SLOVENIA SEEKS EU CONSENSUS ON VENEZUELA AND LATIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000734 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM WHA EU VE SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA SEEKS EU CONSENSUS ON VENEZUELA AND LATIN AMERICA REF: SECSTATE 154674 Classified By: CDA MCOLEMAN E.O. 12958, reason 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (C) On November 29, EmbOff met with Stefan Salej, Special Envoy for Latin America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to share U.S. concerns about the anti-democratic changes in the proposed constitutional reform package in Venezuela and to request that Slovenia join the voices of international concern regarding GoV lack of adherence to its commitments under the Inter-American Democratic Charter, per reftel. Salej responded that the GoS shares the U.S. concerns about developments in Venezuela, as well as those in a number of other Latin American states. He stated that the GoS does not intend to spend its upcoming EU presidency "managing individual crises that erupt in Latin America," such as the one in Venezuela, but instead aims to use its presidency to help forge a common EU policy toward Latin America as a whole. He aligned Slovenia's position with that of the U.K., while acknowledging that Spain's differing approach could hinder efforts to forge a united EU policy toward Latin America. Salej added that Slovenia also hopes to facilitate a productive transatlantic dialogue on a coordinated, comprehensive U.S.-EU approach to Latin America. He asserted that the GoS believes that forging an EU consensus and a transatlantic dialogue on Latin America will bear more fruit than "separately and belatedly dealing with individual crises in the region as they emerge." COLEMAN