ARMY COMMANDER'S REMARKS SOUR RELATIONS WITH CHILE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001865 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV MASS PINR CI PE SUBJECT: ARMY COMMANDER'S REMARKS SOUR RELATIONS WITH CHILE Classified By: CDA James D.Nealon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Anti-Chilean remarks by Army Commander General Edwin Donayre have tensed the Peru/Chile bilateral relationship. While the remarks were made two years ago in a private military gathering, a Peruvian Congressman recently forwarded a YouTube video of them to Chilean legislators, prompting outrage in Chile. President Garcia sought to limit the damage by calling President Bachelet to apologize and promise Donayre's eventual dismissal, but the controversy reignited when Chile's Foriegn Minister reportedly insisted Donayre be fired immediately. Since then, Chile has disinvited Peru's MOD to attend a maritime exposition and Peru has recalled its frigate "Quinones" from the event. If this controversy underscores the continuing fragility of the Peru/Chile relationship, it also reflects insider machinations for the future control of Peru's armed forces. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Anti-Chilean remarks by Army Commander General Edwin Donayre Goetzch have tensed the Peru/Chile bilateral relationship in the aftermath of the APEC summit. Around November 25, according to reports, UPP Congressman Gustavo Espinoza, a political renegade and opponent of Donayre, emailed a YouTube video to some fifty Chilean parliamentarians. The tape depicts General Donayre addressing a private gathering of mostly military officers, with drinks in their hands. In the video, Donayre is recorded as saying, "Any Chilean who enters Peru doesn't leave or if he does, he leaves in a coffin. If there aren't enough coffins, they'll leave in body bags." The video produced sharp reactions in Chile, including complaints by government officials and a formal protest by Chile's Ambassador to Peru, Fabio Vio. ¶3. (C) In the following days, President Alan Garcia called President Michelle Bachelet to apologize for the incident and disavow Donayre's comments. This step seemed initially to help calm the waters. Afterwards, when Peruvian FM Jose Garcia Belunde called Chilean FM Alejandro Foxley to echo President Garcia's apology and reject the army commander's "verbal excesses", Foxley reportedly demanded Donayre's immediate dismissal. A Chilean Embassy contact told us that Foxley was likely relaying to Garcia Belaunde what President Bachelet thought she heard from President Garcia -- rather than a more subtle message that the General would be let go in early December according to the Peruvian military's pre-established promotion and retirement schedule. ¶4. (C) News of Chile's "demand" stiffened the spines of Peruvian officials, who began invoking national sovereignty over internal decision-making, and generally muddied the situation further. Minister of Defense Antero Flores Araoz publicly stated that "should President Garcia decide to call General Donayre into retirement, he will do so without pressure from third parties." The squabbling between the two governments escalated to the point that both sides broke off participation in Chile's Exponaval naval exposition in Valparaiso, scheduled to begin on December 2. ¶5. (C) Meanwhile, Donayre reportedly sent a letter of apology to his Chilean counterpart, Oscar Izurieta, recognizing that his remarks were "inappropriate for relations between the two countries" while later maintaining that he was quoted out of context "since tensions with Chile were high at that time over the maritime boundary dispute." Adding fuel to the fire, Donayre said his video-taped remarks "expressed what every soldier who loves his country feels," and that he would likely serve in army for another three years. In response, both President Garcia and Prime Minister Yehude Simon asked Donayre to keep his mouth shut. (Comment: While clearly insulting and embarrassing in the public context, these kinds of comments are standard -- if somewhat stylized -- fare in the private, alcohol-fueled gatherings of Peruvian military officers steeped in their country's historical legacy of hostility to Chile. End Comment.) Comment: Insider Machinations with Bilateral Consequences -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) The Donayre video has unfortunately tainted some of the goodwill generated between Presidents Garcia and Bachelet during the recent APEC summit here. While the incident is unlikely to cause permanent harm, it reveals a persistent fragility in the bilateral relationship even between two governments that share a similar vision of the region's and their own shared future development. It will also likely put on hold longer-term plans to deepen and expand ties, including the already postponed 2 2 meetings of both countries' Foreign and Defense Ministers, according to Foreign Ministry and Chilean Embassy contacts. ¶7. (C) For his part, General Donayre is a controversial figure -- a practical joker fond of off-color humor and impolitic pranks -- whose failure to hold his tongue has finally got the best of him. But he also has other problems that may better explain these developments, particularly an intense and increasingly public power struggle over future control of Peru's armed forces. An early front runner for the military's top spot (Chairman of Joint Chiefs equivalent),Donayre has recently been plagued by public allegations of his participation in an irregular fuel purchase scheme and by concern about the Army's lackluster response to a recent spate of deadly attacks by the Shining Path (SL) guerrillas. These public allegations, likely fanned by military rivals and their patrons, were beginning to take their toll. In this context, some observers believe that the tactical public release of the incriminating video was intended to torpedo Donayre's military ambitions once and for all. According to Peru's swirling rumor mill, should that happen, Donayre could convert his high profile and substantial popular support as a man of the people into a future career in politics. MCKINLEY