIDAL A SHORT DIP NOTE ASKING MINREX TO RECEIVE USINT COM "AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO DISCUSS SEVERAL ISSUES RELATED TO USINT." IN SUBSEQUENT CONVERSATION, LOUIS REVIEWED THE DISCUSSIONS THE CUBANS HAD HAD WITH VISITING SWISS A/S FOR LATIN AMERICA BAUMANN (REF A). SWITZERLAND WAS SERVING, LOUIS INSISTED, IN ITS ROLE AS REPRESENTATIVE OF U.S. INTERESTS. (lOUIS TOLD US HE WAS ABLE TO OBTAIN THE MEETING WITH VIDAL ONLY BY APPEALING DIRECTLY TO CUBAN VICE FOREIGN MINISTER CABALLERO, WHO APPEARED TO HAVE ORDERED VIDAL TO RECEIVE THE SWISS.) ¶2. (C) LOUIS TOLD US THAT HIS APPEAL WAS FIRMLY REJECTED BY VIDAL. ACCORDING TO LOUIS' REPORTING CABLE TO BERN, WHICH HE SHARED WITH US, VIDAL SAID THE CUBANS DID NOT NEED FOR THE SWISS TO PLAY A ROLE OF INTERMEDIARY. VIDAL REPEATED THE CUBAN CHARGE THAT USINT IS BEHAVING "IN AN EVER MORE PROVOCATIVE WAY, NOT RESPECTING NORMAL DIPLOMATIC PRACTICES." LOUIS SAID HE WAS PUZZLED BY VIDAL'S ASSERTION THAT "THE AGREEMENT OF BOTH PARTIES IS NECESSARY" TO BRING ABOUT AN IMPROVEMENT IN USINT'S SITUATION, BUT HE WAS UNABLE TO CLARIFY WHAT VIDAL WAS DRIVING AT. ¶3. (C) LOUIS TOLD US THAT IN LIGHT OF VIDAL'S CATEGORICAL REFUSAL TO ENTERTAIN HIS APPEAL, HE DID NOT ENTER INTO THE DETAILS OF THE CUBAN IMPEDIMENTS TO USINT OPERATION. HE OPINED TO US, AND HAS OFFERED THE SAME COMMENTARY TO HIS COLLEAGUES IN BERN, THAT THE ONLY CHANNEL OF SUSTAINING U.S.-CUBAN DISCUSSION, EVEN OF MINOR ISSUES, APPEARS TO BE THROUGH CCA AND CUBINT IN WASHINGTON. HOWEVER, LOUIS TOOK THIS OCCASION TO REPEAT HIS RHETORICAL QUESTION TO BERN ON WHETHER THE GOC BEHAVIOR IS IN CONFORMITY WITH EITHER THE LETTER OR THE SPIRIT OF THE PROTECTIVE MANDATE THE SWISS HAVE REGARDING BOTH THE US AND THE CUBANS, IN HAVANA AND IN BERN, AS WELL AS IN WASHINGTON. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: AT SOME POINT, THE GOC WILL CAVE, AND WILL TALK TO US. RAUL IS CONSISTENTLY IMPATIENT TO ESTABLISH A CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION WITH THE U.S., FOR HIS OWN INTERNAL CUBAN REASONS. IF HE CAN CONSOLIDATE HIS CONTROL -- WHICH WE DO NOT/NOT SEE HAPPENING AS OF YET -- HE WILL SEE IT IN HIS INTEREST TO ALLOW RENEWAL OF THE USINT/MINREX CHANNEL. FOR THAT REASON, THE "DRIP, DRIP, DRIP" OF SWISS APPEALS ON OUR BEHALF WILL, WE ARE PERSUADED, EVENTUALLY BEAR FRUIT. WE DON'T WANT TO BURN UP THE SWISS CONNECTION IN HAVANA, AND WILL BE CAREFUL IN ASKING FOR THEIR INTERVENTION ON OUR BEHALF. AFTER ALL, THE SWISS HAVE THEIR OWN BILATERAL INTERESTS TO PROTECT VIS A VIS THE GOC. HOWEVER, BY KEEPING THE SWISS EMBASSY HERE IN THE LOOP ON USINT'S INTERNAL SITUATION, WE ARE MAINTAINING AN ACTIVE POTENTIAL ALLY IN OUR CONFRONTATION WITH THE REGIME. PARMLY