Cablegate: Peruvian Commitment to Un Mission in Haiti

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 003434

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2015
TAGS: KPKO MARR PREL ASEC PE AA UN
SUBJECT: PERUVIAN COMMITMENT TO UN MISSION IN HAITI

REF: PORT AU PRINCE 2011

Classified By: A/DCM Alexander Margulies. Reason: 1.4(b/d).

1. (C) Peruvian Defense Minister Roberto Chiabra, in recent conversations with Emboffs (most recently on 8/5 with the Ambassador), has echoed the concern expressed by UN SRSG Valdes that Chile and Argentina are leaning towards withdrawing their troops from MINUSTAH by June 2006 (Reftel). According to Chiabra, the Chilean and Argentine governments have already made the decision to pull out, perhaps as early as December 2005.

2. (C) Chiabra said that Peru was willing to stay the course and even to provide additional forces, but cautioned that this positive "political" decision was conditioned on receiving increased financial resources. He explained that the Armed Forces have the troops needed, but the Defense Ministry's budget is insufficient to provide the financial float required to fund such a deployment until UN reimbursement is received. Chiabra added that he is discussing this issue with the Finance Ministry.

3. (C) COMMENT: The GOP and the Peruvian military are enthusiastic proponents of Peruvian participation in UN peacekeeping missions, viewing this as a way to enhance the country's international standing, as well as to modernize and professionalize the Armed Forces. This pro-PKO policy will likely sustain Peruvian participation in MINUSTAH even if fellow-Latin Americans Chile and Argentina pull out, provided suitable replacements can be found. Financial constraints, however, need to be resolved for Peru to increase the size of its Haiti deployment. END COMMENT.

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