DOMINICANS ORGANIZING PRE-OAS-ASSEMBLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 000238

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/CEN, WHA/OAS, D, P, EB, INL,
EB/IFD/OMA, S/S; NSC FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE ADVISOR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2009
TAGS: PGOV PREL OPDC DR OAS HA
SUBJECT: DOMINICANS ORGANIZING PRE-OAS-ASSEMBLY
PRESIDENTIAL SUMMIT; FM ON VENEZUELA; ALEMAN INVESTIGATION

REF: A. 2005 STATE 197220

B. LINDWALL/MEIGS E-MAILS 1/09/06

Classified By: EcoPol Counselor Michael Meigs. Reason:
1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso
told the Ambassador and visitng WHA Deputy Assistant
Secretary Patrick Duddy on January 12 that the Dominicans are

SIPDIS
hoping to organize a summit meeting of U.S.-friendly
presidents on May 28-29, the week before the OAS General
Assembly of June 3-6, to improve the atmosphere for the
Assembly. They hope that President Bush will accept an
invitation to attend the event. Relations with Venezuela have
been cool since Ferandez supported the FTAA at Mar de Plata.
The FM had no immediate comment on USG interest in seeing
prosecution of former president of Nicaragua Aleman.

OAS -- AND A LIMITED EARLY SUMMIT
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


2. (C) In a private conversation on January 12 with the
Ambassador and visiting WHA Deputy Assistant Secretary
Patrick Duddy, Dominican Foreign Minister Morales Troncoso
deplored the events at the Mar de Plata summit, where
presidents Kirschner and Chavez embarrassed other presidents
at the event. Morales commented that President Bush had
shown command and had tremendous impact. The Dominicans do
not intend to allow their OAS event to be manipulated. They
would like to invite "the real, true friends of the United
States" to a meeting on May 28-29. Morales suggested that
the newly-elected president of Haiti could attend. He noted
that President Fox of Mexico was proposing a "Plan Puebla
Panama" to counter Chavez's "Petrocaribe"; the meeting could
include potential participants and CAFTA partners. Morales
suggested invitations to Mexico, Colombia, Honduras,
Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua -- "all of Central America,
all the best allies of the United States." In total, he
said, this would make 9 presidents. The Dominicans could
invite OAS SecGen Insulza, or not, depending on the concept
of the event. Morales Troncoso portrayed the suggestion as
an opportunity for the U.S. president to show his interest in
Latin America in an event that could be carried out in a
single day.


3. (C) The Dominicans intend the OAS summit here in Casa
del Campo to be thoroughly pre-scripted. Morales said that
they would avoid "the problems of Ft. Lauderdale and Mar de
Plata. . . Insulza wants this to be his first successful
General Assembly."

HAITI


4. (C) He again characterized Ambassador to Haiti Juan
Serulle as "crazy." The following day he would be attending
the Ministry's chief of missions seminar, and he intended to
"grill" Serulle in front of the assembly. Fernandez does not
like to change ambassadors, the Minister said, but Serulle
was "on his way out." (Morales tried to get Serulle canned
last year but was unsuccessful.)


5. (C) UN Special Representative to Haiti Juan Gabriel
Valdez had met President Fernandez and Morales Tronocoso on
December 28 in La Romana and subsequently spoke to OAS SyGen
Insulza. Morales commented that Valdez and his team are
"stretched absolutely to the maximum" in the effort to
prepare the elections in Haiti.


6. (C) The Minister said there had been no more than 3 or 4
days of advance planning for Fernandez's visit to Port au
Prince. He said he believed that the Haitian chief of
security had been involved in arranging the demonstrations
that occurred outside the palace. "I saw Guy Philippe there."
Amb. Serulle had said he would take care of security, using
only Haitian forces, with none from the UN.

BOLIVIA


7. (C) Morales Troncoso told U.S. officials that he had no
intention of attending the inauguration of Evo Morales,
scheduled to take place in the Bolivian highlands. "I told
the President he could send Miguel Mejia," he joked. (This


week the presidency announced that Vice President Rafael
Albuquerque would go, accompanied by the administration's
roving ambassador Miguel Mejia, specialist in leftist and
communist regimes.)

VENEZUELA


8. (C) Dominican relations with Venezuela have been "cool"
since the Mar de Plata summit, Morales said. At one point
after the departure of President Bush, Chavez turned to
Fernandez in the midst of a harrangue and urged, "Leonel, say
something." Fernandez did not respond, and left the meeting
ten minutes later.

NICARAGUA AND ALEMAN


9. (C) As DAS Duddy absented himself briefly to take a
telephone call, the Ambassador raised with Morales Troncoso
USG interest in seeing effective prosecution of former
president of Nicaragua Aleman and advised the Minister of
evidence that Aleman had used Dominican financial
institutions to launder some of the money. The Minister did
not have an immediate comment.

MEXICO MEETING ON MIGRATION ISSUES, JANUARY 9


10. (C) When U.S. officials spoke of the moderate tone of
the ministerial statement on migration issued January 9,
Morales Troncoso replied, "That was written here in Santo
Domingo." Following the Embassy demarche on January 5, the
Dominican representative to the meeting MFA Undersecretary
for Consular Affairs Rosario Graciano had prepared a draft
for the meeting.

ANTI-TERRORISM INSTRUMENTS


11. (C) As the Minister proceeded to the Ambassador's lunch
for DAS Duddy and several Dominican cabinet members, EcoPol
counselor raised with Morales Troncoso U.S. concern that the
Dominicans had to date joined only four of the 13
international instruments used to combat terrorism. Morales
Troncoso requested that the Embassy provide the details and
status to his advisor Amb. Trujols, also attending the lunch.
Trujols accepted the document at the end of the lunch, with
thanks, and promised to verify the status of Dominican
consideration of the conventions.


HERTELL

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