ORTEGA GETS NEITHER DINARS NOR PESOS FROM AL-QADHAFI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TRIPOLI 000002

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2018
TAGS: PREL KTIA NU BO VZ LY
SUBJECT: ORTEGA GETS NEITHER DINARS NOR PESOS FROM AL-QADHAFI

REF: A) LA PAZ 2055, B) TRIPOLI 870, C) TRIPOLI O-I - 23-SEP-2008

CLASSIFIED BY: John T. Godfrey, A/DCM.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega visited
Tripoli December 19-22, ostensibly to promote south-south
cooperation and compare notes on the "anti-imperialist"
movement; however, senior contacts at the General People's
Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation
(MFA-equivalent),told us the visit was largely symbolic and
that Ortega devoted much of his visit trying to drum up cash for
his political operation and investment in Nicaragua. Like
Bolivian President Evo Morales before him, Ortega left Libya
empty-handed. While Libya seeks to balance reengagement with
the U.S. with high-profile meetings with anti-U.S. leaders, it
seems to lack both the capacity and the interest to pursue more
substantive interaction with Latin American governments. End
Summary.

ORTEGA PASSES THE CUP, LEAVES EMPTY-HANDED


2. (C) In a December 29 meeting, MFA Secretary for the Americas
(A/S-equivalent) told A/DCM that Nicaraguan President Daniel
Ortega's four-day visit to Libya was "largely symbolic" and
appeared to have been largely motivated by Ortega's need for
financial assistance. Fituri, who heads the Libya-Nicaragua
Cooperation Committee, participated in almost all of Ortega's
program, including his three meetings with Libyan leader Muammar
al-Qadhafi, a fellow "long-time revolutionary". Ortega
highlighted consultations on developments in Latin American
integration, South-South (i.e. Latin American-African)
cooperation and coordination in the "anti-imperialist movement"
in his remarks to Spanish-language press upon his return to
Managua. According to Fituri, though, Ortega spent most of his
time complaining about his tense domestic situation and seeking
cash for his party, which Fituri described as "extremely cash
strapped".


3. (C) Ortega also met privately with al-Qadhafi's Chief of
Staff,Bashir Saleh, Secretary of the General People's Committee
(PM-equivalent) al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, Libyan Investment
Authority (LIA) Chairman Mustafa Layas and the and the head of
Libya's Great Manmade River Project. Ortega focused in those
meetings on drumming up investment in Nicaragua's project to
build a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as
well as various water treatment projects. Fituri downplayed the
possibility that Libya would invest in Nicaragua, noting that
the LIA did not assess the proposals as either promising or
profitable and recommended against investment. Al-Qadhafi
complained to that Ortega had come mostly to "cry on his
shoulder" and hold out his hand for contributions, but his hopes
of receiving a cash infusion apparently went unfulfilled.
Fituri noted that "the days of the Jamahiriya handing out
dollars - with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa - are over,
even for brother revolutionaries".

LIBYA SEEKS SYMBOLIC LINKS, BUT CAN'T AFFORD DEEPER COOPERATION


4. (C) Ortega's visit marks the second visit to Tripoli by an
ALBA president in 2008, in addition to a trip by Argentine
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Bolivian President
Evo Morales met with al-Qadhafi on the eve of al-Qadhafi's
speech commemorating the coup that brought him to power on
September 1. Morales' trip inaugurated formal Libyan-Bolivian
ties, but the meeting could have gone much differently. Spanish
CDA Rafael Reig told Poloff that he was instrumental in
facilitating the event given Boliva's lack of representation
here. (Note: Bolivia has yet to send diplomatic staff to take up
residence in Tripoli. End note.) In the end, al-Qadhafi met
with the ambassadors of Venezuela, Cuba, and Argentina along
with Morales - leaving the Spanish envoy to wait in the hotel
lobby. Ortega's trip received even less attention in the
diplomatic corps - none of the Spanish-speaking legations were
convoked or informed of the visit.


5. (C) Comment: While Libya is keen to pursue symbolic alliances
with anti-U.S. leaders to balance the perception that it has
gone western by finalizing the U.S.-Libya claims compensation
agreement, Ortega's visit is illustrative of Libya's more
pragmatic approach to relationships outside its sphere of
influence. Morales' trip occasioned a hastily-prepared draft
treaty calling for a "South Atlantic Treaty Organization" (ref
A),but as the price of oil falls and the price of diplomatic
leadership becomes more dear, Libya will focus its petrodinars
on al-Qadhafi's more immediate goal of a United States of
Africa. Libya's MFA boasts few English speakers and fewer
Spanish speakers and Latin American diplomats here are not
active, leaving few channels for substantive exchanges between
Libya and Latin America. Libya's interests include showing
balance after their recent reopening with the West (ref B),but

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they are unlikely to accept great financial or political risk in
non-neighboring relations without the promise of an even greater
reward. End comment.
CRETZ