EU LATIN AMERICA MINISTERIAL IN SANTO DOMINGO

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 001241 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV EUN MX DR GT PE CO XM XK SUBJECT: EU LATIN AMERICA MINISTERIAL IN SANTO DOMINGO APRIL 19 AND 20 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY. European Union Secretary General and High Representative Javier Solana and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner will attend the EU-Latin America Ministerial meeting in Santo Domingo April 19 and 20. Solana will visit Mexico prior to arriving in Santo Domingo and Ferrero-Waldner will visit Colombia and Guatemala on her way to Santo Domingo. Solana will concentrate on broader regional policy issues and Ferrero-Waldner will discuss EU assistance to the region. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Solana will meet with Mexican President Calderon on April 17, followed by a meeting Foreign Minister Espinoza. According to his advisor, Solana will discuss GOM efforts to promote fiscal, energy and labor reforms. He will explore how the EU and Mexico can work together to shape globalization, encouraging Mexico to take a leadership role in the region. Solana will also attend a working breakfast with the Mexican Council for International Affairs, give a lecture at the Foreign Affairs Secretariat, attend a working lunch at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM),meet with EU Member State Heads of Mission in Mexico and meet with journalists.On the 18th he will continue on to Santo Domigo for the EU-Latin America Ministerial meeting. ¶3. (SBU) Ferrero-Waldner will kick off her trip with a visit to Colombia, where she will meet with President Uribe and FM Araujo. They will discuss the political situation in Colombia and in the region, the status of negotiations with the Andean Community, and EU cooperation programming for the next 10 years. She will visit an EU-funded "peace laboratory", working to pacify communities through reinsertion and reconstruction, in Cartagena and will sign a new 10-year program with the Colombian government. Ferrero-Waldner will arrive in Guatemala on April 17 for April 18 meetings with the President, Vice President, Foreign Minister, and Finance Minister. She will sign EU-Guatemala MOUs on cooperation for the next seven years, attend and exhibition of agricultural products and give a speech on enhancing women's rights. ¶4. (U) April 19 meetings in Santo Domingo will be devoted to a bilateral meeting with Mexico and regional multilateral meetings - Mercosur, Andean Community, and the San Jose Dialogue (political dialogue with Central American countries),April 20 meetings of the Rio Group will cover a broad range of issues including trade, energy, environment, security and social inclusion. They will also do a follow up stock taking on the Vienna 2006 EU-Latin America Summit and preparations for the May 2008 Summit meeting in Lima. The meetings in Santo Domingo will include six or seven European member state Foreign Ministers and most Latin American Foreign Ministers. McKinley .