PRESIDENT BACHELET'S TRIP TO CUBA SPARKS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTIAGO 000044 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM CI CU SUBJECT: PRESIDENT BACHELET'S TRIP TO CUBA SPARKS CONTROVERSY REF: 08 SANTIAGO 1076 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: President Michelle Bachelet's visit to Cuba, scheduled for February 11 to 13, has been the subject of heated debate. Bachelet will attend the opening of the Havana Book Festival, which will feature Chile this year, but could also be perceived as a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. The Christian Democrats--part of Chile's ruling Concertacion coalition--have criticized Bachelet's trip and particularly her refusal to meet with Cuban dissidents. Together with recent allegations that a previous GOC administration asked Cuba not to repatriate the killers of a prominent conservative leader, Chile's always uneasy relationship with Cuba is complicating life for the Concertacion. End Summary. First Chilean President to Visit Cuba in 37 Years -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) This will be the first official travel to the island by a Chilean President since Salvador Allende visited in ¶1972. The trip is designed to reinforce President Bachelet's foreign policy focus on Latin America and as a follow-on to the recently approved agreement to enhance Chile-Cuba trade relations. (Reftel) ¶3. (U) Although this is a first for Chile, other Latin American leaders have made the journey recently. Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador visited Cuba last week and Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez will travel to the island next week. Press commentators say this wave of visits to the island is sending a strong message to the Obama administration to end the U.S. embargo and open economic and political relations with Cuba. Cubans in Chile are also amplifying this message. A group of Cuban protestors arrived at Embassy on January 3 with a letter addressed to President-elect Barack Obama imploring the U.S. to end the embargo and release five Cubans incarcerated in the U.S. for espionage. The Agenda: Yes to Books, Economics, and Medicine... -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) The President's advance team is currently on the island coordinating the final details of her trip, which will be announced publicly by Foreign Minister Foxley in the coming weeks. As of now, she is scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting with Raul Castro shortly after arrival on February 11 followed by a meeting with Havana Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Ortega. Her first day on the island will conclude with an official dinner hosted by Castro. Bachelet will participate in an economic seminar along with Chilean and Cuban business leaders, followed by a visit to the Salvador Allende monument and the opening ceremony of the Book Festival on February 12. After visiting Old Havana and the International Center for Neurological Restoration on February 13, Bachelet will host a lunch in Castro's honor. Bachelet has not eliminated the possibility of making a personal call on Fidel Castro although she hasn't yet formally requested the meeting. Press reports state that this meeting would depend on Castro's health. ...But No to Dissidents -------------- ¶5. (U) One of the biggest controversies surrounding the trip has been the absence of Cuban dissidents on Bachelet's agenda. Although she is receiving increased pressure to meet with dissidents, especially from the Christian Democrats, Bachelet's office has emphasized that as this is an official state visit in which she will follow the strict protocol guidelines set by the Cuban government and will not meet with dissidents. Vladimiro Roca, dissident leader and head of the Cuban Social Democratic Party requested a meeting with the president "as an act of solidarity with the Cuban people" in a letter sent through the Chilean Embassy in Cuba. However, leader of the Cuban Christian Liberation Movement Oswaldo Paya declared that his organization would not request a meeting with the President and that they haven't had contact with the Chilean Embassy in Havana in years. ¶6. (U) Government spokesman Francisco Vidal stated that "Chilean foreign policy does not indicate that meetings with opposition leaders should form part of an official visit." (Note: Bachelet met with opposition and political party during visits to Venezuela, Mexico, and Canada. End Note.) DC president Juan Carlos Latorre has declared that the DC will not participate in the trip if Bachelet refuses to meet with the opposition. In an attempt to appeal to the DC, Bachelet has confirmed a meeting with Havana Archbishop SANTIAGO 00000044 002 OF 003 Cardinal Jaime Ortega who is a strong critic of the Castro regime. However, the DC maintains that the meeting with the Archbishop does not satisfy their request to include the opposition on her official agenda. (Note: In a conversation with E/POL Counselor (septel) a ranking MFA official was clear that Chile had no intention of "embarassing its host." End Note.) Chile Asked Cuba to Ignore Chilean Political Killers? -------------- -------------- ¶7. (U) Carlos Figueroa (DC),who served as former President and current presidential candidate Frei's Foreign Minister, recently admitted that in a 1997 meeting with then Vice President of Cuba Ricardo Alarcon he requested that Chilean fugitives, presumed to be living in Cuba, not be returned to Chile. The fugitives, four members of the Manuel Rodriguez Front, were convicted of assassinating Senator Jaime Guzman, a Pinochet regime ideologist, in 1991. They escaped from Chile's high security prison in December 1996, and fled to Cuba. One is now serving a prison term in Brazil. ¶8. (U) The Independent Democratic Union (UDI) party (founded by Guzman) is asking President Bachelet to bring up the issue with Raul Castro during her visit. As of Tuesday, January 13, Bachelet's camp says that she will not. UDI secretary general Victor Perez is demanding that Frei take responsibility for Figueroa's statement, arguing that if Figueroa's comments are true, then "the Frei administration lied, saying they didn't know where the assassins where when in fact they did." Frei maintains that he had no knowledge of Figueroa's conversation with Alarcon and that government policy has always insisted that crimes committed in Chile need to be tried in Chile, adding that his administration "did everything possible to try in Chile those involved in Jaime Guzman's assassination." Congress Vote Calls to Free Political Prisoners -------------- -- ¶9. (U) Using another avenue to express their concern over Cuba, Deputy Patricio Walker (DC) successfully led an initiative to pass an official Congressional statement calling for Cuba to free its political prisoners and hold open elections. After a heated debate among the deputies, the lower house approved the statement with 57 votes in favor -- mostly Alianza and DC deputies -- and 16 against ) mostly PS and PPD deputies on January 7. Who Will Travel? -------------- ¶10. (U) Led by Foreign Minister Foxley, the Chilean delegation will consist of three groups ) politicians, business leaders, and cultural representatives. Since the Alianza parties and DC have announced that they will not participate, although one DC deputy previously invited on the trip says he's still going, the political portion of the delegation will be formed by Senators and Deputies from the Socialist (PS),Party for Democracy (PPD),and Radical (PRSD) parties. The Chilean Communist party will be represented by President Guillermo Teillier. President of the Confederation of Production and Commerce Rafael Guilisasti has been appointed to lead the business sector delegation. Minister of Culture, Paulina Urrutia will head the cultural portion of the delegation consisting of writers and artists. Political Leaders Outspoken about the Trip -------------- ¶11. (U) Bachelet's polemic trip has caused political figures to express their opinions sparking a debate about local politics and Chilean foreign policy. -- Eduardo Frei, clearly distancing himself from the DC position, chose to highlight President Bachelet's autonomy in planning her travel stating that "the President is the one who handles foreign policy and she'll make her own decisions." -- Foreign Minister Foxley described the trip to Cuba as a foreign policy initiative to continue developing ties with other countries in the region, noting that Chile could become an important "interlocutor playing a role in Cuba's future transition." He is trying to pull the focus away from ideological differences between the political parties. Although he has received harsh criticism from his own party, the Christian Democrat confirmed that he will accompany the President and that there will be no meeting with the opposition. SANTIAGO 00000044 003 OF 003 -- Leader of the Alianza's National Renewal party, Carlos Larrain, has used this trip as an opportunity to attack the DC and its presidential candidate Eduardo Frei. Larrain criticized the DC for opposing Bachelet's travel while simultaneously developing a campaign alliance with the Communist party for next year's presidential elections, calling the actions "contradictory" and asking Frei for an explanation. -- Deputy Maria Angelica Cristi (UDI) recently returned from her first trip to Cuba where she was impressed by the island and its people. Although a conservative "Pinochetista," Cristi is now convinced that the U.S. should end the embargo, "not only so that more tourists and trade would come to Cuba, but so that Cubans realize their problems are caused by an oppressive regime, not by the U.S." ¶12. (SBU) Comment: Bachelet's Cuba trip, while a logical visit as part of her Latin American-focused foreign policy agenda, is a political hot potato that puts both presidential candidate Eduardo Frei and Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley in the awkward position of supporting (or at least not second-guessing) the President, despite strong opposition within their party. Frei is caught between not wanting to undercut the foreign policy of a sitting Concertacion president while also trying to satisfy a badly divided Concertacion on this issue. His best hope is that the visit is uneventful and quickly forgotten. End Comment. SIMONS