TelegramC O N F I D E N T I A L   UNESCOPARI   12152263 
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INFO RUCNSCO/UNESCO COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS FR 002263 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2018 
TAGS: PREL UNESCO PE
SUBJECT:  KILLION MEETING WITH PERUVIAN AMBASSADOR TO UNESCO HARRY 
BELEVAN-MCBRIDE 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR LOUISE OLIVER FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Offering a possible Latin solution to bring new 
candidates into the DG race, Peru's Ambassador to UNESCO suggested 
that journalist, author and essayist  Vargas Llosa has expressed 
interest in running.  He also discussed the problems posed by the 
rift within the Latin American electoral group, and the problems it 
could cause in the DG race.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) Majority Staff Member 
David Killion met with Peru's Ambassador to UNESCO, Harry 
Belevan-McBride on 9 December at the Peruvian Ambassador's Residence. 
 He was accompanied by Ambassador Oliver and Mission political 
specialist, David Ostroff. 
 
¶3.  (C) Mr. Killion began the meeting by explaining the purpose of 
his trip to Paris, which was to express the serious concern of the 
HFAC regarding the candidacy of Egypt's Farouk Hosni for the position 
of Director-General of UNESCO.  Mr. Killion said that the HFAC was 
advising President-elect Obama's transition team on UNESCO matters, 
and wanted to communicate to both Member State representatives and 
key Secretariat managers that the incoming Democrats are likely to 
share the Bush administration's belief that Hosni, as an individual, 
was unacceptable.  Killion also said that UNESCO is likely to be seen 
as an important vehicle for the Obama administration to further its 
"soft power" agenda, though Hosni's election as DG would seriously 
compromise UNESCO's potential, as far as the U.S. is concerned. 
 
¶4.  (C) Ambassador Oliver asked Ambassador Belevan-McBride about the 
possible candidacy of the highly respected Peruvian author, 
journalist and essayist, Mario Vargas Llosa.  Belevan said that 
Vargas Llosa, who is an old friend, had told Peru's President Garcia 
that he was interested in the position, but Belevan said that he 
could honestly not see Vargas Llosa dealing with the day to day 
administration of the organization. 
 
¶5.  (C) Belevan also said that Vargas Llosa, in his syndicated 
column, had, over the years, irritated, provoked or angered everyone 
from Putin, to Garcia, China to Cuba, leaving no one unscathed. 
Belevan said that this might create some animosity to his candidacy, 
but Ambassador Olvier said that with proper preparation and a 
sophisticated public relations initiative, it might be possible to 
turn negative into positive, demonstrating Vargas Llosa's honesty and 
intellect.  Adding that such a campaign would be difficult, but 
possible, Oliver said that Vargas Llosa's candidacy should not be 
automatically dismissed despite his candid comments over the years. 
 
¶6.  (C) Belevan also said that he feared that Cuba, Venezuela, 
Bolivia and possibly Ecuador would break consensus with the Latin 
American group against Vargas Llosa.  Belevan said, however, that the 
Cubans are serious in their diplomacy in terms of working with their 
Latin neighbors, and would probably not attack Vargas Llosa publicly, 
even if they decided not to join consensus.  He added, on the other 
hand, that the Venezuelans would probably get up on the table and 
yell.  Belevan said that it would be likely that Chile and Argentina 
would support a Vargas Llosa candidacy.  (Note:  Belevan also 
mentioned that Argentina is interested in floating Minister of 
Education Daniel Filmus as candidate for the presidency of the next 
UNESCO  General Conference.  End note.)  Ambassador Oliver then asked 
about the possibility of former hostage Ingrid Betancourt being 
supported by Colombia.  Belevan said that though there have been some 
rumors about her running, he does not believe she is interested at 
this time. 
 
¶7.  (C) Returning to the possibility of Vargas Llosa's candidacy, 
Belevan said that it would be, in a sense, returning to UENSCO's 
intellectual roots, while also noting that Vargas Llosa is also a 
political animal, having run unsuccessfully for Peru's presidency in 
¶1990.  Ambassador Oliver said that in her conversations with 
different ambassadors, it was clear that everyone is looking for a 
candidate who will bring both stature and intellect to the 
organization, moving away from the competent functionary of the 
Matsuura mold, and will need to be able to articulate UNESCO's spirit 
to others in fluent French, English and/or Spanish. 
 
¶8.   Ambassador Belevan asked whether the U.S. would support another 
Arab candidate besides Hosni.  Ambassador Oliver responded by saying 
that we want the best person possible, adding that if they come from 
the Arab world - great.   Mr. Killion mentioned that the Mubaraks 
have worked hard to make sure that there is no other Arab candidate 
for the DG race, though clearly, there are other viable Arab 
candidates out there who have much greater stature than Hosni. 
Ambassador Oliver said that it would reflect badly on UNESCO as an 
organization if, in the end we were unable to get fellow Member 
States to present seriously qualified candidates, and were forced to 
choose from one Culture Minister and two relatively unknown 
ambassadors. 
 
¶8. (C) Ambassador Oliver also told Belevan that other countries, like 
China, need UNESCO and, more importantly,, a UNESCO that the U.S. is 
a part of.  She said that UNESCO gets its credibility from U.S. 
involvement, and added that others, including the Russians also need 
 
UNESCOPARI 12152263  002 OF 002 
 
 
a strong UNESCO for their public relations strategies of the moment. 
UNESCO Member States' inability to field strong candidates would be a 
sign of a weak and ineffective UNESCO. 
 
¶9. (C) Regarding public criticism of Hosni, Belevan suggested that 
the Israelis should stay out of the picture, and let the U.S. and the 
Europeans take the lead in denouncing Hosni's book burning comments. 
Belevan ended the meeting by saying that he would definitely pass 
along Killion's message of a united U.S. position regarding the Hosni 
candidature when he meets with his Latin counterparts in the coming 
days. 
 
OLIVER