URUGUAY DEMARCHED FOR ENDORSEMENT OF STATEMENT OF

UNCLAS MONTEVIDEO 000220 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR ISN/WMDT AND TIM KATSAPIS (T) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER KGIC PARM PREL UY SUBJECT: URUGUAY DEMARCHED FOR ENDORSEMENT OF STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES TO THE GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO COMBAT NUCLEAR TERRORISM (GI) REF: STATE 37481 ¶1. (U) Polcouns joined representatives from the Embassies of Spain (Charge Maria Teresa Daurella) and the Russian Federation (DCM Dimitri Belov) to deliver subject troika demarche on April 18. The demarche was delivered to the MFA's Deputy Director General for Political Affairs, Ambassador Julio Moreira. ¶2. (SBU) The Spanish Charge made a forceful case for Uruguay to endorse the GI's Statement of Principles, having previously provided Moreira with a thorough diplomatic note on the subject. Belov highlighted that Russia still suffered effects of the 1986 Chernobyl accident in the Ukraine. Polcouns stressed that although Uruguay does not have any nuclear plants, neighboring countries did. After considerable conversation, Moreira said that endorsement of GI "made sense" to him and he would recommend it to his senior MFA colleagues. ¶3. (SBU) In a subsequent conversation, Belov told Polcouns that Moreira's boss, DG for Political Affairs Juan Enrique Fischer, privately gave him a more pessimistic assessment. Fischer apparently keyed on the fact that the only GI partners in the region are Chile and Panama. He doubted that Uruguay would endorse the Statement of Principles to the GI until and unless more Latin American countries (notably Brazil and Argentina) signed up first. Baxter