VZCZCXRO8669
PP RUEHBI RUEHCD RUEHDE RUEHGD RUEHGH RUEHHM
DE RUCNDT #0134 0441939
ZNY CCCCC ZZH ZDK (COR COPY)
P 131939Z FEB 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3723
INFO RUCNOAS/OASGA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0253

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000134 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D   C O P Y   (COR ROUTING INDICATOR) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR IO AND WHA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNGA XK XL XM BR DR GT PA PM
SUBJECT: UNGA 63: NICARAGUAN CANDIDACY FOR PGA 
 
REF: A) USUN 34 B) 07 USUN 941 C) USUN 00097 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, Deputy Permanent Represen 
tative, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
(C) During a one-on-one lunch on February 11, Ambassador 
Khalilzad raised U.S. concerns with the candidacy of Miguel 
D'Escoto for PGA with Panamanian FM Lewis Navarro.  FM Lewis 
Navarro agreed that D'Escoto was a bad choice for PGA and the 
region, and further noted that the Nicaraguan was too ill to 
do the job. He agreed to work with the U.S. to help identify 
an alternate candidate, suggesting Paraguay or Guatemala as 
preferred options.  He recommended that the U.S. and Panama 
reach out together to the Brazilians, requesting their 
engagement on finding a suitable candidate to represent 
GRULAC.  Lewis Navarro thought a useful argument could be 
that, as a matter of balance with two Central American states 
on the Security Council, a South American ought to represent 
GRULAC as PGA. In this case, Paraguay, in particular 
Paraguayan UN PermRep Loizaga, would be the ideal candidate. 
Lewis Navarro predicted that once an alternative candidate 
came forward, others would follow, breaking the emerging (and 
otherwise perhaps inevitable?) consensus D'Escoto enjoys 
because of lack of competition. 
WOLFF