Contents of the United States diplomatic cables leak (Americas)

Contents of the United States diplomatic cables leak depict subjects in the Americas extensively. The leaks, which began on 28 November 2010, occurred when the website of WikiLeaks—an international new media non-profit organisation that publishes submissions of otherwise unavailable documents from anonymous news sources and news leaks—started to publish classified documents of detailed correspondence — diplomatic cables — between the United States Department of State and its diplomatic missions around the world. Since the initial release date, WikiLeaks released further documents every day.

Bahamas

Anna Nicole Smith

In a 15 November 2006 diplomatic cable, U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas John D. Rood wrote, "Not since the Category 4 Hurricane Betsy hit the island in 1965, has one woman done as much damage in Nassau", referring to the Anna Nicole Smith scandal in 2007.^[1][2] The diplomatic cable also reports that many government institutions and figures including, "Doctor's Hospital, the Coroner's Court, the Department of Immigration, local mega-lawyers Callenders and Co., formerly popular Minister of Immigration Shane Gibson, and possibly Prime Minister Perry Christie's PLP [(Progressive Liberal Party)] government remained in disarray resulting from the scandal unearthed over Smith's Bahamian residency application and the death of her son", Daniel.^[1][2]

Brazil

Military protection of natural resources

An American ambassador stated that Brazil remained "paranoid" over its ability to retain claims to the Amazon Rainforest and oil reserves, despite the knowledge that there are "no international threats" over them. The ambassador's rationales for Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's actions is that they "serve the practical purpose of tasking the military with developing greater capabilities" while remaining "politically popular white elephants."^[3]

Guantanamo Bay prisoners

The Brazilian government refused to receive detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.^[4]

Counter-terrorism efforts

The Brazilian government has obscured from the public an anti-terrorism cooperation with the U.S. and officially denies that Islamic militants performs in its territory.^[4] Brazilian authorities are concerned about terrorist activity in its territory, despite contrary public statements, according to a diplomatic cable, dated October 2009, sent from the U.S. Embassy in Brasília to the U.S. State Department.^[4]

2005 murder investigation

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was involved in the investigation of the 2005 death of Dorothy Stang — an American-born, Brazilian sister of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur order, who was murdered in Anapu, Brazil. The U.S. government feared corruption among Brazilian police would harm the investigation.^[5]

Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 air crash

According to documents sent by the U.S. Embassy in Brasília to the U.S. State Department in November 2006, some Brazilian diplomats pressured the Federal Justice to allow American pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino, involved in the 2006 Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 air crash, to return to their country of origin. In the accident, considered the second worst of commercial aviation in Brazil, 154 people died.^[6]

Article 98 Agreement refusal

The Brazilian government refused to sign an "Article 98 Agreement" with the U.S., which resulted in a cut of the IMET budget for the country. As a result, Brazil had to reduce drastically the number of Armed Forces personnel sent to train in the U.S., while it established military training treaties with France, Britain, China, India, and South Africa.^[7]

Refusal of funding the War in Afghanistan

On September 2008, the U.S. Embassy sought to borrow $ 5 million dollars from the Brazilian government for its military forces in the War in Afghanistan. The money would have been sent over five years, but the request was denied by the Foreign Ministry.^[8]

Canada

Counter-terrorism efforts

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director Jim Judd complained about Canada's courts and general public to U.S. Counselor of the State Department Eliot A. Cohen in Ottawa on 2 July 2008. He ascribed an "Alice in Wonderland" worldview to Canadians and their courts, whose judges have tied CSIS "in knots", making it ever more difficult to detect and prevent terror attacks in Canada and abroad.^[9]

2001 War in Afghanistan

Judd is quoted as telling Cohen that Canadian spies had prior warning that an explosion at Sarpoza Prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan was being planned by the Taliban. However, Judd stated that the spies "could not get a handle on the timing". An investigation headed by Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson, into intelligence failures leading to the prison break, claimed Canada did not suspect an attack. Former Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier stated in a committee hearing that "Obviously we would have liked to have known so we could have pre-empted or helped, more accurately, the Afghans pre-empt that kind of thing".^[10]

Hezbollah

CSIS officers have been "vigorously harassing" known Hezbollah members in Canada.^[10]

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and anti-American sentiment

U.S. diplomats in Ottawa wrote to Washington that the CBC pushes "insidious negative popular stereotyping" with "anti-American melodrama" in its entertainment television programs, according to documents released by the website WikiLeaks.^[11]

Guantanamo Bay interrogation film

Judd commented that cherry-picked sections of the court-ordered release of a DVD of Guantanamo detainee and Canadian citizen Omar Khadr would likely show three Canadian adults interrogating a kid who breaks down in tears. He observed that the images would no doubt trigger "knee-jerk anti-Americanism" and "paroxysms of moral outrage, a Canadian specialty", as well as lead to a new round of heightened pressure on the government to press for Khadr's return to Canada. He predicted that Harper's government would nonetheless continue to resist this pressure.^[12]

Ecuador

Immigration policy

The former Costa Rican director of immigration Mario Zamora complained in 2008 that the Ecuadorian "open doors" policy with foreigners was causing instability for the whole region. His concern was shared by ministers from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama.^[13]

El Salvador

McDonald's court case

McDonald's tried to delay the U.S. government from implementing the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) in order to put pressure on El Salvador to appoint neutral judges in a company's $24m (£15.5m), ten-year legal battle.^[14]

Haiti

United Nations Stabilisation Mission In Haiti

Brazil's Army leads MINUSTAH, a 12,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Haiti. According to cables, the Army is frustrated with the lack of an exit strategy.

Honduras

2009 Honduran coup d'état

A cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, definitively characterizes the June 2009 ousting of President Manuel Zelaya as "an illegal and unconstitutional coup".^[15] The decisiveness of the cable was not reflected in Clinton's reluctance to use such terminology in public statements and the U.S. State Department's failure to cut off all aid save "democracy assistance", as required by law in the case of a coup.^[16] The cable is also seemingly at odds with relatively rapid moves by the U.S., the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank to normalize relations with Honduras.^[17][18]

Jamaica

Caribbean drug trafficking

A diplomatic cable from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, written by Jonathan D. Farrar, Chief of Mission, documents Cuban claims that Jamaica allows drug smugglers to go about freely in Caribbean waters. According to the leaked cable, Cuban ministers complain that Jamaican coast guards "stand idly by". Furthermore, Cuban attempts to express frustration are ignored and met with "complete lack of cooperation". A subsequent British-organised meeting between the two nations ended with complaints that the Jamaican officers "just sat there and didn't say anything".^[19]

Citizenship issues of members of parliament

A diplomatic cable from the U.S. embassy in Kingston discussed an ongoing controversy between the ruling Jamaica Labour Party and opposition People's National Party over alleged foreign citizenships held by their respective MPs. The cable was released to the public in May 2011. One particularly controversial revelation therein was that Sharon Hay-Webster, who in August 2009 had publicly announced that she would renounce her U.S. citizenship, had in fact visited the embassy days later to withdraw her renunciation, and remained a U.S. citizen.^[20] The incident led Hay-Webster to resign her party membership, and she faced calls from both party members and the public to step down from parliament entirely.^[21][22]

Peru

Cocaine trafficking allegations

A 2009 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, states that the chief of the Peruvian Army, General Paul Da Silva, met in 2007 with fishing-industry executive Rolando Velasco possibly to coordinate drug shipments. Velasco was later arrested for trying to export 840 kg (1,852 pounds) of cocaine hidden in frozen fish. Da Silva has denied the charges, arguing that he met Velasco about a possible contract to supply calamari to the army.^[23]

United States

Guantanamo Bay detention camp

The U.S. bargained with other nations on moving prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to other countries. In one case, U.S. officials allegedly offered Slovenia a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, if the country accepted one of the Guantanamo Bay detainees.^[24][25] Offers to other countries include economic incentives or a visit from Obama.^[26]

Copenhagen global climate change summit

In 2009, the U.S. manipulated — via spying, threats, and bribes — the Copenhagen global climate change summit to coerce reticent participants into supporting the treaty. The U.S. punished countries such as Ecuador and Bolivia, which were deemed "unhelpful" for not signing the Copenhagen Accord, by cutting off millions of dollars in necessary funds;^[27] while, the U.S. relieved Saudi Arabia, the world's second-biggest oil producer and one of the twenty-five-richest countries in the world, of any kind of obligation.^[28] The U.S. used funds in millions of dollars to recruit the Maldives to sign the Copenhagen Accord, after it has relentlessly took a stand against it.^[29]

Support for dictatorial governments

See also: Tulip Revolution

The cables reveal how U.S. foreign policy secretly supported dictatorship in foreign countries (especially in Central Asia), in complete contradiction to U.S. values and the democracy it publicly preaches. This support is not passive, but the U.S. supported dictatorship actively by using tens of millions of American tax dollars. Askar Akayev, President of Kyrgyzstan, was the only democratically elected president in Central Asia; however, U.S. President George W. Bush ordered the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to depose him in a coup.^[30][31]

Bacha bazi in Afghanistan

In December 2009, DynCorp, a government contractor which is funded by U.S. tax dollars, officially sponsored a Bacha bazi for entertainment in Afghanistan. Bacha bazi is considered child prostitution, where "young boys are dressed up in women's clothing, forced to dance for leering men, and then sold for sex to the highest bidder."^[32]

April 8, 2003 journalist deaths

A cable, authored by Eduardo Aguirre, revealed that the U.S. government's obstruction of justice in the ongoing case of José Couso against the three U.S. soldiers, Shawn Gibson, Philip Wolford, and Philip DeCamp. The U.S. has pressured the Spanish justice system to drop the case and prevent any further investigation. José Couso was a Telecinco cameraman who was shot dead on April 8, 2003 in Baghdad, when a U.S. army tank knowingly opened fire on the Palestine Hotel, which was known to be occupied by over 200 journalists.^[33]

Attempts to force GMO food in Europe

Cables revealed that the US government supported Monsanto in selling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Europe, where controversy over GMOs is strong. In a specific 2007 cable, the US ambassador to France, Craig Roberts Stapleton, recommended "retaliation" against European "targets" in order to defend Monsanto ^[34]

Kidnapping and Torturing of Khalid El-Masri

A cable, directed to the then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, revealed the U.S. government's obstruction of justice in the case of Khalid El-Masri, a German citizen who was kidnapped by the CIA, and then flown to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was tortured and imprisoned, and then dumped in Albania two weeks after it was revealed he was innocent. The U.S. pressured Chancellor Merkel’s German government to drop any charges made against the 13 involved CIA agents and prevent any further investigation of the matter.^[35][36][37]

Operation: Just Cause

A secret cable revealed that the US has killed 400 to 4000 civilians during the Panama invasion, which left thousands homeless (due to the burning of blocks of apartment), and increased crime, drug trafficking, and the unemployment rate. The economic damage caused by the U.S. invasion is estimated to be between 1.5 and 2 billion dollars.^[38][39]

Venezuela

Nuclear policy

John Caulfield, the deputy chief of mission at American embassy in Caracas had minimized Hugo Chávez's plans to build nuclear reactors in Venezuela. "Although rumours that Venezuela is providing Iran with Venezuelan-produced uranium may help burnish the government's revolutionary credentials, there seems to be little basis in reality to the claims" he reported to Washington in one cable.^[40]

FARC

A cable sent from the U.S. embassy in Brasilia on 13 November 2009 reported that Nelson Jobim, Brazil's Minister of Defence, "all but acknowledged presence of the FARC in Venezuela". ^[41]

Cuba–Venezuela relations

Spanish newspaper El País released some information about the remaining Venezuelan cables, not released yet at the WikiLeaks webpage. These cables supposedly deal with issues related to Cuban intelligence in Venezuela working together with the Venezuelan government.^{[citation needed]}

Public healthcare

A cable sent from the U.S. embassy in Caracas on 14 December 2009 explains what the embassy considers to be the situation of the Venezuelan public-health system and the government actions related to the public-health sector. This in the context of raised protests in private and public hospitals with motivation in the alleged failure of Barrio Adentro, a social-welfare program, with support of Cuban doctors, that seeks to provide comprehensive publicly funded health care, dental care, and sports training to poor and marginalized communities in Venezuela.^[42]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Copy of diplomatic cable dated 15 November 2006 (21 December 2010). "US Embassy Cables: Hurricane Anna Nicole Wreaks Havoc in the Bahamas". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
2. ^ ^{a b} Hill, Amelia (23 December 2008). "WikiLeaks Cables: How 'Hurricane Anna Nicole' Blew Away the Bahamas — Island Was Intoxicated by Antics of Former Model and Her Death Unwittingly Led to Government Scrutiny, Say Cables". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/21/wikileaks-cables-anna-nicole-smith-bahamas. Retrieved 23 December 2010. 
3. ^ (registration required) Staff writer (1 December 2010). "Brazil 'Paranoid' on Amazon Rainforest, WikiLeaks Cables Suggest". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Staff writer (15 December 2010). "Confira os Principais Dados Publicados Pelo WikiLeaks" (in Portuguese language). Agence France-Presse (via noticias.terra.br). Retrieved 17 December 2010.
5. ^ Staff writer (15 December 2010). "FBI Participou de Investigação da Morte de Dorothy Stang; EUA Temiam Corrupção Entre Policiais Brasileiros" (in Portuguese language). Veja. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
6. ^ Maltchik, Roberto; Marqueiro, Paulo (21 December 2010). "Atendendo Aos EUA, Diplomata Do Itamaraty Pediu a Juízes por Liberação de Pilotos Americanos" (in Portuguese language). O Globo. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
7. ^ Kawaguti, Luis (21 December 2010). "Brasil diminuiu parceria militar com EUA após sofrer pressão para assinar acordo, revela WikiLeaks". Folha de S. Paulo. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
8. ^ Viana, Natália (13 January 2011). "EUA pediram a Brasil US$ 5 mi para exército do Afeganistão". CartaCapital. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
9. ^^{[unreliable source?]}Vermeulen, Mathias (30 November 2010). "Canadian Intelligence Head Criticized Role of Courts in Anti-Terrorism Cases". The Lift. http://legalift.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/canadian-intelligence-head-criticized-role-of-courts-in-anti-terrorism-cases/. Retrieved 3 December 2010. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Potter, Mitch (30 November 2010). "Canada Has 'Alice In Wonderland' Attitude on Terrorism: Wikileaks". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/898263--canada-has-alice-in-wonderland-attitude-on-terrorism-wikileaks. Retrieved 30 November 2010. 
11. ^ Staff writer (1 December 2010)."CBC Shows Anti-U.S. 'Melodrama': WikiLeaks". CBC News. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
12. ^ Wilkins (2008-07-09). Counselor, CSIS Director Discuss CT Threats, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran. U.S. Embassy, Ottawa/WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks cable:08OTTAWA918. Archived from the original on 2011-01-02. http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/07/08OTTAWA918.html. Retrieved 2010-12-16. 
13. ^ Umaňa V. (17 December 2010). "Wikileaks: Zamora habría criticado política migratoria de Ecuador [WikiLeaks: Zamora had criticized Ecuadorian migratory policy]" (in Spanish). La Nación. http://www.nacion.com/2010-12-17/ElPais/UltimaHora/ElPais2626685.aspx. 
14. ^ Boseley, Sarah (21 December 2008). "WikiLeaks cables: McDonald's used US to put pressure on El Salvador". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/21/wikileaks-cables-mcdonalds-us-el-salvador?intcmp=239. Retrieved 24 December 2010. 
15. ^ Potter, Rich (29 November 2010). "US Embassy in Honduras Recognized Zelaya's Removal as an Illegal Coup". Transd[e]uce. http://transdeuce.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/us-embassy-in-honduras-declares-zelayas-removal-an-illegal-coup/. Retrieved 29 November 2010. 
16. ^ Naiman, Robert (29 November 2010). "WikiLeaks Honduras: State Dept. Busted on Support of Coup". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/wikileaks-honduras-state_b_789282.html. Retrieved 29 November 2010. 
17. ^ Long, Chrissie (5 March 2010). "United States To Restore Aid to Honduras in Step Toward Normalized Ties". The Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0305/United-States-to-restore-aid-to-Honduras-in-step-toward-normalized-ties. Retrieved 29 November 2010. 
18. ^ Staff writer (16 April 2010). "World Bank and IMF Restore Relations with Honduras". Bretton Woods Project. http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art-566130. Retrieved 29 November 2010. 
19. ^ Carroll, Rory (14 December 2010). "WikiLeaks Cables: Jamaica Accused of Aiding Drug Smugglers — US Embassy Cables Reveal Claims of Jamaican Officials Being Bribed To Give Drug Traffickers Free Rein Across the Caribbean". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
20. ^ "'Wiki' leak leaves Hay-Webster mum", Jamaica Gleaner, 2011-05-23, http://mobile.jamaicagleaner.com/gleaner/20110523/lead/lead5.php, retrieved 2011-07-01 
21. ^ Henry, Paul (2011-06-29), "Sharon leaves PNP: 'This is not the party I know', says MP", Jamaica Observer, http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Sharon-leaves-PNP-This-is-not-the-party-I-know--says-MP_9097307, retrieved 2011-07-01 
22. ^ Turner, Rasbert (2011-07-01), "Sharon Hay-Webster Lost Credibility - Bunting", Jamaica Gleaner, http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110701/news/news2.html, retrieved 2011-07-01 
23. ^ Staff writer (13 December 2010). "Peru Army Chief Denies U.S. Cable about Drug Links". Reuters. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6BC3XR20101213. Retrieved 14 December 2010. 
24. ^ (registration required) "Cables Obtained by WikiLeaks Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels". The New York Times. 28 November 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/world/29cables.html?_r=1. 
25. ^ Staff writer (29 November 2010). "WikiLeaks Omenja Tudi Slovenijo: Če Bi Sprejeli Ujetnika iz Guantanama, Bi Pahor Lahko Obiskal Obamo [WikiLeaks Mentions Slovenia Too: If We Would Accept a Detainee from Guantanamo, Pahor Could Visit Obama]" (in Slovene language). http://www.dnevnik.si/novice/svet/1042406468. Retrieved 12 December 2010. 
26. ^ Staff writer (28 November 2010). "Foreign Policy Meltdown — Leaked Cables Reveal True US Worldview". Der Spiegel. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,731583,00.html. Retrieved 11 December 2010. 
27. ^ Staff writer (7 December 2010). "Guardian Environment Editor John Vidal on WikiLeaks Cables and U.S. Manipulation of Climate Talks". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
28. ^ Carrington, Damian (3 December 2010). "WikiLeaks Cables Reveal How US Manipulated Climate Accord — Embassy Dispatches Show America Used Spying, Threats and Promises of Aid to Get Support for Copenhagen Accord". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
29. ^ Staff writer (6 December 2010). "Pablo Solón Responds to Secret U.S. Manipulation of Climate Talks Revealed in WikiLeaks Cable". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
30. ^ Rall, Ted (8 December 2010). "Cables Reveal Background of Pro-Dictator U.S. Policy". Common Dreams NewsCenter. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
31. ^ Charles II (28 November 2010). "US Role in Establishing Honduran Dictatorship". Blog on Daily Kos. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
32. ^ Kloer, Amanda (8 December 2010). "Wikileaks Reveals U.S. Tax Dollars Fund Child Sex Slavery in Afghanistan". Change.org. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
33. ^ Leaked Cables Reveal U.S. Pressured Spain to Drop Case of Cameraman Killed in 2003 Attack on Journalists in Baghdad
34. ^ urope over Monsanto GM Crops.
35. ^ The El-Masri Cable
36. ^ Viewing cable 07BERLIN242, AL-MASRI CASE -- CHANCELLERY AWARE OF USG CONCERNS
37. ^ Wikileaks and the El-Masri case: Innocent CIA torture victim more than just a leaked cable
38. ^ http://crowdleak.net/1989-coup-in-panama/
39. ^ http://wikileaks.ch/cable/1989/12/89PANAMA8545.html
40. ^ Carroll, Rory (9 December 2009). "WikiLeaks Cables Dismiss Hugo Chávez's Nuclear Ambitions — Leaked Dispatches Describe Venezuelan Government as Too Shambolic and Broke To Exploit Uranium or Build Reactors". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/09/wikileaks-cables-venezuela-chavez-nuclear. Retrieved 9 December 2010. 
41. ^ Kubiska, Lisa (2009-11-13). Charge Discusses Security Cooperation, Fighter Sale and Colombia with Mod Jobim. WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks cable:09BRASILIA1315. Archived from the original on 2011-01-02. http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/11/09BRASILIA1315.html. Retrieved 2010-12-16. 
42. ^ Duddy (2009-12-14). Venezuela's medical system in disarray as GBRV shifts resources to Barrio Adentro. WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks cable:09CARACAS1551. Archived from the original on 2011-01-02. http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/12/09CARACAS1551.html. Retrieved 2010-12-16. 

External links

• Secret US Embassy Cables website by WikiLeaks
• The US embassy cables by The Guardian
• State's Secrets by The New York Times
• WikiLeaks Diplomatic Cables by Der Spiegel
• WikiLeaks cables about Brazil by CartaCapital
• Dedicated News Website
• Dutch Wikileaks Mirror by WikiLeaks
• All Cables on Google Fusion Tables
• Cablesearch.org Full text search of released cables.