ECUADOR'S GOALS AT THE 2009 SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000244 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: TWENTY YEARS TAGS: PINR PGOV PREL KSUM EC CU SUBJECT: ECUADOR'S GOALS AT THE 2009 SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS (C-AL9-00153) REF: A. STATE 20677 ¶B. QUITO 160 Classifie... id: 201034 date: 4/6/2009 23:57 refid: 09QUITO244 origin: Embassy Quito classification: CONFIDENTIAL destination: 09QUITO160|09STATE20677 header: VZCZCXYZ0001 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHQT #0244 0962357 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 062357Z APR 09 FM AMEMBASSY QUITO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0238 INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 8086 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 4138 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3491 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ APR LIMA 3142 RUEHGL/AMCONSUL GUAYAQUIL 4251 RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 2278 RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL -------------- header ends -------------- C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000244 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: TWENTY YEARS TAGS: PINR PGOV PREL KSUM EC CU SUBJECT: ECUADOR'S GOALS AT THE 2009 SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS (C-AL9-00153) REF: A. STATE 20677 ¶B. QUITO 160 Classified By: Ambassador Heather M. Hodges for Reasons 1.4 (b&d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. The GOE's focus for the April 17-19 Summit of the Americas has included seeking a one-on-one meeting between the presidents. One issue that Ecuador would want to stress during the Summit is the financial crisis. Other issues are currently being defined by the Foreign Minister's office. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Immediately prior to an April 2 videoconference with Ambassador John Maisto, MFA Director General for North America Ambassador Juan Salazar reiterated the GOE's request for a bilateral meeting with President Obama at the Summit. He noted that President Correa already had bilateral meetings arranged with his counterparts in several countries, including Mexico and probably Canada. He added that a bilateral meeting with POTUS could be brief, but would be very beneficial and would enable the two presidents to establish a bilateral agenda. This echoes the reasoning we heard from the GOE on other occasions, most notably in Under Secretary Orbe's March 4 meeting with the Ambassador (Ref B). ¶3. (C) MFA Multilateral Affairs' Alternate Coordinator of Summits Marjorie Ulloa also attended the April 2 videoconference and told us after the meeting that the GOE generally supported the Summit's themes and the current draft Summit Declaration. She noted, however, that the GOE did not believe that the current financial crisis would receive sufficient attention at the Summit. She added that the draft Summit Declaration only included one small paragraph on the subject that did little to address the issue. ¶4. (C) Ulloa said on April 2 that that the two issues likely to be addressed in President Correa's remarks would be the financial crisis and migration (likely meaning migrants' rights),but then told PolOff on April 6 that only the financial crisis issue remained certain. She added that the drafting of Correa's remarks had been transferred to the Minister's office and that she was no longer sure what would be raised. When asked if Ecuador would mention Cuba, she said that the "'primer ministro cubano' during his visit to Quito" had requested that the GOE not raise the embargo against Cuba because it was a bilateral issue that would be dealt with best directly with the U.S. She noted, however, that she could not say for sure whether Correa would bring up the issue as the decision would be handled by the Presidency, not the MFA. Regarding biofuels, Ulloa commented that while Ecuador would support the initiative included in the draft Declaration, this would not be important for the GOE at the upcoming Summit. HODGES =======================CABLE ENDS============================