EL SALVADOR: DEMARCHE ON ADOPTION OF NUCLEAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 001526 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN, L, AND S/CT E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/2017 TAGS: PTER KNNP MCAP PINR PINS PARM PREL ES SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: DEMARCHE ON ADOPTION OF NUCLEAR TERRORISM CONVENTION DELIVERED REF: A. STATE 102149 ¶B. SAN SALVADOR 1485 Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Michael A. Butler, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Poloffs raised reftel A points during a July 23 meeting with Mario Rivera, Director of Multilateral Affairs for the Salvadoran Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Felix Ulloa, MFA advisor. Rivera pointed out that El Salvador was a signatory to twelve of the thirteen counter-terrorism conventions and protocols, including the Nuclear Terrorism Convention (NTC),which El Salvador ratified in 2006. He was confident that domestic anti-terrorism legislation was sufficient to comply with the provisions of the NTC. ¶2. (C) In a side conversation, Ulloa mentioned that he had been part of the group that drafted El Salvador's counter-terrorism legislation. He shared his disappointment that after a five-year effort spent formulating the legislation, it became unnecessarily politicized once it reached the National Assembly. ¶3. (C) Comment: The MFA's measured response reflects the politically charged nature of the term 'terrorism' in El Salvador's current political context. The government's recent attempt to use the anti-terrorism law to prosecute protesters (reftel B) has backfired and may spur the National Assembly into making some changes to the statute as the country draws nearer the 2009 elections. While it is unlikely to alter El Salvador's compliance with counter-terrorism conventions, it highlights the challenges the government faces in the effective use of anti-terrorism law. End Comment. Butler