This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

160923Z Dec 05

UNCLAS PARIS 008487 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: VE FR UNESCO
SUBJECT:  UNESCO PRIZES-SOME GOOD, SOME BAD 
 
 
¶1.  This is an action request.  See para. 5. 
 
¶2.  The UNESCO secretariat issued a press release on 
December 14 announcing that President Hugo Chavez of 
Venezuela will receive the 2005 International Jose Marti 
Prize in a ceremony in Havana on 28 January, 2006. 
According to the announcement, the Marti Prize was created 
in 1994, (note:  when the US was not a member of UNESCO) by 
UNESCO's Executive Board at Cuba's behest "to honour an 
individual or institution having contributed to the unity 
and integration of the countries of Latin America and the 
Caribbean and to the preservation of their identities, 
cultural traditions and historical values."  The $5,000 
biennial prize is awarded on the recommendation of a seven- 
member international jury, which includes Nadine Gordimer, 
the South African Nobel Prize for Literature laureate and a 
member of the Secretariat.  Their recommendation is 
forwarded to the Director General.  In the past the Prize 
has been awarded to Mexican sociologist Pablo Gonzalez 
Casanova (2003), Ecuadorian painter Oswaldo Guayasamn 
(1999), and Dominican historian Celsa Albert Bautista 
(1995). 
 
¶2.  Comment:  This is the first time this prize has been 
awarded to a political figure.  We are disturbed that 
following so closely on the heels of the cultural diversity 
debate, that UNESCO's choice of awardee comes with such 
clear anti-American overtones. 
 
¶3.  Fortunately, not all UNESCO prizes are created equal. 
One of the more worthwhile prizes is the Guillermo Cano 
press freedom prize that in recent years has been awarded to 
Cuban, Chinese and Zimbabwean journalists.  This year the 
European Union, along with its accession states, has issued 
a joint nomination for Naradonya Volya, an independent 
newspaper that has been heavily persecuted by the government 
of Belarus.  The prize will be awarded in the spring. 
 
¶4.  Action request and comment:  European Union member 
states have invited the United States to join in the 
nomination of Naradonya Volya.  The nomination form has been 
emailed to IO/UNESCO.  After being at serious loggerheads 
with European Union member states in recent months over the 
cultural diversity convention, we see this as a good 
opportunity to work closely with our European allies. 
Please advise. 
Oliver