AMBASSADOR GOLDBERG'S MEETING WITH VP ALVARO

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 001833

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2017
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL BL
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR GOLDBERG'S MEETING WITH VP ALVARO
GARCIA LINERA

REF: LA PAZ 1780

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: On June 28 Ambassador Goldberg met with
Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera. The meeting was
scheduled before the detention of the AmCit friend of
MilGroup commander's son on June 27 (Reftel A). While the
Vice President agreed with the Ambassador that the case
should not become politicized, he noted that he was not able
to predict how President Morales, traveling abroad, would
eventually respond. The Ambassador and VP also discussed
trade relations and counternarcotics issues. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) The Ambassador kicked off the conversation by briefing
the Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera on the arrest of an
American citizen (a friend of the MilGroup commander's son)
who had been arrested for importing 500 rounds of ammunition.
The VP said that he had notified President Evo Morales
regarding the case, who is traveling abroad, following the
Ambassador's phone call earlier that day. VP Garcia Linera
said that he had checked with the Ministry of Government as
requested, and that the Immigration Director had not
requested authorization ahead of time to speak about the
case; he intimated that she had been reprimanded by the
Minister of Government. (Note: However, our DEA lawyers told
us later in the day that Ministry of Government had tried to
prevent the AmCit's release, so it is not clear what
instructions the MinGov was acting under. End Note.) Garcia
Linera said that the GOB preferred to let the legal process
run its course in this case and agreed with the Ambassador
that we should keep the case from becoming politicized. But
he noted that he did not know what the President's reaction
would be on all of this and cautioned obliquely that he could
not control the president. (Note: AmCit departed from La Paz
on the American Airlines 8:40 P.M. flight en route to Miami.
End Note.)


3. (C) Ambassador briefed Garcia Linera on the likely passage
of ATPDEA in the Senate on Thursday night (Note: the Senate
passed ATDPEA's extension on the evening of June 28. End
Note); The Vice President characterized this as "good news."
Ambassador said that GOB needs to think about the longer
term. He noted that obtaining another extension may be
problematic, especially given comments by some congressmen
during the House debate. The Ambassador suggested two
possible routes: wait another eight months and press for
extension again or start thinking realistically about some
type of long term agreement. Ambassador stressed that we
don't mix political and foreign assistance issues up in our
trade agreements, as do the Europeans. The VP said he also
doubted that short term extensions were sustainable and
expressed a desire to reach a longer term solution.


4. (C) The Ambassador pressed VP hard on drug issues, saying
that the USG is in the midst of its certification process and
that there is a good bit of skepticism in USG about Bolivia.
He asked GOB to move forward aggressively where it can --
especially on money laundering and precursor chemical
legislation and by making clear its commitment to get overall
coca cultivation down to 20,000 hectares. The Vice President
said that Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz law, which has money
laundering provisions should move forward soon. The Chamber
of Deputies has approved the law "en grande" and will approve
it "en detalle" sometime in the next several weeks. He
thought that the Senate could complete work on the law in
July. He claimed that the GOB was arriving at a consensus
version of the law with the opposition. (Note: we are seeking
to confirm this, our last information indicated the
opposition firmly opposed the law arguing that some
provisions were unconstitutional. End Note.)


5. (C) The Vice President said that the President wanted to
get together with the Ambassador to talk about counter
narcotic efforts and alternative development. He said that
some coca farmers in the Chapare were complaining that they

had reduced their coca fields to one cato but had yet to
receive alternative development (which he called
complimentary development) assistance to grow additional
crops. The Ambassador agreed to meet with the President to
discuss.


6. (C) The Ambassador mentioned that the embassy will host
several important visitors during the month of July,
including Ambassador Shapiro and Lugar staffer Carl Meacham.
The VP said that he would like to meet with both. The
Ambassador remarked that he understood the President would
probably be traveling to NYC for the UNGA in September. He
asked if the GOB could send over a dip note as soon as
possible on that score so that we could get working on the
visa. He said that he also understood that the VP might be
traveling and suggested that the FM send over a note for him
too. The VP said that he would be traveling to a conference
in Washington in September and then to another conference in
Canada. (Note: DCM Urs followed up with GOB Vice Foreign
Minister Hugo Fernandez by phone and also requested notes for
the President and Vice President. End Note.)


7. (C) Finally, Ambassador told the VP that Minister of
Defense Walker San Miguel had an invitation to go to
Washington to meet with Defense Secretary Gates next month
but that we understood that San Miguel need approval from the
President to travel. The VP said that should be no problem.



8. (C) COMMENT: The meeting was cordial, and the Vice
President seemed genuinely interested in the Ambassador's
thoughts about moving our commercial and counternarcotic
relationship forward. The Vice President's oblique warning
that he could not control the President's reactions to the
ammunition incident proved spot on; the President blasted the
Embassy for the incident from Asuncion on June 29 and in
Bolivia on June 30. (septel)
GOLDBERG