CHAVEZ GOES INTERNATIONAL AGAIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000847

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2014
TAGS: PREL PHUM ECON ENRG VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ GOES INTERNATIONAL AGAIN

REF: A) 2004 CARACAS 03826 B) 2004 CARACAS 03834 C)
2004 CARACAS 03622 D) 2004 CARACAS 03928

Classified By: A/DCM Abelardo A. Arias for Reason 1.4(d)

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Summary
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1. (C) President Hugo Chavez visited Uruguay, India, Qatar,
and France March 1-9 establishing Ministerial-level
commissions and pushing for energy and commercial
cooperation. In Uruguay, he pushed regional integration.
While in India, he espoused a "new socialism" and supported
his idea of a "multi-polar" world, encouraging the
Non-Aligned Country Movement and India's bid to become a
permanent member of the UN Security Council. Less public in
Qatar and France, he returned to Venezuela March 10 to meet
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to who he offered support
for Iran's nuclear power program and to strengthen economic
ties with a country that shared his "anti-imperialist"
attitude. Throughout the trip, Chavez accused the U.S. of
plotting to assassinate him, and threatened to stop selling
oil to the U.S. End Summary.


2. (U) President Hugo Chavez visited Uruguay (3/1-3),India
(3/4-7),Qatar (3/7-8),and France 3/8-9) establishing new
ties and attempting to strengthen previously existing
relationships in an effort to move towards his "multi-polar"
world vision. Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez, Energy and
Petroleum Minister Rafael Ramirez, Science and Technology
Minister Marlene Yadira Cordova, Minister of Light Industry
and Commerce Edmee Betancourt, Environment and Natural
Resources Minister Jacqueline Faria, Health and Social
Development Minister Francisco Armanda, Communication and
Information Minister Andres Izarra traveled with Chavez
during all or parts of the trip.


3. (U) Throughout the four-country trip, Chavez reiterated
his claims that the USG was plotting with or protecting
persons allegedly plotting his assassination. His claims
were based, Chavez said, both on his information sources and
on information shared by Cuban President Fidel Castro.
Chavez threatened to cut off the oil supply to the U.S. if
"there was aggression against him" or Venezuela. In India,
he claimed high oil prices were not OPEC's issue but instead
were a result of President Bush's desire to see oil at USD
260 per barrel for personal interests shared by the
Secretaries of State and Defense.

SIPDIS

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Uruguay and Regional Integration
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4. (U) Chavez arrived in Montevideo March 1, attended the
inauguration of Uruguayan President Tabare Vasquez, and
signed letters of intention on communications and energy
cooperation between the two countries. Vasquez agreed to
discuss possible Uruguayan participation in Petrosur
(Chavez's embryonic South America-wide petroleum company) and
future participation in Telesur, Chavez's much-touted "South
American CNN," according to press reports. Venezuela offered
Uruguay concessionary terms for petroleum, including 3 months
for payment of 75 percent of Uruguay's oil purchases with the
remaining 25 percent to be paid out over the long term (15-25
years). In exchange, Uruguay agreed to supply Venezuela with
food and undertake consultations in the areas of technology
and software. Chavez referred to the next hundred years as
the "Century of Latin America," emphasizing South American
alliances like Petrosur and Telesur and welcoming Uruguay's
integration into the projects.


5. (C) Uruguayan second secretary Fernando Sotelo Vitelio
told Poloff March 14 there had been limited awareness and
cooperation between the countries previously. Sotelo pointed
out that for Uruguay's relationship with Venezuela,
commercial interests controlled political decisions. He told
Poloff that in Chavez's world of "friend or foe" Uruguay had
become part of the "integration of brother countries" and
moved from the "foe" to the "friend" category. Sotelo told
Poloff he had already noted an improvement in relations with

the GOV, including increased access to officials.


6. (U) While in Uruguay, Chavez also met with Argentine
President Nestor Kirchner and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio
Lula da Silva March 2. The GOV billed the meeting as a
starting point towards integration with bilateral agreements
serving as building blocks for trilateral agreements, and
trilateral agreements as a launching point to encourage
regional integration. Recognizing many common problems,
according to press reports, the three announced their intent
to unify positions before international organizations (such
as the World Trade Organization),while still negotiating
separately. They also announced the three countries would
have Ministerial level meetings on economic, social and
banking issues before the South American-Arab summit. This
included mention of a commission to work on proposals for a
development bank for South America.

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India: Opening the Door
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7. (U) Chavez then traveled to India March 4-7, visiting New
Delhi, Bangalore, and Calcutta to look for new areas of
cooperation in technology and energy. He lauded India's
scientific and technological independence, saying Third World
countries had to unite to advance. Chavez told reporters
that Venezuela wanted to be a secure and permanent producer
of petroleum for India, diversifying its market away from the
U.S. Chavez also introduced "new socialism," saying that
capitalism's failure meant it was time to redefine a
"socialism for the 21st century."


8. (U) Chavez signed letters of intent with India on
petroleum, hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals, communication,
biotechnology, railroads, and science and technology
cooperation. Specifically, India will begin to develop oil
fields in Rajastan with Venezuelan technology and offered
India Oil the opportunity to participate in oil exploration
projects in Venezuela. The two countries also announced
their commitment to revitalize the Non-Aligned Movement and
to reform the United Nations, specifically with Venezuela's
support for India's effort to obtain a permanent Security
Council seat. Chavez and Prime Minister Manmahon Singh also
agreed to establish a commission within the next three months
to work on topics of cooperation at the Ministerial level.


9. C) Indian Deputy Chief of Mission Jeitendra Tripathi said
Chavez's visit was long overdue and had first been scheduled
for 2000. It was a start, he said, to establishing relations
between the two countries that, because of distance and lack
of high-level contact, had virtually not worked together in
the past five years. Tripathi said the visit opened the door
for Ministerial level contact through the commissions. The
letters of intent on biotech, oil, and establishment of a
high-level commission were a start, but largely symbolic
because distance made real commercial cooperation difficult.
Tripathi asserted that India wanted to avoid becoming
entangled in Venezuela's politics. Chavez's declarations
about his "new socialism" and meetings with "insignificant
state government officials in Calcutta" made both sides
happy, he said, but had no true value.

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Qatar: Let's Do Business
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10. (U) In Qatar March 7-8, Chavez promoted economic
cooperation between the two OPEC member countries. He met
with the Emir of Qatar, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani on
his fourth visit to Qatar in the past four years. He signed
memorandum of understanding agreements on double taxation, to
encourage investments in gas, minerals, and petrochemicals,
and to promote commerce and tourism. Venezuela and Qatar
signed letters of intent to set up a Binational Commercial
Chamber. (Note: Qatar has been offered minority interest in
the proposed Mariscal Sucre natural gas project in which
Shell has taken the lead. Qatar, however, has never formally
accepted, and is not likely to be part of any final deal.)

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France: Offering Oil
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11. (U) Chavez visited France March 8-9, meeting with French
President Jacques Chirac and Thierry Desmarest, President of
French oil company Total. Total agreed to send a high-level
group to Venezuela to discuss cooperation with PDVSA and
increased investment in Venezuela, including negotiations on
establishing Sincor II, a second heavy crude production
project in the Orinoco Belt. Desmarest announced that Total
plans to invest over 5 billion dollars in Venezuela over the
next 7 years as well as increase its presence in the gas
sector. Chavez said Venezuela wants to become one of
France's permanent oil producers because it interested
Venezuela to have a "united Europe," a "multi-polar" world.
Chavez and Chirac also agreed to establish a high-level
commission at the Foreign Minister level to increase
cooperation, especially in energy.


12. (C) According to the French Ambassador, who attended the
meeting, Chirac pressed Chavez on communism (he was not a
communist, but a friend of Castro),Colombia (he did not
agree with Uribe's approach toward the FARC-ELN, but would
not intervene),Bolivia (Evo Morales was a friend, but Chavez
advised him to go slow),and Haiti (Chavez opposed the U.S.
intervention only in solidarity with the Haitian people).

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Iran: Deepening Ties
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13. (U) Iranian President Mohammad Khatami arrived in
Venezuela March 10 for his third official visit in five
years. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs billed the trip as a
show of consolidation and advancement towards the
"multi-polar" world vision that Chavez advocates. Both
leaders attacked imperialism, clearly making reference to the
U.S., and the war in Iraq. Chavez also declared his support
for Iran and its right to develop nuclear power. The two
presidents signed 20 agreements including oil, gas, maritime
transportation, housing construction, agriculture, and
cooperation between central banks, and on geological and
mining projects. Khatami also announced Iran's readiness to
transfer technology to Venezuela. He later traveled to
Ciudad Guayana for the inauguration of a tractor assembly
plant, a joint venture between Venezuela parastatal CVG and
an Iranian counterpart, and the beginning of construction on
a cement plant (reftel A).

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Comment
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14. (C) Some of Chavez's goals were to:

--Present himself and Venezuela as players in the
"multi-polar" international arena, politically, economically,
and socially;

--Present Venezuela as a future trading partner, to countries
that because of distance, lack of interest and focus on the
US, it had not been before; and

--Use petroleum and commercial engagement to plant seeds with
countries that could help him avoid future U.S. efforts to
isolate him.


15. (C) Both the Indian and the Uruguayan diplomats intimated
that Chavez's visit was like leaving a calling card to help
you get through the door the next time. While neither
appeared to consider the agreements signed significant, they
both saw it as a start to possible future economic relations
with Venezuela, which both said had practically never existed
before. In Uruguay, there is likely to be a large gap
between the grandiose economic commitments made and any major
increase in trade - at least in the short term. While Qatar
and Iran visits were repeats, Chavez is reaching out to new
faces in India and Uruguay, to broaden his circle of friends.
Energy and commerce dominated the four visits and Khatami's
trip as Chavez aims to expand petroleum trading partners and
cultivate allies for his "multi-polar" vision of the world.

In Chavez's "multi-polar" vision, Venezuela would be seen as
a major player.
Brownfield


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2005CARACA00847 - CONFIDENTIAL