AMBASSADOR WILLIAM SWING VISITS PERU IN SUPPORT OF

UNCLAS LIMA 000590

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR PRM/PRP:MRAMGOOLIE AND PRM/MCE:MNICHOLSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IO PE PHUM PREF PREL
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM SWING VISITS PERU IN SUPPORT OF
IOM CANDIDACY



1. (SBU) Summary: Ambassador William Swing was in Peru April
2-3 seeking support for his candidacy for the position of
Director General of the International Organization for
Migration (IOM). Ambassador Swing had a cordial and
productive meeting with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
Gonzalo Gutierrez and later toured the regional IOM office in
Lima. Though no promises were made, we believe Peru is
likely to favor Ambassador Swing's candidacy. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Ambassador William Swing visited Peru April 2-3 as
part of his two-week tour of South America seeking support in
his campaign for the position of Director General (DG) of the
International Organization for Migration (IOM). Ambassador
Swing had a cordial and productive meeting with Vice Minister
(VM) of Foreign Affairs Gonzalo Gutierrez. Peruvian Under
Secretary for Peruvians Abroad William Belevan attended. PRM

SIPDIS
Program Officer Monique Ramgoolie and poloff also
participated.

Deputy FM on Peru's Migration Challenges
--------------


3. (SBU) VM Gutierrez opened the meeting by remarking on
Peru's close working relationship with the IOM. Gutierrez
noted the importance of migration issues to Peru, given that
an estimated one tenth of its population lived overseas,
primarily in the U.S. (where over one million Peruvians
reside, he said),Italy, Spain, Argentina, and Chile. He
noted an initiative in Peru's Congress to create a special
voting "district" for Peruvians overseas, akin to similar
arrangements in Italy and France.


4. (SBU) VM Gutierrez offered that he would like to see the
next IOM DG pay special attention to migration in Latin
merica and, more specifically, Peru. He asked Ambassador
Swing for his ideas on how to handle Latin American migration
issues. Ambassador Swing replied that Latin America was not
getting the resources that its migration challenges merited
and that, although certain funding mechanisms were available,
more donors were needed. He acknowledged the utility of
well-organized regional migration dialogues, but noted the
need for capacity building in order to confront effectively
important issues such as human trafficking and migrant
smuggling in the region.


5. (SBU) Peru was facing the problem of being classified as a
"middle income" country and was therefore perceived as less
in need of international assistance, VM Gutierrez said. He
asserted that a country's wealth was not the salient factor,
but rather the scale of the migration challenges it faced.
Gutierrez said that Peru faced a difficult array of migration
challenges and needed resources to overcome them. Ambassador
Belevan noted that developed countries, especially Italy and
Spain, were recruiting already employed skilled workers in
Peru for positions in those countries. He asserted that
those workers often were exploited and that the GOP was
trying to organize assistance for that group, in particular
in ensuring that their labor contracts were more fair.
Belevan noted successful efforts with Peruvians serving as
security guards in Iraq and as shepherds in the U.S.

IOM Office
--------------


6. (SBU) Ambassador Swing later visited the regional IOM
office in Lima and discussed with Regional Director Pilar
Norza the challenges facing her office and the region in
General. Norza noted generally reduced resources for
migration in the region during the last decade and that her
organization was supplementing direct IOM funding by
undertaking public works projects in Peru on a contract
basis.


7. (SBU) Comment: Ambassador Swing did not formally request,
and VM Gutierrez did not offer, an immediate decision on whom
Peru would support in the election, but Post is optimistic
that Peru eventually will cast its vote in favor of
Ambassador Swing. First, the atmosphere during the MFA
meeting was very positive: a scheduled 30-minute meeting
lasted almost an hour, with VM Gutierrez energetically
engaged in the discussion. Second, Peru generally has
supported U.S. initiatives in multilateral settings,
especially of U.S. candidacies. In this case, where the
other candidates lack the active support (or in some cases,
even the endorsement) of their governments, that trend should
continue. End comment.


8. (U) PRM has cleared this cable.
MCKINLEY