PARAGUAY REJECTS IMMUNITIES FOR U.S. MILITARY

S E C R E T ASUNCION 001020 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR SUE CRONIN SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2026 TAGS: PREL MASS KICCPUR PTER PINR BR VZ AR PA SUBJECT: PARAGUAY REJECTS IMMUNITIES FOR U.S. MILITARY EXERCISES REF: A. ASUNCION 915 ¶B. STATE 141911 Classified By: PolCouns James P. Merz; Reasons 1.4(b),(d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. FM Ruben Ramirez confirmed October 2 press reports that Paraguay had decided to reject A&T status for U.S. participants in military exercises proposed for 2007. He told the Ambassador that the decision had been made on the basis of legal and political considerations. The Ambassador pointed out that Paraguay extends to Argentina and Brazil the same kinds of protections we seek. He also noted that a number of countries throughout South America extend the U.S. these protections. We made it clear we were prepared to be flexible in exploring a formula to continue the exercise and retain the protections, including possibly working off the Brazilian agreement as a model. Ramirez signaled interest in trying to find a way to continue military cooperation on mutually acceptable terms but needed to consult with the President regarding viable options. Meanwhile, an advisor to the Vice-President (strictly protect) told the Ambassador that Argentina had offered Paraguay $4.5 billion in debt relief, among other things, if it ended military exercises with the U.S. END SUMMARY. Who Said What and When? -------------- ¶2. (C) Left of center newspaper Ultima Hora published an article October 2 reporting former FM Rachid had told A/S Shannon in August, on instructions from President Duarte, that Paraguay had decided to reject extending immunities to U.S. participants in military exercises proposed in 2007. (NOTE: The MFA has been reviewing since July a draft agreement that we sent them that would extend A&T status consistent with the Vienna Convention to U.S. participants in military exercises proposed for 2007. END NOTE.) The article also reported that Shannon informed Rachid that the U.S. would not be able to continue the exercises without the protections. Subsequently, FM Ramirez confirmed publicly that Paraguay had taken this decision based on its conclusion that the Vienna Convention precluded extending privileges to anyone other than diplomats and that Paraguay was the only country in the region that extended such protections to U.S. participants in military exercises. He insisted Paraguay was committed to maintaining strong relations with the U.S. ¶3. (C) Per Department's report (ref B) on Rachid's meeting with A/S Shannon on August 18, Rachid sought U.S. flexibility on the question of immunities but at no point asserted Paraguay had decided to reject diplomatic immunities. Subsequent to the Rachid's U.S. visit, the Ambassador met with President Duarte September 4 (ref A) making the case for the exercises and defending the language on immunities. Duarte never advised the Ambassador he had already decided to reject the immunities. To the contrary, he agreed to support the exercises and said he would rally Colorado congressmen in an effort to meet the Ambassador's 20 day deadline for moving forward. On repeated occasion, MFA U/S for Bilateral Affairs Ceferino Valdez told PolCouns FM needed to consult with the President on next steps for how to draft language in our agreement on immunities. He never suggested nor implied that the MFA had already decided to reject immunities. Where Do We Go From Here? -------------- ¶4. (C) FM Ramirez told the Ambassador October 3 that Paraguay had decided to reject extending immunities to participants in military exercises on legal and political grounds. First, he maintained the Vienna Convention precluded the extension of A&T status to participants in military exercises. Second, he asserted the proposed agreement would not pass in the opposition controlled Congress. The Ambassador roundly debunked both points. He pointed out that the U.S. had Status of Force Agreements with some 80 countries around the world, including many in Central and South America. Further, Paraguay extended A&T status to Argentina and Brazil in the context of agreements on military cooperation it signed with those countries originally in ¶1995. On the question of political support for the agreement, he informed the Foreign Minister that we had lobbied the opposition and were confident there was sufficient support to adopt the agreement. ¶5. (C) The Ambassador made it clear the U.S. is committed to continued military cooperation with Paraguay. President Bush had just signed off on an APSA waiver that would allow the U.S. to reextend IMET to Paraguay; an ESF waiver for Paraguay was also in the works and Congress had approved $1.1 in PKO support funds. On our military cooperation agreement, we were prepared to be flexible on the framework including working off the Brazilian agreement as a model. We could also look at attaching participants to the our Mission in Paraguay. However, we needed to know if the GOP had the political will to look for a solution or if had decided to kowtow to its neighbors pressuring it to cut back on military ties to the U.S. Ramirez signaled he would like military cooperation to continue but would need to consult with President Duarte to see if it would be possible to overcome the government's announced predisposition against extending immunities. The external pressures on Paraguay, he suggested, were enormous. The $4.5 Billion Dollar Answer? -------------- ¶6. (S) Vice-Presidential advisor Juan Facetti (strictly protect) told the Ambassador seperately the same day that President Duarte's decision on the exercises flowed from Argentine pressure. According to Facetti, Argentine President Kirschner met with Duarte in September at the UNGA in New York and offered Paraguay $4.5 billion in debt relief, among other conditions, if Paraguay agreed to end its military cooperation with the U.S. Argentina, said Facetti, was explicitly behind this in coordination with the government of Venezuela. (NOTE: Paraguay is seeking to renogiate the terms of debt, extending through to 2023, associated with construction of the Yacyreta Hydroelectric Dam.) Facetti believed this offer had compelled Duarte to reject continued U.S. military cooperation and maintained the President's office was the source for the leak leading to the recent press reports on this issue. It is worth noting FM Ramirez cut short his stay in New York in September during the UNGA, including canceling a meeting with A/S Shannon, on the pretext he needed to prepare for negotiations with Argentina the following week. Mixed Political Response -------------- ¶7. (C) Several leftist opposition Congressmen opposed to any military exercises with the U.S. applauded the announcement charging the language on protections had represented an affront to Paraguay's sovereignty. However, several key opposition Senators including Sen. Miguel Saguier, President of the Senate Defense and Constitutional Affairs Commission, and Carlos Mateo Balmelli, a candidate for President in 2008, criticized Duarte for bowing to pressure from his neighbors in the region. If nothing else, their public criticism put to the lie the notion the opposition would categorically reject the exercises with the U.S. COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (S) We may never know exactly when Duarte took his decision to reject extending immunities and why. The notion that Argentina offered a compelling financial incentive in September at the UNGA is conceivable but doesn't square entirely with the suggestion Rachid had been sent to give us the President's decision back in August. We have no doubt Paraguay is under pressure from its neighbors to cut back on military cooperation with the U.S. Brazil is seeking to expand its own military assistance with Paraguay. Meanwhile, Venezuela has signed agreements with Paraguay extending concessional terms on fuel sales. ¶9. (C) We have conveyed our readiness to be flexible in exploring a mutually satisfactory solution that will afford the protections we need. The MFA has conveyed a desire to continue cooperation and we know that sentiment is genuinely shared by Vice-President Castiglioni and the Armed Forces. However, it will be difficult for Duarte to climb down from his public stance of rejecting the extension of immunities tied to the exercises particularly in the face of pressure from his neighbors. An interesting dynamic that may bode in our favor is the fact that the five-year duration Brazilian and Argentinan agreements are coming up for renewal this month. Duarte's government will be hard-pressed to explain publicly how it can extend the same protections to Brazil and Argentina that it found unacceptable in the U.S. draft agreement. This could potenially create an opening for U.S. supporters to argue the U.S. be afforded comparable protections. CASON