AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH VICE FM FERNANDEZ

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 000983

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE PASS TO DRL/MLGA DANIKA WALTERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC BL
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH VICE FM FERNANDEZ

REF: STATE 40380

Classified By: EcoPol Chief Mike Hammer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: During an April 28 meeting with the
Ambassador, Vice Foreign Minister Hugo Fernandez explained
the government's push for statements supporting Bolivian
unity from the OAS and other international institutions were
intended to ensure that May 4 is carried out without
violence. When the Ambassador asked what additional
statement the GOB would like from the United States,
Fernandez had no answer. The Ambassador took this
opportunity to remind the government of its obligations
regarding Embassy security, particularly as May 1 and May 4
approach.


2. (C) Turning to other issues, the Ambassador was assured
our dipnote complaint about aggressive surveillance of our
Santa Cruz facility would be taken to the Foreign Minister.
Fernandez admitted the legal case for espionage against
former Assistant Regional Security Officer Vincent Cooper was
unprosecutable, but lamented it would go on until a judge
throws it out. He attributed this to "weaknesses" in the
Bolivian court system. Fernandez said a dipnote exchange
constituting an agreement to provide legal protection for
visiting U.S. military units was "dead" unless we could
repackage it as a "new" agreement. He also warned that a
dipnote was forthcoming to complain about Assistant Secretary
Thomas Shannon's April 24 characterization of conspiracy
charges against the Embassy as "stupid." The Ambassador also
delivered reftel demarche on support for the U.S.-EU
prisoners of Conscience Declaration. End Summary.

Suggested Text for U.S. Statement: Silence
--------------


3. (C) The Ambassador met with Vice Foreign Minister Hugo
Fernandez April 28 at the Embassy's request. On President
Morales' public calls for the Ambassador to "tell the truth"
on the May 4 autonomy referendum in Santa Cruz Department
(state),the Ambassador asked what type of statement the
Bolivian government wanted. Fernandez had no response and
told the Ambassador, "Don't worry about it." Fernandez's
only other mention of the issue was to note that "the entire
world thinks this way, except you," implying international
opinion favored the government's legal arguments. (Note:
With the exception of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, we are
unaware of any country or organization that has taken a view
on legal issues pertaining to the Santa Cruz referendum. End
Note.)

OAS Support Needed to Deter Violence
--------------


4. (C) Fernandez explained the government was trying to
enlist international support in order to send a message to
the opposition that they would "share" the blame if there is
violence May 4. "Clearly, the government is the most
responsible to prevent violence, but we are not the only ones
responsible. If the opposition assumes no one will take them
to task if there is violence, they will not act with
caution."

Security: Mission Rights and GOB Responsibilities
-------------- --------------


5. (C) The Ambassador delivered a dipnote (127/08)
complaining about recent aggressive surveillance April 11 at
our Consular Agency in Santa Cruz. (Note: A military
intelligence non-commissioned officer openly took photographs
and drew pictures of the Consular Agency; he was particularly
uncooperative and belligerent with Bolivian police. End
Note.) The Ambassador emphasized that this is not the first
time the Mission has complained about aggressive
surveillance, that this was not conducive to friendly
relations, and that we have the obligation to be concerned
about terrorist and other threats to our facilities. The
Ambassador also reminded the Vice Minister that the Embassy
had been attacked by protesters with dynamite October 17,
2007 and noted that the Embassy hopes the government shares
our concerns about security this week in conjunction with the
May 1 holiday and the May 4 referendum. Fernandez said he
did not know anything about the incident in question,
chuckled that it appeared the surveillance had been "very
poorly executed," and promised to take the issue up with
Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca.

Fernandez: Cooper Case Baseless, but Media Show Will Go On
-------------- --------------


6. (C) The Ambassador revisited the issue of legal action
against former Assistant Regional Security Officer Vincent
Cooper. The Ambassador asked Fernandez if the Foreign
Ministry had forwarded the dipnote explaining Mr. Cooper's
full immunity to the prosecutors involved in a case of
alleged espionage against him and, if they had, why the
highly-publicized case is continuing. Fernandez agreed that
Cooper was immune, but explained this is a "special case" and
that "Bolivian justice has its weaknesses." He assured that
eventually a judge will throw the case out, but until then
prosecutors have a certain freedom to explore cases and
sometimes do so publicly. The Ambassador argued that the
image being created is that the U.S. is not cooperating in a
case of espionage, when the reality is that there was no
espionage and, moreover, no case to cooperate with.
Fernandez simply nodded and said, "We agree."

505 Prospects Good; Dipnote SOFA "Dead" in Current Form
-------------- --------------


7. (C) Fernandez said the exchange of dipnotes constituting a
505 agreement and needed to release $1.2 million in U.S.
Peace Keeping Operations (PKO) funds was being reviewed and
had the support of both the MFA and MOD. He said the MFA was
waiting on three precursor agreements mentioned in the U.S.
dipnote (093/08). PolOff provided one of the three and told
Fernandez he will forward the other two when they are found.


8. (C) Fernandez was much less optimistic about the prospects
of exchanging dipnotes regarding the status of U.S. armed
forces units deployed in Bolivian on humanitarian missions,
which he called "dead" in its current form. He assured there
was not issue with the content or text of the agreement, but
confirmed the agreement has hit a political brick wall in the
cabinet. Despite our repeated explanations to the contrary,
Fernandez said some ministers and President Morales himself
continue to believe a photo of President Morales with Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used in a presentation given by
SouthCom Commander Admiral Stavridis was "an insult to our
president." Fernandez advised presenting the agreement with
a new name in order to overcome the knee-jerk negative
reaction that "some ministers" have to the perception "we are
approving all the old agreements of prior governments." The
Ambassador sought assurances that if such efforts were made
on our part, an approval would be forthcoming, but received
none. Fernandez lamented that the government is torn between
sensitivities they are perceived as old government
"collaborators" with the U.S. and the understanding that
their intransigence is blocking good programs from benefiting
the Bolivian people.

Government Upset About A/S Shannon's Comments
--------------


9. (C) Fernandez complained about Assistant Secretary
Shannon's April 24 comments to a Brazilian newspaper
dismissing government conspiracy accusations against the
Ambassador are "stupid." Fernandez likened the remark to
Admiral Stavridis' presentation, which had offended the
government. Although he conceded the accusations are, in
fact, "stupid," he added that Assistant Secretary Shannon was
being "excessive." The Vice Minister told the Ambassador a
formal dipnote denouncing the statement would be forthcoming,
although the Ambassador advised against it, adding that if
this was the threshold for dipnote indignation, he would be
writing a dipnote every day. "Are you really this
sensitive?" asked the Ambassador. "Yes we are," replied the
Vice Minister.

Be Patient, Take Insults, Relations will Renew
-------------- -


10. (C) A few minutes later, Fernandez cautioned the
Ambassador not to be sensitive to government criticism and
instead focus on essential issues of bilateral concern, such
as democracy and human rights. He cautioned that we should
not take current bilateral troubles too seriously, rather to
have patience and "wait for the right time" as officials in
the new government work out their historical resentments
toward the United States. He said our recent trouble with
renewing agreements and relationships (most notably the
government's relationship with USAID) would likely be
temporary, although he clarified there is "no problem" with
the United States inside the MFA. "We have suspicions not
because these are bad agreements, but because they are old.
Without new agreements there will always be suspicions."
Fernandez confided he did not believe in the accusations
against the Ambassador, but explained that the Ambassador had
an historic tenure during a time of dramatic change in
Bolivia during which he would have to bear insults so that
bilateral relations might have a fresh start. The Ambassador
noted a certain irony in a government that speaks of "change"
being so wedded to resentments of old. Fernandez admitted
even the most hard-line government officials understand "we
cannot have bad relations with the United States."

Prisoners of Conscience Declaration
--------------


11. (C) The Ambassador delivered reftel demarche concerning
the U.S.-EU Prisoners of Conscience Declaration. The Vice
Minister said on first review he was in favor "in principal"
of signing the declaration and would press the issue with UN
counterparts. He mentioned the poor record of human rights
of North Korea and Myanmar, but made no mention of Cuba.

Comment
--------------


12. (C) Fernandez's big-picture, stock answers to our
concerns: "don't worry about it," "give it time," and "this
is how politics are played in Latin America" are quite
familiar. Unfortunately, radicals in the government's inner
circle are likely to reign over cooler heads, like Fernandez,
who are inclined to wait out problems rather than try to
change "suspicious minds." His "prosecutors will be
prosecutors" explanation of why the Cooper case continues to
be pursued is also more of the same. He admitted the case
has no merit and was legally unprosecutable but stopped short
of admitting the case is being used as yet another GOB media
poker to stoke rumors of U.S. conspiracy.


13. (C) When we gave Fernandez a chance to suggest wording
for a U.S. statement on May 4, he was mute. This belies the
government strategy and double talk: there is no correct
answer for us. If we make a declarative statement on the
referendum not to the government's liking, we will be
criticized as meddling in internal affairs; if we don't make
such a statement, we will be criticized for being silent.
Finally, if we make a statement similar to that of the EU or
Japan, the government will misrepresent it as "proof" that
the Santa Cruz referendum is illegal. In short, our
designated role is to play the foil regardless of our actions
or statements. End Comment.
GOLDBERG