US embassy cable - 03GUATEMALA533

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000533 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, CU, GT, UNCHR 
SUBJECT: VICE PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO CUBA SPURS SPECULATION 
 
REF: A. GUATEMALA 317 
 
     B. GUATEMALA 511 
 
Classified By: Robert E. Copley for reason 1.5(b). 
 
1. (C) Summary:  A glowing press conference by Vice President 
Reyes after an official visit to Cuba fueled speculation that 
some in the GOG are reconsidering Cuba policy.  Reyes hinted 
that Guatemala would abstain on the Cuba vote at the UNCHR, 
did not rule out voting with Cuba, and said that he brought 
an invitation from Castro for an official visit by President 
of Congress Rios Montt.  The Ambassador had two separate 
conversations with the Foreign Minister and President 
Portillo (ref B).  Portillo said the FRG was reacting to 
decertification; he promised a calm, rational decision on the 
CUBA HR vote.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) After a seven-day official visit to Cuba and a 
four-hour meeting with Castro, Vice President Reyes told 
reporters on February 19 that Guatemala would do well to 
emulate Castro's policies on education, medicine, tourism, 
and agriculture.  Cheerfully handing out Cohiba cigars, the 
Vice President spent nearly an hour extolling the virtues of 
the Cuban system.  Although the Cuban budget for education is 
smaller than Guatemala's, Reyes said Cuba accomplishes three 
times as much with it.  Reyes went so far as to say that what 
he had seen in Cuba almost made him want to move there 
(opposition press cartoons depicted people taking up a 
collection to pay his airfare).  Even before his departure, 
Reyes recorded a national address that was broadcast during 
his trip in which he expressed gratitude for the work of 
Cuban doctors in Guatemala.  Reyes said Guatemala could solve 
its medical problems if Guatemalan doctors were more like 
their Cuban counterparts (Comment: Ex FonMin Orellana told 
DCM that Cuba had asked Reyes to increase the GOG's payment 
for Cuban Doctors). 
 
3.  (U) Reyes was vague on the UNCHR vote.  In response to 
direct questions, he refused to rule out voting with Cuba, 
but hinted that an abstention would be a more likely outcome. 
 Reyes insisted that Castro never mentioned the issue in 
their meeting. 
 
4. (U) Reyes said he found Rios Montt open to the possibility 
of an official visit to Cuba when he conveyed Castro's 
invitation.  Aristides Crespo, Secretary General of the FRG 
party and right-hand-man to Rios Montt, has avoided the issue 
except to deny speculation that a Cuba visit would hurt the 
FRG's electoral prospects in the eyes of its largely 
anti-Communist support base.  Reftel reports Crespo, on the 
floor of Congress, calling for support of Cuba at the UNCHR. 
 
5. (C) We recently heard from the Foreign Ministry that a 
March bilateral, usually held at the Vice-Minister level, has 
been upgraded by the Ministry to a full Ministerial.  The 
agenda will review "all aspects of the relationship." 
 
6. (C) At a February 20 dinner that included Foreign Minister 
Edgar Gutierrez, the Ambassador asked what is going on with 
Vice President Reyes and his remarks praising the Castro 
regime.  The Foreign Minister said he, too, had been 
surprised by Reyes Lopez' comments, and met with him to hear 
about his trip to Cuba.  The Ambassador told Gutierrez that 
the Vice President's remarks, especially about the UNCHR 
vote, looked like an intentional poke in our eye driven by 
pique over decertification.  He added that a Guatemalan 
abstention in Geneva would undermine Guatemala's hard-won 
credibility on human rights, and asked if the GOG was willing 
to throw this away simply to annoy us.  Gutierrez 
acknowledged that Reyes' statements had been unhelpful, and 
assured us that the GOG would consult us on the human 
rights situation in Cuba before President Portillo makes any 
decision on the UNCHR vote. 
 
7. (C) The Ambassador reiterated these arguments to President 
Portillo on February 25 (ref B).  Portillo candidly said the 
FRG was flirting with CUBA to annoy the USG, due to 
decertification (which hurts the FRG's electoral chances) and 
perceived USG blocking of a Rios Montt candidacy.  The 
Ambassador' urged Portillo not to squander the prestige the 
GOG had acquired in the last two years on Cuba and said the 
USG would ask the GOG to vote yes on a Cuba human rights 
motion.  Portillo was non-committal, but said the GOG would 
make a decision after things had calmed down. 
 
8. (C) Comment: Cuba is not a significant domestic issue.  VP 
Reyes' flirtation with Cuba probably is in fact a poke in the 
eye of the USG.  We will continue to engage the GOG on this 
issue. 
HAMILTON