Cablegate: Unga 63: Nicaraguan Candidacy for Pga

VZCZCXRO8669
PP RUEHBI RUEHCD RUEHDE RUEHGD RUEHGH RUEHHM
DE RUCNDT #0134 0441939
ZNY CCCCC ZZH ZDK (COR COPY)
P 131939Z FEB 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3723
INFO RUCNOAS/OASGA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0253

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000134

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (COR ROUTING INDICATOR)

SIPDIS

FOR IO AND WHA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNGA XK XL XM BR DR GT PA PM
SUBJECT: UNGA 63: NICARAGUAN CANDIDACY FOR PGA

REF: A) USUN 34 B) 07 USUN 941 C) USUN 00097

Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, Deputy Permanent Represen
tative, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

(C) During a one-on-one lunch on February 11, Ambassador
Khalilzad raised U.S. concerns with the candidacy of Miguel
D'Escoto for PGA with Panamanian FM Lewis Navarro. FM Lewis
Navarro agreed that D'Escoto was a bad choice for PGA and the
region, and further noted that the Nicaraguan was too ill to
do the job. He agreed to work with the U.S. to help identify
an alternate candidate, suggesting Paraguay or Guatemala as
preferred options. He recommended that the U.S. and Panama
reach out together to the Brazilians, requesting their
engagement on finding a suitable candidate to represent
GRULAC. Lewis Navarro thought a useful argument could be
that, as a matter of balance with two Central American states
on the Security Council, a South American ought to represent
GRULAC as PGA. In this case, Paraguay, in particular
Paraguayan UN PermRep Loizaga, would be the ideal candidate.
Lewis Navarro predicted that once an alternative candidate
came forward, others would follow, breaking the emerging (and
otherwise perhaps inevitable?) consensus D'Escoto enjoys
because of lack of competition.
WOLFF

© Scoop Media