VZCZCXRO1575
PP RUEHLMC
DE RUEHMU #0632/01 0682057
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 092057Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9399
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0994
RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAGUA 000632 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CEN, IO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/08/2017 
TAGS: PTER KNNP MCAP PINR PINS PARM PREL NU
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA WILL CONSIDER SUPPORTING GLOBAL 
INITIATIVE TO COMBAT NUCLEAR TERRORISM 
 
REF: SECSTATE 21535 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Paul A. Trivelli.  Reasons 1.4 (B,D). 
 
¶1.  (C) On March 8, Deputy Chief of Mission Peter Brennan and 
Russian counterpart Valeriy Bobrov delivered the joint reftel 
demarche to Nicaraguan Vice Foreign Minister Manuel Coronel 
Kautz, Acting Foreign Minister in Foreign Minister Samuel 
Santos' absence.  Coronel, who recently returned from an 
Inter-American counter-terrorism meeting in Panama, expressed 
keen interest in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear 
Terrorism.  Bobrov also conveyed our shared desire that 
Nicaragua be among the first Latin American countries to join 
the Global Initiative partnership, adding that members will 
be invited to participate in the Initiative's third meeting 
to be held this summer in Kazakhstan.  Confessing he had 
never expected that one day he would receive Russian and 
American diplomats together, Coronel Kautz recognized that 
the joint demarche made him realize how much the world has 
changed.  He promised to review the Global Initiative's 
Declaration of Principles and will respond after consulting 
with the Foreign Minister and the Presidency. 
 
¶2.  (C) At the start of the meeting, Coronel -- who only 
half-jested that his main interest in occupying his position 
is to champion the Nicaraguan government's USD 12 billion 
inter-oceanic canal project -- attempted to prod Bobrov into 
joining him in a moment of Communist era nostalgia.  Sighing, 
Coronel Kautz lamented the fall of Communist Soviet Union - 
"the failure of the greatest human and social experiment in 
history."  Visibly startled by Coronel Kautz' sentimental 
soliloquy, Bobrov took two steps back, and shot back very 
skeptically, "Do you really think so?"  (Comment: Bobrov 
appears to be a firm Putin supporter.  When Coronel Kautz 
pried into the assassination of a former KGB operative in 
London, suggesting that the KGB had engineered the murder, 
Bobrov countered that those involved in the assassination 
were "elements opposing President Putin.") 
 
¶3.  (C) A spry and affable 74-year-old with a mischievous 
smile and twinkling blue eyes that belie his age -- Coronel 
Kautz also offered a few choice observations on the United 
States -- first professing his admiration for a true 
revolutionary, Thomas Jefferson, and for the American people. 
 He also suggested that the United States should recognize it 
is "the empire" and "behave accordingly".  He compared the 
United States to "a six-foot tall man who tries to pretend he 
is only 4 feet tall, and thus continually bumbles around and 
crashes into walls because he has built a room to small to 
accommodate himself."  Responding to our observation that 
Venezuela seems bent on becoming the "new empire," Coronel 
Kautz quipped, "Yes, Venezuela is trying, but they are not up 
to it." 
 
¶4.  (C) The Acting Foreign Minister also shared that his 
government is developing a national strategy, including a 
foreign policy section tasked to his ministry.  He explained 
that the centerpiece of the strategy is poverty reduction 
through a "zero hunger" initiative targeting the rural poor; 
education/literacy programs; health care; and, low-income 
housing.  The DCM noted parallels between these objectives 
and those highlighted by President Bush in his recent speech 
on the U.S. government's Western Hemisphere Policy and 
offered to forward a copy of the speech.  Accepting the 
offer, Coronel Kautz inquired about President Bush's trip to 
the region -- commenting that while he believes Bush's 
intentions are sincere, many people may not believe him, 
given the long-standing complicated relationship between the 
United States and the Latin American region.  Nonetheless, he 
acknowledged that the effort is worthwhile.  He also appeared 
intrigued by A/S Sullivan's remark in his recent meeting with 
President Ortega (septel) that the United States is prepared 
for "total economic engagement" with Nicaragua and requested 
information on this concept. 
 
¶5.  (C) Bio Note: Coronel Kautz is the son of famed 
Nicaraguan poet Jose Coronel Urtecho and Maria Kautz, a 
middle class family with sugar cane interests and 
Conservative Party roots.  An agronomist by training, Coronel 
Kautz joined the Sandinista movement in 1974.  After the 
Sandinistas came to power, he first served as the 
Agro-industry director of the Office of Agrarian Reform and 
later as the Vice Minister of Development and Agrarian 
Reform.  In a May 3, 1998 press interview, he argued that 
imperialism, whether from the United States or other states, 
is a reality that Nicaragua is in no position to confront. 
He advocated for a more realistic and less messianic approach 
towards imperialism. 
TRIVELLI