Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09DAKAR286
2009-03-05 17:16:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dakar
Cable title:  

BISSAU-GUINEAN INTERIM PRESIDENT PROFILE

Tags:  PGOV PREL PU XY 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHDK #0286/01 0641716
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 051716Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2001
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON IMMEDIATE 0871
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 1198
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000286 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA
PARIS FOR DEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PU XY
SUBJECT: BISSAU-GUINEAN INTERIM PRESIDENT PROFILE

Classified By: Classified by AMB Marcia Bernicat for reasons 1.5 (b) an
d (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000286

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA
PARIS FOR DEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PU XY
SUBJECT: BISSAU-GUINEAN INTERIM PRESIDENT PROFILE

Classified By: Classified by AMB Marcia Bernicat for reasons 1.5 (b) an
d (d)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Bissau-Guinean interim President Raimundo
Pereira, born on August 28, 1956 in Bissau, is a lawyer by
training and an experienced public servant by profession.
Armed with a law degree from the University of Lisbon,
Pereira launched an impressive career in the Bissau-Guinean
government, eventually holding three successive ministerial
positions and later the presidency of the National Assembly
(ANP). Pereira, who speaks Portuguese and some French, has
worked as a consultant for the World Bank and United Nations,
and has participated in conferences and study tours organized
by USAID. Married, Pereira is a stalwart of the African
Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde
(PAIGC) and is seen as a loyalist of Prime Minister Carlos
Gomes Junior. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Born on August 28, 1956 in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
during the colonial period, Raimundo Pereira moved to Lisbon,
Portugual to study Law at the University of Lisbon, earning a
degree in 1987. After a decade of government service, he
returned to Lisbon for a year of post-graduate studies in
Legal and Entrepreneurial Sciences, which consisted of
International Trade, Labor, and Financial Law.


3. (SBU) Pereira held the following posts within the
government of Guinea-Bissau (GOGB): Director of the National
Radio (1988-1992); Director General of the National
Television (1992-1993); Director General of Social
Communications (1993-1994); Secretary of State for the
Council of Ministers (1994-1996); Minister of Territorial
Administration (1996-1997); Minister of Justice (2004-2005);
Minister of Transportation and Communication (2005);
President of the National Assembly (January-March 2009); and
interim President (present). Pereira also worked as a law
professor in Bissau and served as the president of the
supervisory council of the Bissau-Guinean bar association.


4. (SBU) Pereira, who speaks Portuguese and some French, has
worked as a consultant for the World Bank and United Nations.
In 1997, according to his resume, he attended a
USAID-sponsored conference entitled &Administrative
Decentralization and Local Power.8 In 1994, he participated
in a USAID conference designed to encourage revision of the
commercial code. In 1993, he attended a USAID-sponsored
study mission to Brazil and the United States to examine
judicial reform.


5. (SBU) A close ally to Prime Minister Gomes, Pereira
recently served as the First Vice-President of the PAIGC,
helping to lead the party to a landslide victory in the
November 2008 legislative elections. In return, Gomes
lobbied hard to have Pereira, who had won a parliamentary
seat in the November poll, elected president of the National
Assembly in the January ANP elections. Pereira eventually
won out over Helder Proenca, the preferred candidate of
former President Joao Bernardo Vieira.


6. (C) In a January 5, 2009 meeting with PolOff in Bissau,
Pereira pledged to take a hard stance against narcotics
traffickers, and promised to expel any deputy who was proven
to be involved in the drug trade. Pereira dismissed as
exaggerated gossip the reports of dissatisfaction with Gomes
within the PAIGC, claiming the rumors originated from a very
small number of vocal Gomes critics. Pereira expressed
guarded optimism that PAIGC would be able to work with the
Party for Social Renewal (PRS),noting that PRS President
Kumba Yala met with party leaders at the PAIGC headquarters
in December 2008.


7. (C) At the January 5 meeting, Pereira asked PolOff for USG
assistance for the National Assembly. He said that legal and
budgetary training was desperately needed for the deputies.
In particular, Pereira asked for assistance in crafting
effective laws to combat narcotics trafficking.
Institutionally, he asked for assistance in establishing an
internal computer network and management training for
National Assembly permanent employees.


8. (C) COMMENT: Pereira is a smart, competent, well-respected
public servant with a clean reputation. As a politician,
however, he has no deep or wide base of support. His
political rise is more attributable to his loyalty to Gomes
than to his own political acumen. While his long-term
political ambitions are unclear, he will likely be a
competent and sound interim-president. END COMMENT.

DAKAR 00000286 002 OF 002


BERNICAT