DOMINICANS CALL IN CHARGE ON SECURITY COUNCIL

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001934 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR; USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL UNGA CS DR SUBJECT: DOMINICANS CALL IN CHARGE ON SECURITY COUNCIL CANDIDACY REF: A. SANTO DOMINGO 0756 ¶B. STATE 46366 ¶1. (U) This is an action request; please see para. 5. ¶2. (U) Background: The Dominican Republic announced its candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2008-2009 period prior to the 2006 General Assembly. At the time, they were also positioning themselves as a possible compromise candidate in the event of a deadlock between Venezuela and Guatemala. Prior to today, the last Security Council candidacy demarche received by Post was in April (Ref A),at which time we replied that it is the U.S. practice to defer to the views of the regional groupings (Ref B). ¶3. (SBU) On August 16, Foreign Minister Morales called the Charge in to receive a demarche on the Dominican candidacy for the UNSC. Because of a schedule conflict, the Charge was received by Deputy Foreign Minister Trullols. Trullols laid out the Dominican case for UNSC membership: -- The Dominican Republic has never served on the UNSC and Costa Rica (their challenger) has served on two occasions. -- On the last instance that the Dominicans ran, they ceded to Mexico. It would not be appropriate for them to cede again, since the Dominicans are one of only a very small number of founding members of the UN to never have been a UNSC member. -- As a founding member of the UN, the Dominican Republic has been an active and responsible participant in a variety of UN bodies. -- If Costa Rica were to be elected, two Central American countries would be on the Council (Panama is a current member),but the Caribbean would not be represented. ¶4. (SBU) Trullols also described the Dominican Republic's diplomatic offensive to gain a seat on the UNSC. FM Morales will travel shortly to Europe and then on to Asia to seek the support of countries in those regions. He also plans to a visit to Brazil in this near-term, where a number of African foreign ministers will be gathering for an international meeting. Trullols recently returned from North Africa, where he pressed the Dominican candidacy, and will travel soon to New York to meeting with permanent representatives to the UN, with a particular emphasis on African states. Alejandra Liriano, who is also a Deputy Foreign Minister, will visit CARICOM countries in the coming days. Trullols told the Charge that the Dominican Republic currently had 25 votes confirmed and an additional 50 promised. ¶5. (SBU) Action request: Given that the Dominican diplomatic push is targeting the entire General Assembly, it is clear that they do not expect a consensus to emerge within the Latin America and Caribbean group. Post therefore requests updated guidance on how to respond to the Dominican request for U.S. support for their UNSC candidacy. ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: While he has not said so explicitly, we believe FM Morales seeks U.S. support for the Dominican candidacy as a response to their vote in favor of Guatemala last year. At the time, Morales made a point of informing Post that he personally traveled to New York to cast the vote himself. (U) This report and additional information can be found on Embassy Santo Domingo's SIPRNET site, http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/ BULLEN