REPORT ON OUTREACH TO DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS AND

UNCLAS MONTEVIDEO 000249

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT ALSO FOR DRL/SEA AND WHA/BSC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL UY
SUBJECT: REPORT ON OUTREACH TO DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS AND
DISSIDENTS (URUGUAY)

REF: A. STATE 44903

B. 2007 STATE 108924


1. (U) Per reftels, please find below a summary of Embassy's
outreach and activities over the last year on the President's
Freedom Agenda.

Context
--------------

2. (U) Uruguay is a free and democratic country. A 2007
survey by "the Economist" magazine rated Uruguay as the only
country in South AMERICA to enjoy "full democracy."
Similarly, the Bertelsman Foundation recently placed Uruguay
and Chile at the top of its list of 125 countries in
democratic transition. Uruguay does not host significant
refugee, dissident or exile communities from un-free
countries. Its non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
generally do not focus on the plight of un-free countries,
despite our attempts to engage them on this issue.


3. (U) Instead, Uruguay's NGOs, activists and its Government
are intently focused on past human rights issues as they
relate to Uruguay's 1973-85 period of military dictatorship
when security forces committed serious human rights
violations in their campaign against violent insurgents and
their sympathizers. Some Uruguayans blame the U.S. for
indirectly supporting the region's military governments
during the Cold War. The complex history of the dictatorship
created heroes and villains for both the left and right. Some
of the persons involved -- including former Tupamaro
guerrillas -- are still active in politics today. The real
and imagined lessons from the dictatorship period continue to
haunt modern politics, including the Uruguayans' perception
of the U.S., especially where the Global War on Terrorism,
Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo are concerned. In some
quarters support fo the Cuban regime is very strong. This
situation presents some challenges in our discussions on
human rights and democracy; for this reason the Embassy has
opted for an indirect method of pursuing the President's
Freedom Agenda.

Advancing the Freedom Agenda
--------------

4. (SBU) Though led by a left-leaning government, Uruguay
shares many of our values and is a conspicuous island of
democratic stability and good governance in this turbulent
region. President Bush's 2007 visit to Uruguay sent a
powerful signal to the region that the U.S. favors good
relations with sensible, pragmatic governments that respect
democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, regardless of
their political label. Taking a cue from the President, we
have publicly and privately promoted Uruguay's solid
democracy in order to contrast it against the fallacies and
failed economic recipes of the regimes in countries such as
Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The Ambassador has
highlighted Uruguayan democracy and rule of law in several
op-eds published in major dailies during the past year. In
addition, he regularly issues statements stressing the
likemindedness of Uruguay and the U.S. to these democratic
values, implicitly contrasting Uruguay with unfree regimes in
the hemisphere.


5. (SBU) Meanwhile, we have continued to deliver to the GOU
many official demarches related to human rights and freedom.
We have backed Uruguay's robust international peacekeeping
operations (PKO) in countries that are challenged by freedom
issues, such as DROC and Haiti, by providing training and
equipment in support Uruguay's continued role. We
successfully arranged the travel to the U.S. of a Cuban
paramedic who sought asylum in Uruguay.
Baxter