GUINEA BISSAU: CHARGE MAKES COURTESY CALL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAKAR 000415 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, INR/AA, PM/WRA ACCRA FOR USAID/WA PARIS FOR POL D'ELIA AND DEA HOUSTON LAGOS FOR DEA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL SNAR PU SUBJECT: GUINEA BISSAU: CHARGE MAKES COURTESY CALL REF: DAKAR 164 Classified By: Charge Jay T. Smith for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) This is an action message. See para 16. ¶2. (U) Charge visited Guinea-Bissau March 31-April 1 for courtesy meetings with the GOGB, diplomatic corps, and members of civil society. The President and Prime Minister sought support for next fall's legislative elections and the President described the constitutional bind he is in with the extension of the National Assembly's mandate until November ¶16. Charge said he was willing to support Guinea-Bissau's counter-drug efforts, but he needed to see results or support and good-will would dry up quickly. Charge told the GOGB they needed anti-trafficking in children legislation. Demining NGO HUMAID requested emergency funds for demining and UXO work. End Summary. OPENING THE EMBASSY -------------- ¶3. (U) On April 1, Charge told President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira, Prime Minister Martinho Dafa Cabi, and Secretary of State for International Cooperation Roberto Cacheu it was his priority to re-open the U.S. Embassy in Bissau. This message was universally well received as it has been a policy priority for Vieira and his successive governments since taking office in 2005. ¶4. (U) A tour of the shuttered chancery that was abandoned in 1998 and subsequently gutted after water damage, showed a well-preserved building which could be re-occupied at a cost far below constructing a new facility or acquiring and renovating an existing one. During the war, all windows were damaged by mortars and looters attempted to gain entry, but the bulletproof glass remained intact. The chancery meets set-back requirements and is larger than what would be initially needed to re-open a small Post. LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS -------------- ¶5. (C) President Vieira told Charge the mandate of the National People's Assembly (ANP) expires on April 21 but elections to nominate their replacements are not scheduled to take place until November 16 because there was not enough money in the treasury to stage elections on time. Legislators voted to extend their mandate until the elections, but Vieira said he faced a dilemma because the vote may have been unconstitutional. Vieira did not want to appear undemocratic by dissolving the ANP or his government, but he recognized the need to follow constitutional rules. He plans to seek an opinion from the Supreme Court. ¶6. (U) Charge communicated to Vieira, Cabi, and Cacheu the importance of free and fair elections. Also of concern, he noted, was the possibility that influence from drug traffickers could taint elections and if so, a government bought with drug money would be difficult for us to work with. ¶7. (C) PM Cabi asked for U.S. support in staging the elections and paying salaries and salary arrears for the election commission. He invited members of the diplomatic corps to a meeting on March 31 to request USD 9 million to cover the cost of the November election. UNDP is working to provide biometric voter registration cards to eligible voters. Charge noted that most of our assistance to Guinea-Bissau is through multilateral institutions and we could provide only token amounts in bilateral assistance. For elections, Charge told Cabi there is no money budgeted but Post would see what could be done. DRUGS -------------- ¶8. (C) Charge met with Judicial Police Chief Lucinda Aukharie to show support for her tenacious counter-drug efforts and deliver good news that EUCOM, with Post support, agreed to purchase a number of needed non-lethal items for the Judicial Police. Aukharie was grateful for the support and reiterated DAKAR 00000415 002 OF 003 the difficulty she has in making progress without much material or political support. She told Charge about her failed attempt to search a small aircraft which a source said was carrying cocaine that landed at Bissau International Airport in late March because the second in command of the Air Force, Papa Camara, sequestered the plane on the military side and denied her access. The next day when she finally gained access, the hangar had been scrubbed of any evidence and the plane had departed. ¶9. (C) Charge told Aukharie and reiterated the message to Vieira and Cabi that he was willing to take risks to support counter-drug efforts in Guinea-Bissau, but he expects results. Charge told Aukharie and Cacheu that even if Guinea-Bissau doesn't have the capacity to execute arrests and prosecutions, they must at least make the country inhospitable to traffickers by harassing them and keeping the pressure up. ¶10. (U) Charge raised the specter of the Drug Major's List to Vieira and Cabi and said Guinea-Bissau could have the dubious distinction of being only the second country in Africa on the list (after Nigeria). He noted there were implications for foreign assistance and a black eye to Guinea-Bissau's prestige if the country is decertified. DEMINING AND UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE -------------- ¶11. (U) HUMAID director and former U.S. Ambassador John Blacken told Charge about his efforts to clean up mines laid during the war for liberation in the mid-1970s outside of Bissau near residential and agricultural lands. Blacken's organization is working collaboratively with the National Mine Action Agency (CAAMI) to request funds and has the distinction of clearing almost all the mines out of the capital, which was declared mine-free in 2006. HUMAID deminers were among the recipients of US Air Force Europe's (USAFE) unexploded ordnance (UXO) year-long training in 2007, which Blacken says was the best training his team has ever received. Now, however, he is without funding and his USAFE-trained trainers are not working. Blacken submitted a joint HUMAID-CAAMI letter requesting short-term support to the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs' Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA) via email for continued demining and UXO work. Charge said he would see if there were funds available and noted that an officer from PM was scheduled to visit Bissau soon. TRAFFICKING IN CHILDREN AND SCHOOL LUNCH -------------- ¶12. (C) Charge told PM Cabi that Guinea-Bissau was set to fall on the Trafficking in Persons Report due out this summer because the country lacked strong legislation. Charge noted the progress on prosecutions of parents who allow their children to be re-trafficked. Cabi acknowledged the problem and said they were working closely with NGOs to facilitate the repatriation and reintegration of children who are trafficked to Senegal for forced begging. ¶13. (U) Charge also spoke with Laudolino Medina, Director of the Women and Children's Association (AMIC),which leads counter-trafficking efforts in the country. His organization, in conjunction with IOM have applied for a counter-trafficking grant from G/TIP, which post strongly supported (reftel). Medina also spoke about the great success of the Department of Agriculture's Food for Progress program which AMIC implemented with US NGO International Program for Human Development (IPHD). The program provided school lunches for half the country as well as anti-malaria efforts but it will end this year and they are seeking funding from other sources. The World Food Program's school lunch program covers the other half of the country. FOOD PRICES SOARING, GAS DRYING UP -------------- ¶14. (U) The cost of rice continues to rise in Guinea-Bissau. In just the last month, prices went from USD 30 for a 50 kilogram bag of rice (12,500 CFA) to USD 43 (18,000 CFA). DAKAR 00000415 003 OF 003 The World Food Program expects a 17% food shortage, especially in the countryside, but it says its food stocks are enough to cover the gap. At the same time, the country is experiencing gasoline shortages as refineries in Senegal temporarily cut supplies to Guinea-Bissau because of Senegal's own domestic shortages. COMMENT AND ACTION REQUEST -------------- ¶15. (C) Vieira seems genuinely intent on staging free and fair elections on November 16 and keeping the current government in place until that time. With foreign donations starting to pour in from the UN and EU, he is not interested in dissolving the National Assembly, a move that he knows may look less than democratic to outside observers. ¶16. (U) Action Request: If there are funds to support elections available to Guinea-Bissau, please advise. Also, Post supports HUMAID's request for emergency funding if any is available from PM/WRA or other sources. Visit Embassy Dakar's classified website at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/af/dakar. SMITH