VZCZCXRO8639
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0473 1291631
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 091631Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1284
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000473 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2016 
TAGS: PGOV IV
SUBJECT: YOUNG PATRIOT LEADER BLE GOUDE:  DRESSING UP HIS 
IMAGE 
 
REF: A. ABIDJAN 102 
 
     ¶B. ABIDJAN 120 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR AUBREY HOOKS FOR REASONS 1.4 B/D. 
 
 ¶1.  (C)  In a meeting with the Ambassador on May 8,  Charles 
Ble Goude, President of the Young Patriot movement, stressed 
that he is trying to convert the Young Patriots into a more 
mature political force.  He explained that he is now the 
President of COJEP, a coalition of patriotic forces, and he 
operates more in that capacity than as head of the Young 
Patriots.  He noted that everybody, including outright thugs, 
calls himself a young patriot today, with the result that the 
term has lost its original meaning and has taken on a 
negative connotation.  COJEP will become a political force in 
the next elections, Ble Goude predicted, although he did not 
elaborate on how COJEP would fit within the FPI, President 
Gbagbo's camp. 
 
¶2.  (C)  Ble Goude referred to the FESCI, the student 
association that he was president of some years ago, as a 
mafia organization that he no longer wanted to be associated 
with.  He could not accept some of their tactics.  He 
commented that he was not allowed to live in campus housing 
when he was a university student because he was a member of 
FESCI, whereas today FESCI controls campus housing and 
collects protection money like the mafia.  Ble Goude recalled 
that he had explained the problems with FESCI to President 
Gbagbo, who did not react.  Ble Goude suggested that the 
Ambassador should also raise the problems with FESCI with 
President Gbagbo.  The Ambassador assured Ble Goude that he 
had indeed discussed FESCI excesses with President Gbagbo, 
who made vague promises to resolve the problem. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Ble Goude noted that he is being asked about 
demonstrations planned for May 15, but he has made his 
position clear in speeches and in interviews with the press: 
now is not the time to demonstrate, now is the time to 
prepare for elections.  He assured the Ambassador that the 
Young Patriots would not be in the streets on May 15. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Agreeing with the Ambassador that the political 
situation was slowly changing, Ble Goude noted that he speaks 
regularly with Guillaume Soro, head of the Forces Nouvelles 
rebel coalition.  He said his point of contact was Sidiki 
Konate, the spokesperson for the Forces Nouvelles.  He 
commented that such contacts would not have been possible 
even a year ago, whereas now they are becoming commonplace. 
 
¶4.  (C)  At the end of the conversation, Ble Goude raised the 
issue of UN sanctions.  He said that he has never been 
informed, except through the media, that he was the subject 
of UN sanctions.  The UN has never communicated with him to 
indicate the reasons that led to the sanctions or the form 
that the sanctions would take. 
 
¶4.  (C)  COMMENT:  Ble Goude's name is synonymous with street 
violence, but Ble is no fool.  He actually shows more 
maturity than some of the older hawks in President Gbagbo's 
FPI camp.  Ble is busy building a political constituency with 
plans to run as a deputy to the National Assembly in the next 
elections.  But his moderation and maturity also come at a 
price:  extremists in the FPI and the FESCI are beginning to 
see Ble as a sell-out to the cause. 
Hooks