VZCZCXYZ0033
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSG #1058/01 1382026
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 182026Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9158
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 3173
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 3042
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0951

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTIAGO 001058 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/OAS, WHA/BSC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2016 
TAGS: PREL OAS PGOV SOCI VZ CI
SUBJECT: OAS PERMREP MAISTO DISCUSSES OAS GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
WITH MFA OFFICIALS, CIVIC SOCIETY REPRESENTATIVES 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Craig A. Kelly.  Reasons: 1.4 (b and d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: OAS PermRep Maisto outlined USG objectives 
for the OAS General Assembly during meetings with senior 
Foreign Ministry officials on May 16.  Foreign Ministry 
Director General for External Relations Portales agreed to 
consider the U.S. non-paper on introducing a resolution 
during the next OAS General Assembly that would give the 
SecGen maximum flexibility to implement the Inter-American 
Democratic Charter.  Ambassador Maisto also exchanged views 
on civil society participation in the OAS with members of the 
Chilean NGO Participa, and conducted interviews with Chilean 
media.  He also outlined with Portales the U.S. arguments in 
favor of supporting Guatemala's UNSC candidacy.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Organization of American States (OAS) Permanent 
Representative John Maisto outlined U.S. objectives for the 
OAS General Assembly during separate meetings with Foreign 
Ministry Director General for External Relations Carlos 
Portales, and Chilean PermRep-designee Pedro Oyarce and MFA 
Multilateral Director Eduardo Galvez on May 16 in Santiago. 
The Ambassador and poloff accompanied Ambassador Maisto to 
the meeting with Portales; poloff accompanied Ambassador 
Maisto to his meeting with Oyarce and Galvez. 
 
¶3. (C) Maisto opened the meeting with Portales by noting that 
OAS SecGen Insulza had undertaken several successful OAS 
efforts during his first year, including Haiti, Nicaragua and 
Colombia.  Insulza appeared genuinely committed to advancing 
the process of implementing the Inter-American Democratic 
Charter, and believed that a resolution that built upon 
AG/RES 2154 from 2005 could strengthen his efforts.  The U.S. 
agreed it was important for the SecGen to have maximum 
flexibility to continue to carry out the mandate of the 2005 
resolution, and encouraged Chile to introduce such a 
resolution during the 2006 OAS General Assembly (GA).  As the 
principal co-sponsor of the 2005 resolution, Chile was in the 
best position to introduce a resolution.  He then handed over 
a non-paper titled "Implementation of the Accompanying 
Resolution of the 2005 Declaration of Florida," and said he 
was only sharing it with Chile.  Portales said the GOC would 
consider the U.S. non-paper in detail, with an eye toward 
working with the SecGen to strengthen his ability to 
implement the Charter. 
 
¶4. (C) Ambassador Maisto advised that SecGen Insulza had told 
him recently that he intended to set aside two hours during 
the OAS GA plenary session for discussion of the human rights 
records in certain countries, including Venezuela and Haiti. 
The SecGen would review his findings and then open the floor 
for discussion.  Portales asked if the SecGen intended to 
present his findings orally or in writing.  Ambassador Maisto 
said he believed the SecGen intended to do so orally, but 
suggested it would be more effective to do so in writing. 
Portales and Oyarce agreed.  Oyarce then added he would 
convey Chile's views to the SecGen next week, when he arrived 
in Washington to take up his position as Chile's OAS PermRep. 
 Ambassador Maisto also highlighted the importance of active 
participation by civil society organizations.  Regrettably, 
few organizations appear to have met with the OAS Permanent 
Council or the SecGen since the OAS "opened the door" to more 
participation during the 2005 OAS GA. 
 
¶5. (C) Portales asked Ambassador Maisto if the U.S. would 
continue to support the Justice Studies Center of the 
Americas (CEJA).  Maisto said "yes," although the funding 
levels are not yet clear.  Maisto expressed hope that 
countries in the region other than Chile would decide to 
support CEJA as well.  If Chile were to develop an action 
plan for approaching others in the region, the U.S. would 
join Chile in approaching countries. 
 
¶6. (C) At the end of the meeting, Ambassador Maisto stressed 
that Venezuela's UNSC candidacy was a matter of great 
seriousness at the highest levels of the USG because the 
potential consequences "go far beyond the hemisphere."  He 
reviewed the arguments in favor of Guatemala's candidacy and 
noted Venezuela's counterproductive behavior in multilateral 
fora. 
 
¶7. (C) In a follow-on meeting with OAS PermRep-designee 
Oyarce and MFA Director of Multilateral Affairs Eduardo 
Galvez, Maisto reviewed in detail the U.S. non-paper on the 
implementation of an accompanying resolution to the 2005 
Declaration of Florida.  Oyarce, who together with Galvez sat 
in on most of the Portales meeting, reiterated that Chile 
would consider the U.S. non-paper.  He agreed that OAS SecGen 
Insulza needed maximum flexibility to implement the 2005 
 
resolution, but cautioned against an approach that could lead 
to a re-opening of the debate on the contents of some of the 
paragraphs in the 2005 resolution.  Oyarce said it was 
especially important to preserve the paragraphs on political 
consensus.  "We need to keep the political paragraph alive," 
he stressed.  He recommended that any new resolution be as 
short as possible, and that it not restate information 
already contained in the 2005 resolution.  "The shorter the 
better." 
 
¶8. (C) Ambassador Galvez said a new resolution would be more 
effective if it did not make reference to the agreement 
reached during the April 2005 Community of Democracies (CD) 
Ministerial to exchange experiences with other regional 
organizations, as the U.S. non-paper suggests.  Galvez 
predicted that some countries, including Venezuela and 
possibly Brazil, would oppose such references, given (in the 
case of Venezuela) its behavior and views during the CD 
Ministerial.  Oyarce was more neutral, arguing that it would 
be more effective to introduce such references gradually.  He 
said this was based on Chile's experience in trying to 
generate support for the CD in Geneva and the UN.  Maisto 
commented that his counterparts in Brazil, the Caribbean and 
Mexico did not appear concerned about including agreements 
reached during the CD Ministerial. 
 
Participa 
--------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Ambassador Maisto opened his meeting with Participa 
Executive Director Andrea Sanhueza and Deputy Executive 
Director Catalina Delpiano by thanking Participa for 
attending the meetings on civil society participation in the 
Department and the OAS on May 2-3.  He noted that the OAS had 
"opened the door" to greater participation for civil society 
in the OAS process to put teeth in the Inter-American 
Democratic Charter.  OAS SecGen Insulza was open to meeting 
with civil society groups, but few had "passed through the 
door."  Sanhueza replied that increasing civil society 
participation in the OAS process was a "long road," one 
filled with "ups and downs."  The last few years have been 
characterized by "frustrations, more downs than ups," she 
said.  Few OAS member states are actually interested in 
engaging in genuine dialogue with civil society in order to 
strengthen the OAS.  As an example, she said the level of 
government representation and attendance in OAS meetings with 
civil society tends to be low, with few countries being 
represented at the minister level. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Sanhueza commented that Participa's experience in 
working with the Chilean government was generally positive. 
Participa, which was the lead civil society organization for 
the CD Ministerial in Santiago in April 2005, has 
considerable experience in working with the Chilean 
government.  Sanhueza approximated that if asked, some 16 of 
the 21 civil society organizations in Latin America that are 
part of an NGO "network" covering OAS-related issues would 
provide similar answers. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Sanhueza presented Ambassador Maisto a copy of a 
Participa proposal titled "Phase II: Civil Society Follow-up 
Strategy on the Quebec to Mar del Plata Plans of Action," 
whose objective would be to support and promote the 
implementation of the mandates related to strengthening 
democracy.  Delpiano noted that she had passed a copy of the 
proposal to USAID and WHA/EPSC on the margins of the May 2-3 
meetings in Washington.  Maisto agreed to review the proposal. 
 
Outreach 
-------- 
 
¶12. (U) On May 17, Ambassador Maisto participated, together 
with Diego Portales University Political Science professor 
Patricio Navia, in an Embassy radio program on regional 
developments to be broadcast to more than 150 radio stations 
in Chile.  The Ambassador also conducted press interviews 
with Chilean press and television media. 
 
¶13. (U) This message has been cleared by Ambassador Maisto. 
KELLY