VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #1934 2281924
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 161924Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8975
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWN/AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PRIORITY 2091
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0805
RUEHGE/AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN PRIORITY 0998
RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON PRIORITY 2780
RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO PRIORITY 1132
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE PRIORITY 4669
RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN PRIORITY 1833
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMISTA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 001934 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR; USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL UNGA CS DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICANS CALL IN CHARGE ON SECURITY COUNCIL 
CANDIDACY 
 
REF: A. SANTO DOMINGO 0756 
 
     ¶B. STATE 46366 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request; please see para. 5. 
 
¶2. (U) Background:  The Dominican Republic announced its 
candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations 
Security Council (UNSC) for the 2008-2009 period prior to the 
2006 General Assembly.  At the time, they were also 
positioning themselves as a possible compromise candidate in 
the event of a deadlock between Venezuela and Guatemala. 
Prior to today, the last Security Council candidacy demarche 
received by Post was in April (Ref A), at which time we 
replied that it is the U.S. practice to defer to the views of 
the regional groupings (Ref B). 
 
¶3. (SBU) On August 16, Foreign Minister Morales called the 
Charge in to receive a demarche on the Dominican candidacy 
for the UNSC.  Because of a schedule conflict, the Charge was 
received by Deputy Foreign Minister Trullols.  Trullols laid 
out the Dominican case for UNSC membership: 
 
-- The Dominican Republic has never served on the UNSC and 
Costa Rica (their challenger) has served on two occasions. 
 
-- On the last instance that the Dominicans ran, they ceded 
to Mexico.  It would not be appropriate for them to cede 
again, since the Dominicans are one of only a very small 
number of founding members of the UN to never have been a 
UNSC member. 
 
-- As a founding member of the UN, the Dominican Republic has 
been an active and responsible participant in a variety of UN 
bodies. 
 
-- If Costa Rica were to be elected, two Central American 
countries would be on the Council (Panama is a current 
member), but the Caribbean would not be represented. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Trullols also described the Dominican Republic's 
diplomatic offensive to gain a seat on the UNSC.  FM Morales 
will travel shortly to Europe and then on to Asia to seek the 
support of countries in those regions.  He also plans to a 
visit to Brazil in this near-term, where a number of African 
foreign ministers will be gathering for an international 
meeting.  Trullols recently returned from North Africa, where 
he pressed the Dominican candidacy, and will travel soon to 
New York to meeting with permanent representatives to the UN, 
with a particular emphasis on African states.  Alejandra 
Liriano, who is also a Deputy Foreign Minister, will visit 
CARICOM countries in the coming days.  Trullols told the 
Charge that the Dominican Republic currently had 25 votes 
confirmed and an additional 50 promised. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Action request:  Given that the Dominican diplomatic 
push is targeting the entire General Assembly, it is clear 
that they do not expect a consensus to emerge within the 
Latin America and Caribbean group.  Post therefore requests 
updated guidance on how to respond to the Dominican request 
for U.S. support for their UNSC candidacy. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT:  While he has not said so explicitly, we 
believe FM Morales seeks U.S. support for the Dominican 
candidacy as a response to their vote in favor of Guatemala 
last year.  At the time, Morales made a point of informing 
Post that he personally traveled to New York to cast the vote 
himself. 
 
(U) This report and additional information can be found on 
Embassy Santo Domingo's SIPRNET site, 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/  
BULLEN