Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DAKAR1218
2009-09-28 07:57:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dakar
Cable title:  

PRESIDENT AND PM SAY GUINEA-BISSAU READY FOR

Tags:  PGOV PREL PU XY 
pdf how-to read a cable
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 280757Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3107
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON PRIORITY 0891
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1257
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAKAR 001218 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W AND AF/RSA AND INL AND L/LEI
PARIS FOR DEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PU XY
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT AND PM SAY GUINEA-BISSAU READY FOR

Classified By: Ambassador Marcia Bernicat for reasons 1.5 B and D.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAKAR 001218

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W AND AF/RSA AND INL AND L/LEI
PARIS FOR DEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PU XY
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT AND PM SAY GUINEA-BISSAU READY FOR

Classified By: Ambassador Marcia Bernicat for reasons 1.5 B and D.


1. (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador Bernicat and AF/W Director Mary
Beth Leonard accompanied by Political Counselor Mosby and OSC
Chief Lt. Colonel Sousa met separately with Guinea-Bissau's
newly elected President, Malam Bacai Sanha, and Prime
Minister, Carlos Gomes, Jr., on September 9 after attending
Sanha's inauguration the previous day. Despite being
political adversaries (albeit members of the same party),
both the head of state and head of government agreed that
Guinea-Bissau now has conditions in place for positive change
in general and security sector reform (SSR) in particular (a
sentiment echoed by Acting Chief of Staff, Naval Captain
Zamora Induta, in a separate meeting - to be reported
septel). Both the president and prime minister asked when
would the United States reopen its embassy in Guinea-Bissau,
emphasizing the key role of the United States in the fight
against narcotics trafficking and SSR. The prime minister
requested that the USG use its influence to have former Naval
Chief of Staff Admiral Bubo Na Tchuto moved from the Gambia,
where he is currently under loose house arrest, to a
non-neighboring country in West Africa, such as Nigeria, to
prevent him from returning to Guinea-Bissau and destabilizing
the country. The Ambassador also requested Guinea-Bissau,s
cooperation in investigations against Bubo and other
suspected drug traffickers. END SUMMARY.

Inauguration Means Guinea-Bissau Ready for Change
-------------- ---


2. (C) Prime Minister Gomes opined that the international
community should now have more confidence in Guinea-Bissau
following the inauguration of Sanha. He noted that Sanha is
a member of PAIGC (the African Independence Party of
Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde),for which Gomes serves as
president. As a result, he asserted that the political
conditions for SSR and other reforms were now in place.


3. (C) Gomes also assured the Ambassador that his government
had already initiated positive change in Guinea-Bissau by
signing an agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF)
to obtain financing to pay internal debt. As a result the

GOGB was able to pay nine months of public salaries (eight
for this calendar year and one from last year). He said the
IMF program, which requires that the GOGB comply with certain
macro-economic criteria, demonstrated his government's
seriousness. The prime minister also noted that the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had provided
assistance to pay for three months of salaries and that the
country also received financial assistance from UEMOA and
support for the armed forces from Libya. (see also reftel
report on Qaddafi,s visit last spring)

The Time is Right for SSR
--------------


4. (C) Sanha and Gomes said the time was right to implement
SSR in Guinea-Bissau. Sanha asserted that the key to SSR is
the Demobilization, Disarmament, and Reinsertion (DDR)
element. He reported that the Minister of Defense, Artur da
Silva, had informed of plans to provide retired military
personnel with 60-70 percent of their salaries. However,
Sanha argued that this was unacceptable, claiming that the
only way to ensure peace was to provide them with 100 percent
of their salaries in retirement. When the Ambassador said
doing so would be very expensive, the president replied,
"That's the price we pay for peace." He went on to say that
60-70 percent could be acceptable if military personnel were
given seed money to start some kind of revenue earning
activity such as a business or farming. Sanha emphasized the
importance of ensuring that retired soldiers not feel
"abandoned." The Ambassador agreed, noting that plans to
provide automatic payments from a fund kept outside of
Guinea-Bissau could be viewed by pensioners as more desirable
than a larger pension paid locally.


5. (C) The Ambassador assured the president and prime
minister that the United States is working closely with other
donors and noted that we have useful SSR experience from
Liberia. Gomes stressed that the problem of SSR was not
limited to money. Underlining the political delicacy of DDR,
Sanha pointedly remarked that the majority of the members of
the armed forces are former liberation fighters. He and
Sanha both said SSR/DDR is key to achieving anything else in

DAKAR 00001218 002 OF 003


Guinea-Bissau. He said Guinea-Bissau is also in need of
technical support, such as training for security personnel
for the government. However, he stressed that Guinea-Bissau
is sovereign and does not support the deployment of a
stabilization force in country. Gomes said the quick impact
projects discussed during the SSR conference in Cape Verde in
April needed to be implemented soon and he called for the
pension to be quickly established. To that end, he urged
that the agenda of the donor round table being prepared for
later this year in Abuja, Nigeria be transformed into one
focused on SSR. Later, a follow-up economic and
counter-narcotics focused donor round table should be held in
a European capital.

Counter-Narcotics
--------------


6. (C) Both the president and prime minister pledged that
Guinea-Bissau is committed to fight narcotics trafficking.
While acknowledging there is still a problem, the president
claimed that situation had improved since 2006/2007.
(Comment: Observers believe traffickers have diverted many
of their Guinea-Bissau operations over the last year due to
the political unrest.) The prime minister assured the
Ambassador that no one in his government is tied to drug
trafficking. Gomes said he was working to ensure
transparence in his government and pointed out that he had
taken what he characterized as the unprecedented step for
Africa of publicly declaring all of his assets before taking
office. He informed the Ambassador that the GOGB planned to
auction off the private jet which South American drug
traffickers had been forced to leave in July 2008 Bissau due
to mechanical failure. While the pilots were released by a
corrupt judge in spite of an outstanding Interpol red notice
and no drugs were recovered, the prime minister said he had
instructed customs to seize the aircraft because the
&medicine8 that the pilots claimed to have off-loaded was
never inspected by GOGB authorities, and must be considered
contraband. The Prime Minister said he would welcome
assistance, both from DEA to vet potential buyers to ensure
the plane is not recovered by traffickers, and to further
strengthen GoGB asset forfeiture laws.

Keeping Admiral Bubo Away from Bissau
--------------

7. (C) Prime Minister Gomes solicited the assistance of the
United States in ensuring that former Naval Chief of Staff
Admiral Bubo Na Tchuto not return to Guinea-Bissau.
According to Gomes, if Na Tchuto were to return to the
country it would have a destabilizing effect, in terms of
both political and criminal activity. Na Tchuto is currently
under (apparently loose) house arrest in the Gambia. Gomes
said he had discussed his desire for Na Tchuto, suspected of
having attempted to initiate a coup d'etat in August 2008,
with Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. Gomes asked that the
United States use its influence to see that Na Tchuto be sent
from the Gambia to a non-neighboring country elsewhere in
West Africa, such as Nigeria, to reduce the likelihood of Na
Tchuto returning to Guinea-Bissau. When asked why the GOGB
could not simply ask the Gambia to arrest him and extradite
him for his role in both narcotics trafficking and the failed
coup plot, the prime minister said his country's judicial
system is too weak. He pointed out that no one is ever
successfully convicted in Guinea-Bissau for trafficking and
that no one has ever been held accountable for
assassinations. Gomes readily agreed to cooperate in
investigating Bubo (and others) for alleged drug trafficking
and agreed an arrest and conviction would send an important
sign to traffickers.

Investigation in March Assassinations
--------------


8. (C) Prime Minister Gomes reiterated his government's
condemnation of the March 1-2 assassinations of former
President Joao Vieira and former Armed Forces Chief of Staff
General Batiste Tagme Na Waie. He noted that he had sent a
letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon
requesting the creation of an international commission of
inquiry. He reported that the secretary general had
responded by pledging to provide support to the GOGB national
commission of inquiry through the integrated and enhanced UN
Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) in concert with ECOWAS, the
African Union (AU),and the Community of Portuguese Speaking

DAKAR 00001218 003 OF 003


Countries (CPLP).

President Sanha Eager for U.S. Return and to Meet Obama
-------------- --------------


9. Both President Sanha and Prime Minister Gomes asked would
the United States reopen its embassy in Bissau, emphasizing
the importance such a signal would send to other donors and
investors as well as malefactors in Guinea-Bissau and
elsewhere. Sanha was particularly insistent, saying he
wanted the embassy to reopen before the end of the year and
that he wants to arrange to travel to the United States for a
meeting with President Obama before the end of the year.
However, asked if he planned to attend the upcoming UN
General Assembly(which would provide an early opportunity to
meet the President),Sanha said not this year. He said he
preferred to wait until next year so that he could not simply
talk about what he planned to do, but also what he will have
accomplished in a year's time. The Ambassador assured both
the head of state and the head of government that the Obama
administration is committed to opening more diplomatic posts
and the Department of State supports reopening. However, it
will take some time to obtain the necessary funding. In the
interim, the Ambassador will continue to encourage more and
more USG officials to visit Bissau. Moreover, she hopes to
have one embassy officer permanently based in Bissau in the
coming year.


10. COMMENT: Both Sanha and Gomes emphasized the positive in
their meeting with us (Sanha was almost giddy with optimism).
Both political leaders emphasized that the moment to push
for change on several fronts was now, and that quick, visible
signs of support from the GoGB,s friends were essential.
However, these two men who intensely dislike one another will
have to put aside their differences and past grievances to
take advantage of this potential new beginning following
successful presidential elections. It is not clear that they
will be able to do so. Acting Chief of Staff Induta is a
close political ally of Gomes and while Sanha told us more
than once in the run up to elections that he intends to keep
Induta in place for the time being, many observers suspect
that he will move to remove him at some point. This could
provoke the fractured military to split further apart,
perhaps even resulting in open conflict. It is also clear
that Sanha does not have a clear or realistic understanding
of what the donor market will bear regarding the pension fund
for SSR/DDR. Finally, it is doubtful that members of Gomes'
government are as free from drug-fueled corruption as he
asserts. Nevertheless, we concur that prospects for positive
change and SSR/DDR are the best they have been in years, and
are working with donors to coordinate shorter and longer term
efforts.
BERNICAT