URIBE'S WHIRLWIND TOUR DEFUSES SOME U.S. DEFENSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 002520 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2019 TAGS: PREL MARR PTER SNAR CO SUBJECT: URIBE'S WHIRLWIND TOUR DEFUSES SOME U.S. DEFENSE COOPERATION WORRIES REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 911 ¶B. LIMA 1131 ¶C. BOGOTA 2449 Classified By: DCM Brian A. Nichols, reasons 1.4 (b&d) SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) President Uribe and Foreign Minister Bermudez visited the presidents of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil from August 4-6 to privately make the case that the August 10 Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) summit in Quito would be an inappropriate forum to discuss the U.S.-Colombia Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA),as the DCA was a bilateral matter still being negotiated and UNASUR had no role in internal security matters. President Uribe also aimed to explain the scope of the DCA and dispel myths that it would establish U.S. bases in Colombia. Vice Foreign Minister Clemencia Forero told us on August 4 that President Uribe would also discuss Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and Venezuela issues with some of his counterparts. According to regional press, Embassy reports and the Colombian Government (GOC), the whirlwind tour succeeded in allaying the fears of allies like Brazil and Chile, resulted in a strong declaration of support from Peru, and, not surprisingly, failed to convince Bolivian President Evo Morales, who rejected the presence of any U.S. military personnel in Latin America. President Uribe and FM Bermudez did not attend the August 10 meeting, as relations with incoming UNASUR president Ecuador remain icy. The Colombian press and opinion leaders generally hailed the tour as a success, and public support for a DCA remains high. End Summary. THE GENESIS OF THE PREEMPTIVE STRIKE -------------- ¶2. (C) The GOC had until recently kept DCA negotiations under wraps. When the agreement hit the press, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva requested an explanation at the August 10 UNASUR summit in Quito. The GOC confided to the Ambassador that it was struggling with how to respond. Initially (July 24),the GOC planned on setting the record straight with an UNASUR briefing; then (July 28) leaned towards boycotting the meeting as the DCA was an internal issue and considered sending Foreign Minister Bermudez to Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, and Peru to explain; and finally decided at the last minute on President Uribe's seven-country, three-day trip. President Uribe cut short his vacation at his ranch, and the Peruvian MFA confirmed that the visit was a surprise to them and that they only had "hours" to prepare for it. In its public announcement, the GOC said that the visits would be private, with no substantive public declarations in each country. DIAMETRICAL RESPONSES IN LIMA AND LA PAZ -------------- ¶3. (U) President Uribe received the warmest reception at his first stop, Peru. After their meeting, Peruvian President Alan Garcia gushed, "history will recognize... how much has been done on behalf of not only Colombia but of the democratic model of our continent thanks to the effort exerted by President Uribe" (see ref B). In keeping with the GOC's desire to refrain from public statements on the DCA or UNASUR meeting, neither president revealed the details of the meeting. ¶4. (SBU) Bolivia, the second stop, was the most negative. After the meeting, President Evo Morales announced he would ask UNASUR to reject the "presence of any armed foreign military personnel in the region." He added, "we do not accept U.S. military personnel in the region because the empire always has its objectives; but military bases are an invasion against democracy." The statement issued by the Bolivian Presidency also said Morales expressed concern to Uribe regarding the accusations against Presidents Chavez and Correa, which he likened to past USG treatment of Cuba's Fidel Castro. CHILEAN & BRAZILIAN FEARS EASED, COLOMBIAN SOVEREIGNTY RECOGNIZED -------------- ¶5. (U) Protests greeted President Uribe in Chile and Argentina. Neither President Bachelet nor Argentine BOGOTA 00002520 002 OF 002 President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner issued statements after their respective meetings, with President Fernandez only saying that "very important topics" were discussed. In his public readout of the meeting, Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez said that President Bachelet told President Uribe that she respected Colombia's sovereign decisions, noting that "various countries have various agreements with other countries on strategic and military matters." Argentine press reported that President Fernandez told President Uribe that the DCA would not contribute to the objective of reducing regional tensions (see ref A). ¶6. (U) Even before their dinner meeting, Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo responded to media questions about the DCA by saying, "every country is sovereign." Paraguayan Foreign Minister Hector Lacognata told the press after the meeting that Colombia did not ask for any mediation, but only sought to inform the governments of the region on the base use agreement with the United States and to offer documentation on Venezuela and Ecuador's relations with the FARC. He said President Lugo asked President Uribe to guarantee that the DCA "would not eventually put neighboring countries at risk." ¶7. (U) President Tabare Vasquez of URUGUAY echoed the sentiments of his Paraguayan counterpart in an official release after his meeting with President Uribe, referring to Uruguay's policy of "non-intervention in internal state matters." The Uruguayan statement also noted that URUGUAY was "historically against the existence or establishment of foreign military bases" anywhere in Latin America. After President Uribe's meeting with President Lula, the most important stop of the whirlwind tour, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said that Brazil accepted the DCA as "an exclusively sovereign Colombian matter, as long as it is limited to Colombian soil" and did not affect third countries. Brazil appreciated the increased transparency on the matter, but will likely seek formal assurances from the GOC and USG that DCA activities would be limited to Colombian territory and to counternarcotics purposes. TRIP HAILED A SUCCESS, GOC HOPES TO SIGN DCA ASAP -------------- ¶8. (C) Colombian media concluded that the trip was a success, given the strong statement from Peru, and the recognition by most other leaders that the DCA was a sovereign Colombian issue. The trip may also have contributed to President Chavez's August 8 decision to return his Ambassador to Bogota (see ref C for more on regional tensions),though he told Colombian press on August 9 that relations with Colombia were still "frozen" and lamented that Uribe hadn't done his information campaign before the "surprise" announcement of the DCA. President Obama's August 7 statements confirming that there would be no U.S. bases bolstered the Colombian position. The GOC strongly desires to conclude the agreement during the August 13-14 round in Washington. Brownfield