Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BOGOTA2318
2008-06-25 23:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bogota
Cable title:
COLOMBIA-ECUADOR RELATIONS: ONE STEP BACK
how-toVZCZCXRO3332 PP RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHMT RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRG RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC DE RUEHBO #2318/01 1772317 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 252317Z JUN 08 FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3352 INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 002318
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL PTER CO
SUBJECT: COLOMBIA-ECUADOR RELATIONS: ONE STEP BACK
Classified By: Political Counselor John Creamer
Reasons 1.4 (b and d)
SUMMARY
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 002318
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL PTER CO
SUBJECT: COLOMBIA-ECUADOR RELATIONS: ONE STEP BACK
Classified By: Political Counselor John Creamer
Reasons 1.4 (b and d)
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (C) President Alvaro Uribe, angry over critical statements
from Presidents Rafael Correa and Daniel Ortega, announced on
June 23 that the GOC would delay the previously agreed-on
resumption of diplomatic relations with Ecuador. The GOE
responded by suspending indefinitely the renewal of bilateral
relations and hinting at escalating the conflict through
trade sanctions. Vice Foreign Minister Camilo Reyes told us
there are two levels of GOC-GOE relations: bad at the
presidential level, and constructive at the working-level.
The Dialogue Group, organized by the Carter Center, met with
Uribe on June 25, and is set to meet with Correa on June 26.
Group members told us the battle of negative communiques and
statements by Uribe and Correa represented a step back after
weeks of progress. End summary.
URIBE UPSET BY CORREA AND ORTEGA COMMENTS
--------------
2. (U) President Alvaro Uribe responded to a series of
negative comments by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa by
announcing on June 23 a delay in the normalization of
relations with Ecuador. Uribe was reportedly upset by a
series of Correa comments, culminating in Correa's claim in a
June 22 interview in Argentine daily "Pagina/12" that
Colombian security services executed an Ecuadorian citizen
after the March 1 attack against Raul Reyes' FARC camp in
Ecuador. Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador
said on June 24 that the GOE would suspend resumption of
relations with Colombia for an unknown period, and hinted
that the GOE might escalate with trade sanctions. Ecuador
broke diplomatic ties after the attack on the Reyes camp.
3. (U) Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's praise for
deceased FARC leader Manuel Marulanda, the GON's decision to
grant asylum to two Colombian citizens/FARC members and one
Mexican who survived the Reyes attack, and Ortega's
statements calling Uribe a state sponsor of terror prompted
the GOC's decision to denounce Ortega in the OAS. Colombian
Permanent Representative to the OAS Camilo Ospina said in a
June 24 OAS Permanent Council meeting that Ortega offered
"protection, promotion, and open support for terrorists."
TWO LEVELS OF COLOMBIA-ECUADOR RELATIONSHIP
--------------
4. (C) Vice Foreign Minister Camilo Reyes told us there are
two levels to the Colombian-Ecuadorian relationship: A) the
presidential level, which is very bad due to constant verbal
attacks on Uribe and the Colombian people by Correa and to a
lesser extent Salvador, and B) the career bureaucratic level
where the Ecuadorians want to improve relations and
de-escalate the conflict, but are limited by their
president's views. He attributed Correa's negative comments
to Ecuador's internal political dynamics, noting his need for
a successful constituent assembly.
THREE MECHANISMS TO RESUME RELATIONS
--------------
5. (C) Reyes told us that in meetings over the last six weeks
with his Ecuadorian counterpart Jose Valencia, they have
developed three mechanisms to improve bilateral
communications. The first focuses on improving security
cooperation along the border by reinstating previous
communication channels. This could also involve the creation
of a technical commission to deal with concrete cases and
serve as an early-warning system. Reyes said a late-May
meeting of the two militaries was a positive step in this
process. The second mechanism focuses on judicial
cooperation and would regulate exchanges of information
through letters rogatory and other judicial channels. The
third deals with the development of more agile instruments to
adjudicate and pay compensation to citizens of one country
who are damaged by the actions of the other. Reyes said they
made some progress on the first two issues, but that
discussions on compensation are hampered by the GOE
insistence on compensation for the Reyes camp
attack--something the GOC will never accept.
OTHER EFFORTS TOWARDS RAPPROCHEMENT
--------------
6. (C) On June 25, the Dialogue Group, a groups of prominent
Ecuadorians and Colombians set up by the Carter Center to
discuss Colombia-Ecuador relations, met with President Uribe
BOGOTA 00002318 002 OF 002
who urged it to continue its efforts. Group member Angelino
Garzon told us they were scheduled to fly to Quito to meet
with President Correa on June 26. Garzon, the former,
left-leaning Governor of Valle de Cauca, said OAS SYG Jose
Miguel Insulza and former President Jimmy Carter coordinated
the Group's work, and added that Uribe and Correa seemed to
support its initiatives. Still, he said both Uribe and
Correa have personalized the dispute--complicating
lower-level efforts to improve ties. He said Correa
sometimes reacted emotionally and on the spur of the moment.
Uribe also appeared to be increasingly playing to his
domestic audience. The key to moving ahead with pre-existing
plans to renew relations was breaking the cycle of negative
statements from both presidents.
BROWNFIELD
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL PTER CO
SUBJECT: COLOMBIA-ECUADOR RELATIONS: ONE STEP BACK
Classified By: Political Counselor John Creamer
Reasons 1.4 (b and d)
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (C) President Alvaro Uribe, angry over critical statements
from Presidents Rafael Correa and Daniel Ortega, announced on
June 23 that the GOC would delay the previously agreed-on
resumption of diplomatic relations with Ecuador. The GOE
responded by suspending indefinitely the renewal of bilateral
relations and hinting at escalating the conflict through
trade sanctions. Vice Foreign Minister Camilo Reyes told us
there are two levels of GOC-GOE relations: bad at the
presidential level, and constructive at the working-level.
The Dialogue Group, organized by the Carter Center, met with
Uribe on June 25, and is set to meet with Correa on June 26.
Group members told us the battle of negative communiques and
statements by Uribe and Correa represented a step back after
weeks of progress. End summary.
URIBE UPSET BY CORREA AND ORTEGA COMMENTS
--------------
2. (U) President Alvaro Uribe responded to a series of
negative comments by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa by
announcing on June 23 a delay in the normalization of
relations with Ecuador. Uribe was reportedly upset by a
series of Correa comments, culminating in Correa's claim in a
June 22 interview in Argentine daily "Pagina/12" that
Colombian security services executed an Ecuadorian citizen
after the March 1 attack against Raul Reyes' FARC camp in
Ecuador. Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador
said on June 24 that the GOE would suspend resumption of
relations with Colombia for an unknown period, and hinted
that the GOE might escalate with trade sanctions. Ecuador
broke diplomatic ties after the attack on the Reyes camp.
3. (U) Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's praise for
deceased FARC leader Manuel Marulanda, the GON's decision to
grant asylum to two Colombian citizens/FARC members and one
Mexican who survived the Reyes attack, and Ortega's
statements calling Uribe a state sponsor of terror prompted
the GOC's decision to denounce Ortega in the OAS. Colombian
Permanent Representative to the OAS Camilo Ospina said in a
June 24 OAS Permanent Council meeting that Ortega offered
"protection, promotion, and open support for terrorists."
TWO LEVELS OF COLOMBIA-ECUADOR RELATIONSHIP
--------------
4. (C) Vice Foreign Minister Camilo Reyes told us there are
two levels to the Colombian-Ecuadorian relationship: A) the
presidential level, which is very bad due to constant verbal
attacks on Uribe and the Colombian people by Correa and to a
lesser extent Salvador, and B) the career bureaucratic level
where the Ecuadorians want to improve relations and
de-escalate the conflict, but are limited by their
president's views. He attributed Correa's negative comments
to Ecuador's internal political dynamics, noting his need for
a successful constituent assembly.
THREE MECHANISMS TO RESUME RELATIONS
--------------
5. (C) Reyes told us that in meetings over the last six weeks
with his Ecuadorian counterpart Jose Valencia, they have
developed three mechanisms to improve bilateral
communications. The first focuses on improving security
cooperation along the border by reinstating previous
communication channels. This could also involve the creation
of a technical commission to deal with concrete cases and
serve as an early-warning system. Reyes said a late-May
meeting of the two militaries was a positive step in this
process. The second mechanism focuses on judicial
cooperation and would regulate exchanges of information
through letters rogatory and other judicial channels. The
third deals with the development of more agile instruments to
adjudicate and pay compensation to citizens of one country
who are damaged by the actions of the other. Reyes said they
made some progress on the first two issues, but that
discussions on compensation are hampered by the GOE
insistence on compensation for the Reyes camp
attack--something the GOC will never accept.
OTHER EFFORTS TOWARDS RAPPROCHEMENT
--------------
6. (C) On June 25, the Dialogue Group, a groups of prominent
Ecuadorians and Colombians set up by the Carter Center to
discuss Colombia-Ecuador relations, met with President Uribe
BOGOTA 00002318 002 OF 002
who urged it to continue its efforts. Group member Angelino
Garzon told us they were scheduled to fly to Quito to meet
with President Correa on June 26. Garzon, the former,
left-leaning Governor of Valle de Cauca, said OAS SYG Jose
Miguel Insulza and former President Jimmy Carter coordinated
the Group's work, and added that Uribe and Correa seemed to
support its initiatives. Still, he said both Uribe and
Correa have personalized the dispute--complicating
lower-level efforts to improve ties. He said Correa
sometimes reacted emotionally and on the spur of the moment.
Uribe also appeared to be increasingly playing to his
domestic audience. The key to moving ahead with pre-existing
plans to renew relations was breaking the cycle of negative
statements from both presidents.
BROWNFIELD