UNASUR AGENDA: REPORT ON BOLIVIAN KILLINGS,

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001085 SENSITIVE SIPDIS WHA/AND FOR BARBARA ROCHA, WHA/BSC FOR LEAH CATO, BEN CHIANG PM/RSAT FOR JEFF BURNETT PENTAGON FOR KRISTI HUNT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM PTER MARR CI BL BR SUBJECT: UNASUR AGENDA: REPORT ON BOLIVIAN KILLINGS, SEARCH FOR SECRETARY GENERAL LIKELY TO DOMINATE DEC 16 MEETING REF: A. LA PAZ 2543 ¶B. SANTIAGO 852 ¶1. (U) On December 16, leaders from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) will meet in Bahia de Salvador, Brazil on the margins of the MERCOSUR meeting in the same city. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, acting in her capacity as UNASUR President Pro Tempore, will chair the meeting. ¶2. (SBU) MFA Planning Subdirector Patricio Pradel told Poloff December 10 the official agenda for the meeting includes discussion of the UNASUR Commission's report on the killings in Pando Department, Bolivia, on September 11. The group will consider whether or not to publicly release the full text of the report, which, according to press reports and comments by the head of the investigative commission, Argentine lawyer Rodolfo Mattarollo, finds that the Bolivian opposition committed a "massacre." The report further states that the incident led to 19 confirmed deaths--17 Morales supporters and two opponents. ¶3. (SBU) Pradel expects that UNASUR members will also discuss possible means to select a Secretary General, although the issue is not formally on the agenda and, according to Pradel, no new possible names have been floated. (Note: Filling the seat has been a challenge since former Ecuadorian president Ricardo Borjas, who had accepted the job, changed his mind and gave up the position before taking office when other members balked at his plan to use UNASUR to unite other regional groupings. Bolivian trade negotiator Pablo Solon, who served as UNASUR's Secretary General Pro-Tempore last year, was the next leading contender for the post, but Peru, Ecuador and Colombia opposed his candidacy. The door seemed to be open to Nestor Kirchner, the popular former president of Argentina, to fill the position, but Uruguay has publicly objected to this choice. End Note.) Pradel stated that he has not yet heard any new concrete suggestions for a Secretary General, but that the topic is sure to come up. ¶4. (U) The short, 90 minute meeting is also slated to include discussion and possible formal approval of UNASUR councils on health, infrastructure, and defense. In addition, UNASUR members may also create a transition team to assist in preparing for a new secretary general when Bachelet's term ends in May 2009. SIMONS