COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT URIBE DISCUSSES FREE TRADE

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 001106 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CEN JMACK; WHA/AND COLOMBIA DESK E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD CS CO SUBJECT: COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT URIBE DISCUSSES FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH CODEL BURTON ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In a May 8 meeting with the six members of CODEL Burton on the margins of Oscar Arias's presidential inauguration, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe urged rapid U.S. Congressional action on a free trade agreement with Colombia. He said that a failure to act quickly would bolster Hugo Chavez's efforts to create an alternative trading bloc. End summary. ¶2. (U) Colombian President Alvaro Uribe through his Ambassador to Costa Rica requested to meet with CODEL Burton on the margins of Oscar Arias's May 8 presidential inauguration. The meeting took place at the Ramada Herradura Hotel and was attended by Uribe, Foreign Minister Carolina Barco, Presidential Aide Fabio Valencia Cossio, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Protocol Director Ambassador Barrantes, Colombian Ambassador to Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Fernandez, and Director of the Central American Office for the Promotion of Exports Ricardo Tirana. On the U.S. side were six members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Dan Burton (R-IN),Gregory Meeks (D-NY),Todd Akin (R-MO),Dianne Watson (D-CA),Kenny Marchant (R-TX),Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU), Congressional Staffer Dan Getz, DCM Russell Frisbie, and Embassy notetaker Janae Cooley. ¶3. (SBU) Uribe opened the meeting by expressing concern about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and pointing out that any U.S. Congressional delay in approving a free trade agreement with Colombia would greatly damage the GOC,s credibility and its position regarding Venezuela. ¶4. (SBU) Uribe asked what kind of timeframe the House was looking at to approve the free trade agreement, and Representative Burton responded that it took a long time to get the 218 votes to pass the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He asked Uribe what would happen if the U.S. did not pass the agreement. Uribe responded it would be harder for Colombia to export next year since Colombia,s benefits under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) end on December 31. Second, it would complicate Colombia,s relationship with Venezuela. Third, it would send a "difficult" political and economic message to the region that would be hard for his administration to manage. He suggested that investors would go elsewhere. Uribe concluded that he did not even want to consider the consequences of failing to pass a bilateral trade agreement; he told the delegation that such a failure "would be fatal to our democracies (in the region)." ¶5. (SBU) Burton asked whether extending existing trade preferences during the free trade agreement negotiations would help, and Uribe responded that, while such an extension would be useful, what he really wanted was prompt implementation of a bilateral free trade agreement. Uribe added that he had spoken to Costa Rican President Oscar Arias about the agreement, and Arias supported it. ¶6. (SBU) Meeks and Watson echoed Burton's comments on the difficulty of passing a free trade agreement. Watson added that CAFTA split the Congress, and there are several internal issues that the House has to resolve prior to approving another such accord. She added that Uribe should not interpret the House's actions as "being out of sync with what you are trying to do. The impact of democracy in the region has meaning for us." Uribe told Watson that the relations of the countries within the region should be the "number one priority for the U.S. because democracy itself hangs in the balance." ¶7. (SBU) Meeks told Uribe that it was unrealistic to expect the Congress to pass a bilateral free trade agreement before the U.S. elections in November. Meeks explained that the results of the Peruvian presidential elections would also likely impact the passage of a free trade agreement, because Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee want Peru to obtain the next bilateral free trade agreement. He added that some Democrats would like to combine Peru and Colombia and pass one trade agreement including both countries, while other Democrats disapprove of the idea. Meeks said he personally would like to see a U.S.-Colombia-Peru agreement, and he suggested that Uribe speak to the new Peruvian president about that possibility. ¶8. (SBU) Meeks also expressed his concern about the poor living conditions of Colombia,s Afro-Colombian population. He explained that the Black Caucus was "eager to protect them" and ensure that they "get back the land that was taken from them." Meeks said that Colombia should match the trade capacity-building money the USG is investing to improve the living conditions in the Colombian Pacific coastal areas. He told Uribe that the Colombian Ambassador in Washington should include these concerns in his message to House Members. Uribe responded that 42,000 families have received educational subsidies; farmers have received financing to help them grow their crops; and work is being done to improve the local infrastructure, which includes building new roads and hospitals. He also pointed out that there are 700,000 indigenous people out of a total population of 44 million, and this group holds the deeds to one-third of the total territory of the country. Uribe invited a Congressional delegation of Black Caucus members to Colombia to view first-hand the situation of the Afro-Colombian population there. LANGDALE