OAS AMBASSADOR JOHN MAISTO'S MAY 18 VISIT TO

,C O N F I D E N T I A L MONTEVIDEO 000459

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR WHA/BSC AND WHA/OAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2016
TAGS: PREL OAS UNSC UY
SUBJECT: OAS AMBASSADOR JOHN MAISTO'S MAY 18 VISIT TO
URUGUAY

REF: A. STATE 78084


B. MONTEVIDEO 00418

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James D. Nealon
for reasons 1,4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of
American States (OAS) Ambassador John F. Maisto visited
Montevideo on May 18 to discuss Summit of the Americas
follow-up, the June OAS General Assembly, and U.S./Uruguayan
bilateral relations. He met with President Vazquez, lunched
with Formin Gargano and Vice Formin Herrera and held a press
conference. The local media responded positively to his
visit, connecting it to President Vazquez' trip to the U.S.
and his meeting with POTUS earlier in the month. Ambassador
Maisto demarched President Vazquez in support of Guatemala
over Venezuela in its bid for a semi-permanent seat on the UN
Security Council, but Vazquez was non-committal. Below are
excerpts from the meetings that the Charge also attended. End
Summary.

Cordial Meeting with President Vazquez
--------------


2. (C) Ambassador Maisto opened the discussion by telling
President Vazquez that his visit to the White House and his
speech at the Council of the Americas event at the State
Department (in which Secretary Rice and WHA/AS Shannon also
spoke) left lasting positive impressions in Washington.
Vazquez replied that he was well received in the United
States, both personally and professionally, and for that he
was very grateful. Regarding his meeting with President Bush,
he said that, "we agreed on a lot of things." adding that the
two leaders resolved to work together to increase trade, and
that progress toward this end would be measured at the next
meeting of the Joint Council on Trade and Investment (JCTI)
in October. "The key," Vazquez said, "is to work together on
the things we agree on, and to hell with the differences."
Among the things "agreed on," he included the need to deepen
trade and to fight terrorism, narco-trafficking and money
laundering. Ambassador Maisto concurred, adding that the
democracies in the hemisphere also needed to deliver economic
benefits to their citizens.


3. (C) Ambassador Maisto opined that bilateral issues
appeared to be faring well and said, "We are not interested
in labels of left and right, it's a question of democratic
governance. If one is elected democratically, then one should
govern democratically." Vazquez nodded in agreement and
said, "We try to be pragmatic and want to be responsible and
serious and say what we mean with no "double talk." When
Ambassador Maisto said that he planned to have lunch with the
Foreign Minister to discuss his multilateral agenda, Vazquez
perked up, stating that "it was important for us to work
together on the multilateral agenda." Ambassador Maisto
explained that the OAS is doing good work to fight
corruption, monitor elections, promote human rights, and
fight drug trafficking -- particularly in the case of Haiti.
Referring to Haiti, Vazquez said that, "you can count on
Uruguay to continue to cooperate," adding that the GOU had
recently sent more troops to MINSUSTAH and offered to assist
in public health efforts.


4. (C) Turning to trade issues, Vazquez said that the acronym
FTAA" (ALCA in Spanish) had caused a lot of discomfort in
Uruguay and elsewhere in Latin America, so that he has had to
resort to the code words of "deepen trade." Vazquez
elaborated by saying that, "we would support a "4 1"
mechanism with Mercosur (to join FTAA) but that it all
depends on Brazil. In the meantime, there is nothing to
prevent us from negotiating a bilateral trade deal within the
framework of Mercosur. We can't afford to "politicize" trade
since we signed an FTA with Mexico, our trade with it has
doubled." Vazquez also briefly touched on the paper mill
dispute with Argentina and said, "I have this problem with
Argentina, but we,re going to build the plants, and we
won,t contaminate the environment."


5. (C) After a lengthy discussion about Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, (in which Vazquez acknowledged, "that he
(Chavez) listens to me") Ambassador Maisto demarched the
President on Guatemala's bid for a semi-permanent seat on the
UNSC. He said that Guatemala is a small country, supportive
of UN and Peacekeeping Operations (PKO). The country that
gains this seat will represent the entire Western hemisphere.
Such a country has to be serious because of the important
issues involved such as Iran, the Middle East and weapons of
mass destruction (WMD). Guatemala is more or less capable of
acting responsibly, while Venezuela is not, he said. Vazquez
responded by saying, "When I was in Mexico, President Fox
said the same thing, as he is actively and openly supporting
Guatemala." Vazquez added, "The issue has not been resolved
yet, but will be discussed within Mercosur." Ambassador
Maisto indicated that Chavez had clearly "crossed the line,"
to which Vazquez replied, "yes, in Peru and Nicaragua, by
involving himself in electoral issues."

Lunch with Senior MFA Officials mostly about Bolivia
-------------- --------------


6. (C) After departing the Suarez Residence, Ambassador
Maisto and the Charge lunched at the Radisson Hotel with
Foreign Minister Reinaldo Gargano, Deputy ForMin Maria
Belela" Herrera and Uruguay's ambassador-designate to the
OAS, Lujan Flores. Ambassador Maisto began with a tour
d'horizon of the region, and expounded on the good work the
OAS had done in Haiti and Colombia regarding election issues
and on human rights. He said that at the upcoming General
assembly in Santo Domingo there will be a robust discussion
of human rights issues in the five countries of Cuba,
Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Haiti, and that Secretary
General Miguel Insulza will be seeking support for his
agenda. (Note: Vice-Formin Herrera said she will attend the
meeting in Brazil this week on Haiti, but it was not clear
whether Gargano or Herrera will attend the OAS meeting in
Santo Domingo in June. End Note.) The Uruguayans expressed
disappointment that their candidate for High Commissioner in
Haiti had not been chosen.


7. (C) Much of the lunch discussion centered on current
events in Bolivia. With an obvious jab at the U.S., ForMin
Gargano said of the Morales GOB that, "We need to help them
instead of destabilizing them." Ambassador Maisto pointedly
concurred but explained that the USG has tried very hard to
engage the GOB and to be patient. He said that Secretary
Rice met with Morales in Santiago last March and that WHA/AS
Tom Shannon had attended Morales' inauguration and had met
with Morales. However, he said, it was not at all clear that
the GOB wanted to work with us, or if so, what they wanted
from the U.S. He added that it is important to note that the
U.S. has historically done more for Bolivia than anyone else
and that it stands ready and willing to keep helping that
country. Gargano mused that Uruguay could possibly send
teachers to Bolivia and claimed that 60 percent of the
population was illiterate.


8. (C) Gargano stated that there are three other countries
that play key roles in Bolivia: Brazil, Argentina and Chile,
adding that, "We need to try to understand the new GOB,
though they are very difficult to understand. Certainly the
Bolivians need a higher price for their gas, which will help
stability and consolidate democracy." When Ambassador Maisto
queried him on Brazil's reaction to Morales' moves on
nationalizing the hydrocarbon's sector, Gargano replied,
Brazil needs to be smart and find a win/win situation. This
can be settled calmly, or it can be settled violently."
Ambassador Maisto said the OAS is preparing to send a mission
to work with the Constituent Assembly. He added that the
Constituent Assembly is a highly charged political issue that
needs to be democratic and avoid the danger that the new
(mostly indigenous) team will say "now it is our turn."
Gargano opined that that won't happen and said that Evo is
ready to cut a deal with Santa Cruz and compared it to the
situation of Catalunya within Spain.

Comment:
--------------


9. (C) The Uruguayan's appreciated Ambassador Maisto's timely
outreach following President Vazquez successful visit to
Washington and the effort he devoted to answering questions
at the full press conference following his meetings.
Ambassador Maisto has cleared this message. End Comment.
Nealon