PERU AND CHILE SETTLE DIFFERENCES OVER 1995 ARMS

UNCLAS LIMA 002302

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PE CI
SUBJECT: PERU AND CHILE SETTLE DIFFERENCES OVER 1995 ARMS
DELIVERY TO ECUADOR

REF: A. LIMA 2226


B. SANTIAGO 1070

C. LIMA 2180

D. LIMA 2061


1. SUMMARY: A Joint Declaration, signed by the Foreign
Ministers of Peru and Chile on May 22, has settled the
bilateral squabble over Chile's delivery of arms to Ecuador
during the 1995 Peru-Ecuador border conflict. The Joint
Declaration referred to the Chilean Foreign Ministry's Public
Declaration of May 11, 2005, added that Foreign Minister
Ignacio Walker had formally notified his Peruvian counterpart
of Chile's "official explanations and excuses" for the
shipment of arms, and concluded that these explanations
sufficed to close the matter. The Joint Declaration also
noted that the Ministers of Foreign Relations and Defense
(known as the "2x2" meetings) of both countries would meet in
the coming weeks. An unofficial Embassy translation of the
Joint Declaration is at paragraph 4. END SUMMARY.


2. Peruvian Prime Minister Carlos Ferrero called a press
conference as soon as the Joint Declaration was published to
announce that the GOP, "officially declares that the matter
is closed." As to the actual dates of the 2x2 meeting,
Ferrero said that this would likely be determined following
President Alejandro Toledo's early June return from a trip to
Israel and China.


3. COMMENT: The phrase "official explanations and excuses"
seems to have been enough to forge a compromise between the
Peruvian Government's prior insistence on a formal apology
(Refs A/D) and Chile's position that its explanation in 1995
and its public statement of May 11 were sufficient (Ref B).
Peruvian Foreign Minister Manuel Rodriguez' release from a
local hospital on May 20, following a lengthy illness,
appears to have facilitated the diplomatic negotiations that
resolved this latest irritant in an always delicate bilateral
relationship. END COMMENT.


4. Begin Text of Joint Declaration:

The Ministers of Foreign Relations of Peru and Chile, at the
express instructions from Presidents Alejandro Toledo and
Ricardo Lagos, held conversations over the last days on the
sale and delivery of military material from Chile to Ecuador
in 1995.

In these conversations, the Minister of Foreign Relations of
Chile made reference to the Public Declaration of his Foreign
Ministry dated May 11, 2005, and officially presented the
explanations and excuses for the actions that occurred in
January-February 1995. The Ministers of Foreign Relations of
Peru and Chile regretted the occurrence of these actions.

With these expressions, the Governments of Peru and Chile
consider that the situation generated by this matter has been
overcome. They also reiterate the spirit that animates their
respective governments to conduct bilateral relations on the
basis of understanding, cooperation and mutual respect.

In this spirit, the Foreign Ministers agreed that, in the
following weeks, there will be held a meeting of the
Permanent Committee of Political Consultation and
Coordination made up of the Ministers of Foreign Relations
and Defense of both countries.

The Heads of State of Peru and Chile have held conversations
and expressed their satisfaction at the resolution of this
situation.

Lima and Santiago, May 22, 2005.

Manuel Rodriguez Cuadros
Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru

Ignacio Walker Prieto
Minister of Foreign Relations of Chile

End text.


STRUBLE