BOLIVIANS MUTE ON IAEA PLAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 002587 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2027 TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON KNNP IR IAEA MNUC PARM EUN BL SUBJECT: BOLIVIANS MUTE ON IAEA PLAN REF: A. SECSTATE 129914 ¶B. LA PAZ 2526 ¶C. LA PAZ 2510 ¶D. LA PAZ 2456 Classified By: EcoPol Chief Mike Hammer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to the Ruben Vidaurre, Director of Multilateral Affairs, September 20. Despite prior assurances that Bolivia would act to hold Iran to it's "international commitments" and UN resolutions (ref b),Vidaurre explained Bolivia's Vienna delegation was called during the meeting by "high levels" in the Foreign Minister and ordered to abstain from commenting on the IAEA-Iran Action Plan. He claimed the delegation "fully understood" and "did not disagree" with our arguments presented during our September 11 demarche (ref b),which he forwarded to the delegation. Vidaurre said he "no idea" where the delegation will stand at the next IAEA meeting, but claimed it was more likely the delegation would push back from a similar abstention order. He claimed the delegation had a greater sense of urgency since they understood it might be their last chance to voice concerns about the plan and is "actively discussing" the topic with leadership in La Paz. When asked if he understood silence on the issue of Iran's nuclear program could be interpreted as tacit support, Vidaurre meekly muttered, "Yes it could be interpreted that way, but it is out of our hands." ¶2. (C) Comment: Given the recent Bolivian government embrace of Iranian relations (refs c and d) and propensity to stand up U.S. policy for domestic (and Venezuelan) political consumption, Post finds it likely the Bolivian delegation will once again sit on its hands at the next IAEA meeting. Despite his assurances that the Bolivian position might be different the second time around, Vidaurre and the career diplomatic corps in general is increasingly cut off from decision making and information. Vidaurre claimed he only found out about the IAEA gag order after the meeting was over. When asked about President Morales' trip to the UN, a clearly despondent Vidaurre could only repeat publicly released information because "all those decisions are made in the President's palace these days." End Comment. GOLDBERG