Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03SANTIAGO263
2003-01-29 10:24:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Santiago
Cable title:  

BIO FOR JUAN GABRIEL VALDES, CHILE'S PERMREP TO

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR UNSC CI 
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R 291024Z JAN 03
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9403
INFO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
USMISSION GENEVA 
DIA WASHDC
CIA WASHDC
NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTIAGO 000263 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2008
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR UNSC CI
SUBJECT: BIO FOR JUAN GABRIEL VALDES, CHILE'S PERMREP TO
THE UN

REF: 02 SANTIAGO 3279

CLASSIFIED BY: E/POL COUNSELOR BRIAN BLOOD, REASONS 1.5 B AND D

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTIAGO 000263

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2008
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR UNSC CI
SUBJECT: BIO FOR JUAN GABRIEL VALDES, CHILE'S PERMREP TO
THE UN

REF: 02 SANTIAGO 3279

CLASSIFIED BY: E/POL COUNSELOR BRIAN BLOOD, REASONS 1.5 B AND D


1. (C) SUMMARY: JUAN GABRIEL VALDES IS THE GOC'S PERMANENT
REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UN AS CHILE BEGINS ITS TWO-YEAR TOUR ON
THE SECURITY COUNCIL. HE PREVIOUSLY SERVED AS CHILE'S
FOREIGN MINISTER AND IN A PAIR OF TRADE POLICY POSITIONS.
VALDES LIVED AND WORKED IN THE U.S. FOR SEVERAL YEARS DURING
THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT, DURING WHICH TIME HE NARROWLY
ESCAPED THE CAR BOMBING THAT CLAIMED THE LIFE OF ORLANDO
LETELIER. VALDES HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH PRESIDENT RICARDO
LAGOS FOR MANY YEARS AND WILL HAVE ACCESS AT THE HIGHEST
LEVELS. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) JUAN GABRIEL VALDES SOUBLETTE HAS BEEN CHILE'S
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS SINCE MAY
2000, SHORTLY AFTER THE START OF PRESIDENT RICARDO LAGOS'
ADMINISTRATION. CHILE'S ACCESSION TO THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL
ON 1 JANUARY 2003 WILL RAISE VALDES' PROFILE IN NEW YORK AND
IN CHILE. A BRIEF BIO FOLLOWS.

--------------
FOREIGN MINISTER: PINOCHET AND SEATTLE
--------------


3. (U) JUAN GABRIEL VALDES SERVED AS CHILE'S FOREIGN
MINISTER FROM JUNE 1999 UNTIL MARCH 2000 AT THE END OF THE
PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION OF FAMILY FRIEND EDUARDO FREI
RUIZ-TAGLE. VALDES IS THE SON OF GABRIEL VALDES
SUBERCASEAUX, CURRENTLY THE CHAIR OF THE SENATE'S FOREIGN
RELATIONS COMMITTEE AND FORMERLY THE FOREIGN MINISTER FOR
FREI'S FATHER, EDUARDO FREI MONTALVA, FROM 1964 TO 1970. THE
YOUNGER VALDES IS A MEMBER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY, WHILE HIS
FATHER IS A CHRISTIAN DEMOCRAT.


4. (U) ONE OF VALDES' FIRST CHALLENGES WHEN HE TOOK OVER AS
FOREIGN MINISTER WAS MANAGING THE INTERNATIONAL CONTROVERSY
SURROUNDING GENERAL AUGUSTO PINOCHET, WHO WAS BEING HELD IN
LONDON FACING POSSIBLE EXTRADITION TO SPAIN. PRESIDENT FREI
CHOSE VALDES IN PART BECAUSE OF THE TIME VALDES SPENT AS
AMBASSADOR TO SPAIN FROM 1990 TO 1994. VALDES ADVOCATED FOR
PINOCHET'S RETURN TO CHILE BOTH ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS AND
SO HE COULD FACE CHILEAN JUSTICE INSTEAD OF SPANISH.
PINOCHET WAS RETURNED TO CHILE IN MARCH 2000, NEAR THE END OF
VALDES' TIME AS FOREIGN MINISTER.


5. (C) IN DECEMBER 1999, VALDES LED THE CHILEAN DELEGATION
TO THE WTO MINISTERIAL IN SEATTLE. VALDES, TRAVELING IN A

VEHICLE PROVIDED BY THE WASHINGTON STATE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE
AND ACCOMPANIED BY THE CHILEAN AMBASSADORS TO THE U.S. AND
THE WTO, WAS TWICE STOPPED BY POLICE AND TOLD THE VEHICLE
COULD NOT APPROACH THE CONVENTION/HOTEL AREA. VALDES AND HIS
PARTY LEFT THE VEHICLE, OPTING TO WALK IN THE RAIN AND WITH
BAGGAGE IN HAND THE SEVERAL BLOCKS TO THEIR HOTEL. THE PARTY
WAS STOPPED TWO MORE TIMES BY POLICE AND TOLD IT COULD NOT
PROCEED. AFTER BEING STOPPED FOR THE FOURTH TIME, VALDES AND
A SEATTLE POLICE OFFICER EXCHANGED CAREFULLY-CHOSEN WORDS,
AND THE OFFICER ALLEGEDLY SHOVED THE FOREIGN MINISTER.
CHILE'S AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S. FOUND ANOTHER POLICE OFFICER,
WHO ESCORTED THE PARTY ON FOOT TO ITS HOTEL. VALDES' INITIAL
REACTION WAS TO LEAVE SEATTLE AT ONCE AND RETURN HOME. UPON
REFLECTION AND AFTER APOLOGETIC CALLS FROM THEN UNDER
SECRETARY OF STATE THOMAS PICKERING AND A NATIONAL SECURITY
COUNCIL OFFICIAL, VALDES REMAINED FOR THE MINISTERIAL.

--------------
A PAIR OF TRADE POSITIONS
--------------


6. (C) FOR THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF THE FREI ADMINISTRATION,
VALDES WAS A PRIMARY PLAYER IN CHILE'S TRADE POLICY EFFORTS.
FROM 1994 UNTIL 1996, HE WAS HEAD OF THE FINANCE MINISTRY'S
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE. HE HELD THE UNOFFICIAL
TITLE OF CHIEF NAFTA NEGOTIATOR, AND PURSUED CHILE'S
ULTIMATELY POSTPONED EFFORT TO REACH A FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
WITH THE U.S. AFTER THE DECEMBER 1994 SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS
IN MIAMI. VALDES WAS PART OF A LARGER POWER STRUGGLE BETWEEN
THE FINANCE MINISTRY AND THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OVER
WHICH MINISTRY WOULD TAKE THE LEAD IN TRADE TALKS. IN PART
BECAUSE OF THIS INTER-MINISTERIAL RIVALRY, MFA OFFICIALS
CRITICIZED VALDES AT THE TIME FOR HIS LACK OF EXPERTISE IN
ECONOMIC AND TRADE MATTERS, AND CHARACTERIZED HIM AS A
LIGHTWEIGHT WHOSE INFLUENTIAL FATHER HAD GOTTEN HIM HIS
POSITION. VALDES HAD WANTED TO BE AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S. OR
DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER AFTER HIS TOUR AS AMBASSADOR TO
SPAIN, AND TOOK THE FINANCE MINISTRY POSITION AS SOMETHING OF
A CONSOLATION PRIZE.


7. (C) THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS' POSITION CHANGED IN
1996 WHEN VALDES TOOK OVER THE MFA'S DIRECTORATE FOR
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS (DIRECON) AND BROUGHT THE
TRADE PORTFOLIO WITH HIM. TRADE POLICY PRIMACY HAS REMAINED
WITH THE MFA EVER SINCE. VALDES MANAGED THE NEGOTIATIONS
WHICH PRODUCED FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS WITH CANADA, MEXICO AND
PERU, AND LAUNCHED TALKS WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION AND SOUTH
KOREA WHICH WOULD REACH FRUITION IN 2002. VALDES SOUGHT TO
DEEPEN CHILE'S ECONOMIC INTEGRATION WITH THE REGION AND THE
WORLD, AND FOUGHT AGAINST A SINGLE-MINDED FOCUS ON THE U.S.
THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HONORED HIM IN JUNE 1999
WITH ITS "PROMOTING FREE TRADE" AWARD. VALDES LEFT DIRECON
IN JUNE 1999 TO JOIN THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF RICARDO
LAGOS, ALTHOUGH FREI CALLED HIM BACK INTO GOVERNMENT SEVERAL
WEEKS LATER TO BE FOREIGN MINISTER.

--------------
FROM EXILE WITH LETELIER TO THE "NO" VOTE
--------------


8. (U) VALDES STAYED OUTSIDE OF CHILE FOR MOST OF THE
MILTARY GOVERNMENT PERIOD. HE RECEIVED A MASTERS IN
POLITICAL SCIENCE AND LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES FROM THE
UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX IN 1973, AND A PH.D. IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
FROM PRINCETON IN 1976.


9. (C) FROM PRINCETON VALDES WENT TO WORK AT THE INSTITUTE
FOR POLICY STUDIES IN WASHINGTON WITH ORLANDO LETELIER,
CHILE'S EXILED FORMER AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S. VALDES
TYPICALLY RODE TO WORK WITH HIS COUNTRYMAN LETELIER, BUT HE
STAYED HOME ON 21 SEPTEMBER 1976 TO WATCH HIS CHILDREN WHILE
HIS WIFE WENT TO THE SUPERMARKET. LETELIER AND HIS
ASSISTANT, AMCIT RONNI MOFFITT, WERE KILLED BY A CAR BOMB
THAT MORNING OFF SHERIDAN CIRCLE. VALDES HAD RIDDEN IN
LETELIER'S CAR THE NIGHT BEFORE AFTER THE BOMB HAD ALREADY
BEEN PLANTED BY AGENTS OF CHILE'S INTELLIGENCE SERVICE.
(COMMENT: SOME OF VALDES' COLLEAGUES FROM THIS TIME WERE VERY
CRITICAL OF HIS EFFORTS AS FOREIGN MINISTER TO HELP PINOCHET
AVOID EXTRADITION TO SPAIN. END COMMENT.)


10. (U) VALDES WORKED AT A VARIETY OF THINK TANKS AND
UNIVERSITIES IN MEXICO, THE U.S. AND CHILE OVER THE NEXT TEN
YEARS, INCLUDING AT NOTRE DAME AND PRINCETON AS A VISITING
SCHOLAR. HE WAS ACTIVE DURING THE 1988 PLEBESCITE ON
CONTINUED PINOCHET RULE, IN PARTICULAR HELPING TO ORGANIZE
THE TELEVISION SPOTS FOR THE "NO" CAMPAIGN. VALDES WORKED
CLOSELY WITH THE STAFF OF CURRENT PRESIDENT RICARDO LAGOS
DURING AND AFTER THE PLEBESCITE CAMPAIGN, AND LAGOS'
INFLUENCE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN WINNING VALDES THE COVETED
AMBASSADORSHIP TO SPAIN IN 1990. VALDES HAS PUBLISHED
NUMEROUS ARTICLES AND A BOOK, "PINOCHET'S ECONOMISTS: THE
CHICAGO SCHOOL IN CHILE," WHICH THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
PRESS PUT OUT IN 1996.

--------------
URBANE AND SOPHISTICATED
--------------


11. (U) VALDES HAS RUN IN INTERNATIONAL CIRCLES FOR NEARLY
HIS ENTIRE LIFE. DURING HIS FATHER'S TIME AS FOREIGN
MINISTER, VALDES MET GOLDA MEIR, ROBERT KENNEDY AND CHARLES
DE GAULLE, AMONG OTHER PROMINENT FIGURES. HE LOBBIED EDWARD
KENNEDY AFTER THE LETELIER BOMBING, AND MET CARLOS SALINAS
WHILE WORKING IN MEXICO. NUMEROUS FRIENDS AND PROFESSORS
FROM HIS COLLEGE YEARS WOULD GO ON TO BE GOVERNMENT
MINISTERS, INCLUDING CURRENT INTERIOR MINISTER JOSE MIGUEL
INSULZA.


12. (U) VALDES HAS LIVED AND TRAVELLED ALL AROUND THE WORLD,
JOKING THAT HE HAS ACQUIRED A "PH.D. IN HOTELS." HE HAS A
REPUTATION AS A BON VIVANT, AND STATES THAT HIS FAVORITE
WORLD CITY IS PARIS. HE STUDIED THE CELLO FOR YEARS, AND
ENJOYS JAZZ AND CLASSICAL MUSIC, PARTICULARLY MAHLER'S FIFTH
SYMPHONY. OTHER FAVORITES ARE VICTOR HUGO'S LES MISERABLES
AND AUDREY HEPBURN. VALDES IS WITTY WHEN RELAXED AND A GOOD
RACONTEUR.


13. (U) VALDES WAS BORN IN SANTIAGO IN JUNE 1947. HE
STUDIED LAW AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF CHILE. HE IS
MARRIED TO THE HISTORIAN ANTONIA ECHENIQUE CELIS. THEY HAVE
FOUR CHILDREN.

--------------
COMMENT: DIRECT LINE TO PRESIDENT
--------------


14. (C) VALDES HAS A GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH FOREIGN
MINISTER ALVEAR, BUT THERE ARE ALSO FACTORS WHICH LIMIT THE
FRIENDLINESS BETWEEN THEM. ALVEAR AND SENATOR VALDES (THE
PERM REP'S FATHER) ARE BOTH CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, BUT THEY
COME FROM DIFFERENT FACTIONS OF THE PARTY. SEN. VALDES HAS
BEEN VERY CRITICAL OF ALVEAR'S MANAGEMENT OF THE FOREIGN
MINISTRY, PARTICULARLY THE MISHANDLING OF CHILE'S
RATIFICATION OF THE TREATY SETTING UP THE INTERNATIONAL
CRIMINAL COURT (WHICH HAS STILL NOT BEEN RATIFIED). ALVEAR
WAS NOT PART OF CHILE'S FOREIGN POLICY ESTABLISHMENT PRIOR TO
BEING NAMED FOREIGN MINISTER, AND SHE OWES HER POSITION TO
THE CRUCIAL HELP SHE GAVE PRESIDENT LAGOS IN THE RAZOR CLOSE
PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF HE WON IN 2000. LAGOS GAVE HER HER
CHOICE OF MINISTRIES, AND SHE SELECTED THE MFA. PERM REP
VALDES WAS THE SITTING MINISTER AT THE TIME AND THERE WAS
SOME SPECULATION THAT HE WOULD STAY ON, ALTHOUGH HE WAS NOT
THE LEADING CANDIDATE. IN SOME SENSE, VALDES (AND HIS
FATHER) MAY VIEW THE TOP JOB AT THE FOREIGN MINISTRY AS
RIGHTFULLY HIS. ALVEAR BROUGHT HER OWN TEAM TO THE MFA TO
SERVE AS HER INNER CIRCLE OF ADVISORS, WHICH EXACERBATED THE
DISTANCE BETWEEN HERSELF AND MORE ESTABLISHED FOREIGN AFFAIRS
FIGURES LIKE VALDES.


15. (C) VALDES' RELATIONSHIP WITH PRESIDENT LAGOS DATES BACK
MORE THAN FIFTEEN YEARS, SPANNING THE 1988 PLEBESCITE, LAGOS'
1999 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, AND VALDES' FIRST TWO YEARS AS
PERM REP. VALDES BROUGHT THE PRESIDENT'S SON, RICARDO LAGOS
WEBER, ONTO HIS NAFTA NEGOTIATING TEAM AT THE FINANCE
MINISTRY IN 1994, AND TOOK LAGOS WEBER WITH HIM WHEN HE MOVED
TO DIRECON. VALDES TOLD AMBASSADOR BROWNFIELD (REFTEL) THAT
PRESIDENT LAGOS IS CLOSELY TRACKING UNSC ISSUES WITH HIM
PERSONALLY. WHILE VALDES DOES NOT HOLD CABINET RANK, HE WILL
BE ABLE TO RELY UPON THIS DIRECT LINE TO THE PRESIDENT FOR
SECURITY COUNCIL MATTERS.


GOLDBERG