NUMBER TWO DEFENSE OFFICIAL ON BILATERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTIAGO 000561 E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2018 TAGS: PREL MARR PGOV CI SUBJECT: NUMBER TWO DEFENSE OFFICIAL ON BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP, REGION ON THE MARGINS OF U.S.-CHILE DEFENSE MEETING REF: SANTIAGO 519 Classified By: E/POL Counselor Juan A. Alsace. Reasons: 1.4 (B and D). ¶1. (C) Summary: Chilean number two Defense official Gonzalo Garcia expressed considerable praise for the concrete advances in bilateral defense relations over the past three years in conversations with POLOFF during the Defense Consultative Committee (DCC) meeting in Santiago on June 11-12. Garcia lamented that defense/security relations with Chile's neighbors were not as advanced, noting that relations with Peru were "frozen" following the GOP's submission of its maritime dispute to The Hague and the Chilean Foreign Ministry's reluctance to move forward. Chile has secured congressional backing for one more year in Haiti, but will press the UN and others to increase the mission's focus on civilian and police matters. Garcia praised FM Foxley's efforts to promote Chilean interests despite little support from Foreign Ministry careerists. Garcia said the Chilean Congress' lack of understanding of defense issues complicates the government's ability to secure support for defense-related legislation. End summary. ¶2. (C) On the margins of a dinner on June 11 in honor of the meeting of the U.S.-Chile Defense Consultative Committee, Under Secretary of War Gonzalo Garcia and POLOFF discussed the bilateral security and defense relationship, Chile's defense relations with its neighbors, the Defense Ministry's relations with the Foreign Ministry and Congress, and Chile's need to address shortcomings in education. U/S Garcia -- the number two Defense official and chair of the Chilean delegation to the DCC -- was upbeat and open throughout the discussions. The results of the DCC, including a bilateral meeting between Garcia and USG DCC chair ASD McHale, are reported septels. --Bilateral Defense Relationship: Garcia was beaming throughout the night over the current state of the bilateral defense relationship. Over the past three to four years, the U.S. and Chile have taken several "concrete" steps to deepen and expand the relationship, including increased exchanges and exercises, high-level visits, and expansion of the DCC to include new working groups on education and energy/environment. Garcia said the presence of "such a high-level (U.S.) delegation, comprised of representatives from several agencies and branches of the military,' was a sign of the importance the U.S. attaches to the relationship. Garcia, who has worked this aspect of the relationship since the early 1990s and is never one to "settle," said Chile will continue to look for opportunities to strengthen the relationship further to ensure that "we never go backwards." --Peru: Garcia lamented that confidence-building measures such as the "two-plus-two" meetings (Defense and Foreign Ministers) have been "frozen" for some time, adding that Peru's submission of its case to The Hague "did not help matters." Garcia said while the Defense Ministry and certain Chilean military officials would like to proceed with such measures, the Foreign Ministry is reluctant to do so "in the current political environment" between Chile and Peru. (Note: A working-level Foreign Ministry official told POLOFF the following day that there were reports from within the Foreign Ministry that Foreign Minister Foxley was considering re-starting the "two-plus-two" talks to "unfreeze" relations.) --Haiti: Garcia expressed great satisfaction that Congress recently voted to extend to June 2009 Chile's participation in MINUSTAH (reftel). Despite the lack of public debate on the issue and the relative ease with which the GOC secured passage of President Bachelet's request, several legislators on the right opposed the extension and will express these concerns in the future. POLOFF asked about the reported "deal" between the government and opposition Senator Sergio Romero that the GOC would try to encourage the UN to have Latin troop contributing nations replaced by other counties, and to shift the focus on the UN mission to a more civilian one. Garcia confirmed the agreement and said it reflected an emerging consensus in Chile that while the UN needed to maintain a "security focus" in Haiti, it needed to shift its attention more quickly to strengthening Haiti's civilian capabilities. (During the Chilean presentation on Haiti during the second day of the DCC meeting, Garcia said Chile would likely be in Haiti "at least through 2010," but that Chile would begin to "push" the UN and other countries to shift the focus to "more civilian, police functions" while maintaining a "necessary military component." --Relations with the Foreign Ministry: POLOFF asked Garcia about relations between the Foreign and Defense Ministries, in light of the recent departure of number three official Carlos Portales and Foreign Ministry Special Policies Director Luis Winter (the two most knowledgeable senior MFA officials on defense and security matters.) Garcia acknowledged that these two officials' departure had created "somewhat of a void" in the Foreign Ministry on defense and security matters. The senior leadership at the MFA tends to focus on "other matters." Garcia said he enjoys "good" relations with Foreign Minister Foxley (both are members of the DC party, although Foxley is some 20 years older than Garcia) and he and Deputy FM Alberto van Klaveren are in "almost daily contact." Like many of his civilian advisors and other Defense officials, Garcia lamented the MFA's "cautious nature" vis-a-vis relations with the region, adding that "on more than one occasion" the MFA had slowed down and "frozen" Defense ideas to strengthen relations with neighbors such as Peru and Bolivia. Garcia also acknowledged that the Foreign and Defense Ministries do not see eye-to-eye on Brazil's defense security initiative, but agree on the need to work with Brazil and others in the region to identify ways to increase consultation on key defense and security related issues. Garcia noted that toward the end of June Chile would host a meeting of Foreign and Defense officials from UNASUR meetings to begin discussions on how to move forward on Brazil's proposal. --Foreign Minister Foxley: Garcia praised Foxley's management of foreign policy, which Garcia described as "no easy task" given Chile's neighborhood and the competing views of the Concertacion coalition. Garcia said Foxley was one of the few "visionaries" in the coalition -- someone who was "always well ahead of the rest of us." POLOFF said Foxley's position within the government appeared strong, particularly in light of his role in persuading President Bachelet to embrace Plan Chile-California. Garcia agreed and predicted Foxley would finish out the administration, if he wanted to do so. Garcia said Foxley has succeeded in spite of the lack of support "from his own building (Ministry careerists)," which is generally "risk-adverse and lacks creativity." --Congress: Garcia said the Chilean Congress' lack of foreign and defense policy experience constitutes a considerable challenge for the Defense Ministry's efforts to secure congressional approval for key legislation. Oftentimes, the MOD must try to sell an idea to members who lack understanding of the key issues. As a result, the Defense Ministry spends considerable resources trying to educate members on important matters such as peacekeeping, defense modernization and transformation needs, and SOFA-related matters. On a more positive note, Garcia said Chile's presence in MINUSTAH -- and the Senate role's in approving annual extensions there -- has resulted in a better understanding among senators of the issues involved. Garcia noted that Congress soon would approve legislation defining the parameters for future deployments of Chileans abroad to peacekeeping and other missions. Garcia argued that the lengthy debates between the GOC and Congress over Chile's presence in Haiti moved both sides to create the joint congressional committee to develop the legislation. --Garcia's Future: Garcia said he has every intention of remaining in his position through the end of the Bachelet administration (March 2010). He characterized his relations with Minister Goni as "positive and growing," and added his position for the time being is "secure." Garcia said there are several important projects that he'd like to see through, including legislation to modernize the Defense Ministry, overhaul the Defense Copper Fund, and to establish parameters for deployments of Chileans abroad for peacekeeping and other missions. WEITZENKORN