GUTIERREZ SAYS NO TO CARACAS TRIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000680 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV EC VE SUBJECT: GUTIERREZ SAYS NO TO CARACAS TRIP REF: QUITO 661 Classified By: Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Reason 1.4 (b) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: E... id: 29636 date: 3/28/2005 21:35 refid: 05QUITO680 origin: Embassy Quito classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination: 05QUITO661 header: This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available. -------------- header ends -------------- C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000680 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV EC VE SUBJECT: GUTIERREZ SAYS NO TO CARACAS TRIP REF: QUITO 661 Classified By: Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Reason 1.4 (b) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez confirmed to the Ambassador he will not/not travel to Caracas in April, as was earlier rumored (Reftel). His decision comes as no surprise -- we repeatedly expressed concern over the visit, noting Chavez had little local appeal. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) At a March 28 working breakfast, Gutierrez himself raised Venezuela, asking the Ambassador for a "readout" of her personal visit to Caracas. In response, she noted the city appeared tired and run-down, a product of Venezuela's continued polarization and its leader's focus on ideology, not governance. Chavez was directing his oil windfall not according to need, but to political obedience and expedience. Did Gutierrez still intend to travel there in April? ¶3. (C) The president replied no, concurring with the Ambassador's expressed doubts over the visit's benefits. He also cited the Venezuelans' inability to craft a useful visit agenda. Further, the president refuted Caracas media play that alleged the Ecuadorian was urgently seeking the summit. Chavez was pressuring him, Gutierrez clarified, not vice-versa. Taking into consideration the Venezuelan leader's media misinformation campaign, the visit organizers' poor performance, and the likely bad optics of a call on Chavez (a regurgitation of earlier Ambassadorial talking points),Gutierrez had erased the trip from his April travel calendar. A late fall trip was still a possibility, however. ¶4. (C) The Ambassador agreed there was little to gain, politically or commercially, from the president visiting Caracas in April. If he must travel north in November, she continued, he might want to couch the visit in regional terms, visiting Venezuela and other South American nations on a multi-stop tour. Gutierrez welcomed the suggestion. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: We had repeatedly hinted of our disquiet over the visit and suspected that Gutierrez's Chavez flirtation could have been intended to temper our support for democracy defenders pressing for changes here in Ecuador. While keeping the door open for a later visit, Gutierrez may have reconsidered for domestic political reasons -- with his Congressional alliance crumbling, he needs our support more than ever. Increasing ill will toward his Venezuelan counterpart may also have played a part. KENNEY =======================CABLE ENDS============================