EXCHANGING VIEWS ON THE OAS AND THE SUMMIT OF THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001028

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2018
TAGS: PREL XL XM CA
SUBJECT: EXCHANGING VIEWS ON THE OAS AND THE SUMMIT OF THE
AMERICAS WITH CANADA

REF: OTTAWA 976

Classified By: PolMinCouns Scott Bellard, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. In meetings at the Department of Foreign
Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) on July 18, U.S.
Permanent Representative to the Organization of American
States Hector E. Morales, Jr. emphasized his hopes of
maintaining strong coordination and collaboration with Canada
on hemispheric issues and expressed his appreciation for
ongoing Canadian cooperation bilaterally and multilaterally.
He called for improving the OAS' efficiency and pruning its
various mandates as members consider the budget. He
exchanged views on some of the logistical and substantive
challenges facing the April 2009 Summit of the Americas in
Port of Spain, and agreed on the importance of working
together to help Trinidad and Tobago organize a successful
Summit. End Summary.

Latin American Bureau
--------------


2. (C) Ambassador Morales met on July 18 with DFAIT's
Director General for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs
James Lambert, joined by Acting Director of the
Inter-American Affairs Division Leonard Beaulne, Coordinator
of the Summit of the Americas Paul Williams, OAS Coordinator
Mandy Sheldrake, and PolMinCouns. Ambassador Morales
highlighted the importance the U.S. placed on improving the
OAS' efficiency and effectiveness, citing the need to
prioritize its work and to review its more than 800 mandates,
with a medium-to-long term view of pruning some of them. He
underscored that the U.S. and Canada together paid much more
than half of the budget, unlike the Inter-American
Development Bank, for which the borrowers contributed the
majority share. He described this situation as "not in the
long-term organizational interests" of the OAS. He called
for more efficiency and accountability by the OAS. DG
Lambert expressed full agreement, while underscoring the
continued importance of the OAS, notably its regional offices
and its electoral mandates. He nonetheless admitted the OAS'
"mandate creep," but could offer no formula on how to shape
an effective response. On the OAS budget, Ambassador Morales
called for a possible rethink of who is paying how much,
underscoring that the numerous observers did not contribute
to the regular budget, yet were present at all council and
committee meetings. He stated that ongoing budget
discussions needed to include a review of efficiency and
quota issues.


3. (C) DG Lambert lamented that members of the OAS often
"tiptoed" around key issues -- such as democracy in Venezuela
-- and insisted that Canada had joined the OAS in the 1990s
to help bring "multilateral professionalism" to the OAS, not
to "Latin Americanize Canada." He said that the Conservative
government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper was especially
interested in improving the OAS' administrative efficiency
and in promoting democracy throughout the hemisphere.
Ambassador Morales also voiced concern about "unbalance" in
the OAS, citing the U.S. need to add a footnote about the
right of self defense in the OAS resolution about Colombia's
March 1 raid against a FARC camp in Ecuador. He insisted
that it remained important for the OAS to speak out about
terrorism, human rights, and democracy. Both DG Lambert and
Ambassador Morales expressed some concerns about a sometime
lack of balance also by the OAS Secretary General, and agreed
that the OAS must fairly represent all constituencies, not
just Latin American ones. Ambassador Morales noted that
Qjust Latin American ones. Ambassador Morales noted that
sub-regional organizations could play helpful roles, but only
if they complement what the OAS and IDB are doing, not
compete with them.


4. (C) Ambassador Morales condemned the FARC as a genuine
terrorist organization that posed a real threat to the
region. He explained that Colombia will soon publicly call
for the world also to condemn it (as the U.S. has done
privately -- reftel),and called for pro-active support for
the Colombian President. He cited OAS as well as UN
obligations for members to take action, especially in not
providing safe haven for the FARC. DG Lambert voiced general
agreement.


5. (C) DG Lambert praised Ambassador Morales' thoughtful
letter to Trinidad's National Coordinator and Special Envoy
to the Americas and the Commonwealth Luis Alberto Rodriguez
on its draft declaration for the Fifth Summit of the
Americas," and said that Canada was also working with him on
this, but called it a "monster declaration" with "unrealistic
goals," especially on energy and climate change. He added
that PM Harper had promised PM Manning of Canada's
willingness to "backstop." He stressed the importance of

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ensuring a successful Summit in 2009 or else there might
never be another one. Ambassador Morales explained that he
had briefed both U.S. Presidential campaigns on the 2009
Summit, and advisors in both camps said they would need a
"compelled case" to attend in order to avoid possible
embarrassment, while agreeing that a successful summit would
be an excellent opportunity to lay out the new
Administration's vision for the region. DG Lambert added
that Canada would support making the Summits more regular,
probably every two years. Ambassador Morales warned that any
effort by Trinidad and/or Venezuela to include Cuba in the
2009 Summit would make it a "non-starter" for any U.S.
President.


6. (C) Ambassador Morales expressed high appreciation for
Canada's important role in the region, especially Haiti, on
its own as well as working with the U.S. and also through the
OAS.

North America Bureau
--------------


7. (C) In a separate meeting with Assistant Deputy Foreign
Minister for North America and Summit of the Americas sherpa
Peter Boehm and Assistant Deputy Foreign Minister for the
Americas Strategy Alexandra Bugailiskis (whom Boehm indicated
would likely inherit his Summit portfolio once he departs for
his new assignment as Ambassador to Germany in August),
Ambassador Morales underscored that there could not be a
repeat of unsuccessful previous Summit in Argentina but that
Trinidad was well aware of the need to "reinvigorate" the
Summits. He expressed optimism but asked for continued
Canadian assistance to make the 2009 Summit successful. He
also thanked Canada for its excellent cooperation not only on
the Summit but also more generally within the OAS. ADM Boehm
described the importance of multilateral cooperation for
Canada, in part as a counterweight to its close relationship
with the U.S. He agreed that Trinidad needed to reach out
for more input, but said that a "Friends of the Chair"
mechanism might quickly become unwieldy. He shared a draft
of his short reply to National Coordinator Rodriguez on the
draft declaration, and affirmed that Canadian views largely
coincided with those of the U.S. He said that he fully
agreed that members must convince PM Manning not to try to
include Cuba in the 2009 Summit. Ambassador Morales pointed
out that 34 democracies had agreed at the 2001 Quebec Summit
on the summit process and how to add new participants, and
now was not the time to contemplate circumventing these
procedures to include Cuba. ADM Boehm agreed that there was
"nothing to gain" from Cuba's participation.


8. (C) ADM Boehm said that Trinidad had originally tried to
"outsource" logistics for the Summit to Canada, but the
government demurred, offering instead in-kind assistance and
advice, including a recent visit that came up with several
pages of recommendations, which he shared with Ambassador
Morales. He noted especially that National Coordinator
Rodriguez needed to work more closely with Trinidad's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs on protocol. He added that
Trinidad would definitely also need help on security issues.
Ambassador Morales described some assistance the USG was also
providing Trinidad. ADM Boehm confirmed that it was in our
"collective interest" to see the 2009 Summit succeed.


9. (C) ADM Boehm and ADM Bugailiskis both agreed on the
utility of a strategic review of the OAS' budget and
mandates.


10. (U) Ambassador Morales has cleared this message.

Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at
QVisit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada

WILKINS