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

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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).

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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