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
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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

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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.

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Strengthening Bilateral Ties
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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.

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Reclama for the Andean Community
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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."

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Correa Cancels Colombia Visit
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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.

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Comment
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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

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