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