BAHAMAS: UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL DEMARCHE DELIVERED

C O N F I D E N T I A L NASSAU 000896 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2018 TAGS: PREL UNESCO BF SUBJECT: BAHAMAS: UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 130914 Classified By: DCM Zuniga-Brown for reasons 1.4(a) and (d) ¶1. (C) PolOff delivered reftel demarche points regarding the UNESCO Director-General election to Marilyn Zonicle, Under Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs December 15. Ms. Zonicle took down the details but made no reply. Later, speaking on another matter, she told PolOff that, having investigated and found that Arab states had endorsed the Egyptian candidacy, "it was not a simple matter" to put forward a Latin American or Caribbean alternative. She promised to forward our points to the Permanent Secretary. COMMENT: The NAM-conscious Bahamas is unlikely to make any moves on its own, but might get behind a regional candidate, if one came forward, supported by the U.S. SIEGEL