ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT CORREA'S VISIT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 003688 SIPDIS SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/26/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR ETRD VE EC SUBJECT: ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT CORREA'S VISIT TO CARACAS: PROTOCOL ... id: 91011 date: 12/27/2006 17:13 refid: 06CARACAS3688 origin: Embassy Caracas classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination: 06CARACAS3557 header: VZCZCXRO4798 PP RUEHAG RUEHROV DE RUEHCV #3688/01 3611713 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 271713Z DEC 06 FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7372 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY -------------- header ends -------------- C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 003688 SIPDIS SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/26/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR ETRD VE EC SUBJECT: ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT CORREA'S VISIT TO CARACAS: PROTOCOL PLUS POLEMICS REF: CARACAS 003557 CARACAS 00003688 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: ACTING POLITICAL COUNSELOR DANIEL LAWTON, REASONS 1.4 (D) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. President Hugo Chavez hosted Ecuadorian president-elect Rafael Correa December 20-21. Both Chavez and Correa pledged to enhance bilateral economic integration, particularly energy cooperation. Chavez also said he would consider the request of Correa and Bolivian President Morales that Venezuela rejoin the Andean Community. Prior to his departure, Correa announced that he was scrubbing his follow-on visit to Bogota to protest Colombia's aerial spray coca eradication program along the Ecuadorian border. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro subsequently denounced the Colombian Interior Minister's comments to the media suggesting that Chavez influenced Correa's decision. End Summary. -------------- Strengthening Bilateral Ties -------------- ¶2. (U) President Chavez personally greeted Ecuadorian president-elect Rafael Correa on the red carpet at Maiquetia International Airport on December 21. Correa traveled to Venezuelan on a Venezuelan government airplane. In arrival remarks to the press, Chavez praised Ecuador as a "brother country" committed to a "united, prosperous, and just Latin America without subjugation, lackeys, and slaves." Correa, for his part, said the two countries have a "common destiny" and needed to promote further integration that "overcomes mercantile logic" and "absurdities imposed by the North." ¶3. (U) Chavez and Correa agreed to bolster bilateral economic cooperation. Chavez told a December 21 press conference that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (BRV) will refine 100,000 barrels of Ecuadorian oil a day in Venezuela at no extra cost to Ecuador. "I don't want one cent of profit, or then it would not be contributing any aid whatsoever," Chavez told the media. He also reportedly announced that the BRV would assist Ecuador to expand existing as well as construct new refineries and consider joint oil and gas exploration and storage ventures. In addition, Chavez proposed creating a binational fund for social development and said the BRV would open an office in Quito to provide microcredits. ¶4. (SBU) During his two-day visit to Caracas, Correa laid a wreath at the National Pantheon where Simon Bolivar and other national heroes are buried. He was also awarded the keys to the Libertador Burough of Caracas by Libertador Mayor Freddy Bernal. In addition, Correa toured the Fabricio Ojeda "Endogenous Development" Center, a former PDVSA oil distribution facility in the working class neighborhood of Catia that has been converted into a government-run social services center. The Center is the BRV's favorite showpiece for international visitors and contains a medical clinic, a subsidized market, a workers' cooperative that produces shoes, and another workers' cooperative that produces T-shirts. -------------- Reclama for the Andean Community -------------- ¶5. (U) At the same December 21 press conference, Correa urged Chavez to reconsider his decision earlier in 2006 to withdraw Venezuela from the Andean Community. While criticizing the Andean Community as ineffective, Correa nevertheless urged Chavez to facilitate greater integration between the Andean Community and Mercosur, which Venezuela joined after leaving the Andean Community. Noting that Bolivian President Evo Morales had also recently asked him to consider Venezuela's re-entry into the Andean Community, Chavez said that "at a minimum" he would study the possibility. When Correa confirmed to the press that he had studied in the United States and referred to himself as a "Chicago Boy," Chavez interjected, calling him, "a Chicago Boy of the Left." -------------- Correa Cancels Colombia Visit -------------- ¶6. (U) Correa also provided the pro-government daily "Vea" with the exclusive December 21 story that he had decided to cancel his planned follow-on visit to Colombia, where he was slated to meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. Correa CARACAS 00003688 002.2 OF 002 told "Vea" that he was protesting the Colombian government's aerial spray coca eradication efforts on the Ecuadorian border. He called Colombia's efforts a violation of Ecuador's national sovereignty and said the Ecuadorian government was already asking its ambassador in Bogota to register Ecuador's request that Colombia suspend its spraying along the border. ¶7. (SBU) Local media outlets subsequently suggested that Chavez may have persuaded Correa to drop Bogota from his itinerary, but also duly reported denials issued from Correa's camp in Quito. After the local media reported the Colombian Interior Minister's suggestion that Chavez influenced Correa's decision, Foreign Minister Maduro called the Colombian Foreign Minister December 26 to register a BRV protest. Maduro then called a press conference to denounce the Colombian Interior Minister's "double offense" against Chavez and Correa. The Colombian Foreign Ministry issued a communique denying that the Colombian government ever attributed Correa's trip cancellation to Chavez. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) Similar to the December 5-6 visit of Nicaraguan President to Caracas (reftel),Chavez exploited Correa's visit to court another left-of-center Latin American government and to reassert himself as a regional leader. The visit also highlighted the nature of Bolivarian Bipolar Disorder: warmly receiving the president-elect of Ecuador generated a diplomatic spat with Colombia. ZIFF =======================CABLE ENDS============================