DCM MEETS WITH VICE-MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

id: 26340
date: 2/2/2005 15:50
refid: 05BOGOTA1078
origin: Embassy Bogota
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination:
header:
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.



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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 001078

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2015
TAGS: PREL PHUM ECON CO
SUBJECT: DCM MEETS WITH VICE-MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Milton K. Drucker
for reason 1.4 (b).

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DCM Begins Series of Regular Meeting with MFA Vice-Minister
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1. (C) On January 31, DCM met with GOC Vice-Minister of
Foreign Affairs Camilo Reyes. Reyes had asked for the
meeting as the first of what he hopes will be regular monthly
meetings to discuss key bilateral issues and areas of mutual
concern. In response to questions from the DCM, Reyes
touched on three main issues: (1) Venezuela, (2) President
Uribe's upcoming trip to Europe, and (3) GOC negotiations
with the G-24 over a joint declaration to be issued in
Cartagena on February 4.

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Venezuela
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2. (C) Reyes observed that the public standoff with Venezuela
appeared to be nearing its end, and commended the Peruvian
Foreign Minister and the Colombian diplomatic mission in
Havana for their contributions to defusing tensions. Regular
discussions by phone with Venezuela's Vice-Minister of
Foreign Affairs and the January 27 face-to-face meeting
between the Colombian and Venezuelan Foreign Ministers in
Lima had facilitated a private rapprochement that preceded
recent conciliatory statements by the GOC and GOV and set the
groundwork for Uribe's February 3 visit to Venezuela. Reyes
said Colombian commerce with Venezuela -- which amounts to
USD 2.5 billion a year, excluding petroleum -- should have
restarted already. Reyes noted that the proposed gas
pipeline between the Colombian department of La Guajira and
the Venezuelan port of Maracaibo did not have much traction,
although he noted that the Colombian Ministry of Mines and
Energy continued to consider it important.

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Uribe's Upcoming Visit to Europe
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3. (C) Reyes said President Uribe's February 7-11 trip to
Europe would include visits to Brussels (EU),Paris, and
Madrid. According to Reyes, although the GOC enjoys good
relations with the current administrations in France and
Madrid -- what Colombians refer as "gobiernos" -- the
Government must reduce the ignorance and misunderstanding of
Colombia that prevails throughout the legislatures, judicial
systems, and civil society of these nations. Reyes noted
President Uribe's conviction that cooperation between
Colombia and the EU and its individual members states could
be much better. Specifically, Uribe plans to propose that
the EU consider entering into an association compact with the
Andean Community, which would improve commercial
opportunities for Colombia and other Andean nations. Reyes
also noted the problems the new European tariff on "dollar"
bananas would cause if left unchanged.


4. (C) In Spain, where Uribe will make an official state
visit, the President will emphasize improvements in
Colombia's internal situation resulting from the successful
implementation of the Democratic Security Policy. Reyes
emphasized that Spain is Colombia's greatest European ally in
multilateral institutions, and that Uribe would attempt to
use Spain to make inroads with the EU.


5. (C) Uribe will meet in Paris with French President Chirac.
Reyes noted that the Uribe Administration has good relations
with France, Colombia's largest European direct foreign
investor. However, bilateral relations have been severely
complicated by the Ingrid Betancourt situation, which has
become an issue of internal political importance in France,
thereby distorting and conditioning the bilateral
relationship.

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G-24
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6. (C) Reyes spoke with pride about the GOC's success in
negotiating with representatives of the G-24 a satisfactory
joint declaration for the February 2-4 international donor's
conference in Cartagena. He observed, however, that the
declaration's negotiation was complicated by the extreme
politicization of the G-24 forum and the excessive influence
within the G-24 process of local NGOs hostile to Uribe and
his policies.

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Upcoming Visits to Colombia
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7. (SBU) DCM concluded the meeting by briefing Reyes on
several important U.S. visits to Colombia scheduled for the
next few weeks, including the February 13-15 visit of Under
Secretary Grossman and the February 20-23 visit of Florida

SIPDIS
Governor Jeb Bush with a commercial delegation representing
at least 45 companies.
WOOD

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