PARAGUAY PROCEEDS WITH HAITIAN AID

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000049

SIPDIS
WHA/FO CMCMULLEN, WHA/BSC MDRUCKER, BFRIEDMAN, MDASCHBACH
HAITI TASKFORCE ONE FOR MROSSER (TASKFORCE-1@STATE.GOV) AND MAURA O'NEILL (MONEILL@USAID.GOV)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2035/01/22
TAGS: PREL KPAO PGOV PA HA
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY PROCEEDS WITH HAITIAN AID

REF: A. ASUNCION 37; B. STATE 5871

CLASSIFIED BY: Rose Rakas, CDA; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (U) Paraguay's 13-person team arrived in Port-au-Prince
early January 21 and co-located themselves with a Mexican
contingent. The Paraguayan Red Cross and religious authorities
launched local appeals for donations. Following PAO media
interviews to highlight U.S. humanitarian contributions to Haiti,
CDA delivered thanks and reftel B talking points to numerous
government officials.




2. (C) CDA Perry Holloway spoke by phone January 21 with
Secretariat for National Emergencies (SEN) chief Camilo Soares,
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Ministers of the Interior and
Treasury as well as other government officials. He conveyed U.S.
appreciation for Paraguay's relief effort and sought to dispel
misinformation about U.S. intentions in Haiti. Soares thanked the
CDA for perceived help in obtaining permission for Paraguayan
relief officials to overnight at the airport upon arrival. (Note:
Soares represents the far left in President Lugo's cabinet,
identifies with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and has
traditionally taken a hard line against the U.S., ridiculing as
small our September 2008 USD 50,000 donation to Paraguayan drought
victims. Soares reached out to CDA January 13 in conversations
reported in reftel A to ask for U.S. assistance, and has since been
in regular contact. End note.)




3. (U) Local press coverage has been muted, but largely
positive. Leading daily newspaper ABC Color ran a color photo of
Sec. Clinton in Haiti over the captain "Earthquake shows new face
of Washington."




4. (C) COMMENT: Paraguay's personnel contribution to the
relief effort is a point of pride. U.S. efforts have helped to
promote goodwill for the U.S., which is evidenced most obviously by
kind, albeit private, words from a traditionally anti-U.S. cabinet
official. END COMMENT.
HOLLOWAY