GOES DISCUSSES TRANSITION AND PATHWAYS WITH A/S

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 000321

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2029
TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD OVIP SHANNON ES
SUBJECT: GOES DISCUSSES TRANSITION AND PATHWAYS WITH A/S
SHANNON

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES ROBERT I. BLAU, REASONS 1.4(B,D)

Summary
--------------


1. (C) WHA Assistant Secretary Thomas Shannon held separate
meetings March 18 with President Saca, Foreign Minister
Marisol Argueta, President-elect Mauricio Funes and ARENA
Presidential candidate Rodrigo Avila. He also attended
several press conferences and a reception with private
business sector representatives. This first of two cables on
A/S Shannon's visit will focus on his meetings with President
Saca and Foreign Minister Argueta. The second cable will
focus on A/S Shannon's meetings with the winning and losing
presidential candidates and business leaders. Both major
parties have approached the election transition in a mature
fashion, stating they wanted to work with one another.
President Saca had already asked Funes to accompany him to a
regional integration meeting and the Summit of the Americas
and said that Funes would be welcome to join him at the March
30 meeting in Costa Rica with Vice President Biden. Foreign
Minister Argueta pressed for high-level Department
participation in the upcoming Pathways to Prosperity
Ministerial and was very pleased with the news of getting a
pull-aside meeting with the Secretary. End Summary.

Meeting Attendees
--------------


2. (U) Foreign Minister Marisol Argueta and President Saca's
Private Secretary Elmer Charlaix attend the meeting with
President Saca. Salvadoran Director General for Political
Affairs Werner Romero and Director of Western Hemisphere
Affairs Wendy Acevedo attended the meeting with the Foreign
Minister. Charge Robert Blau and the Political and Economic
Counselors attended all of the meetings with Assistant
Secretary Shannon.

President Saca Meeting
--------------


3. (C) In their private meeting and subsequent statements to
the press, Saca and A/S Shannon described the extensive and
positive relationship between the USA and El Salvador.
During the meeting, Saca instructed Foreign Minister Marisol
Argueta to move forward with a five-year extension to the
Cooperative Security Location (CSL) agreement at the air base
in Comalapa. Saca and Argueta thought that the agreement
could be expanded, including to other locations such as the
ports in Acajutla and La Union, but agreed that the best
approach would be to finalize the five-year extension before
further discussions on expanding the role or locations for
those operations. While he thought they could get FMLN to
vote for the latter, Saca acknowledged that it was less
certain.


4. (C) In a gentle, but clear, pitch for increased military
assistance, Saca added that the GOES had essentially stopped
investing in the Armed Forces when the civil war ended and
would appreciate additional military support from the United
States. Saca was very concerned about narco-trafficking in
Mexico and Guatemala. He also urged movement on the El
Salvador's extradition request for Hector Silva, noting his
supposed links to narco-traffickers and the murder of several
Salvadoran legislators to the Central American Parliament
that occurred in 2007 in Guatemala.


5. (C) President Saca lamented not yet having an opportunity
to speak with President Obama and looked forward to seeing
him at the Summit of the Americas (SOA),noting that he had
already asked President-elect Funes to attend the SOA with
him. Saca said he had also invited Funes to an upcoming SICA
(Central American Integration Secretariat) meeting in
Managua. Saca's biggest worry about an FMLN presidential
victory was Venezuela. He said the USG could serve as a good
counterbalance to Chavez and his attempt to influence the new
Funes administration. He hoped that Funes would move closer
to Brazil and keep his distance from Venezuela.


6. (C) President Saca said he called Funes early Sunday night
to congratulate him on his victory and that he had been
impressed with Funes in their several subsequent
conversations. He assured Funes that he wanted to work
closely with him on the transition and would "open the
government's books" to Funes and his team. Saca was
reassured when Funes told him that he wanted nothing to do
with Iran, was keeping his distance from Chavez and sought
good relations with the United States. He was also relieved
to hear that Funes was not interested in ALBA (the
Chavez-inspired trade program) and that he wanted to continue
some of the social programs that Saca had started, e.g.,
FOSALUD (healthcare),Red Solidaria (healthcare and education
focused on the very poor) and Plan 2021 (education). Saca
also noted that ARENA had the second largest bloc in the
Legislative Assembly (32 of the 84 seats) and had just won
the mayoral race in the capital San Salvador, thus the FMLN
will need to work with ARENA and vice versa.


7. (C) Saca said he worried about the current economic
situation; exports and remittances were down, and the
worldwide financial situation was taking its toll on the
country. A/S Shannon said the March 30 meeting with Vice
President Biden would be a good chance to express those
concerns. He explained that Vice President Biden was coming
to listen to what the Central American Presidents had to say
about economic conditions, the Merida initiative and whatever
else was on their minds. A/S Shannon said at the SOA, they
hoped to build upon discussions at the G-20, noting that five
of the G-20 countries would be at the SOA. He added that the
USG does not want to exclude anyone from these discussions,
but we clearly want to work with those who want to work with
us. He also encouraged Saca to bring along Funes to the
meeting with Vice President Biden and the SOA, and Saca
responded positively.


8. (C) On Cuba, the Foreign Minister Argueta said that Costa
Rica decided to announce their opening of diplomatic
relations with Cuba because they knew the FMLN would shortly
do it and Costa Rica did not want to be the last country in
Latin America to establish those relations. Saca
acknowledged it was time to open relations with Cuba, noting
that the Salvadoran airline TACA already flies there. He
said that former Salvadoran President Flores looked into
opening an interests section there, but shelved the idea when
Castro verbally attacked him at an international forum.
However, he and Argueta said that the USG should advise Funes
to go slow in opening relations with Cuba. Saca added that
the Cuban embargo was a "marvelous pretext for the Castros,"
suggesting it might be time for the USG to review that
policy.
Foreign Minister Focuses on Pathways
--------------


9. (C) Foreign Minister Marisol Argueta was elated to hear
about her pull-aside meeting appointment with the Secretary.
She was eager to talk about the upcoming Salvadoran-hosted
Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas (Pathways) Ministerial
and wanted assurance of high-level USG participation,
expressing strong hope that the Secretary would head the US
delegation. She added that they could combine the
Ministerial with a meeting of Vital Voices, a project that
the Secretary had supported when she was First Lady. A/S
Shannon explained that the USG was very interested in the
Pathways concepts and was considering expanding it to include
other countries, such as Brazil as well as emphasize the
environmental and social development aspects of the
initiative. Argueta embraced the ideas, adding that it was
important to include small and medium enterprises in the
process. Argueta mentioned April 28-29 or May 8-9 as
possible dates for the Ministerial, but was flexible
depending on the Secretary's schedule.


10. (C) A/S Shannon noted that the Secretary would be
traveling to the SOA in April and that the June 1 Salvadoran
Presidential Inauguration immediately preceded the OAS
General Assembly meeting in neighboring Honduras. They also
agreed to follow up on the extension of the CSL agreement and
Argueta asked when funds from the Merida Initiative would
start flowing to El Salvador. Argueta gave a brief tour of
the Foreign Ministry's new facilities and held the first
press conference in the building with A/S Shannon where they
once again highlighted the strong and close relations between
the two countries.


11. (U) The visit of A/S Shannon and President Obama's call
to President-elect made front-page headlines in the nation's
major newspapers and electronic media. It reinforced the
image that the United States will continue to be the closest
of ally of El Salvador even after the change of government.


12. (U) This cable has been cleared by Assistant Secretary
Shannon.
BLAU