VZCZCXRO4798
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV
DE RUEHCV #3688/01 3611713
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 271713Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7372
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 003688 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/26/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR ETRD VE EC
SUBJECT: ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT CORREA'S VISIT TO 
CARACAS: PROTOCOL ...



id: 91011
date: 12/27/2006 17:13
refid: 06CARACAS3688
origin: Embassy Caracas
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 06CARACAS3557
header:
VZCZCXRO4798
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV
DE RUEHCV #3688/01 3611713
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 271713Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7372
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

----------------- header ends ----------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 003688 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/26/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SNAR ETRD VE EC
SUBJECT: ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT CORREA'S VISIT TO 
CARACAS: PROTOCOL PLUS POLEMICS 
 
REF: CARACAS 003557 
 
CARACAS 00003688  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: ACTING POLITICAL COUNSELOR DANIEL LAWTON, 
REASONS 1.4 (D) 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  President Hugo Chavez hosted Ecuadorian 
president-elect Rafael Correa December 20-21.  Both Chavez 
and Correa pledged to enhance bilateral economic integration, 
particularly energy cooperation.  Chavez also said he would 
consider the request of Correa and Bolivian President Morales 
that Venezuela rejoin the Andean Community.  Prior to his 
departure, Correa announced that he was scrubbing his 
follow-on visit to Bogota to protest Colombia's aerial spray 
coca eradication program along the Ecuadorian border. 
Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro subsequently denounced the 
Colombian Interior Minister's comments to the media 
suggesting that Chavez influenced Correa's decision.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------- 
Strengthening Bilateral Ties 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) President Chavez personally greeted Ecuadorian 
president-elect Rafael Correa on the red carpet at Maiquetia 
International Airport on December 21.  Correa traveled to 
Venezuelan on a Venezuelan government airplane.  In arrival 
remarks to the press, Chavez praised Ecuador as a "brother 
country" committed to a "united, prosperous, and just Latin 
America without subjugation, lackeys, and slaves."  Correa, 
for his part, said the two countries have a "common destiny" 
and needed to promote further integration that "overcomes 
mercantile logic" and "absurdities imposed by the North." 
 
¶3. (U) Chavez and Correa agreed to bolster bilateral economic 
cooperation.  Chavez told a December 21 press conference that 
the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (BRV) will refine 
100,000 barrels of Ecuadorian oil a day in Venezuela at no 
extra cost to Ecuador.  "I don't want one cent of profit, or 
then it would not be contributing any aid whatsoever," Chavez 
told the media.  He also reportedly announced that the BRV 
would assist Ecuador to expand existing as well as construct 
new refineries and consider joint oil and gas exploration and 
storage ventures.  In addition, Chavez proposed creating a 
binational fund for social development and said the BRV would 
open an office in Quito to provide microcredits. 
 
¶4. (SBU) During his two-day visit to Caracas, Correa laid a 
wreath at the National Pantheon where Simon Bolivar and other 
national heroes are buried.  He was also awarded the keys to 
the Libertador Burough of Caracas by Libertador Mayor Freddy 
Bernal.  In addition, Correa toured the Fabricio Ojeda 
"Endogenous Development" Center, a former PDVSA oil 
distribution facility in the working class neighborhood of 
Catia that has been converted into a government-run social 
services center.  The Center is the BRV's favorite showpiece 
for international visitors and contains a medical clinic, a 
subsidized market, a workers' cooperative that produces 
shoes, and another workers' cooperative that produces 
T-shirts. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Reclama for the Andean Community 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) At the same December 21 press conference, Correa urged 
Chavez to reconsider his decision earlier in 2006 to withdraw 
Venezuela from the Andean Community.  While criticizing the 
Andean Community as ineffective, Correa nevertheless urged 
Chavez to facilitate greater integration between the Andean 
Community and Mercosur, which Venezuela joined after leaving 
the Andean Community.  Noting that Bolivian President Evo 
Morales had also recently asked him to consider Venezuela's 
re-entry into the Andean Community, Chavez said that "at a 
minimum" he would study the possibility.  When Correa 
confirmed to the press that he had studied in the United 
States and referred to himself as a "Chicago Boy," Chavez 
interjected, calling him, "a Chicago Boy of the Left." 
 
----------------------------- 
Correa Cancels Colombia Visit 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Correa also provided the pro-government daily "Vea" 
with the exclusive December 21 story that he had decided to 
cancel his planned follow-on visit to Colombia, where he was 
slated to meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.  Correa 
 
CARACAS 00003688  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
told "Vea" that he was protesting the Colombian government's 
aerial spray coca eradication efforts on the Ecuadorian 
border.  He called Colombia's efforts a violation of 
Ecuador's national sovereignty and said the Ecuadorian 
government was already asking its ambassador in Bogota to 
register Ecuador's request that Colombia suspend its spraying 
along the border. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Local media outlets subsequently suggested that 
Chavez may have persuaded Correa to drop Bogota from his 
itinerary, but also duly reported denials issued from 
Correa's camp in Quito.  After the local media reported the 
Colombian Interior Minister's suggestion that Chavez 
influenced Correa's decision, Foreign Minister Maduro called 
the Colombian Foreign Minister December 26 to register a BRV 
protest.  Maduro then called a press conference to denounce 
the Colombian Interior Minister's "double offense" against 
Chavez and Correa.  The Colombian Foreign Ministry issued a 
communique denying that the Colombian government ever 
attributed Correa's trip cancellation to Chavez. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) Similar to the December 5-6 visit of Nicaraguan 
President to Caracas (reftel), Chavez exploited Correa's 
visit to court another left-of-center Latin American 
government and to reassert himself as a regional leader.  The 
visit also highlighted the nature of Bolivarian Bipolar 
Disorder: warmly receiving the president-elect of Ecuador 
generated a diplomatic spat with Colombia. 
 
ZIFF 

=======================CABLE ENDS============================