FM FERNANDEZ ON UNASUR: CHILE TO BACK DCA, AVOID

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTIAGO 000809 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/BSC, INR, PM/RSAT PENTAGON FOR MICHELLE LENIHAN, NICOLE BUNTRAGER E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2019 TAGS: PREL MARR OPDC XR SUBJECT: FM FERNANDEZ ON UNASUR: CHILE TO BACK DCA, AVOID CHILE-BOLIVIA DISPUTE DISCUSSION REF: STATE 89408 Classified By: Ambassador Paul Simons for reason 1.4 (b). ¶1. (C) The Ambassador verbally delivered reftel demarche in an August 27 conversation with Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez. Fernandez stated that the Chilean government was focused on two objectives surrounding tomorrow's UNASUR meeting. First, Chile wants to ensure that the Chilean-Bolivian border and maritime access dispute is not raised at the meeting. Chile views this as a bilateral issue not appropriate for discussion in a multilateral forum. The Chileans had spoken with the Peruvian Ambassador to Chile about this, and received his assurances that Peruvian President Garcia would not/not raise the issue at UNASUR. (Note: In a series of interviews and exchanges over the past few days, Peruvian President Garcia and Chilean Foreign Minister Fernandez have battled in the Chilean press about whether Peru's decision to take their border dispute to The Hague was a provocation. They also traded barbs about the status of the Chile-Bolivia border dispute. Garcia accused Chile and Bolivia of having a secret agreement to give Bolivia access to the sea, and demanded that they reveal any plan at the UNASUR meeting. End Note.) ¶2. (C) Secondly, Chile continues to support the prerogative of the U.S. and Colombia to conclude a bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA). The Ambassador requested that Chile work to ensure that other like-minded countries, such as Uruguay and Paraguay, continue to take a constructive stance on the issue at the UNASUR meeting. Fernandez responded that both countries plus Argentina were likely to support the right of the U.S. and Colombia to make such an agreement. ¶3. (C) In addition, Fernandez noted that Argentine and Ecuadorian efforts to craft a joint statement in support of the DCA were going well. Fernandez emphasized that the U.S. should continue to work to persuade Brazil to support the DCA. The Ambassador promised to try to share information regarding the Secretary's conversation with Brazilian Foreign Minister Amorim. Subsequent to this conversation, the embassy received a readout of the meeting and Pol Chief briefed Fernandez's Chief of Staff. ¶4. (SBU) Embassy followed up the Ambassador's conversation by delivering the Secretary's letter to FM Fernandez later August 27. SIMONS