PANAMA: CONCERNED ABOUT VENEZUELA DEVELOPMENTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000782 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/AND (MARK WELLS) AND WHA/CEN (ELIA TELLO) E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2017 TAGS: PREL MARR PHUM MASS ECON PTER SOCI ELAB IR PM SUBJECT: PANAMA: CONCERNED ABOUT VENEZUELA DEVELOPMENTS REF: STATE 61378 Classified By: POLCOUNS BRIAN NARANJO. REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) With uncharacteristic candor, Panamanian MFA DG for International Affairs Javier Bonagas expressed Panama's concerns with Venezuela's increasing activity with Iran, its unconstructive behavior in the hemisphere, and troublesome meddling in Panama. Bonagas shared these views with POLCOUNS during post's May 14 presentation of reftel demarche. Panamanian President Bonagas would likely visit Caracas on May 23, Bonagas said, to discourage Chavez's attendance at the June 2-5 Organization of American States General Assembly (OASGA) that Panama would host. Concerned about Venezuelan meddling in Panamanian radical leftist politics, Bonagas noted that Panama was withholding agrement for Venezuela's proposed new ambassador. End summary. -------------- -------------- Panama Concerned About Growing Iran-Venezuela Relationship -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Panamanian MFA DG for International Affairs Javier Bonagas thanked POLCOUNS on May 14 for the exhaustive demarche (reftel) regarding the growing Iran-Venezuela relationship and asked that the U.S. continue to share information regarding Venezuela's international activities as well as domestic developments. Noting that Panama continued to seek to maintain a channel of communication with Venezuela, Bonagas noted that the topics of discussion in this channel were "dead matters" and increasingly this channel was "more and more closed." Bonagas acknowledged that increasingly dialogue with Venezuela was a "conversation of the deaf" and that Venezuela was increasingly "autistic." Bonagas took careful notes throughout the demarche presentation. Regarding economic ties between Iran and Venezuela, Bonagas commented that, as Panama itself has experienced, Venezuela promised much and delivered little. He expressed particular concern about Venezuela's transfer of F-5 engines to Iran without proper authorization and the prospect that Venezuela, in part due to its weak control over identity documents, could serve as a platform for extremist terrorists to operate in the Western Hemisphere. Finally, with respect to the recently established air links between Caracas and Teheran, Bonagas asked if the U.S. had specific information that Iran was either importing weapons and sensitive equipment to Iran via Venezuela or that Iran was introducing such materials to Venezuela. -------------- Handling the "Chavez" Problem at OASGA -------------- ¶3. (C) Noting that Panama would soon host the OASGA and chaired the OAS counter-terrrorism body (CICTE),Bonagas said that Panama was experiencing first hand the unconstructive impact that Chavez had in the hemisphere. Bonagas said Panama had been shocked when Venezuela recently rejected the CICTE declaration, adopted in Panama, regarding infrastructure security. While reservations on particular aspects was one thing, complete rejection of the text in the OAS, an organization that highly valued consensus, was unheard of. Also, Bonagas complained that Venezuela was behaving in a "highly polemical manner" with respect to the OASGA, the theme of which would be energy for development. Venezuela opposed discussion of alternative fuels such as ethanol, would only discuss the role of hydrocarbons, and viewed discuss of alternative fuels as a threat to Venezuela. ¶4. (C) In an effort to head off a visit by Chavez to the OASGA, Panamanian President Torrijos would visit Caracas on May 23, making a stop-over en route to Rio de Janiero. Also, Panama was putting out the word that Colombian President Uribe was the sole head of state to attend an OASGA-related event, the Private Sector Forum. Bonagas explained that this forum was not a formal OAS event, Uribe would only attend the forum since Colombia would host the next Private Sector Forum on the margins of the 2008 OASGA it would host, and Uribe was following the precedent of Torrijos who had attended the last Private Sector Forum held on the margin's of the 2006 OASGA. In addition to dissuading Chavez from attending, Panama was also trying to discourage Mexican President Calderon from attending as well in an effort to keep this year's OASGA a ministerial-level event. -------------- -------------- Withholding Agrement for Venezuelan Ambassador-designee -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Bonagas explained that Panama had been withholding granting agrement for Venezuela's proposed new ambassador, Jorge Luis Duran Centeno, out of concern that Venezuela intended to deepen its relationship with Panamanian radical leftist organizations, such as the National Front for the Defense of Social Security (FRENADESSO). (Note: Duran is currently Panama's Consul General in Sao Paolo, Brazil.) Increasingly, Venezuela was becoming upset with Panama's delay in responding to its request for agrement. Working with FRENADESSO, Bonagas commented, Venezuela had sponsored a Bolivarian Congress over the weekend of May 12-13 in Cocle province. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) While increasingly uncomfortable with developments in chavista Venezuela, Panama is unlikely to do anything that would openly put Panama at odds with Venezuela. Driven by its desire to seek good relations with all nations that seek good relations with it, Panama will continue to hold itself out as a "valid interlocutor" for Chavez though it increasingly understands the difficulty in maintaining a meaningful dialogue with a mercurial Chavez who listens less and less to his neighbors. Panama does, however, understand that Chavez is a liability that needs to be carefully managed lest he over turn the apple cart on things that matter most to Panama, such as hosting a successful OASGA. EATON