US embassy cable - 03GUATEMALA1066

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001066 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
HARARE FOR BRUCE WHARTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, SNAR, GT, CU 
SUBJECT: CUBA VOTE PROVOKES LARGELY POSITIVE REACTIONS IN 
GUATEMALA 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Unlike previous years, Guatemala's vote in 
favor of the 2003 Cuba resolution at the UN Human Rights 
Commission drew favorable editorials in the press.  Cuba's 
repression of dissidents and the execution of the three 
hijackers led to a steady stream of press criticism of 
Castro's regime in the lead up to the vote. The only public 
criticism of the GOG vote came from some human rights leaders 
who oppose US policy in Cuba, and are prepared to be more 
tolerant of the situation of human rights on the island. End 
Summary. 
 
2. (U) Leading daily Prensa Libre carried two editorials 
April 21, entitled "Guatemala Sided with the Good Guys in 
Geneva," and "The Pathetic Case of Fidel Castro," which 
praised the GOG's decision to take a stand against recent 
human rights violations in Cuba.  With reference to the 
recent crackdown, the latter editorial stated, "In these 
circumstances, to remain quiet in the face of unfair 
practices is to become an accomplice to an old man who has 
lost his mind...and leaves the door open for chaos in Cuba 
when he dies."  The press, which is largely anti-government, 
accused the Portillo government of being spineless in the 
days before the UNCHR vote, when insinuations that the GOG 
was going to abstain in Geneva were appearing on the same 
pages as reports of new egregious actions by the Cubans to 
repress dissent.  The press, which in previous years had 
editorialized against the GOG's vote in favor of the Cuba 
resolution as a sell-out to the USG, called on the GOG to 
vote for the resolution this year and then praised the GOG 
for voting in a principled manner.  We attribute part of this 
change to the press' favorable analysis of the USG's 
criticism of GOG corruption and abuses in the last year. 
 
3. (SBU) At the Ambassador's request, Human Rights Officer 
engaged leaders of the human rights community in the weeks 
previous to the vote to seek public support for imprisoned 
Cuban dissidents.  Some said they would "ask the Cuban 
Embassy privately for an explanation of the recent crackdown 
against dissidents," but none engaged the press before the 
vote.  After the vote, in an op-ed in daily El Periodico, 
human rights activist Miguel Angel Albizures wrote that, 
while the role of the USG in determining international policy 
towards Cuba is condemnable, that is no excuse for the Castro 
regime's brutal crackdown against dissidents.  Other human 
rights leaders openly opposed the vote, however.  In Siglo 
Veintiuno, Orlando Blanco, director of CONADEHGUA, a leading 
human rights NGO, said, "it is important to guard the rights 
of the Cubans.  Guatemala caved in to American pressures in 
order to help with recertification efforts." 
 
4. (SBU) COMMENT: While the GOG had argued that voting in 
favor of the Cuba resolution at the UNCHR would have a 
political cost, in fact public opinion as measured in the 
press was clearly shocked by Castro's recent human rights 
crackdown and called on the GOG to punish Castro with its 
vote.  With the exception of a couple of human rights leaders 
who have long opposed our policies in Cuba, Guatemalans have 
reacted positively to their government's principled vote in 
Geneva. 
HAMILTON