Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05QUITO1506
2005-06-24 19:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Quito
Cable title:  

ECUADOR'S PARTICIPATION IN MERCOSUR SUMMIT

Tags:  PGOV PREL EC 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 001506 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR'S PARTICIPATION IN MERCOSUR SUMMIT
UNREMARKABLE

REF: QUITO 1403

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 001506

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR'S PARTICIPATION IN MERCOSUR SUMMIT
UNREMARKABLE

REF: QUITO 1403


1. (U) Summary: On June 18 Alfredo Palacio embarked on his
first international visit as president of Ecuador, arriving
in Asuncion, Paraguay, for the 28th Mercosur Summit. He went
with two main objectives: to form and strengthen bilateral
ties with other South American countries, and to publicly
express his position towards integration in the region.
Palacio secured meetings with three of his peers, the
presidents of Colombia, Uruguay, and Chile. He also
delivered a brief pro-integration speech in front of the
assembled summit body of chiefs of state of Mercosur and
associated countries. End Summary.

President Palacio Experiments with Bilateral Networking
-------------- --------------


2. (U) Though Palacio's arrival and two-night stay in
Asuncion was met with little fanfare (he was met by no
Paraguayan executive office officials),a Presidency source
said the president felt the visit was a success. His first
goal in traveling to the Summit - bilateral networking - was
accomplished in meetings with Presidents Uribe, Vazquez, and
Lagos. The meetings were conducted behind closed doors, and
little could be discovered about the substance of the talks.
Ecuadorian officials denied that aerial coca fumigations in
southern Colombia - a touchy subject here - was discussed by
the presidents at the Palacio-Uribe meeting, saying that
chancellors of the two countries would handle the matter
later. The Palacio - Uruguayan President Vazquez meeting
amounted to little more than a courtesy call. According to a
palace official, Palacio and Lagos discussed the Chilean
president's anticipated visit to Ecuador, date as yet unknown.

Palacio Speaks in Favor of South American Integration
-------------- --------------


3. (U) In comments to the press at the end of the summit,
Palacio proclaimed himself satisfied with the accomplishment
of his second objective for the trip: "For the first time,
Ecuador presented a clear idea for South American Union; we
begin to look south without giving up looking north."
Indeed, his ten-minute speech before the assembled summit
body could hardly be seen as anything but pro-integration.
He called the rapprochement between Mercosur and the Andean
Community of Nations (CAN) an opportunity for the South
American countries to "become what they all dreamed of: true
and powerful nations." Palacio also highlighted the need for
increased investment in science and technology.


4. (U) Palacio finished the speech with a reference to that
favorite symbol of South American union, Simon Bolivar.
After closing with the expression of his belief that Bolivar
"has awakened and is perhaps among us," he received the
congratulations of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Though
Palacio was not granted a private meeting with Chavez, the
Venezuelan president later made it clear that he did not feel
any rancor towards the Ecuadorian government as a whole over
GOE Administrative Secretary Herreria's June 10 anti-Chavez
remarks (Reftel).

Comment
--------------

5. (C) President Palacio's words during the summit in favor
of integration and a new economic order in the region were
not surprising. However, they cannot be viewed without some
concern when placed in the context of his Minister of
Economy's Bolivarianesque agenda, and the president's overt
kowtowing to Chavez. In light of the recent minor diplomatic
drama between the GOE and Chavez, it can be safely assumed
that part of Palacio's aim in invoking Bolivar during his
speech was to distance himself from his secretary's words.
Aside from this, however, the trip was somewhat of a
non-event, with no remarkable moments of statesmanship,
little (if any) substantive political outcome, and the
completion of an agenda that was vague at best. For a first
foray into the world of regional politics, though, this is
about what we would expect from Palacio.
Kenney