US embassy cable - 05ASUNCION511

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000511 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE WHA/BSC 
NSC FOR KIM BREIER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, BO, PA, PDEM 
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY SUPPORTS BELARUS RESOLUTION AT UNCHR 
 
REF: STATE 64376 
 
Classified By: Political Chief James P. Merz for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d 
). 
 
1.  (U)  On 4/13, UK Charge (representing the EU) and PolCoun 
met with Acting Foreign Minister Jose Martinez Lezcano urging 
Paraguay to vote against the no action motion on Belarus and 
in favor of the resolution before the UNCHR conveying 
concerns about human rights abuses in Belarus.  Martinez 
confirmed Paraguay would vote against the no-action motion. 
He noted that he had been visited by the Belarusian 
Ambassador to Argentina who is accredited to Paraguay and 
maintained that the human rights situation was improving. 
Martinez also inquired about the position of Russia (Paraguay 
announced recently that it intends to open an Embassy in 
Moscow and seeks to expand commercial relations with Russia). 
 
 
2.  (U)  We reminded Martinez that Paraguay had voted in 
support of a similar resolution before the General Assembly 
last September and that all reports by independent observers 
from both the OSCE and the NGO community indicated that the 
human rights situation had only further detoriated since 
then.  Russia was sensitive about public criticism of Belarus 
but privately shared some of the concerns conveyed about 
Belarus and were hardly fond of President Lukashenko. 
Martinez was not prepared to commit himself on the spot but 
signaled Paraguay would likely vote in favor of the 
resolution on the Belarus in Geneva on 4/14. 
 
3.  (C)  On 4/14, Polcoun followed up with MFA Human Rights 
Director Julio Duarte who advised that Paraguay had decided 
to vote in favor of the resolution on Belarus.  Duarte noted 
that the decision had been hotly debated within GRULAC and 
that Paraguay had come under considerable pressure to abstain 
on the resolution by States that had been similarly 
approached by the Belarusian delegation.  In the end, he 
maintained that Paraguay had been swayed by evidence of 
serious abuses in Belarus and had decided to buck the 
pressure from Belarus and other Latin American states 
including Argentina and Brazil. 
KEANE