IRAN-VENEZUELA TIES: MEASURED DOMINICAN RESPONSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 001207 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/AND, INR/IAA; USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2017 TAGS: PREL PTER MARR VE IR DR SUBJECT: IRAN-VENEZUELA TIES: MEASURED DOMINICAN RESPONSE REF: STATE 61378 Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Michael A. Meigs, Reasons 1 .4(b),(d) ¶1. (SBU) POLOFF delivered reftel demarche to Dominican Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alejandra Liriano, emphasizing the talking points on nuclear ties, weapons technology cooperation, and terrorism concerns. ¶2. (C) In her reply, Liriano commented that Venezuela has close bilateral relationships with a number of radical regimes, relationships which are unusual for a Latin American state. Liriano said that all countries have responsibilities in the fight against terrorism and that the Dominican Republic takes the issue very seriously. ¶3. (C) The Deputy ForMin asked POLOFF if the U.S. planned to introduce a resolution in the UN General Assembly concerning Venezuela's ties with Iran. POLOFF replied that he had no information regarding a General Assembly resolution. Finally, Liriano pledged to convey the content of the demarche to Foreign Minister Morales Troncoso. The Embassy will report any subsequent Dominican response. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: The Dominican Republic and Venezuela have long-standing political, economic, and cultural ties, including the current Petrocaribe program. We were encouraged by the Liriano's comment that it is unnatural for a Latin American country to have close ties to regimes such as Iran, Belarus, and Libya. She also appeared to take special note of the indictments of former Iranian officials for the AMIA terrorist attack, which took place in Latin America (Argentina). As for her motivation in asking about a General Assembly resolution, we can only speculate. Liriano may have been looking for multilateral political cover, or perhaps she wished to contrast what she viewed as the value of General Assembly action versus the Security Council sanctions cited in our demarche. (U) This report and extensive other material can be consulted on our SIPRNET site, http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/ BULLEN