TRIPARTATE DEMARCHE FINDS CHILE NOT READY TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTIAGO 001108

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2016
TAGS: MNUC PARM PGOV PHSA PREL KNNP CI
SUBJECT: TRIPARTATE DEMARCHE FINDS CHILE NOT READY TO
DECLARE FOR PSI

REF: A. SANTIAGO 0907 AND PREVIOUS


B. STATE 50811

C. SANTIAGO 00091

Classified By: Ambassador Craig Kelly for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: At the request of the Spanish Embassy, on May
19, Ambassador accompanied his Polish and Spanish
counterparts in a joint demarche urging the GOC to accede to
the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). Foreign
Ministry Director General Carlos Portales said the MFA needed
time to build support for PSI within the new Bachelet
administration. He questioned why observers were not being
allowed to attend the high-level meeting planned in June. As
long as attendance at the meeting was predicated on a prior
declaration of support for PSI or the Statement of
Interdiction Principles (SIP),Chile would have to consider
itself "disinvited," Portales said. He said Chile strongly
would like to participate, but only as an observer or
"interested party," not as a member. End Summary


2. (C) Supplementing Embassy's bilateral demarches (reftel
A),the Ambassador joined Polish Ambassador Jaroslaw Spyra
and Spanish Ambassador Jose Antonio Martinez de Villareal to
discuss PSI with MFA Director General Carlos Portales on May
19 (reftel B). Portales was accompanied by his Chief of
Staff, Rodrigo Nieto, and Director for Special Policy
Ambassador Luis Winter.


3. (C) Ambassador Spyra presented the requirement that only
full PSI members could attend the June high-level PSI meeting
in Warsaw as an evolution of the organization. Portales took
issue with this, saying there was no logical reason for not
allowing observers and like-minded countries to attend. It
appeared Chile was being "disinvited" to participate in PSI.
Chile had taken part in the Krakow meetings last year, and
observed several PSI interdiction exercises. After this
record of close cooperation, Chile's exclusion from the
Warsaw meetings "hurt." Ambassador Spyra said that Chile's
regional reputation and weight made its participation
particularly important to PSI, but showed no flexibility on
the requirement for a declaration supporting the SIP.


4. (C) Portales said the new Bachelet administration needed
time to assess Chile's participation in PSI. Continued
opportunities to participate in and observe PSI activities
would be a key element in building a consensus to join.
Conversely, Chile's exclusion in Warsaw could raise questions
and slow a decision. Ambassador Kelly asked directly if
Portales saw observer status as a way to keep Chile moving
toward full membership. Portales replied "absolutely." The
GOC would gladly participate in the high-level meeting, but
only if a mechanism were found to allow countries cooperating
with PSI to attend without publicly adhering to the SIP.


5. (C) Comment: Chile is not prepared to commit to full
participation in PSI at this time and further approaches are
not likely to move them. PSI adherence is now entwined with
Chile's draft proposal for a new bilateral defense security
cooperation agreement, presented to us by Portales in January
2006 (reftel C).
KELLY