UNASUR LEADERS TO SUPPORT DIALOGUE IN BOLIVIA

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000851 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON VE BL CI SUBJECT: UNASUR LEADERS TO SUPPORT DIALOGUE IN BOLIVIA REF: SANTIAGO 846 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The UNASUR Summit concluded with a commitment from leaders to facilitate dialogue through a UNASUR commission in Bolivia. The leaders also agreed to send a team to investigative the deaths and disappearances in Pando Department and provide (undefined) experts to assist and support the Bolivian government. The final UNASUR statement did not mention the OAS or the United States. President Bachelet on September 16 named Ambassador and former Foreign Minister Juan Gabriel Valdez as her Presidential delegate to that UNASUR commission. A translation of the UNASUR statement is in para 5. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) The five-hour session of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) on September 15 concluded with a nine-point statement from the Presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Peru's Foreign Minister and representatives from Guyana and Suriname also participated. ¶3. (U) The UNASUR leaders agreed to send a commission organized by Chile (in its capacity as UNASUR President Pro-Tempore) to facilitate the dialogue process. They also expressed their support for the democratically-elected government of Evo Morales and urged all the political players to cease immediately the violence. The leaders decided to support a Bolivian government request to send an UNASUR team to investigate the death and disappearances in Pando Department. ¶4. (U) On September 16, President Bachelet named Ambassador and former Foreign Minister Juan Gabriel Valdes as her representative to lead the UNASUR commission tasked with facilitating the dialogue in Bolivia. UNASUR STATEMENT -------------- ¶5. (U) Informal translation of UNASUR text: La Moneda Declaration Santiago, September 15, 2008 The Heads of State of the Governments of UNASUR, assembled together at La Moneda Palace, on September 15, 2008, with the goal of reviewing the situation in the Republic of Bolivia and while remembering the tragic episodes that, 35 years ago in this same location, touched all humanity; And considering that the Constitutive Agreement of UNASUR, signed in Brasilia on May 23, 2008, codifies the principles of unrestricted respect for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, territorial integrity and inviolability, democracy and its institutions and unrestricted respect for human rights. Faced with the serious actions that have occurred in the sister Republic of Bolivia and in pursuit of the strengthening of political dialogue and cooperation for the strengthening of citizen security, the member countries of UNASUR: ¶1. Express their full and decisive support of the Constitutional Government of President Evo Morales, whose mandate was ratified by a wide majority in a recent Referendum. ¶2. Inform their energetic rejection of and refusal to recognize any situation that indicates an attempt at a civil coup, the disruption of institutional order, or that compromises the territorial integrity of the Republic of Bolivia. ¶3. In conformity with the previous point, and in consideration of the serious situation that affects the sister Republic of Bolivia, condemn the attacks on government facilities and law enforcement by groups looking to destabilize Bolivian democracy and demand the swift return of those facilities as a condition for the initiation of a process of dialogue. ¶4. At the same time, call on all of the involved political and social actors to take all necessary measures to immediately stop acts of violence, intimidation and contempt for democratic institutions and the established legal order. ¶5. In this context, express their strongest condemnation of the massacre that took place in the Department of Pando and support the call made by the Bolivian government that an UNASUR committee be formed in that brother country in order to conduct an impartial investigation that would permit the clarification, as soon as possible, of this lamentable event and to formulate recommendations that can guarantee that it does not go unpunished; ¶6. Encourage all members of Bolivian society to preserve national unity and territorial integrity, basic foundations of any State, and to reject any intent to undermine these principles; ¶7. Call for dialogue in order to establish conditions that will help overcome the current situation, and coordinate the search for a sustainable solution within the framework of full respect for the rule of law and the established legal order; ¶8. Along this line, the Presidents of UNASUR agree to create a commission open to all of its members, coordinated by the President Pro-Tempore, to accompany the work of a dialogue task force headed by the legitimate Bolivian government; and ¶9. Create a commission of support and assistance to the Government of Bolivia, according to its requirements, including specialized human resources. I want to say that after this meeting, which was an extensive but very fruitful one, and these agreements, UNASUR has come out more consolidated. Thank you very much. ¶6. (U) End of Text. SIMONS