PARAMARIBO FOLLOW-UP: ADVANCING THE U.S. POSITION

UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000081 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL EU CU NS SUBJECT: PARAMARIBO FOLLOW-UP: ADVANCING THE U.S. POSITION FOR CHANGE IN CUBA REF: A. (A) 08 STATE 18320 ¶B. (B) 08 PARAMARIBO 74 ¶1. (SBU) With regret, Post advises that GOS policy with respect to CUBA has not changed. As confirmed in the Ambassador's February 28 follow-up telcon with MFA Permanent Secretary Jane Aarland-Nanhu, Suriname continues to enjoy SIPDIS friendly relations with the GOC. Aarland-Nanhu advised that the GOS had already transmitting a congratulatory note to incoming Cuban Leader Raul Castro. In response to the Ambassador's query whether Suriname's message to Raul even mentioned "democracy" (reftel B, paragraph 1),the Permanent Secretary indicated that it did not. SIPDIS ¶2. (SBU) Comment: In spite of the disappointing message, the fact that the MFA Permanent Secretary made the time and effort to follow up on Post's request is heartening and represents an improvement over previous years. Although the USG and GOS may disagree on some fundamental issues of Western Hemisphere foreign policy, Post is working hard to build a foundation for friendlier people-to-people relations. Eventually, Post hopes that friendly relations at the grass roots will engender greater GOS support for policy issues, such as democracy in Cuba, that are of fundamental importance to the United States. End Comment. SCHREIBER HUGHES