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Cablegate: Unsc Vote: Jamaica "Undecided"?

VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKG #1624 2301827
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 181827Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3402
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0057
RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINGSTON 001624

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR (BUDDEN)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/17/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL JM VE
SUBJECT: UNSC VOTE: JAMAICA "UNDECIDED"?

REF: A. KINGSTON 1605

B. KINGSTON 1370
C. STATE 125664
D. KINGSTON 1592

Classified By: Charge d'Affairs James T. Heg for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d
).

1. (C) On August 18, Poloff met with XXXXXXXXXXXX, Deputy
Director of the International Organizations Department,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT), who
reported that Jamaica was "undecided" regarding the UNSC seat
vote and that Jamaica would make its decision based on
"national interests." This information tracks with that
which Ambassador Johnson received from Chilean Ambassador to
Jamaica Alfonso Silva (ref A).

2. (U) XXXXXXXXXXXX also stated that the decision would be a
high-level political decision and that she was not in a
position to speculate on what position Jamaica might take.

3. (SBU) XXXXXXXXXXXX would not comment on whether Minister of
Foreign Affairs Anthony Hylton is currently in Venezuela as
that would be an issue for the Office of Bilateral Affairs.
On August 17, however, Econoff spoke to Alison Stone, Deputy
Director of the Foreign Trade Department at MFAFT, who
confirmed that Hylton would be in Caracas today in order to
conclude negotiations on a number of financing deals (ref B).

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4. (U) Interestingly, in a Joint Communique signed by Portia
Simpson Miller and Hugo Chavez after Chavez' August 14th
visit to Jamaica, Chavez "thanked Jamaica for its support of
the Venezuelan candidature for the United Nations Security
Council."

3. (C) COMMENT: We are still groping to understand the
reasons for GOJ's mixed messages on this issue. It is
possible, as Post commented in ref A, that the GOJ wants to
take some of the sting out of our perceptions of recent
agreements with GOV that total in the hundreds of millions of
dollars. There is also a chance that the GOJ is pushing
subtly for a new, viable third option.
JOHNSON

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