IN LETTER TO SOLIS, ARIAS CALLS FOR NATIONAL DIALOG

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN JOSE 000617 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN JASON MACK E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2016 TAGS: PGOV ETRD CS SUBJECT: IN LETTER TO SOLIS, ARIAS CALLS FOR NATIONAL DIALOG REF: SAN JOSE 525 Classified By: Classified by CDA Ruessell Frisbie, for reasons 1.4(b) a nd (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On March 17, daily newspaper La Nacion published in its entirety a letter from President-elect Oscar Arias to election runner-up Otton Solis, in which Arias calls upon Solis and his supporters to act in a manner befitting a mature democracy, and to work with Arias during the next "decisive" four years. The letter also included a straw man offer to consider raising the question of renegotiating the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR),which, given the tentative response from the Solis camp, may have fulfilled its purpose in cornering Solis. End summary. ¶2. (U) President-elect Oscar Arias published on March 17 a letter that he sent to election runner-up Otton Solis, in response to Solis's March 3 concession letter (see reftel). Discarding entirely the bitter tone of Solis's communication, Arias cannily uses his letter as a forum to praise Solis's commitment to the people of Costa Rica, and to equate Solis's goals with his own. After discussing mutual concerns for the first half of the letter, he refers Solis to the National Liberation Party's (PLN) "Plan of Government," which contains Arias's detailed agenda. The plan, which Arias characterizes as a "sacred promise to Costa Ricans," (a favorite phrase of Solis's) addresses a number of these areas of mutual concern, including electoral reforms, poverty reduction, public spending and education reform. Calling the coming four years "decisive" for Costa Rica, Arias appeals to Solis and his followers in the Citizens' Action Party (PAC) to behave responsibly and to work with the PLN to achieve their mutual goals. ¶3. (U) During a March 13 meeting with the leadership of the National Bishops' Conference, Arias famously quipped that it would be "easier to change the Ten Commandments than to renegotiate CAFTA." In an apparently conciliatory gesture to Solis, however, Arias offers in his letter to send his two Vice Presidents with Solis to Washington to explore the possibility of renegotiating CAFTA-DR with USG officials. Solis was unavailable to respond directly to this invitation on March 17, but Elizabeth Fonseca, the designated head of the PAC's incoming legislative faction, expressed her belief that the offer was a "trap." While Fonseca gave herself political cover by expressing her hope that Arias had indeed changed his estimation of renegotiation, she said it was more likely an effort to make Solis look foolish in Washington. ¶4. (U) Because Arias and Solis have yet to have a meeting following the elections, their war of veiled words and insinuations continues to be waged very publicly via open correspondence. Despite Arias's repeated requests for a meeting in his home, Solis has so far not accepted. ¶5. (C) Comment: Arias's brother and chief adviser, Rodrigo, acknowledged to the Ambassador that there was less to the invitation to Solis than meets the eye. Calculating that Solis would not subject himself to the humiliation that would follow any failed attempt to secure an agreement to renegotiate CAFTA-DR, Arias's invitation exposes the weakness of Solis's position. While Solis's camp appears to have spotted this, Solis may yet find some way to resurrect the notion. FRISBIE