AUSTRIAN REACTION TO DEMARCHE ON VENEZUELA

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 002210 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/AND AND EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV VE AU EUN SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN REACTION TO DEMARCHE ON VENEZUELA REF: A. (A) STATE 117165 ¶B. (B) BRUSSELS 2481 Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Gregory E. Phillips. Reaso n: 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) EconPolCouns presented reftel points on June 29 to Andreas Melan, the Austrian Foreign Ministry's DAS-equivalent for Latin American affairs. ¶2. (C) Melan said he had heard nothing about a possible high-level Venezuelan visit to Europe. He noted that Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik had held a brief meeting with her Venezuelan counterpart in May during the EU's Rio Group meeting in Brussels. ¶3. (C) In general, he said, Austria had little direct interest, in terms of economic interaction or an expatriate presence, in Venezuela. Therefore, Austria worked its policy toward Venezuela through the EU. Melan confirmed that COLAT and other EU bodies had held detailed discussions on the role of Hugo Chavez, the state of democracy in Venezuela, possible efforts to destabilize other countries in Latin America, and arms purchases, among other issues. In Melan's view, it was "hard to prove" Venezuelan complicity in destabilization efforts in the region. The status of democracy in Venezuela was certainly of concern, he said, but it was too early to consider Venezuela as having lost its character as a democracy. Melan called Venezuela's support for Cuba "disturbing." Venezuela's financial support had allowed Castro once again to ignore international complaints about human rights on the island. ¶4. (C) The question of whether to engage in election monitoring had arisen again, he noted. The EU had not accepted Venezuela's invitation to observe the July 2005 parliamentary elections, because Venezuela would not guarantee that EU monitors could go wherever they wanted. The same problem was likely to block EU agreement to monitor the July 2006 elections. ¶5. (C) More broadly, Austria was already preparing to host the EU's May 12, 2006 summit meeting with Latin American and Caribbean countries in Vienna, Melan noted. The Austrians were already estimating that this would be the largest diplomatic gathering ever to take place in Vienna. (This is significant for a city that prides itself on serving as a diplomatic platform.) The Austrians would accommodate the event at the new conference facilities at the Prater, he said. Brown