Ecuador: Demarche on Major List Determination for Bolivia

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000865 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/10/06 TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR EC BL SUBJECT: Ecuador: Demarche on Major List Determination for Bolivia REF: STATE 94673 CLASSIFIED BY: Heather M. Hodges, Ambassador, State, EXEC; REASON: 1.4(D) ¶1. (C) Embassy delivered reftel points to the MFA South America Bilateral Affairs Directorate on September 14 and followed up with South America Affairs Acting Director General Gonzalo Gonzales on October 1. Gonzales said he was familiar with the report last year and welcomed the USG's commitment to building a more positive relationship with Bolivia. He expressed interest in the dialogue and asked about Bolivian participation in the May meeting in La Paz, as well as who might attend the October meeting in Washington. Regarding a multilateral counternarcotics strategy, Gonzalez speculated that counternarcotics could be raised at the October 16-17 ALBA meeting in Cochabamba, or in UNASUR's recently initiated Political Affairs Council. HODGES