US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO3004

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 003004 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/OAS; 
NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD;TREASURY FOR OASIA-LCARTER 
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, DR, PTER, HA, OAS 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER COMMENTS ON 
HAITI, TERRORISM, OAS 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Lisa Kubiske.  Reason:  1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) The DCM and econ officer called on Deputy Foreign 
Minister Alejandra Liriano in her office, May 23 and 
discussed the selection of a Deputy 
Secretary General at the Organization of American States 
 
SIPDIS 
(OAS),  repatriations of Haitians, anti-terrorism 
conventions, racial discrimination, 
 Dominican consulates, and recent alien smuggling cases. 
 
OAS Assistant Secretary-General 
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2. (C)   The Dominican Republic, though a supporter up to now 
of Ramdin of Surinam, is not firmly wedded to that position 
and DCM encouraged the MFA to consider Leal.  Liriano did not 
reject that possibility though it appears the country is 
talking with several other countries. 
 
Details:  The Dominican Republic has long been thinking of 
supporting Ramdin, for reasons of strategic relations with 
CARICOM, who favor him.  However, some of the countries the 
Dominicans are friendly with have pointed out that Ramdin 
doesn,t speak Spanish, and so there is some 
"reconsideration" going on.  Other Latin American countries 
are concerned that in the event of a crisis a non-Spanish 
speaker would have difficulty in communicating the OAS 
message.  DCM told Liriano that the USG is not likely to 
announce our position until near the end, but that we are 
thinking of supporting Leal.  Leal, DCM noted, was a Central 
American, and both the United States and the Dominican 
Republic had hoped for a Central American candidate for 
Sec-Gen originally.  Liriano agreed that could be a 
consideration.  Liriano agreed that Leal had great experience 
and reputation, and that he got along well with others.  On 
the other hand, she worried that putting a former foreign 
minister in the Asst Sec-Gen job would set a precedent that 
OAS members might not always want in the future (bar too 
high). 
 
Repatriating Haitians 
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3. (C)  Bottom line:  The Deputy Foreign Minister was already 
sensitized about the human rights issue and has now heard our 
most recent explicit expression of concern.  The problem is 
&complex8 and the MFA is not the only driver (or even the 
main driver) of this issue.  We hope that the Dominicans will 
now factor in our concerns also and start to make some 
changes in procedures of handling illegal Haitians. 
 
DCM expressed concern over the repatriation of illegal 
Haitians in the form in which it had been done.  The 
Dominican Republic was opening itself to charges (however 
inaccurate) of &ethnic cleansing8 and raising the specter 
(true or not) of the Central European-style mass deportations 
of the 1930s.  There are international norms.  How the 
country repatriates illegals matters, and the Dominican 
government needs to think about its reputation.  Liriano 
agreed that the way it was done - picking people up off the 
streets - inevitably led to abuses that should not occur and 
exposed abuses not consistent with the country's own 
principles and commitments on human rights and anti-racism. 
 
The issue was complex, she said.  It included fraud and crime 
by Haitian-Dominican rings who sent Haitian women across the 
border to beg and other things.  The people being repatriated 
sometimes didn't have documents on either side of the border. 
 And, the Dominican-Haitian border is extremely porous; the 
country needs both technology and manpower, and the resources 
for these, to tighten it up.  (DCM mentioned the border 
assessment team that the USG/Southcom is sending in July, and 
Liriano expressed appreciation and thanks.)  At present, she 
continued, the Dominican Republic does not even have a way to 
ensure that the Haitians who come for market day in Dajabon 
return to Haiti at the end of the day.  She said "if we 
deport 3000 Haitians, another 3000 show up the next day.". 
And, there is not a well-functioning government in Haiti (the 
poorest country in the Western Hemisphere) with which to sign 
a bilateral agreement. 
 
Liriano said that Fernandez and team had tried to make some 
improvements in the first Fernandez administration.  Perhaps 
Haitian temporary workers could be given identity cards and 
there were at least some other options available. 
 
Liriano, in reply to DCM,s question, said that the Migration 
Office has been working on drafting the implementing 
regulations to the Migration Law - regulations that would 
implement the country's international commitments and those 
of the revised law.  She emphasized that even with more laws 
the solution to the problem depends on adequate resources, 
technology and the ability to pay border agents a sufficient 
income to discourage corruption. 
 
Finally, when Fernandez said to the press that the 
repatriations would be continuing, he was re-affirming a 
sovereign right to repatriate individuals who had entered 
illegally and to send a message to Haitians that the border 
was not wide open, she said. DCM commented that mass 
round-ups seemed a poor way to handle this. 
 
Postscript:  The decision to repatriate, she said, was made 
by the Directorate of Migration.  Since the time of this 
conversation, many repatriated Haitians have returned to the 
Dominican Republic, our sources tell us. 
 
Terrorism 
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4. (SBU)  DCM brought along a chart that had appeared in the 
Department's unclassified annual terrorism report showing the 
12 UN conventions against terrorism, as well as the signing 
and ratifying countries.  The Dominican Republic is behind in 
signing and ratifying these, DCM said, and the USG is 
interested in seeing it catch up to the rest of the world. 
Liriano was interested and promised to investigate the status 
of efforts on each one. 
 
Racial Discrimination 
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5. (SBU)  DCM gave a heads up that Embassy officers (and most 
recently, a Peace Corps volunteer) had experienced a number 
of incidents of racial discrimination and that DCM would be 
discussing with the Ambassador how to handle this.  Liriano 
said to let her know which private clubs weren't admitting 
our African-American officers and what else was happening and 
that the government might be able to help, since 
discrimination was against the country's policies.  She said 
cases involving discrimination were important to the 
Dominican Republic because of their role in the United 
Nations with anti-discrimination efforts.  Embassy will 
follow up with Liriano. 
 
Dominican Consulates 
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6. (SBU) DCM noted the Dominican government's application for 
an official Dominican consulate in Philadelphia.  Liriano 
asked if there was any word from the State Department on that 
or the question of regularizing Dominican diplomatic and 
consular personnel. 
 
Alien Smugglers 
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7. (C)  Next topic wasx the activity of Russian and Ukrainian 
alien smugglers in the Dominican Republic, and the successful 
arrest and deportation of two of them last week -- via Miami, 
where they were arrested.  Might the Dominican Republic want 
to consider requiring visas for these nationalities?  Liriano 
thought the visa requirement already existed.  Liriano noted 
that the government (Ministry of Tourism) has launched a 
campaign to attract Russian and Ukrainian tourists to the 
country and as a result had eased restrictions on their 
travel.  Russians and Ukrainians can obtain visas once they 
are in the Dominican Republic. Note: DCM and Emboffs will 
meet June 3 with the Under Secretary for Consular Affairs to 
further discuss this topic. 
 
8. (U)  This report and other extensive material is available 
on our SIPRNET site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo< /a>   .l. 
KUBISKE