Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09LIMA1611
2009-10-29 23:52:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Lima
Cable title:  

PERU AND ECUADOR: GOOD VIBES AT 3RD BILAT

Tags:  PREL PGOV PARM KHDP EC PE 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001611 

SIPDIS

DEPT. ALSO FOR WHA/AND AND PM/WRA
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PARM KHDP EC PE
SUBJECT: PERU AND ECUADOR: GOOD VIBES AT 3RD BILAT
MINISTERIAL

REF: LIMA 01350

Classified By: Ambassador P. Michael McKinley for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 001611

SIPDIS

DEPT. ALSO FOR WHA/AND AND PM/WRA
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PARM KHDP EC PE
SUBJECT: PERU AND ECUADOR: GOOD VIBES AT 3RD BILAT
MINISTERIAL

REF: LIMA 01350

Classified By: Ambassador P. Michael McKinley for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Presidents Alan Garcia and Rafael Correa
presided jointly over the Third Binational Ministerial that
concluded in Piura, Peru on October 22. According to press
accounts and our MFA contacts, bilateral discussions were
infused with good feelings and helped advance two of Peru's
key foreign policy goals: (A) cementing bilateral ties with
Ecuador - in part to offset the sour relations with Chile and
Bolivia, and (B) enlisting support for Garcia's efforts tocurb burgeoning arms
expenditures in the region.
Participants also reviewed commitments made at previous such
meetings in Tumbes, Peru in 2007 and Machala, Ecuador in 2008
(reftel),including completion of the "Peace Bridge" and the
"Spondylus" highway linking Guayaquil and Piura. This year,
seven new agreements were signed to promote economic and
social development along the common border. Among the most
significant of these was to accelerate the long-delayed
Puyango-Tumbes irrigation project and the demining of the
sensitive one km sq. Ecuadorian battle monument of Tiwinza,
located inside Peruvian territory. End Summary.

Background
--------------

2. (C) The Third Ecuador-Peru Binational Ministerial was
held in Piura, Ecuador on October 21-22, roughly coinciding
with the eleven-year anniversary of the 1998 Brasilia
(Itamaraty) Peace Accord that ended decades of hostility
between the two countries over a sizable swath of disputed
territory (finally ceded to Peru). The United States, then
one of the four Guarantor countries of the Peace Accord (the
others being Argentina, Brazil and Chile),provided
approximately $40 million towards development projects along
both sides of the border and about $10 million for
post-conflict humanitarian demining. Most of these US
development projects have since been completed, but the
greater (international public and private sector) investments
envisioned at the time (of about $1.5 billion for each

country) did not happen, and the humanitarian demining has
progressed slowly. (Note: During a GOP-sponsored visit to the
shared border on October 26, Ecuador's Ambassador to Peru
stated to Peruvian and international officials that Ecuador
was "disappointed that the $1.5 billion in international
cooperation had never materialized". He mused aloud that
this was probably due to "more dramatic" needs elsewhere
around the world, such as relief efforts for the tsunami that
devastated parts of Indonesia's coast. End Note.)

Regional Peace and "Best Ever" Bilateral Relations
-------------- --------------

3. (C) The Third Ecuador-Peru Binational Ministerial was
capped by front page photos of the two smiling leaders in
fraternal embrace, symbolizing the enormous political
progress made since the formal cessation of hostilities over
ten years ago and the excellent state of the current
bilateral relationship today. Peace and development were the
main themes underlying the discussions at the Piura event.
Garcia was quoted as saying that, "We are advancing with the
confidence of brothers with no reason to worry about what the
other one might be doing." For his part, Correa said, "Peru
and Ecuador are currently enjoying our best ever relations in
history." Garcia emphasized his concerns about increased
arms purchases in the region, and asserted that since the
creation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) five
years ago, the region has spent some $23 billion on new
weapons purchases. He noted that that amount of money could
have been used instead to lift 30 million South Americans out
of poverty. Garcia warned that if the trend continued
unchecked over the next five years, South American countries
will spend another $35 billion on new armaments -- which will
mean that total defense expenditures for the region will
reach $200 billion.


4. (C) Correa remarked that "The permanent desire for
integration by both countries has allowed us to place crucial

issues at the heart of the CAN (Andean Community of Nations)
and UNASUR agenda... such as a shared vision of legislation
for the protection of intellectual property, dedication to
peace and a rejection of an arms build-up." He was also
quoted as saying that investment in the border area in
2007-2008 (his years in office so far) was $902,387,695 --
exceeding the $718,597,883 invested in the previous eight
year period (1998-2006.) Statistics for tourism and
commercial activity along the coastal section of the border
generally reflect the rosy assessments of both governments'
officials. According to a local newspaper, 127,000
Ecuadorians traveled to Peru in 2008, while 150,000 Peruvians
visited Ecuador. The increased visits are partly explained
by eased travel restrictions, the newly-constructed
"Spondylus Road" (EU financing) and improved border
infrastructure. The seven recently-signed agreements relate
mainly to taxes, culture, hydraulic resources, police
cooperation, and new highways.

Demining at Tiwinza
--------------

5. (C) Since last year's ministerial in Machala, Ecuador
(where humanitarian demining topped the agenda),Peru has
resumed its previously stalled demining operations in
earnest, mostly with USG assistance. We understand neither
Peru nor Ecuador has yet contributed their promised two
million dollars in "seed money" to the special fund set up
with the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) aimed at
redoubling demining efforts. However, our MFA contacts said
that at Piura both Garcia and Correa ordered that the funds
be allocated as soon as possible. We also understand that
Ecuador has committed an additional USD 500,000 to its annual
demining budget, but its demining operations continue at a
slow pace due to lack of funding. In addition, the Piura
ministerial promised to target demining of the
politically-sensitive one square kilometer Ecuadorian battle
monument of Tiwinza located inside what is now Peruvian
territory. MFA officials have told us that the creative
formula used to solve the Tiwinza problem in 1998 (i.e.,
privately-owned government land inside another country's
territory) could serve as a model for solving other disputes.
(Note: In early October, Peru sent a survey team to Tiwinza
to conduct an impact study. Emboffs later attended a special
briefing which suggested that the site is heavily
contaminated with landmines, booby traps, unexploded ordnance
and other explosive remnants of war. Mosat of the experts
present opined that it will take a joint effort by both
countries and international cooperation to get the job done.
End Note.)

Comment: Ecuador is Peru's Top Priority
--------------

6. (C) Several MFA and MOD officials have told us that the
strengthening bilateral relations with Ecuador is Peru's
"number one" foreign policy objective -- in part, as one
official put it, "because we already have enough tensions in
the south with Chile and Bolivia." The proposed "Salitre
2009" military exercise in Chile had caused considerable
consternation in Peru until the exercise' scenario was
changed (with our help behind the scenes and that of Embassy
Santiago) to accommodate sensitivities here. Meanwhile, the
personal animosity between President Alan Garcia and
Bolivia's Evo Morales occasionally descends into
name-calling. (Note: Some local observers speculate that
Morales is encouraged by Chavez to keep Peru-Bolivia
relations frosty. End Note.) Other MFA officials contend that
Peru can also act as an important intermediary for helping to
patch up the rocky relations between Ecuador and Colombia.


7. (C) Comment Continued: With respect to Garcia's regional
peace proposals: our MFA contacts insist that they are
genuine. Garcia first raised them at the September 15 UNASUR
ministerial in Quito, via his letter to the FMs and MODs in
which he outlined his visions for preventing an arms race in
the region, reducing military expenditures, proposing a
non-aggression pact and creating a regional defense force
("Fuerza de Paz"). Since then, the MFA has launched an
international campaign to promote the President's

initiatives. A big question for Peru remains, however: is
UNASUR's pro-tempore President Rafael Correa sincerely in
support of Garcia's peace proposals, as seemed to be the case
in Piura -- or do Garcia's proposals contravene too strongly
the wishes of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez? End Comment.
MCKINLEY