VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMN #0459/01 1441406
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 241406Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5805
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0408
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAY SANTIAGO 2854
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0047

,C O N F I D E N T I A L MONTEVIDEO 000459 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR WHA/BSC AND WHA/OAS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2016 
TAGS: PREL OAS UNSC UY
SUBJECT: OAS AMBASSADOR JOHN MAISTO'S MAY 18 VISIT TO 
URUGUAY 
 
REF: A. STATE 78084 
 
     ¶B. MONTEVIDEO 00418 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James D. Nealon 
for reasons 1,4 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1. (C) U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of 
American States (OAS) Ambassador John F. Maisto visited 
Montevideo on May 18 to discuss Summit of the Americas 
follow-up, the June OAS General Assembly, and U.S./Uruguayan 
bilateral relations.  He met with President Vazquez, lunched 
with Formin Gargano and Vice Formin Herrera and held a press 
conference. The local media responded positively to his 
visit, connecting it to President Vazquez' trip to the U.S. 
and his meeting with POTUS earlier in the month.  Ambassador 
Maisto demarched President Vazquez in support of Guatemala 
over Venezuela in its bid for a semi-permanent seat on the UN 
Security Council, but Vazquez was non-committal. Below are 
excerpts from the meetings that the Charge also attended. End 
Summary. 
 
Cordial Meeting with President Vazquez 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Ambassador Maisto opened the discussion by telling 
President Vazquez that his visit to the White House and his 
speech at the Council of the Americas event at the State 
Department (in which Secretary Rice and WHA/AS Shannon also 
spoke) left lasting positive impressions in Washington. 
Vazquez replied that he was well received in the United 
States, both personally and professionally, and for that he 
was very grateful. Regarding his meeting with President Bush, 
he said that, "we agreed on a lot of things." adding that the 
two leaders resolved to work together to increase trade, and 
that progress toward this end would be measured at the next 
meeting of the Joint Council on Trade and Investment (JCTI) 
in October. "The key," Vazquez said, "is to work together on 
the things we agree on, and to hell with the differences." 
Among the things "agreed on," he included the need to deepen 
trade and to fight terrorism, narco-trafficking and money 
laundering.  Ambassador Maisto concurred, adding that the 
democracies in the hemisphere also needed to deliver economic 
benefits to their citizens. 
 
¶3. (C) Ambassador Maisto opined that bilateral issues 
appeared to be faring well and said, "We are not interested 
in labels of left and right, it's a question of democratic 
governance. If one is elected democratically, then one should 
govern democratically."  Vazquez nodded in agreement and 
said, "We try to be pragmatic and want to be responsible and 
serious and say what we mean with no "double talk." When 
Ambassador Maisto said that he planned to have lunch with the 
Foreign Minister to discuss his multilateral agenda, Vazquez 
perked up, stating that "it was important for us to work 
together on the multilateral agenda."  Ambassador Maisto 
explained that the OAS is doing good work to fight 
corruption, monitor elections, promote human rights, and 
fight drug trafficking -- particularly in the case of Haiti. 
Referring to Haiti, Vazquez said that, "you can count on 
Uruguay to continue to cooperate," adding that the GOU had 
recently sent more troops to MINSUSTAH and offered to assist 
in public health efforts. 	
 	
¶4. (C) Turning to trade issues, Vazquez said that the acronym 	
FTAA" (ALCA in Spanish) had caused a lot of discomfort in 	
Uruguay and elsewhere in Latin America, so that he has had to 	
resort to the code words of "deepen trade."  Vazquez 	
elaborated by saying that, "we would support a "4   1" 	
mechanism with Mercosur (to join FTAA) but that it all 	
depends on Brazil. In the meantime, there is nothing to 	
prevent us from negotiating a bilateral trade deal within the 	
framework of Mercosur. We can't afford to "politicize" trade	 
since we signed an FTA with Mexico, our trade with it has 	
doubled."  Vazquez also briefly touched on the paper mill 	
dispute with Argentina and said, "I have this problem with 	
Argentina, but we,re going to build the plants, and we 	
won,t contaminate the environment." 	
 
¶5. (C)  After a lengthy discussion about Venezuelan President 
Hugo Chavez, (in which Vazquez acknowledged, "that he 
(Chavez) listens to me") Ambassador Maisto demarched the 
President on Guatemala's bid for a semi-permanent seat on the 
UNSC. He said that Guatemala is a small country, supportive 
of UN and Peacekeeping Operations (PKO).  The country that 
gains this seat will represent the entire Western hemisphere. 
Such a country has to be serious because of the important 
issues involved such as Iran, the Middle East and weapons of 
mass destruction (WMD).  Guatemala is more or less capable of 
acting responsibly, while Venezuela is not, he said.  Vazquez 
responded by saying, "When I was in Mexico, President Fox 
said the same thing, as he is actively and openly supporting 
Guatemala."  Vazquez added, "The issue has not been resolved 
yet, but will be discussed within Mercosur." Ambassador 	
Maisto indicated that Chavez had clearly "crossed the line," 	
to which Vazquez replied, "yes, in Peru and Nicaragua, by 	
involving himself in electoral issues." 	
 	
Lunch with Senior MFA Officials	 mostly about Bolivia 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 	
 	
¶6. (C) After departing the Suarez Residence, Ambassador 	
Maisto and the Charge lunched at the Radisson Hotel with 	
Foreign Minister Reinaldo Gargano, Deputy ForMin Maria 	
Belela" Herrera and Uruguay's ambassador-designate to the 	
OAS, Lujan Flores. Ambassador Maisto began with a tour 	
d'horizon of the region, and expounded on the good work the 	
OAS had done in Haiti and Colombia regarding election issues 	
and on human rights.  He said that at the upcoming General 	
assembly in Santo Domingo there will be a robust discussion 
of human rights issues in the five countries of Cuba, 
Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Haiti, and that Secretary 
General Miguel Insulza will be seeking support for his 
agenda. (Note: Vice-Formin Herrera said she will attend the 
meeting in Brazil this week on Haiti, but it was not clear 
whether Gargano or Herrera will attend the OAS meeting in 
Santo Domingo in June. End Note.) The Uruguayans expressed 
disappointment that their candidate for High Commissioner in 
Haiti had not been chosen. 
 
¶7. (C) Much of the lunch discussion centered on current 
events in Bolivia.  With an obvious jab at the U.S., ForMin 
Gargano said of the Morales GOB that, "We need to help them 
instead of destabilizing them."  Ambassador Maisto pointedly 
concurred but explained that the USG has tried very hard to 
engage the GOB and to be patient.  He said that Secretary 
Rice met with Morales in Santiago last March and that WHA/AS 
Tom Shannon had attended Morales' inauguration and had met 
with Morales.  However, he said, it was not at all clear that 
the GOB wanted to work with us, or if so, what they wanted 
from the U.S.  He added that it is important to note that the 
U.S. has historically done more for Bolivia than anyone else 
and that it stands ready and willing to keep helping that 
country.  Gargano mused that Uruguay could possibly send 
teachers to Bolivia and claimed that 60 percent of the 
population was illiterate. 
 
¶8. (C) Gargano stated that there are three other countries 
that play key roles in Bolivia: Brazil, Argentina and Chile, 
adding that, "We need to try to understand the new GOB, 
though they are very difficult to understand. Certainly the 
Bolivians need a higher price for their gas, which will help 
stability and consolidate democracy."  When Ambassador Maisto 
queried him on Brazil's reaction to Morales' moves on 
nationalizing the hydrocarbon's sector, Gargano replied, 
Brazil needs to be smart and find a win/win situation. This 
can be settled calmly, or it can be settled violently." 
Ambassador Maisto said the OAS is preparing to send a mission 
to work with the Constituent Assembly. He added that the 
Constituent Assembly is a highly charged political issue that 
needs to be democratic and avoid the danger that the new 
(mostly indigenous) team will say "now it is our turn." 
Gargano opined that that won't happen and said that Evo is 
ready to cut a deal with Santa Cruz and compared it to the 
situation of Catalunya within Spain. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 

¶9. (C) The Uruguayan's appreciated Ambassador Maisto's timely 
outreach following President Vazquez successful visit to 
Washington and the effort he devoted to answering questions 
at the full press conference following his meetings. 
Ambassador Maisto has cleared this message. End Comment. 
Nealon