CANADA SHARES CONCERNS OVER VENEZUELA'S WEAPONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 000448 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2015 TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL VE CO CA SUBJECT: CANADA SHARES CONCERNS OVER VENEZUELA'S WEAPONS ACQUISITIONS; WANTS TO HELP REF: SECSTATE 25063 Classified By: POL M/C Brian Flora. Reason 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) In response to reftel demarche on February 11, FAC South America Division Director Jose Herran-Lima told polmiloff that Canada shares USG concerns about the course Chavez is taking and will find a way to convey those concerns to the Venezuelan government. He said that the GOC is conducting an internal "strategy review" to address the situation, including from a regional perspective. Citing the Canadian Ambassador to Venezuela's contacts with USG officials in Washington, Herran-Lima added that the strategy would include continued close dialogue and consultation with the U.S. He elaborated that those contacts had helped bring about meetings in Ottawa with representatives of the NGO, Sumate, only two weeks ago, over the protestations of the Chavez government. It also was important, Herran-Lima said, to bring "other" countries into the solution, to dispel the perception that the U.S. was the only one pressuring Chavez. ¶2. (C) Polmiloff welcomed Canada's engagement and asked whether Canada would be consulting with any other countries as part of its approach. Herran-Lima noted that Prime Minister Martin had raised the issue with Brazilian President Lula da Silva during Martin's November 22-23 visit. More recently, Herran-Lima, himself, had just returned from Bogota where Colombian officials bemoaned the breakdown of the established bilateral mechanisms to address/resolve issues with Venezuela; everything went "straight to the top" where it was blown out of proportion. It would be good for the EU to become involved, Herran-Lima continued, an aspect where Canada might be helpful. Another element of the GOC strategy was to develop Canadian domestic interest in and support for democracy in Venezuela. It was important to sensitize the Parliament and Canadian civil society to the situation. To this end, the GOC was "exploring options" with Canadian NGOs that are active in the Andean region. Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa CELLUCCI