PM DAS COULTER VISIT TO BOLIVIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LA PAZ 001366

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PASS TO WHA/FO CSHAPIRO, WHA/AND LPETRONI, PM DAS MCOULTER,
JBURNETT, OSD LTCOL DMCDONALD, WHA/FO GSNIDLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR MASS MOPS PHUM BL
SUBJECT: PM DAS COULTER VISIT TO BOLIVIA

Classified By: Amb. Philip S. Goldberg for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political-Military
Affairs Michael Coulter, as well as WHA/FO Sr. Advisor
Giovanni Snidle, PM desk officer Jeff Burnett, and Lt. Col.
Daniel McDonald of the Office of the Secretary of Defense
visited Bolivia May 9-10 in response to the positive
overtures made by the GOB in recent months (beginning at the
7th Annual Defense Ministerial of the Americas, held October
2006 in Managua),to explore opportunities to further
military-military relations and to lay the groundwork for
Minister of Defense Walker San Miguel's mid-June visit to the
United States. The Bolivian military briefed Coulter on its
peacekeeping operations, including its plans to open a
peacekeeping center in Santa Cruz, and gave him a tour of a
military police battalion and naval facilities. Coulter met
with Defense Minister Walker San Miguel, who indicated that
Bolivia wants to deepen mil-mil relations with the United
States. San Miguel and all of Coulter's military
interlocutors emphasized peacekeeping, capacity building and
force modernization, with all making pitches for continued
U.S. support. In a lunch with Bolivian service commanders,
Coulter emphasized visions shared by the USG and GOB,
highlighting peacekeeping, combating transnational threats,
and humanitarian operations, as well as expressing U.S.
support for increased bilateral training and exchanges.
Coulter discussed Bolivian democracy, sovereignty and current
challenges to Bolivian and regional security with Vice
Foreign Minister Hugo Fernandez, as well as with a group of
War College students. Overall, DAS Coulter's visit provided
an opportunity to strengthen the pol-mil relationship, and
his positive messages about U.S. interest in Bolivia were
well-received. End summary.

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PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS BRIEFING;
VISIT TO MILITARY POLICE BATTALION
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2. (SBU) Brig. Gen. Walter Panozo gave DAS Coulter a briefing
on Bolivia's participation in UN peacekeeping operations May

9. Panozo provided a history of Bolivia's contributions,
beginning with peacekeepers in Angola, and continuing through
present-day missions in the Congo and Haiti. In total,
Bolivians have participated in six different peacekeeping
missions involving a total of 2,333 troops. Panozo also
spoke at length about the Bolivian army's newest endeavor to
establish a peacekeeping operations training center in Santa
Cruz. While still in early stages, the Bolivian military is
hoping to secure international cooperation (including from
the United States) to further this effort.


3. (SBU) Following the peacekeeping briefing, DAS Coulter
visited the U.S.-trained and equipped military police
battalion in Miraflores. The military police focused their
presentation on riot control, showing DAS Coulter a video of
the February and October 2003 violence and their outdated
stock of U.S.-donated riot gear. They gave Coulter a
demonstration of how the military-police use the U.S.-donated
Neptune tank (armored vehicle with water canon) to respond to
social disturbances. The military police's overall message
was that they are a professional force but need updated
equipment. They showed Coulter makeshift equipment which
they were using and outlined their needs for shields, helmets
and bullet-proof vests. They also pointed out that given
their current stockpiles of tear gas, they only have

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sufficient supply for a one hour social conflict.

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VISIT TO NAVAL BASE
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4. (SBU) On May 9, DAS Coulter toured the Fourth Naval
District Base on Lake Titicaca, home to Bolivia,s
high-altitude scuba diving and rescue school. The school,s
instructor briefed Coulter on Bolivia,s dive program and
thanked him for the USG-donated dive equipment (tanks,
wetsuits, air compressors, fins, etc.,) and made an informal
request for additional gear. (Note: The current class of
divers was attending a course in Venezuela. End Note).
Coulter also viewed the base,s hospital boat, a U.S. excess
defense article (EDA) donation, which provides medical
services to many small, remote lakeside communities.
Officers explained that the vessel previously made ten trips
a year, but due to fuel and parts shortages now only makes
two.

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MEETING WITH MINISTER OF DEFENSE
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5. (C) In a May 10 meeting with Minister of Defense Walker
San Miguel, DAS Coulter said he was glad to be able to follow
up on their meeting at the 7th Annual Defense Ministerial of
the Americas, held October 2006 in Managua. Coulter told the
defense minister that the United States is looking for more
opportunities to engage with Bolivia, particularly in areas
where we share visions and concerns, to include combating
transnational treats to hemispheric security, international
peacekeeping, and humanitarian operations. Coulter noted the
Bolivian military's resource constraints but said he was
impressed with the soldiers' "can do" attitude. Coulter
highlighted Bolivia's participation in peacekeeping
operations as a positive contribution to international
stability, and also noted the benefits that accrue to Bolivia
as a result of interactions with other nations' troops.
Coulter told San Miguel that the USG is working hard to
execute New Horizons, the humanitarian military exercise
planned for July-August, and is looking forward to San
Miguel's June visit to Washington.


6. (C) San Miguel responded by acknowledging U.S. military
cooperation and said Bolivia is disposed to deepen its
mil-mil relationship with the United States. He said Bolivia
faces many challenges, and is hampered by a lack of military
resources, but has great potential, too. San Miguel proudly
told Coulter that Bolivia's peacekeeping troops stand out for
"their solidarity and discipline," which he personally
witnessed when he visited the troops in Haiti last month. He
said his soldiers' participation in peacekeeping missions
makes them stronger professionally, which translates to
improved operational capacity for the armed forces in general
as those soldiers advance in the ranks.


7. (C) San Miguel emphasized capacity building and force
modernization, noting that the Bolivian army needs vehicles
and the navy needs boats. He said the armed forces had faced
challenges in responding to this year's natural disasters,
and expressed gratitude for NAS assistance. San Miguel said
the Bolivian armed forces strive to become inter-operational
with other countries in order to step up their efforts to
fight arms, drugs, and human trafficking. He cited as an
example of international cooperation Bolivia's detention of
Colombian narcotrafficker Eduardo Ormaza who was deported May

9. (Note: The Embassy flew Ormaza out of country on a DEA
plane, and publicly thanked the GOB for its efforts. End

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note). San Miguel said the incident served as a reminder
that Bolivia needs to improve airport security. In closing,
the defense minister said he welcomed Coulter's visit and
looked forward to his own trip to the United States and to
meeting with Secretary of Defense Gates.

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LUNCH WITH SERVICE COMMANDERS
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8. (SBU) The DCM hosted a lunch for DAS Coulter and Bolivia's
military service commanders May 10. (Note: Armed Forces
Commander General Wilfredo Vargas, Army Commander General
Freddy Bersatti, Air Force Commander General Luis Trigo, and
Navy Commander Admiral Jose Alba were in attendance. End
note). Coulter told his interlocutors that his visit
confirmed his view that the United States and Bolivia share a
similar vision of global security threats. He said the
United States wanted to deepen cooperation with Bolivia,
particularly via training and exchanges. Coulter
complimented the army's work in peacekeeping, noting that the
United Nations says that today's need for peacekeepers will
only increase in the future.


9. (SBU) General Vargas thanked Coulter for his visit and
expressed hope for additional U.S. funding and timely
cooperation. Vargas described the mil-mil relationship as
positive and noted that Bolivian military officials want to
enhance their long friendship with the United States, but
also alluded to problems in the past. He said the army is
pleased to participate in peacekeeping, and may be supported
by the Bolivian navy in the future. General Bersatti added
that Bolivia will rotate its troops in Haiti May 26 pending
congressional approval scheduled for May 15. Bersatti
admitted that elements of the GOB had expressed doubts about
the GOB's commitment to peacekeeping operations but assured
Coulter that the "GOB now fully supports" such missions.
Bersatti made a pitch for U.S. support for Bolivia's
soon-to-be-established peacekeeping center in Santa Cruz and
also mentioned that Bolivia will seek Canadian assistance.

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MEETING WITH VICE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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10. (SBU) In a courtesy call on Vice Foreign Minister Hugo
Fernandez, Coulter emphasized U.S. willingness to pursue
enhanced cooperation with the GOB on areas of common
interest, highlighting in particular peacekeeping, combating
transnational threats, humanitarian operations, and joint
training exercises in Bolivia. Fernandez noted that the GOB
considers peacekeeping an important potential area of US-GOB
cooperation, while repeating his government's policy on the
need for UN reform. Fernandez noted political changes
underway in Bolivia and emphasized Bolivia's sovereign right
to make its own decisions. He frankly stated that the GOB
disagrees with the U.S. assessment that more coca equals more
cocaine. Fernandez also sought, and received from DAS
Coulter, a statement about U.S. support for the territorial
integrity of Bolivia. Any attempt at secession from the
Bolivian state, Fernandez underscored, would be "unacceptable
to Bolivia,s indigenous peoples" and would inevitably lead
to a regional war in which Chile, Argentina, and Brazil would
"fight for the pieces" that remained of Bolivia. Coulter
made it clear that the United States supported Bolivian
territorial integrity. (Note: Regarding this issue, Coulter
repeated verbatim points made by WHA A/S Tom Shannon. End
note).

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SPEECH AT BOLIVIA'S WAR COLLEGE EQUIVALENT
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11. (SBU) Coulter also spoke at Bolivia's Diplomatic Center
for Advanced National Studies on the rapidly shifting,
transnational threats facing the world. He specifically
referenced growing U.S. concerns with narcotics and arms
trafficking, as well as human smuggling and terrorism, which
he said emerge in response to lagging economies, ungoverned
spaces, or disenfranchised populations. Coulter urged
Bolivia to develop tools to address those threats, and
explained Secretary's Rice's "transformational diplomacy,"
under which the USG began placing increased emphasis on
engagement of partners (both within and outside the USG) to
shape a more secure and stable world. Coulter highlighted the
use of International Military Education and Training (IMET)
funds to achieve those goals, as well as information sharing.
He said the USG sought to stem weapons proliferation while
assisting friends with their legitimate defense needs.
Coulter said the USG was proud to partner with the GOB on UN
peacekeeping operations to achieve shared goals. In response
to Coulter's remarks, several participants commented on the
media's role in distorting the reality in Bolivia and
expressed concerns about the GOB's respect for democracy and
rule of law, as well as increased coca production and its
relationship to arms trafficking and terrorism. Others
worried about social instability relating to autonomy,
Bolivia's ability to attract future investment, and growing
Venezuelan and Cuban influence in Bolivia.

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COMMENT: A POSITIVE WAY FORWARD
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12. (C) DAS Coulter's visit provided an opportunity to
further the mil-mil relationship prior to the defense
minister's June visit to Washington. Coulter's positive
messages about U.S. interest in Bolivia were well-received.
Through continued education and training, working with the
rising generation of military officers, and seeking
opportunities to assist Bolivia in the area of peacekeeping,
humanitarian operations, and combating transnational threats,
we will try to keep mil-mil relations on the right track, and
in doing so, perhaps strengthen the overall bilateral
relationship. End comment.

This meesage has been cleared by DAS Coulter.
GOLDBERG