VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #5383/01 2401450
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 281450Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0937
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0028
RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA 0013
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0319

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 005383 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2016 
TAGS: PREL UNSC ARABL UNGA EG VE GT
SUBJECT: VENEZUELA PRESSING ARABS HARD ON UN SECURITY 
COUNCIL CANDIDACY 
 
REF: A. CAIRO 3822 (NOTAL) 
 
     ¶B. STATE 20173 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified by Minister Counselor for Political and Economic 
Affairs William R. Stewart for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) Venezuela is taking advantage of ongoing conflicts in 
Lebanon and Palestine, and Arab discontent with Israel and 
the U.S., to boost its chances of winning a seat on the 
United Nations Security Council in October.  While neither 
Egypt nor the Arab League to our knowledge has committed to 
support Venezuela over its Latin American Group (GRULAC) 
competitor Guatemala, it appears that Venezuelan President 
Chavez hopes to trade on his current street appeal among 
Arabs.  Nevertheless, Guatemala's Ambassador to Egypt is 
sanguine about Guatemalan efforts to win Arab support.  End 
summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Venezuela Pushing Hard for Votes 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) In advance of the October vote in the UN General 
Assembly to determine the Latin American (GRULAC) candidate 
for a seat on the UN Security Council, Venezuelan President 
Hugo Chavez appears to be seeking from Arab governments the 
same level of support that he has gained among Arab publics 
recently.  "Chavez of Arabia" - as some local media are 
calling him - is gaining popularity from Arabs for his 
unflinching criticism of Washington and Israel.  Nonetheless, 
Egypt to our knowledge has not taken a position on supporting 
Venezuela for the Council seat.  When NEA Assistant Secretary 
Welch raised the topic with Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul 
Gheit in June, the minister ducked the question, though 
suggested Washington "be subtle" in order not to make U.S. 
opposition to Venezuela the issue.  Since then, Egypt has 
hosted a Venezuelan presidential envoy in August who met with 
Prime Minister Nazif and delivered a letter from Chavez to 
President Mubarak.  GOE officials have been reluctant to 
discuss the relationship with Caracas, although a Deputy 
Assistant Minister for Americas Affairs told poloff August 28 
that the issue was being debated internally and no decision 
had been taken on which country to support. 
 
------------------------------ 
Guatemalan Ambassador Sanguine 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (C) Economic and Political Section Chief and poloff 
called on Guatemalan Ambassador Antonio Malouf Gabriel and 
his deputy Jose Manuel Azurdia Longo on August 24 to convey 
USG interest in assisting Guatemala to secure Arab votes in 
the upcoming Security Council election.  Malouf described a 
recent Cairo visit by Guatemala's new Foreign Minister, 
during which the minister dined privately with Egyptian 
Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit, and separately with Arab League 
Secretary General Amre Moussa, all close friends from serving 
 
SIPDIS 
together at the UN in New York.  Malouf said neither official 
pledged outright support for Guatemala, but both were 
sympathetic to Guatemala's bid and appreciated the challenge 
from Venezuela.  Malouf expressed confidence that Arab 
governments would not be "bought" by Venezuelan money, and 
accused Caracas of trying to "buy votes" from Caribbean and 
African states.  Malouf argued that Venezuelan President 
Chavez's tactics did not endear him with regional leaders 
other than those in Syria and Iran.  Malouf predicted that 
neither Guatemala nor Venezuela would win an outright 
two-thirds majority in the first round of elections, and that 
Guatemala's president would likely engage personally in the 
region ahead of a second round of voting. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Venezuela Popular at the Arab League 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (C) Venezuela has also targeted the Arab League and the 
African Union for political support, sending a senior envoy 
to the last African Union Summit in Gambia and a presidential 
envoy to Cairo to meet Arab League Secretary General Amre 
Moussa.  Ambassador Malouf shared that he had also tried to 
attend the AU Summit, but a lack of information from the AU, 
no connecting flights, and no hotel room in Gambia prevented 
his travel.  Arab League Secretariat Chief of Staff Hisham 
Youssef told poloff on August 27 that Moussa and the 
Venezuelan envoy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 
 
in response to Venezuela's desire for a "special 
relationship" with the League.  Youssef said the agreement 
was non-substantive and was one of 40-50 such MOU's that the 
AL had signed with other states.  Youssef said he would 
consider how to respond should Guatemala request to sign a 
similar MOU (Guatemala's DCM called poloff late August 24 to 
say that Guatemala had requested "observer status" at the 
League, and sought USG help to ensure that any agreement with 
the League in this regard was identical to that signed 
between the League and Venezuela.  The DCM also said 
Guatemala was considering whether to formally request 
attendance at the upcoming Arab foreign ministers meeting, 
September 5-6 in Cairo.) 
 
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Comment 
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¶5.  (C) We assess that Egyptian President Mubarak and other 
top GOE leaders will view Venezuelan Security Council 
membership as detrimental to GOE efforts to establish lasting 
peace between Israel and the Arabs.  While the Arab world may 
express solidarity with Chavez and others publicly 
criticizing Israel and Washington for its policies toward 
Lebanon and the Palestinians, Chavez's embrace of Iran, 
Syria's Asad, and Hizbollah can only antagonize the GOE. 
RICCIARDONE