US State Department cables from places I have served plus items from my time as a UN peacekeeper. To increase public awareness of how diplomacy and peacekeeping are (were) actually done. All cables cleared by USG FOIA procedure. Cables are mostly those sent under my name from my posts but also others in which I was directly involved. UN documents and other items will also include occasional notes and background. Most recent in series on top with cables under the new series of UN documents.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Friday, June 3, 2016
Cables and More Released through FOIA
As I post cables and other material from my own service abroad, I also wish to note that the US National Archives (NARA) posts old diplomatic cables, as mandated by US law for automatic declassification of most material after 25 years. NARA is 11 years behind (because the US Congress shorts its budget and no one seems to complain). The State Department FOIA office posts material as well – including Hillary email – and also allows requests online.
Those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Friday, May 20, 2016
99 Brasilia 02437: Castro Charms His Way Through Brazil
Note: All Embassy cables go out under the name of the Ambassador or Charge. The person listed as classifier was probably the drafter. The key word in the last paragraph is "ponder" not "poder," which is the Portuguese word for "power" or the verb "to be able" thus perhaps the slip of mind.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Brazil Cables Begin: 99 Brasilia 02431
I worked at the NSC 1998-99 and covered, among others, Brazil. The President's nominee for Ambassador to Brazil -- Brian Atwood -- picked me to be his deputy (DCM). In the event, Mr. Atwood was prevented from serving because of opposition from Senator Jesse Helms. When I arrived at post in July 1999, and until leaving in January 2000, I served as chargé d'affaires. Over the next several months, I will be posting cables from Embassy Brasilia during that period as released through a FOIA request. I begin with the earliest.
Monday, May 9, 2016
A Belizean Interlude: Perhaps How Not to Say Goodbye
Served as DCM in Belize City 1994-96. The Ambassador was a political appointee from New Hampshire. The US had various international crime issues with the Belizean government and as my tour was drawing to a close, we thought I might be used to deliver a tough message through an interview with a local newspaper (the Reporter). The government was not pleased and suggested it would have PNG'd me but I was already leaving. (Clever American diplomacy in action.) The pro-government People's Pulse then responded. On the day I left, while at the airport with my son waiting for the plane, Belizean police approached me and suggested that they could, if they wished, plant drugs on me and use that to arrest me. What fun. Here follows the relevant press pieces.
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