TALES FROM BARILOCHE: ARGENTINA HOSTS A SUCCESSFUL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BUENOS AIRES 000999

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2029
TAGS: PREL SNAR MASS AR
SUBJECT: TALES FROM BARILOCHE: ARGENTINA HOSTS A SUCCESSFUL
UNASUR SUMMIT?

REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0911 (B) BUENOS AIRES 0927

Classified By: CDA Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary and introduction: The August 28 summit
meeting in Bariloche of South American Union (UNASUR) leaders
is getting puzzled, mixed reviews. After seven hours of a
rambling, inconclusive discussion (on live television) of the
U.S.-Colombian Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) and other
issues, the dozen leaders issued a statement calling on their
defense and foreign ministers to develop confidence- and
security-building measures (CSBM) and "analyze" a U.S. Air
Mobility Command "strategy for South America." Colombian
President Uribe won plaudits for ably defending the DCA,
praising U.S. assistance as "practical and effective," and
subtly reproaching his neighbors for their lack of support
and cooperation in combating the narco-terrorist threat that
Colombia faces. A Colombian delegation member expressed
satisfaction with the outcome, especially Chavez's
"discombobulation" at the end. As host, Argentine President
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner mostly played a moderating
role, but some of her comments -- and certainly those of her
MOD after the meeting -- belied a strong suspicion of U.S.
and Colombian motives. End summary.


2. (C) Organized on two weeks' notice, the UNASUR summit
brought together a dozen South American leaders in the ski
resort of Bariloche August 28. They met and talked for seven
hours. The discussion had been scheduled to last no more
than two hours followed by lunch. As the discussion wore on,
the lunch was abandoned and the leaders ended up speaking --
on live television, often while nibbling on something to keep
them going -- for seven hours straight, winding up with the
odd spectacle of the leaders in a rushed discussion of how to
edit the short communique. (Comment: Brazilian Embassy
officers told us that neither the GOA as host nor the
Government of Ecuador as pro tem president of UNASUR had
shared the draft communique in advance of the meeting, which
would explain the extemporaneous scrambling that television
viewers witnessed.)


3. (SBU) In the joint statement, the leaders called on their
defense ministers and foreign ministers to meet in the first
half of September to design measures to build confidence and
security. The leaders also instructed the South American
Defense Council to "analyze" the text of the U.S. Air
Mobility Command's "Global En Route White Paper South
American Strategy." The UNASUR document also calls for
"strengthening South America as a zone of peace and to work
for the peaceful solution of conflicts and that the presence
of foreign forces may not threaten the peace of countries in
the region." It ends with an instruction to the South
American Council for Combating Narcotrafficking to develop
"urgently" its statute and a plan of action "with the goal of
defining a South American strategy for combating the illicit
trafficking of drugs and the strengthening of cooperation
between the specialized agencies of our countries."


4. (C) Colombian President Uribe won plaudits for ably
defending the DCA, praising U.S. assistance as "practical and
effective," and reproaching his neighbors for their lack of
support and cooperation in combating the narco-terrorist
threat that Colombia faces. It was also reportedly at
Uribe's insistence that the meeting was broadcast live and
direct, reportedly because of Uribe's concern that the
Argentine public television network in charge of covering the
event would do a biased hack job if left to editing the
affair into sound bites. Peruvian President Alan Garcia
delivered the most-quoted crowd-pleasing line when he popped
Venezuelan Hugo Chavez's bubble by asking why the U.S. would
need to invade Venezuela and seize its oil fields when Chavez
was already selling all Venezuela's oil exports to the U.S.
Brazil's Lula reiterated his public position that Brazil
would respect the sovereign right of countries to strike
agreements but would seek "juridical guarantees" that its own
sovereignty would not be encroached. He also said the
police, not the military, should lead counter-narcotics
efforts.

Media Coverage
--------------


4. (SBU) The major media in Argentina portrayed the summit as
a largely "inconclusive" debate with a slight victory for
Colombian president Uribe. The country's largest-circulation
newspaper "Clarin" said "U.S. Military Bases in Colombia

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Accepted," and newspaper of record said "Uribe Avoids
Regional Condemnation." Under the headline "Together with
Lula, the President Tried to Preserve Unity," "La Nacion"
credited CFK and Brazilian President Lula with playing a
moderating role at the summit, asserting they sought a middle
ground between Colombian and Venezuelan positions. The
weekend newspaper "Perfil" said "Summit Fails Amid Tension
and Cross Accusations." The English-language Buenos Aires
"Herald" aptly said "UNASUR Closes with Vague Agreement."

CFK's Contribution to the Debate
--------------


5. (C) Argentine contacts contend that President Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) played the moderating role
incumbent upon her as host of the summit. During the debate
and in statements to the press, however, CFK also drew some
specious analogies between the U.S. Defense Cooperation
Agreement (DCA) with Colombia and Argentina's "terrible
experiences of colonial enclaves with extra-continental
bases," in an obtuse reference to Argentina's long-standing
objection to the British presence on the Malvinas/Falkland
Islands. CFK claimed that "if in a neighboring country they
were to install bases, I, for one, would feel
unsafe/insecure." CFK insisted her misgivings were not
directed against the specific countries involved in the DCA
and that she was guided by principles of universality to
establish a "common doctrine" for all of South America. "We
need to establish uniform norms that are not a double
standard for the installation of extraterritorial forces in
South America. The doctrine must be for everyone and in all
circumstances."

MOD Garre Voices her Misgivings
--------------


6. (C) Defense Minister Nilda Garre was less circumspect in
making clear the target of her suspicions. In an interview
with newspaper of record "La Nacion" at the conclusion of the
summit, she said Argentina still objected to the
"installation of U.S. bases in Colombia" and that they would
only gain "legitimacy" when it was proven that their use
would be restricted to narco-trafficking or terrorist targets
within Colombian borders. Garre, who is scheduled to visit
Washington September 7-11 for meetings with Secretary of
Defense Gates and others, said "many of us have our doubts"
as to the ultimate objective of the DCA. "Why do they need
C-17s, for example? The FARC are groups that are militarily
primitive ("atrasados"). There does not seem to be any
proportionality that justifies this." Garre also pointed out
that C-17s could reach Argentina from Palanquero in Colombia.
Finally, Garre dismissed the concerns raised at the summit
by Uribe and Peruvian President Garcia of a burgeoning arms
race in South America. Business newspaper "Ambito
Financiero" noted that Garre spoke of the U.S. C-17 aircraft
to be deployed "as if it were a plan developed by an enemy
nation." It also said MOD sources claimed Garre intended to
raise with Secretary Gates her objections and misgivings
about the DCA.

The View from the Chancellery
--------------


7. (C) The CDA discussed the summit with Vice Foreign
Minister Taccetti and MFA Chief of Staff D'Alotto, who were
both in Bariloche. D'Alotto said he had worked closely with
CFK and Colombian Vice Foreign Minister Clemencia Forero
(whom he characterized as "very smart") to work out
acceptable language for the last paragraph of the communique.
He said that he witnessed personally CFK's willingness to
reach out to and accommodate Uribe despite their lack of
ideological affinity - both in the communique drafting and in
her seeking him out after the summit to get him to
participate in the group photo despite his reluctance ("he
was mad about the comments by Correa, Morales, and Chavez").



8. (C) D'Alotto said that Venezuelan FM Maduro complained to
him later that the GOA had put Chavez in a bad spot with the
final communique language and let Colombia "off the hook."
He said Chavez looked a little discombobulated at the end.


9. (C) The CDA pointed out to D'Alotto that the anti-American
rhetoric from the likes of MOD Nilda Garre had stolen defeat
from the jaws of victory. Her comments over the weekend that
the DCA had "no legitimacy unless it can be proved that it

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does not threaten other countries" and that US C-17s could
reach Argentina from the Colombian bases were offensive and
would not be well received in Washington, especially given
that Garre declined to meet with WHA DAS McMullen the day
before the summit. D'Alotto did not attempt to defend
Garre's remarks.


10. (C) Taccetti claimed to the CDA that the GoA took pains
to distance itself from the Bolivarian countries with their
"ridiculous aversion to everything about your country."
Taccetti said the GOA recognizes that the U.S. and Colombia
have the sovereign right to sign an agreement on defense and
security issues; along with many other countries, such as
Brazil, it only seeks more assurances that the agreement will
not have security implications in third countries. Taccetti
said that DAS McMullen's visit to Argentina was very useful
in clarifying the context and the USG position, but he added
that "we still have concerns." The CDA offered to work
together to mollify those concerns, adding that it was not
productive to air them in the press.

Colombian Ambassador's Views
--------------


11. (C) Colombian Ambassador Alvaro Garcia-Jimenez attended
the summit and told the CDA afterward that Uribe did not want
to take the "family photo" because he felt surrounded by
unfriendly leaders who were striving to trip up his
government. Pretending that everything was fine afterwards
did not sit well with him, but, out of courtesy, he agreed to
join the photo after CFK insisted. Garcia thought that
Chile's Bachelet, among all of the leaders, had distinguished
herself with interventions that were factual, well-reasoned,
and constructive.


12. (C) Ambassador Garcia said that the GOC was not
unpleasantly surprised by Alan Garcia's performance, though
the Colombian delegation enjoyed his remark mocking Chavez
for his "fear" of U.S. designs on Venezuelan oil fields. He
expressed surprise that President Garcia joined those seeking
onsite inspections to "verify" the DCA's innocent intent.
Garcia observed that Ecuador's Correa was offensive as usual,
but when he and Uribe bumped into each other in a narrow
hallway, they greeted each other without coming to blows.
Ambassador Garcia said Bolivia's Evo Morales was the worst of
the lot -- out of control, unsalvageable, and wearing his
hatred for the United States on his sleeve. Venezuela's
Chavez, however, seemed more restrained than usual.

Comment
--------------


13. (C) If the measure of diplomacy is the peaceful
resolution of disputes, then the UNASUR gabfest was a
harmless affair. But the event had a superfluous quality to
it. As one Embassy contact pointed out, UNASUR leaders had
already exhausted the DCA "issue" at the August 10 summit in
Quito when CFK artificially prolonged its life by inviting
the other leaders to continue the discussion in Argentina,
adding for good measure that "we cannot permit that the
Americans, in addition to exporting to us the economic crisis
and the (H1N1) influenza, now establish a situation of
belligerence in the region." As host in Bariloche, CFK
played a moderating role in usurping some of Correa's
rightful role (as UNASUR president pro tem) in steering the
discussion and in personally working out a communique that
Colombia could accept. But even in this moment of potential
glory, she did not inspire confidence. CFK's center of
balance tilts leftward, causing her to utter inanities like
the comparison equating U.S. troops visiting Colombia under a
bilateral agreement with "the foreign occupation of the
Malvinas."

KELLY