AFRICA-SOUTH AMERICA SUMMIT SHORT ON SUBSTANCE, LONG ON HEADACHES

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CARACAS 001284

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2029
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, KDEM, VE, UNCHC, EAID
SUBJECT: AFRICA-SOUTH AMERICA SUMMIT SHORT ON SUBSTANCE,
LONG ON HEADACHES

REF: A. CARACAS 1230
B. CARACAS 1059

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Classified By: Political Counselor Robin D. Meyer,
for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).

1. (C) Summary: Venezuela played host to 28 heads of state
and representatives from 33 other countries at the Second
Africa-South America (ASA) Summit on September 26-27 on the
island of Margarita. Portrayed by President Chavez before
and afterwards as an historic display of unity between
long-oppressed continents, the Summit appears to have instead
highlighted differences among participants over both
substance and style. Despite efforts by Venezuela and Libya,
the Summit declaration itself contained few unexpected
provisions. Following the Summit, President Chavez signed a
series of bilateral energy and mining agreements, and joined
six other South American Presidents in signing a
"constituting agreement" for his proposed regional
development bank, Banco del Sur. Some Summit participants
reported that their most lasting memory may well be the
preparatory and logistical mess that the delegates
encountered. End Summary.

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BOLIVARIAN IDEALS GO NOWHERE
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2. (C) Heads of state from eight South American and twenty
African nations headlined the two-day summit on Margarita
Island, including Presidents Lula da Silva (Brazil),
Bachellet (Chile),Correa (Ecuador),Zuma (South Africa),
Mugabe (Zimbabwe),and al-Gaddafi (Libya). President Chavez's
stated hope for the Summit was to unify the disparate
countries around their common colonially-oppressed histories.
But Chavez found few takers for his anti-American and
anti-capitalist rhetoric. As a South African delegate noted
to PolOff, "Venezuela's original ideas for the Summit did not
progress." A concerted effort by the Venezuelan Foreign
Ministry to control the language of the Summit's Declaration
(refs A and B) irritated many delegations. Media reported
that a Senegalese representative asserted late in the
Summit's first day that discussions about the declaration
were pointless, claiming: "We don't understand what we're

>discussing because the majority of us haven't seen the text."
Several delegations, including Colombia, Algeria, and other
African countries, expressed frustration when a provision
condemning terrorism disappeared from the text late in the
negotiations. (Note: A provision condemning terrorism does
appear in the final version, although it remains unclear if
the wording was the same as what was originally proposed. End
Note.)

3. (C) When the declaration's draft language was opened to
debate, according to Brazilian, Chilean, and South African
diplomats, numerous articles promoting Chavez's "Bolivarian"
agenda were rejected. A last-minute attempt by the Libyan
delegation to insert what one participant referred to as
"nasty language" condemning Israel, among other things, was
similarly thwarted. In the end, the 96-article Declaration
does not mention the U.S., the Bolivarian Revolution, or
state a preference for any particular economic framework. It
does call for increased South-South cooperation, United
Nations reform, an end to the U.S. embargo of Cuba, and
protection of the environment, among many other unremarkable
provisions. Even the language on U.N. Security Council reform
reflects the differences among the wide range of
participants, who apparently could only agree on extremely
general language calling for greater representation and
transparency, rather than on an endorsement of a specific
reform proposal.

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THE RESULTS: ASA HQ, BANCO DEL SUR, AND ENERGY DEALS
-------------- --------------

4. (C) The GBRV made considerable fanfare about a handful of
developments. Chavez ensured a "permanent" link between
Venezuela and the African countries by sealing an agreement
to establish an ASA Summit Secretariat on Margarita Island.
Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez announced that the GBRV signed
bilateral accords on energy and/or mining with eight African
countries. (Note: the countries cited were Libya, South
Africa, Sudan, Niger, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Guinea
Bissau, and Cape Verde. End Note.) Chavez also proposed a

CARACAS 00001284 002.2 OF 003

petroleum-related alliance between the continents,
"PetroSur-Sur."

5. (C) On the Summit's margins, Presidents Chavez, Lula,
Fernandez de Kirchner, Correa, Morales, Lugo, and Vazquez
signed a "constituting agreement" of the Chavez-proposed
regional development bank, Banco del Sur. Chavez also
announced a Venezuelan commitment of $4 billion to the
bank-- equivalent to the promised contributions of Brazil and
Argentina -- as part a total $20 billion capital commitment
by the subscribing parties. The language of the new agreement
was not immediately available, and the GBRV offered no
clarification regarding how this document differed from
previous accords on the subject, nor how it brought the Banco
del Sur any closer to operability.

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LOGISTICAL INCAPACITY WREAKS HAVOC
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6. (C) The GBRV's preparatory and logistical work for the
Summit was universally criticized by participants. South
African and Brazilian attendees noted that the GBRV provided
no advance information on the agenda, despite repeated
requests; GBRV officials were not in Margarita to help
Presidential advance teams until shortly before the Summit
began; and hotel rooms were not set aside for Summit
delegations. In the case of Brazil, this poor planning
resulted in daily threats to President Lula's advance team of
expulsion from their hotel due to an alleged lack of
available space, according to Brazilian DCM Rafael Vidal
(protect). Vidal also reported that none of the workspaces
available to the delegations were equipped with Internet
access, and that security restrictions were both extreme and
irregular. Vidal called the Summit arrangements "a horrific
organizational effort, even by Venezuelan standards." South
African DCM Wessel Mulder (protect) noted that the fuel
supply at Margarita's airport ran out as Presidential
delegations were leaving, forcing South African President
Zuma's departure to be delayed more than an hour while
additional fuel was procured.

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BRAZIL-VENEZUELA BILAT POSTPONED
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7. (C) A Chavez-Lula bilateral meeting previously scheduled
to take place on September 28 was postponed at Brazil's
request. The Brazilians cited Lula's plan to travel to
Copenhagen this week to advocate for Brazil's 2016 Summer
Olympics bid. Brazilian DCM Vidal told PolOff that Lula was
"tired" by the end of the Summit, and that the Olympic bid
was a major priority. Vidal noted that the bilat was
immediately rescheduled, and even lengthened to two days,
October 16-17. (Note: One day of the meeting will take place
in Caracas, while the second day will be in El Tigre, a
central Venezuelan town where a Brazilian soybean production
facility operates. End Note.) When asked about the likelihood
of signing a previously announced bilateral agreement to
finance construction of a petroleum refinery in Brazil's
Pernambuco state, Vidal asserted it was almost a done deal:
"We received good news on that this weekend."

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GADDAFI AND CHAVEZ -- "REVOLUTIONARY BROTHERS"
-------------- -

8. (C) After the Summit's official conclusion, Chavez hosted
a number of bilateral discussions with African countries,
with the feature event a lengthy ceremony between Chavez and
Libyan President Gaddafi. (Note: Libya will be the host for
the Third ASA Summit, scheduled for 2011. End Note.) The two
Presidents congratulated each other on their "revolutions,"
with Chavez asserting, "What Simon Bolivar is to the
Venezuelan people, Gaddafi is to the Libyan people." Chavez
also awarded Gaddafi the "Orden del Libertador," Venezuela's
highest civilian decoration, and presented him with a replica
of Simon Bolivar's sword. Gaddafi praised Chavez for "having
driven out the colonialists," just like he had driven out
those in Libya. "We share the same destiny, the same battle
in the same trench against a common enemy, and we will
conquer."

9. (C) Comment: Local press coverage of the Summit was less
than expected considering its A-list cast. Some diplomats

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speculated that the government intentionally kept the media
away from the disgruntled delegates. The meeting with
Gaddafi, however, provided the opportunity for rhetorical
assaults on capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism. Despite
Brazilian DCM Vidal's comments to the contrary, many
diplomats and journalists believe the Brazilian decision to
postpone the Lula-Chavez bilateral meeting reflected Lula's
concern about appearing too close to Chavez at a time when he
was being criticized for his alleged collusion with Chavez in
the covert return of President Zelaya to Honduras. End
Comment.

DUDDY