Journalicious Dots from Switzerland

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CEN (A.KRAAIMOORE) AND EUR/CE (Y.SAINT-ANDRE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/23/2018
TAGS: EAID PGOV PREL NU SZ
SUBJECT: SWISS REACTION TO CALL FOR FREEZING NON-HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO NICARAGUA FOLLOWING FRAUDULENT ELECTIONS

REF: SECSTATE 132044

Classified By: Acting POL/E Counselor Chris Buck; reasons 1.4(b) and (d
).

¶1. (SBU) Poloff shared reftel talking points with Nora Kronig, Regional Coordinator for Central and South America at the SWISS Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA), and Mathias Domenig, South American Desk Officer for EDA, on December 22. In response to the USG call to freeze non-humanitarian assistance to Nicaragua following the fraudulent municipal elections of November 9, Kronig said that Switzerland had been concerned about the elections and that the GON should have allowed international observers to monitor them. She added that, because Switzerland now holds the rotating presidency of the Donors Group of Nicaragua, the GOS had sought dialogue with the GON regarding this issue. She did not offer results of this attempt for dialogue.

¶2. (SBU) Kronig stated that the allocation of SWISS budget support to foreign countries, including Nicaragua, was decided at the Federal Council (Executive Cabinet) level, and that policy recommendations in this regard were prepared by the EDA in collaboration with the SWISS State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

¶3. (C) Given the high-level at which budget support decisions are made, Kronig was therefore unable to give a definitive answer regarding whether the GOS would freeze non-humanitarian assistance to Nicaragua. Off the record, however, Kronig said that she saw this step as unlikely, noting that the GOS prefers to address such problems through direct dialogue with the recipient country. Kronig added that the SWISS Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) also has a program focused on Nicaragua, and that she did not personally think that assistance would be halted by SDC either.

¶4. (U) Kronig said that she would advise poloff of the coordinated GOS response to reftel demarche once available, noting that she would not likely have an answer before January 2009. CARTER

DE RUEHSW #0655 3581630
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 231630Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BERN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5555

XTAGS: XTAGEAID, XTAGPGOV, XTAGPREL, XTAGNU, XTAGSZ 08BERN655