O P 021848Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRAIA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1704
AMEMBASSY DAKAR IMMEDIATE 
INFO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 
USEUCOM JIC VAIHINGEN GE
ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY ACCRA PRIORITY 
DIA WASHINGTON DC
CIA WASHDC
AMEMBASSY LUANDA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY MAPUTO PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY LISBON PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY PRAIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRAIA 000063 
 
 
ACCRA FOR USAID 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/W 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO USAID CONFLICT RESOLUTION OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/2/2019 
TAGS: PREL KPKO SNAR PU CV
SUBJECT: CAPE VERDE TO HOST ECOWAS GUINEA BISSAU ROUND TABLE; INVITES 
USG PARTICIAPTION 
 
REF: PRAIA 0051 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Marianne Myles, Ambassador, AMEMBASSY PRAIA, 
State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  Cape Verde Foreign Minister Jose Brito convoked 
Ambassador on 27 March for a briefing on the results of the 
meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Community of Portuguese 
Speaking Countries (CPLP) that took place in Praia on Wednesday 
25 March.  According to Brito, the CPLP countries that are most 
interested in helping Guinea Bissau are Angola, Portugal and 
Brazil.  Brito wants to rally international help to investigate 
the recent assassinations, stabilize the country, and assist 
with timely progress towards national elections (though he 
admitted it was unlikely Guinea Bissau could meet the 
constitutionally mandated goal of an election within 60 days). 
In pursuit of these goals, and in support of ECOWAS actions to 
date, Brito and ECOWAS are calling for an international 
conference on the future of security reform in Guinea Bissau, to 
take place in Praia, Cape Verde, on 20 April.  Secretary of 
State Clinton has been invited to participate.  End Summary 
 
¶2. (C) As previewed in reftel, Brito individually addressed the 
issues that had been outlined in the ECOWAS communique of March 
¶19.  He covered: 
 
a)  Impunity:  Brito pointed out that the assassinated 
Bissau-Guinean Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Tagme Na Waie, was 
the third GOGB official to suffer that fate.  He therefore 
believes it is critical for an international commission to find 
out what really happened.  The process of national 
reconciliation cannot start until this is put to rest, he said. 
However, for the inquiry into the assassinations to be useful, 
there needs to be protection or no one will speak up. GOGB 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Adiatu Djalo Nandingna told 
Brito confidentially that she does not feel safe and cannot 
speak freely.  The Minister of the Army reportedly said 
privately that if he says publicly what he knows, then he "will 
be a dead man tomorrow," and the Attorney General has made 
similar comments. 
 
b)  Elections:  Guinea Bissau simply has no technical capacity 
to hold elections in 60 days, Brito said.  The interim president 
needs the political agreement of all parties, including civil 
society, to decide upon a later date.  He saw the only two 
options as June/July or November (the intervening months 
constituting the rainy season when it would be impossible for 
people to get to the polls). (Note: Since this 27 March meeting 
with Brito, on 2 April, the Government of Guinea Bissau 
announced that the national elections would indeed be pushed 
back to 120 days from the original 60, suggesting an election 
would be held in late June.  End note.)  Even with such a delay, 
Guinea Bissau will need money to pay the costs of the election; 
Brito opined that this is critical so that lack of money cannot 
be cited as an excuse for not holding elections in a timely 
fashion.  Brito noted that there are several candidates who 
might be viable; however, Guinea Bissau is now at a crossroads 
and needs a president who will be a unifier, not a divider.  He 
further opined that Guinea Bissau's PAIGC party can determine 
the elections -- if the party is united and supports a 
candidate, that candidate will win.  However, if the party is 
divided, then it will not be clear where the power center will 
go.  Whatever happens, Brito said, there needs to be 
impartiality on the part of the government.  According to Brito, 
last week the Prime Minister said publicly that the interim 
president would be a good president and outside 
influence/interference in the process is not acceptable. 
 
c)  Security of physical institutions:  According to Brito, 
following the deaths of President Vieira and Chief of Staff 
Tagme Na Waie, the military is firmly in control in Guinea 
Bissau and no one feels safe.  There was not a coup in the 
normal sense, but there was in his view a "virtual coup," since 
no one is prepared to say or do anything that is contrary to the 
wishes of the military.  Brito reported that a lawyer was taken 
to jail for talking against the new chief of staff. (Comment: 
Brito could be referring to former Prime Minister and opposition 
party leader Francisco Jose Fadul, who told press on April 2 
that he had been assaulted and intimidated by "men in uniform." 
End Comment.) President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Mohamed 
Ibn Chambas traveled to New York the week of March 31 where he 
reportedly will look into the possibility of UN peacekeeping 
troops being deployed -- even though there is no visible war 
underway in Guinea Bissau. 
 
d)  Drugs:  It is essential to stop the flow of drugs through 
Guinea Bissau, Brito said, as drugs are such a destabilizing 
factor.  According to Brito, Brazil and Angola are prepared to 
send troops if requested by the UN.  Brito reported that Angola 
is even prepared to send in troops unilaterally, even though 
they recognize such a move could be problematic.  Since the U.S. 
is on the UN Security Council, Brito would like to see the U.S. 
agree to the deployment of UN troops to Guinea Bissau. 
 
e)  Security reform in Guinea Bissau has been talked about for 
several years.  Guinea Bissau has asked for help at the ECOWAS 
level in the past, but the situation has not changed.  The 
largest problem in Guinea Bissau, said Brito, is the army.  The 
troops do not have decent living conditions (for example, they 
have neither mattresses nor kitchens in the barracks) and "they 
think like freedom fighters -- they will listen to anyone who 
promises them a better life."  The composition of the army is 
badly unbalanced, Brito said: 80% of the army is officers and 
only 20% troops.  Clearly the armed forces need to be 
restructured.  (Comment:  This echoes the comments of the Cape 
Verdean Director General of Defense Pedro Reis, who told DCM 
recently that while the CV Armed Forces had professionalized, 
reformed to meet the new threats, and submitted to civilian 
control, the GB Armed Forces has done none of those things.  End 
comment.) Brito is also concerned over the lack of control and 
hierarchy within the armed forces, noting that 95% of the GBAF 
are from the same ethnic tribe, the Balanta, a tribe that he 
described as horizontal with no hierarchy.  Their society is 
composed of several groups, he said, which is not a workable 
arrangement in the army context. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In an invitation dated 31 March and signed jointly by 
GOCV Foreign Minister Brito and GOGB Foreign Minister Maria 
Adiatu Djalo Nandingna, Brito and Nandingna convey the ECOWAS 
Security and Mediation Council's 19 March decision to formally 
call for a Round Table of the coordination and implementation of 
a program of reform of the defense and security sectors in 
Guinea Bissau. The two ministers go on to formally invite the 
participation of Secretary of State Clinton at the event, 
scheduled for 20 April.  (A copy of the invitation and the 
ECOWAS-supplied informal translation will be provided to AF/W.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) In preparation for the April 20 event, ECOWAS has 
prepared a concept paper, dated 30 March.  In this concept 
paper, they make clear their view that "it is imperative to move 
quickly form planning to action.  It is time to move from 
developing action plans and making pledges to implementation, 
before the situation deteriorates further...  The roundtable is 
not a conference to develop yet another strategy document.  It 
is also not another pledging conference...the roundtable will 
have to be used to reach a consensus, develop a road map and 
reach and agreement to initiate the daunting task ahead with the 
appropriate institutional framework and process for follow-ups, 
monitoring, and evaluation.  Additionally, the roundtable must 
be used to obtain the commitment by all actors to undertaking 
the necessary actions." (A copy of the concept paper will be 
provided to AF/W.) 
 
 
MYLES