OAS PERMREP MAISTO DISCUSSES OAS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTIAGO 001058

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/OAS, WHA/BSC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2016
TAGS: PREL OAS PGOV SOCI VZ CI
SUBJECT: OAS PERMREP MAISTO DISCUSSES OAS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
WITH MFA OFFICIALS, CIVIC SOCIETY REPRESENTATIVES


Classified By: Ambassador Craig A. Kelly. Reasons: 1.4 (b and d).


1. (C) Summary: OAS PermRep Maisto outlined USG objectives
for the OAS General Assembly during meetings with senior
Foreign Ministry officials on May 16. Foreign Ministry
Director General for External Relations Portales agreed to
consider the U.S. non-paper on introducing a resolution
during the next OAS General Assembly that would give the
SecGen maximum flexibility to implement the Inter-American
Democratic Charter. Ambassador Maisto also exchanged views
on civil society participation in the OAS with members of the
Chilean NGO Participa, and conducted interviews with Chilean
media. He also outlined with Portales the U.S. arguments in
favor of supporting Guatemala's UNSC candidacy. End summary.


2. (U) Organization of American States (OAS) Permanent
Representative John Maisto outlined U.S. objectives for the
OAS General Assembly during separate meetings with Foreign
Ministry Director General for External Relations Carlos
Portales, and Chilean PermRep-designee Pedro Oyarce and MFA
Multilateral Director Eduardo Galvez on May 16 in Santiago.
The Ambassador and poloff accompanied Ambassador Maisto to
the meeting with Portales; poloff accompanied Ambassador
Maisto to his meeting with Oyarce and Galvez.


3. (C) Maisto opened the meeting with Portales by noting that
OAS SecGen Insulza had undertaken several successful OAS
efforts during his first year, including Haiti, Nicaragua and
Colombia. Insulza appeared genuinely committed to advancing
the process of implementing the Inter-American Democratic
Charter, and believed that a resolution that built upon
AG/RES 2154 from 2005 could strengthen his efforts. The U.S.
agreed it was important for the SecGen to have maximum
flexibility to continue to carry out the mandate of the 2005
resolution, and encouraged Chile to introduce such a
resolution during the 2006 OAS General Assembly (GA). As the
principal co-sponsor of the 2005 resolution, Chile was in the
best position to introduce a resolution. He then handed over
a non-paper titled "Implementation of the Accompanying
Resolution of the 2005 Declaration of Florida," and said he
was only sharing it with Chile. Portales said the GOC would
consider the U.S. non-paper in detail, with an eye toward
working with the SecGen to strengthen his ability to
implement the Charter.


4. (C) Ambassador Maisto advised that SecGen Insulza had told
him recently that he intended to set aside two hours during
the OAS GA plenary session for discussion of the human rights
records in certain countries, including Venezuela and Haiti.
The SecGen would review his findings and then open the floor
for discussion. Portales asked if the SecGen intended to
present his findings orally or in writing. Ambassador Maisto
said he believed the SecGen intended to do so orally, but
suggested it would be more effective to do so in writing.
Portales and Oyarce agreed. Oyarce then added he would
convey Chile's views to the SecGen next week, when he arrived
in Washington to take up his position as Chile's OAS PermRep.
Ambassador Maisto also highlighted the importance of active
participation by civil society organizations. Regrettably,
few organizations appear to have met with the OAS Permanent
Council or the SecGen since the OAS "opened the door" to more
participation during the 2005 OAS GA.


5. (C) Portales asked Ambassador Maisto if the U.S. would
continue to support the Justice Studies Center of the
Americas (CEJA). Maisto said "yes," although the funding
levels are not yet clear. Maisto expressed hope that
countries in the region other than Chile would decide to
support CEJA as well. If Chile were to develop an action
plan for approaching others in the region, the U.S. would
join Chile in approaching countries.


6. (C) At the end of the meeting, Ambassador Maisto stressed
that Venezuela's UNSC candidacy was a matter of great
seriousness at the highest levels of the USG because the
potential consequences "go far beyond the hemisphere." He
reviewed the arguments in favor of Guatemala's candidacy and
noted Venezuela's counterproductive behavior in multilateral
fora.


7. (C) In a follow-on meeting with OAS PermRep-designee
Oyarce and MFA Director of Multilateral Affairs Eduardo
Galvez, Maisto reviewed in detail the U.S. non-paper on the
implementation of an accompanying resolution to the 2005
Declaration of Florida. Oyarce, who together with Galvez sat
in on most of the Portales meeting, reiterated that Chile
would consider the U.S. non-paper. He agreed that OAS SecGen
Insulza needed maximum flexibility to implement the 2005

resolution, but cautioned against an approach that could lead
to a re-opening of the debate on the contents of some of the
paragraphs in the 2005 resolution. Oyarce said it was
especially important to preserve the paragraphs on political
consensus. "We need to keep the political paragraph alive,"
he stressed. He recommended that any new resolution be as
short as possible, and that it not restate information
already contained in the 2005 resolution. "The shorter the
better."


8. (C) Ambassador Galvez said a new resolution would be more
effective if it did not make reference to the agreement
reached during the April 2005 Community of Democracies (CD)
Ministerial to exchange experiences with other regional
organizations, as the U.S. non-paper suggests. Galvez
predicted that some countries, including Venezuela and
possibly Brazil, would oppose such references, given (in the
case of Venezuela) its behavior and views during the CD
Ministerial. Oyarce was more neutral, arguing that it would
be more effective to introduce such references gradually. He
said this was based on Chile's experience in trying to
generate support for the CD in Geneva and the UN. Maisto
commented that his counterparts in Brazil, the Caribbean and
Mexico did not appear concerned about including agreements
reached during the CD Ministerial.

Participa
--------------


9. (SBU) Ambassador Maisto opened his meeting with Participa
Executive Director Andrea Sanhueza and Deputy Executive
Director Catalina Delpiano by thanking Participa for
attending the meetings on civil society participation in the
Department and the OAS on May 2-3. He noted that the OAS had
"opened the door" to greater participation for civil society
in the OAS process to put teeth in the Inter-American
Democratic Charter. OAS SecGen Insulza was open to meeting
with civil society groups, but few had "passed through the
door." Sanhueza replied that increasing civil society
participation in the OAS process was a "long road," one
filled with "ups and downs." The last few years have been
characterized by "frustrations, more downs than ups," she
said. Few OAS member states are actually interested in
engaging in genuine dialogue with civil society in order to
strengthen the OAS. As an example, she said the level of
government representation and attendance in OAS meetings with
civil society tends to be low, with few countries being
represented at the minister level.


10. (SBU) Sanhueza commented that Participa's experience in
working with the Chilean government was generally positive.
Participa, which was the lead civil society organization for
the CD Ministerial in Santiago in April 2005, has
considerable experience in working with the Chilean
government. Sanhueza approximated that if asked, some 16 of
the 21 civil society organizations in Latin America that are
part of an NGO "network" covering OAS-related issues would
provide similar answers.


11. (SBU) Sanhueza presented Ambassador Maisto a copy of a
Participa proposal titled "Phase II: Civil Society Follow-up
Strategy on the Quebec to Mar del Plata Plans of Action,"
whose objective would be to support and promote the
implementation of the mandates related to strengthening
democracy. Delpiano noted that she had passed a copy of the
proposal to USAID and WHA/EPSC on the margins of the May 2-3
meetings in Washington. Maisto agreed to review the proposal.

Outreach
--------------


12. (U) On May 17, Ambassador Maisto participated, together
with Diego Portales University Political Science professor
Patricio Navia, in an Embassy radio program on regional
developments to be broadcast to more than 150 radio stations
in Chile. The Ambassador also conducted press interviews
with Chilean press and television media.


13. (U) This message has been cleared by Ambassador Maisto.
KELLY