US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA985

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000985 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10 YEARS 
TAGS: PREL, PARM, PHSA, KTIA, MNUC, GT 
SUBJECT: ACTION PLAN FOR PSI AGREEMENT WITH GUATEMALA 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 79091 
     B. GUATEMALA 8 
 
Classified By: Robert Copley, Political-Military Officer. 
Reason: 1.5 (b&d). 
 
1.  (C) We discussed the Proliferation Security Initiative 
(PSI) and proposed ship-boarding agreement with the MFA in 
December 2003 (Ref B).  We have been careful in following up 
to avoid distracting the Berger administration from our 
highest priority which is the achievement of an Article 98 
agreement with Guatemala.  We will be able to aggressively 
pursue the PSI after we have an Article 98 agreement with the 
GOG.  End Summary. 
 
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Action Plan 
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2.  (SBU) The first step is to get Guatemala to publicly 
endorse the proliferation statement of principles.  Our 
continuing informal discussions lead us to believe that the 
MFA has nearly wrapped up its internal consultations.  MFA 
officials have indicated that endorsement may be less than a 
month away.  We will then build on our recent successes under 
the Maritime counter-narcotics agreement (in force since 
February) to propose the ship-boarding agreement.  The 
required internal consultations over the terms of the 
ship-boarding agreement could be lengthy.  We note that such 
consultations for the maritime agreement took years, despite 
our regular engagement.  We expect that much of the 
underbrush has already been cleared due to the similarities 
with some of the terms of the maritime agreement and the 
consultations already underway for the statement of 
principles.  However, the military is necessarily a key 
player in these internal consultations, and is currently 
completely distracted by President Berger's far-reaching 
force reduction to be completed by June 30.  Our goal is to 
assist the MFA in rapidly reaching agreement with the terms 
of the ship-boarding agreement, or a viable GOG 
counter-proposal, as the basis for formal negotiations with 
Department participation.  Once a final text is achieved, we 
will need to cooperate with the MFA in lobbying the 
Guatemalan Congress for the 2/3 majority vote required for 
such an agreement to take effect. 
 
3.  (C) Comment:  We believe the GOG will be responsive to 
our request for a PSI, which is less politically sensitive to 
the GOG than an Article 98 agreement.  Rushing PSI now risks 
diverting the GOG from Article 98, or worse, tempting the GOG 
to postpone a hard decision in favor of an easier one. 
HAMILTON