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

091247Z Jan 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000057 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR R, ECA, IIP, SA/PD (SCHWARTZ, ROGERS, VAN DE VATE); 
 
UNCLASSIFIED 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO OIIP OEXC OPRC PREL SCUL CE
SUBJECT: REINVIGORATING PUBLIC DIPLOMACY CULTURAL AND SPORTS 
PROGRAMS 
 
REF: State 222516 
 
¶1. (U) Post welcomes renewed attention by ECA to cultural and 
sports diplomacy as important tools to support mission 
objectives(reftel).  Following responses are keyed to reftel 
paragraph four. 
 
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A: Which of your mission objectives benefits from cultural 
programs or could be better supported by cultural and sports 
programs? 
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¶2. Just about all our mission objectives can be supported through 
selected use of cultural and sports programming because they 
enable us to reach new audiences and strengthen already 
established contacts, publicize mission activities with regard to 
promoting peace and tsunami recovery, and present a more 
balanced, sophisticated view of U.S. society and policies.  For 
example, our Spring 2004 tour of Sri Lanka and the Maldives by a 
Mississippi Blues quartet allowed us to highlight our assistance 
to tsunami displaced people by bringing the performances directly 
to the IDP camps and generating media coverage of the events. 
Similarly, the recent performances in Sri Lanka of the New 
Orleans Mardi Gras collective received widespread publicity and 
were televised on national TV, thereby allowing us to emphasize 
to a large audience the assistance we had provided to the country 
after the tsunami, as well as our gratitude for Sri Lanka's aid 
following Hurricane Katrina. 
 
¶3.  Our recent Alumni grant to support a program to promote fair 
trials throughout the country supports our mission objective of 
encouraging human rights, and our ACCESS grant for 
underprivileged students to study English brought together 
Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim youth as a way of supporting the 
mission's goal of fostering peace.  A photography exhibit on 
American architecture opened up new audiences of architects, 
artists and designers in both Sri Lanka and the Maldives, just as 
programming a "clean" American hip-hop DJ helped us reach the 
younger elites and promoted a more balanced view of American 
music than the prevalent Gangsta rap stereotype. 
 
¶4.  Sports programming could also be extremely helpful if more 
were on offer. The basketball cultural envoys we programmed in 
2004 connected with youth from all ethnic groups who normally 
have no interaction with Americans. Sports programming might also 
allow us to reach parts of the country we normally visit rarely. 
For example, cricket completely dominates the sports scene in 
most of Sri Lanka, but in the East, where many Muslims live, 
soccer is equally popular.  Bringing a good American university 
soccer team to play matches in the East would help us connect 
more with the Muslim community. 
 
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B: What kind of specific cultural or sports programs or 
initiatives are, or would be, most effective in supporting those 
objectives? 
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¶5.  We have found that perhaps our least effective visual arts 
programs are paper shows since we have noticed a tendency of 
passersby to ignore them while proceeding to their destination. 
Most paper shows are not large enough or visually striking enough 
to be programmed as solo exhibits, but must be placed in 
conjunction with conferences, seminars and other exhibits. 
 
¶6.  The most effective sports programming we could suggest would 
be to send the U.S. cricket team to Sri Lanka for at least a week 
to play a series of one day matches against local club teams 
(playing the national team would be too much of a mismatch).  Not 
only would this generate huge publicity, but it would showcase 
the multiethnic nature of American society.  We would like to 
propose a tour of Sri Lanka in May by USA Cricket in support of 
our AID mission, which is planning 50th anniversary celebrations 
this year.  Proceeds from the matches would be allocated to 
tsunami or war-affected schoolchildren in different parts of the 
 
SIPDIS 
country.  Such a tour would have the added advantage of being 
naturally attractive to private sector cost-sharing here, as Sri 
Lankan companies regularly sponsor cricket matches and events. 
 
¶7.  As previously stated, sending good university level soccer 
teams here and to the Maldives for a tour would also be 
beneficial in reaching new audiences.  Finally, there is a great 
need in Sri Lanka and Maldives for high quality coaches in 
swimming, track and field and basketball. For coaches to be 
effective, however, they would need to be attached to a single 
institution for at least three months. 
 
¶8.  Theater holds the potential to be highly effective in 
reaching mixed audiences and in relaying messages that support 
our mission objectives.  For example, a country-wide tour of a 
play such as West Side Story, or any play dealing with ethnic 
strife or harmony, would resonate in support of peace building. 
To be truly effective on a wide basis, however, the play would 
have to be translated into Sinhala and Tamil and put on by local 
actors in local languages.  This has been done before with great 
success in other countries, under the direction of an American 
director provided with a good translator for the duration.  An 
American director should expect to spend at least 6 weeks working 
with local troupes to put on an American play. 
 
¶9.  Film festivals offer vast possibilities for supporting 
mission objectives since one can identify good films on almost 
any topic that would align well with mission priorities. 
However, for films to have broad impact, we must acquire rights 
to showing 16 mm films in regular cinemas to audiences of several 
hundred.  Current MPA restrictions limit us to American Center 
venues and small audiences. 
 
¶10.  Musical groups may also be very effective in cementing 
positive relations with elite audiences.  For example, high 
quality jazz and blues and classical groups can enthrall local 
elites with American artistry and creativity.  We have found, 
however, that programming successfully for much larger, broader 
Sri Lankan audiences often requires "name" acts.  Unfortunately, 
sponsors here will only sign up for the performances if they 
perceive that an elite, well-heeled audience will attend, not the 
masses. 
 
¶11.  Institutional linkages can provide solid grounding for long- 
term relationships with American artists and athletes.  We 
believe the best possibilities for such linkages lie in the 
sports arena, especially in soccer and track and field and 
swimming. 
 
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¶C.  What constraints does your mission face in effectively 
utilizing cultural, arts, and sports programs? 
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¶12.  Our mission faces several constraints in programming arts 
and sports.  First, the ongoing violence in the North and East of 
the country greatly limits our ability to program in those areas, 
thereby cutting off a significant part of the Tamil population. 
Second, outside of Colombo, English comprehension and fluency is 
relatively low, so that any programming in the provinces must be 
visual or aural in nature, not verbal.  Third, most of the sports 
in which Americans excel are not widely popular in Sri Lanka. 
The sports mentioned above -- soccer, track and field and 
swimming -- offer the best opportunities for programming, 
although cricket overwhelms all other sports in popularity. 
Fourth, enticing co-sponsors from the private sector can be 
problematic since they are only interested in the narrow sector 
of society that has ample disposable income.  The middle class is 
this small country is quite limited in its purchasing power. 
Fifth, the PD staff is small compared to other countries, just 
three American officers (PAO, IO and CAO) and two FSN cultural 
specialists to cover two countries. We are slated to lose the CAO 
slot next year since it is a DRI position. 
 
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¶D.  Have you been able to partner with the private sector in your 
country to sponsor cultural / sports events or to overcome 
resource constraints? 
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¶13.  We successfully partnered with the private sector on our 
Mississippi blues program and on our Mardi Gras New Orleans 
collective program.  We offered logos on all tickets, posters and 
banners to media companies in exchange for promotion of the 
events on the air and in newspapers.  This saved considerable 
funds normally used for advertising and promotion.  Art galleries 
have offered us the use of their space at very reduced rates in 
return for a certain number of invitations to the exhibit 
openings.  We have also partnered with the local AmCham to co- 
sponsor events such as a performance by a Navy band.  And we 
regularly partner with local institutions to sponsor lectures and 
seminars by visiting speakers or specialists such as the Arts in 
Embassies artist we have currently visiting. 
 
¶14.  We believe there is some room to increase the scale of our 
cultural programming in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, provided we 
can attract co-sponsorship and maintain sufficient resources. 
Particularly in sports programming, we think we could have a 
larger influence beyond the traditional elites in the largest 
cities. 
 
Lunstead