VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN'S MARCH 30 BILATERAL MEETING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN JOSE 000298 E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2019 TAGS: CS EDU OVIP BIDEN JOSEPH PGOV PINR PREL SNAR SUBJECT: VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN'S MARCH 30 BILATERAL MEETING WITH COSTA RICAN PRESIDENT OSCAR ARIAS Classified By: DCM Peter M. Brennan for reasons 1.4(d) CORRECTED TEXT. ¶1. (U) March 30, 2009; 0955 am; San Jose, Costa Rica. ¶2. (U) Participants: USG: The Vice President Ambassador Peter Cianchette Anthony Blinken, NSA to the Vice President Brian McKeon, Deputy NSA to the Vice President Dan Restrepo, Senior Director, Western Hemisphere Affairs, NSC Craig Kelly, WHA PDAS David E. Henifin (notetaker),Pol/Econ Counselor, Embassy San Jose COSTA RICA: President Oscar Arias Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz Ambassador to the U.S. Tomas Duenas Ambassador-designate to the U.S. Luis Diego Escalante ¶3. (C) SUMMARY: In a wide-ranging, 45-minute discussion, President Oscar Arias stressed Costa Rican-U.S. friendship, and the need for additional USG assistance for education, counter-narcotics (including helicopters),as well as access to the Millennium Challenge Account (MCC) or similar programs. He also called for a new, U.S.-led embargo against high-tech weapons transfers to the hemisphere and described the real enemies in the region as "poverty, disease and illiteracy." Vice President Joseph Biden stressed the U.S. administration's desire to craft a policy with the region and not for it, and he underscored USG willingness to listen to and learn from its friends and neighbors. However, before the USG could help the region, it had to help itself; the best way to do so was to re-energize the U.S. economy. On security assistance, the Vice President expressed hope that the regional Merida Initiative be continued and perhaps expanded. On education, he invited Arias to work with him to develop a regional policy for Central America. The Vice President said the USG was willing to re-examine the MCC program, but foreign direct investment would help Costa Rica's economy more in the short term. Arias gave the Vice President a letter to POTUS seeking education assistance, and a detailed proposal to increase assistance for and cooperation with Costa Rica. END SUMMARY. -------------- OPENING REMARKS -------------- ¶4. (C) The Vice President stressed the importance of the upcoming meeting with Central American leaders, and thanked President Arias for hosting it. Arias noted that Presidents Daniel Ortega and Manual Zelaya did not attend )- reportedly pressured by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela -- and were missing an important opportunity. ¶5. (C) The Vice President said that he understood, and had traveled to Chile and Costa Rica "with eyes open." A change in attitude, in relations with the hemisphere, was needed. Thus, the primary purpose of his trip was to gain a sense of what regional leaders were thinking as the hemisphere charted its course through the economic crisis. VP Biden underscored that the crisis was also an opportunity to make positive changes. He told Arias that his meetings with other leaders in Vina del Mar had been very good, with open discussion exceeding his expectations. -------------- - ARIAS: WE ARE YOUR OLDEST FRIEND, AND WE NEED HELP -------------- - ¶6. (C) Arias then launched into a lengthy presentation, focusing mostly on his international agenda and Costa Rica's needs for assistance. He noted that Costa Rica was the "oldest" and "most consolidated" democracy in the hemisphere, and a long-time friend and ally of the United States. Costa Ricans liked the United States, and Costa Rica depended on the U.S. economically, especially for trade, tourism and high-tech investment which utilized Costa Rica's well-educated labor force. ¶7. (C) However, despite these advantages, Costa Rica still needed help. This is why Arias was pushing the Costa Rica Consensus around the world, which seeks to direct more foreign assistance to "successful" countries which focus on "education, health care and environmental protection" instead of armaments. Arias said it was "unfair" that Costa Rica "was not poor enough" to qualify for programs like the Millennium Challenge Account (MCC) while MCC recipients in Africa, for example, spent considerable amounts on their militaries. -------------- THE REGION NEEDS MORE BOOKS, NOT BOMBS -------------- ¶8. (C) Arias explained that he was thus also pursuing an international conventional arms trade treaty, so that countries -- including some USG aid recipients -- would stop buying weapons and instead channel additional resources to education and health. He asked why any country would "sell arms to human rights violators or dictators." ¶9. (C) Arias saw no need for significant arms purchases in the hemisphere, and suggested that the Obama administration consider re-imposing an embargo against high-tech arms transfers to the WHA region, similar to what was in place 1977-1997. Arias recalled how he and former president Carter had unsuccessfully lobbied then-president Clinton not to end the embargo. The result, which permitted the USG to supply F-16s to Chile, ignited a South American arms race, eventually including Venezuela, according to Arias. President Obama's leadership might influence the EU to stop selling arms to the hemisphere, he added. ¶10. (C) The real enemies in the region, Arias continued, were "poverty, disease and illiteracy." These could not be confronted by spending more on arms, but on education, as Costa Rica had been able to do since abolishing its military. A seven-year average pupil retention rate was the most serious threat to the region's security, in Arias, opinion. Arias handed the Vice President a letter to POTUS requesting additional USG assistance with education, in the form of additional Peace Corps or Peace Corps-like volunteers to teach English as part of Costa Rica's "Costa Rica Bilingue" national project (which is being run out of the President's office and which seeks to make the nation essentially bilingual in English and Spanish by 2017). Education is a priority for Costa Rica, as "it should be for the region," he emphasized. -------------- COSTA RICA IS "DIFFERENT" -------------- ¶11. (C) The countries in the hemisphere all differ, Arias continued, but they faced common problems: poor educational systems, low tax collection (which means fewer domestic resources for government) and increasingly strapped social safety nets. It was thus important for Vice President Biden to visit Costa Rica, which was "different" from the other Central American nations (i.e., more successful facing some of its problems). Costa Rica, for example, dedicated six percent of its GDP to education, and another eight percent to health care. -------------- HELICOPTERS TO FIGHT TRAFFICKING -------------- ¶12. (C) Despite the fact that Costa Rica does not have an army, and its air unit includes "25-year old Cessnas," Arias pointed to the GOCR's "region-leading" performance in drug seizures. Facing an increasing threat from regional narcotics trafficking, he said the GOCR needed helicopters to supplement its airborne counternarcotics assets. Five Blackhawks went to Mexico as part of the Merida Initiative, he noted; "all we need is one". Arias commended the Secretary's "courageous" acknowledgment in Mexico of U.S. co-responsibility in fueling the illicit drug and arms trade in the region. -------------- VP BIDEN: MUST FIX THE ECONOMY FIRST -------------- ¶13. (C) In response, the Vice President noted that some countries viewed the United States as "part of the problem," while others saw the United States as "the only solution" to some problems. However, before the USG could help the region, it had to help itself; the best way to do so was to re-energize the U.S. economy. "When we stall, you all suffer," he said. The administration was thus tackling the urgent economic problems as methodically as possible. ¶14. (C) The Vice President explained that during the election campaign, he and President Obama had established the goal of truly helping the U.S. middle class, and not just improving macroeconomic indicators. The same held true for Latin America: the Obama administration wants the middle class to be better off when it completes its first term. "We do not want the hemisphere left behind," he said. In addition, the U.S. administration realized it was time for new "rules of the road" governing the international financial and banking system. -------------- BUT ALSO TACKLE REGIONAL SECURITY PROBLEMS -------------- ¶15. (C) At the same time, The Vice President acknowledged that "restarting the economy" alone was not enough; the USG recognized that the region faced a number of other shared problems that required shared solutions, chief among them drug trafficking and crime. Drug source or transit countries that had once been reluctant to confront the drug trade, since it was "not their problem," now faced serious domestic consumption problems. ¶16. (C) Vice President Biden assured Arias that the USG well understood that counternarcotics success in Mexico and Colombia might press more trafficking and traffickers into Central America. This was another reason the Merida Initiative was so important. Depending on the future domestic economic situation, the USG would like to see Merida continued and perhaps expanded, he explained. However, the Vice President reminded President Arias of the difficult economic situation inherited by the Obama administration, including a USD 1.3 trillion deficit. Additional USG assistance may not come easily. The Administration first had to stimulate the U.S. economy in order to stimulate the global economy. -------------- FRESH LOOK AT FOREIGN ASSISTANCE AND EDUCATION -------------- ¶17. (C) In response to Arias, suggestions, the Vice President said the USG might re-examine the MCC program, in order to focus it more on needy sectors of society, even in countries that were doing fairly well, rather than solely on individual countries in need. Overall, the attitude in the United States towards foreign assistance was evolving, he added. The best thing Costa Rica could do in the short run, however, was to continue to attract foreign direct investment; this provided the best added value to the economy. ¶18. (SBU) On education, which was another major topic of the U.S. election campaign and very important to the Obama administration, the Vice President invited Arias to work with him personally to develop a regional approach for Central America. The Vice President cited this project as a potentially good example of the USG's intent to develop policy with the region and not for it. He added that the administration also hoped to give the Peace Corps a significant boost in Western Hemisphere countries and around the world. This would help "capture the energy" of young Americans eager to serve. -------------- CLOSING COMMENTS AND THE &BIDEN8 PLAN -------------- ¶19. (C) Drawing the meeting to a close, the Vice President lauded Arias as "an exception" and Costa Rica as a country which "stands apart." This was a principal reason why the USG had asked Costa Rica to host the Central American leaders. "Now is the time for honesty and not diplomacy," the Vice President added. The administration thus invited "constructive criticism" from its friends and allies. The Vice President reiterated that the administration had to "first focus at home," but looked forward to working with regional partners on regional problems. ¶20. (SBU) As the meeting broke up, Arias handed the Vice President the GOCR's new, detailed, so-called BIDEN (Bilateral Investment Development and Emergency Needs Plan), which seeks additional USG assistance and cooperation for development, drug interdiction/law enforcement, debt restructuring, balance of payment stabilization, competitiveness, investment, renewable energy development and English language teaching. (The GOCR released highlights of the plan to the media after the meeting.) ¶21. (U) The Office of the Vice President cleared this message. WILSON