CHARGE'S MEETING WITH FERNANDEZ: LETTER OF CREDIT,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 000155 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR AND INL/C, LA PAZ FOR A/DCM C LAMBERT E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2019 TAGS: PREL ECON EFIN CVIS KCRM DR SUBJECT: CHARGE'S MEETING WITH FERNANDEZ: LETTER OF CREDIT, CONSULATES, VISA CASE REF: 07 SANTO DOMINGO 1692 Classified By: Roland W. Bullen, Charge d'Affaires, Reasons 1.4(b),(d) ¶1. (U) This is an action request; please see para. 5. ¶2. (SBU) On February 2, the Charge met with President Fernandez at the President's request. Fernandez inquired about the possibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve providing a stand-by letter of credit to the GODR. He noted that the Federal Reserve had provided something similar to other countries such as Mexico and Brazil, which he acknowledged are much larger economies. (Note: It appears he was referring to the currency swaps that the Federal Reserve did in October 2008.) However, he wondered if the USG would consider such a request given the close ties of the two countries under the CAFTA-DR agreement. Fernandez said that the DR had no immediate plans to use such a letter, but that it would be useful in case they have to devalue the currency. The Charge replied that we would inquire about the issue with Washington. ¶3. (C) Fernandez sought to explain his recent decrees making a large number of dubious diplomatic appointments, including a Consul General in Jacksonville, Florida where we have not approved the opening of a Consulate. Fernandez said that he made the appointments after Foreign Minister Morales informed him that the U.S. approved the opening of new consulates in Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Patterson, NJ. He said that Morales had also told him that U.S. Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) could be appointed as diplomats and that it was only American citizens that presented a problem. Acknowledging that he now knows that we do not allow green card holders to be accredited, Fernandez requested a "waiver" so that LPRs can serve as diplomats. He also said that he has canceled the relevant decrees. The Charge expressed our longstanding concerns regarding Dominican diplomats assigned to the U.S. and cited the case of Francisco Estevez, a Consul in New York who was indicted in the U.S. for alien smuggling in December 2008. (Note: We were surprised to hear that Fernandez was misinformed on the U.S. position, since we have had a series of meetings with the Foreign Ministry on this issue and have not implied that our response to the request to open consulates, when delivered, would be positive.) ¶4. (C) Fernandez requested information on the visa case of Teonilde Casado de Cheung, the Dominican Consul General in Hong Kong who was recently stopped in New York (but ultimately allowed to transit) because of a lookout entry related to Post's pending request for Casado's visa to be revoked for corruption. Fernandez said that Casado was a personal friend, that his law firm had represented her in the past, and that she needs to travel to the U.S. because she owns property in Florida. He added that Casado's children attend universities in the U.S. and that one of them had been held up in immigration for five hours over the weekend. The Charge said that he would look into the matter, but noted that there were restrictions on what type of information we can provide. ¶5. (SBU) Action requests: (i) Post requests guidance on replying to Fernandez's inquiry on a possible letter of credit. (ii) Post requests that the Department expedite its review of Post's request for concurrence on the revocation of Casado's visa (Reftel). The Charge would like to have a final Department decision before replying to the President. (iii) Regarding Dominican diplomats assigned to the U.S., Post will send an action request by Septel. (U) Please visit us at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/ BULLEN