VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #2086 2542300
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 112300Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1248
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0340

UNCLAS MANAGUA 002086 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDOC FOR 4332/ITA/MAC/WH/MSIEGELMAN 
3134/ITA/USFCS/OIO/WH/MKESHISHIAN/BARTHUR 
STATE PASS USTR 
COMMERCE PASS USPTO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR ETRD ECON NU
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA UNLIKELY TO SUPPORT U.S. POSITION ON IPR ISSUES 
IN THE WHO 
 
REFS: A. SECSTATE 121503; B. MANAGUA 839 
 
¶1.  Summary: Econoff delivered Ref. A talking points to Ministry of 
Trade, Industry, and Development (MIFIC) officials on September 6 to 
inform them of the World Health Organization (WHO) Intergovernmental 
Working Group (IGWG) process on public health and IPR issues and to 
seek their support for pragmatic approaches to counter a negative 
IPR agenda expected to be offered by some countries at regional IGWG 
consultations in September.  MIFIC officials responded that the best 
we could hope for is that Nicaragua would remain neutral on this 
issue.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  Econoff delivered Ref. A talking points to MIFIC officials on 
September 6 to inform them of the WHO IGWG process on public health 
and IPR issues and to seek their support for pragmatic approaches to 
counter a negative IPR agenda expected to be offered by some 
countries at regional IGWG consultations in September.  In 
attendance for MIFIC were Sonia Somarriba, Director General for 
International Trade; Jesus Bermudez, Director for Trade Agreement 
Implementation; and Ambrosia Lezama Zelaya, former Director of the 
Intellectual Property Registry, now acting as Somarriba's Senior 
Advisor on IPR. 
 
¶3.  Zelaya told Econoff that at the IGWG meeting in Ottawa September 
20-21, Nicaragua would be unlikely to publicly rebut objections 
voiced by others to IPR provisions included in our free trade 
agreement.  She explained that access to medicines is an extremely 
sensitive issue for the Ortega Administration.  She added that there 
was a severe shortage of medicines in Nicaragua, especially in the 
Atlantic coast region recently devastated by Hurricane Felix.  She 
also noted that the amendment to the TRIPs Agreement to allow 
countries to export medicines under compulsory license to countries 
lacking local capacity, like Nicaragua, had not yet been approved. 
Zelaya promised to consult with Vice Minister Veronica Rojas, but 
she believes the best we could hope for is that Nicaragua would 
remain neutral on this issue. 
 
¶4.  Comment: MIFIC's core trade team has survived eight months of 
the Ortega Administration.  Unlike many other ministries that have 
been gutted, MIFIC has kept its professional staff.  However, these 
professionals now operate in a very different political environment 
than what existed during the Bolanos Administration.  We can expect 
them to use their technical expertise to push the Sandinista 
economic agenda (Ref. B) through CAFTA-DR and international forums. 
End Comment. 
 
End text. 
 
TRIVELLI