Chilean FM on Honduras, Salitre Military Exercises,

S E C R E T SANTIAGO 000865

SIPDIS
STATE PLEASE PASS TO WHA/EX, WHA/CEN, WHA/PPD, IO FOR SUZANNE NOSSEL AND KELLY
SIEKMAN
OSD FOR MICHELLE LENIHAN
PARIS FOR USUNESCO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/10/06
TAGS: PREL PHUM MOPS UNESCO UNHRC CI HO
SUBJECT: Chilean FM on Honduras, Salitre Military Exercises,
Goldstone, and UNESCO

REF: A) ZIMOV-KELLY EMAIL 9/30/09; B) PARIS 1301

CLASSIFIED BY: Paul Simons, Ambassador, State, Embassy Santiago;
REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) Summary: Foreign Minister Fernandez told PDAS Kelly that
Chile strongly supports the San Jose Accord to resolve the crisis
in Honduras, but noted disagreements in the international community
about the most constructive way forward. Chile is trying to ease
tensions with Peru, in particular by inviting Peru to observe the
"Salitre" military exercise. Fernandez emphasized that Chile's
objective in the Goldstone report controversy is to promote human
rights. He used Farouk Hosni's near victory in the UNESCO election
to highlight the need for better coordination around key elections.
End Summary.




2. (U) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Craig Kelly met with
Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez on September 30. PDAS
Kelly was accompanied by Ambassador Paul Simons, WHA/EPSC Office
Director Matt Rooney, and Political Officer Jennifer Spande. On
the Chilean side, Chilean Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Goni, MFA
Director for North and Central American Affairs Isauro Torres, and
presidential advisor Marcos Robledo joined the meeting as well.



FM Fernandez on Honduras: "Micheletti Should Go Back to
Parliament"

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3. (C) PDAS Kelly and FM Fernandez traded updates and perspectives
about the unfolding situation in Honduras. PDAS Kelly noted that
the U.S. is not seeking to punish the de facto government but wants
to send a strong signal that coups are unacceptable. FM Fernandez
agreed, saying "Zelaya should be returned as president and
Micheletti should go back to Parliament."




4. (S/NF) PDAS Kelly referenced OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel
Insulza's secret September 29 meeting with de facto Honduran leader
Roberto Micheletti. The U.S. had welcomed positive comments from
Honduran businessman Adolfo Facusse, who said that the de facto
regime might be willing to reach an agreement where members of
Zelaya's government would be tried for any regular crimes
committed, but not face charges of political crimes or corruption.
In general, the U.S. was pleased that there was a conversation
about ways to resolve the crisis. Fernandez expressed his support
for a compromise, saying that holding credible elections was most
important. If Honduras can figure that out, then the international
community can stay out of the question about what criminal charges,
if any, should be filed.




5. (C) The international community is united in opposing the coup,
but divided about how to constructively approach the issue, FM
Fernandez said. Central American leaders are particularly
concerned that if the coup is successful, they could face similar
threats at home. Debate over whether or not to specifically refer
to the San Jose accords divided opinion during discussions about
the coup at the UN General Assembly, FM Fernandez relayed. He
reported that President Zelaya's son has indicated that Zelaya
would sign the accords. Meanwhile, Panamanian FM Juan Carlos
Varela has proposed an alternative to the San Jose Accord's call
for Zelaya to be returned to power before the election. Varela
suggested that perhaps Zelaya could regain his presidential title
in the interregnum between the election and the inauguration.
(Comment: Fernandez seemed skeptical about this idea. End
Comment.)




6. (C) Fernandez was uncertain how to advise the USG about whether
or not to participate in the upcoming OAS mission to Honduras.
Presidential advisor Marcos Robledo wondered out loud if a U.S.
presence on the delegation might help reassure the de facto


government and make it more open to negotiation. Fernandez
indicated that Chile was not sending a national representative with
the OAS mission. Given that both OAS Secretary General, Jose
Miguel Insulza, and the head of the OAS's special mission to
Honduras, John Biehl, are Chileans, the government fears that an
additional Chilean--even though he or she would be the first to
represent the Chilean government-- would be perceived as Chilean
over-involvement.



Chile Trying to Allay Peruvian Complaints about Military Exercises

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7. (C) Ambassador Simons thanked FM Fernandez for Chile's efforts
to reach out to Peru and respond to Peruvian complaints about the
multinational Salitre military exercise hosted by Chile, and in
particular for inviting Peru to attend the exercises as an
observer. Simons indicated that Chile's willingness to modify the
scenario was also a positive development. Fernandez agreed, saying
that it was unfortunate that in the initial development of the
scenario, the political factors were not taken into account.
Peru's press is heavily covering the spat between the two countries
over the planned military exercises, fanning the flames, Fernandez
noted.




8. (C) Fernandez also complained that press coverage misconstrued
his comments about Peru's proposed non-aggression pact. Fernandez
was in fact quite positive about the suggestion, he said, because
he appreciated all efforts to promote transparency and build
confidence between the two nations. He merely wanted to modify the
idea a bit as the concept of a non-aggression pact "belongs to
another age." Perhaps the two countries could sign a military
cooperation agreement instead, he offered.



UNASUR Declaration on Colombian Bases

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9. (C) UNASUR's pending declaration about the U.S.-Colombia
Defense Cooperation Agreement will be very similar to the
declaration coming out of the August UNASUR meeting in Bariloche,
Fernandez revealed. He added that, even though Ecuador had taken
over as UNASUR President Pro Tempore in July, Chile was taking a
strong role in managing the process of agreeing on a declaration in
response to a request from the Ecuadorians.



Goldstone Report: Chile Focused on Upholding Human Rights

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10. (SBU) PDAS Kelly outlined U.S. concerns surrounding the
Goldstone report on the December 2008-January 2009 conflict in
Gaza, highlighting both the unbalanced treatment of Israeli and
Palestinian actions and the report's scattershot and unhelpful
approach towards tasking various UN bodies with action (ref A).
Ambassador Simons reinforced this point, noting that domestic U.S.
support for the UN Human Rights Council could decline if one of its
first acts with U.S. participation was endorsement of such an
unbalanced report. Fernandez said that the Chilean Representative
to International Organizations in Geneva, Carlos Portales, had told
him about the controversy surrounding the report. Chile has never
taken a political position on the Israeli-Palestinian issue,
Fernandez emphasized, saying that Chile's focus has always been on
upholding human rights. Chile will work with us to seek balance,
he said, and seemed to agree that the idea of referring the matter


to the International Criminal Court was a bad one.



Fernandez Explains Chile's UNESCO Secretary General Vote

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11. (SBU ) Fernandez also sought to explain why Chile voted
against the U.S.-backed candidate for the UNESCO Secretary General
and to ask for a more coordinated approach towards future
candidacies. During five rounds of voting, Chile voted for Hosni
in the first two rounds of voting, then switched to support
Austrian candidate Benita Ferraro-Waldner, who only received 11
votes , and ultimately supported Ivonne Baki, the U.S.-backed
Ecuadorian candidate (Ref B).




12. (SBU) Egyptian candidate Farouk Hosni nearly won the election,
Fernandez asserted, because the many countries who opposed him were
uncoordinated and late in their lobbying efforts. Egypt began
lobbying Chile more than a year before the election, and Austrian
candidate Benita Ferraro-Waldner also contacted Chile far in
advance. UNESCO's importance is underappreciated, Fernandez
asserted. After years of strong U.S./European influence, it should
have a non-U.S./European leader.



Comment

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13. (C) The wide-ranging conversation, from possible solutions to
the crisis in Honduras, to a constructive approach to the bilateral
spat with Peru over a military exercise, to a frank exchange on
current controversies in global fora, demonstrates once again Chile
is looking to play a positive role in region and, increasingly,
globally. In doing so, it is ready to exchange information with
the United States and explore areas where we can coordinate our
efforts.




14. (U) PDAS Kelly did not have the chance to clear this cable.
SIMONS