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DE RUEHPE #0046/01 0082104
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R 082104Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY LIMA
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RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUMIAAA/CDR USCINCSO MIAMI FL

UNCLAS LIMA 000046 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KICC PREL MARR PE
SUBJECT: PERUVIAN REACTION TO DEPARTMENT'S SOFA TEXT 
 
REF: 06 STATE 197183 
 
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Summary: 
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¶1.  (SBU) Pol Mil Officer and MAAG Chief met with Ambassador 
Bellina, Political Advisor to the Ministry of Defense and 
Director of Policy and Strategy, on December 20 to discuss 
the Department,s proposed SOFA text.  Bellina reiterated the 
Peruvian position that any SOFA should be grounded in the 
Vienna Convention and the 1952 US-Peru Military Agreement. 
He then enumerated the outstanding issues, categorizing them 
according to their level of difficulty as: technical matters, 
points for negotiation, and issues difficult to resolve 
because they would involve legal/constitutional changes. 
Bellina noted that the GOP was hiring an eminent 
international jurist to examine ways in which the 1952 
agreement can be used to reach a SOFA with the U.S.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Pol Mil Officer and MAAG Chief met with Ambassador 
Bellina, Political Advisor to the Ministry of Defense and 
Director of Policy and Strategy, on 12/20/06 to discuss the 
Department,s proposed SOFA text.  Bellina repeated the 
Peruvians' basic stance, that the best way to achieve a SOFA 
is to ground desired changes in the Vienna Convention and the 
1952 US-Peru Military Agreement.  Bellina then gave us his 
assessment of the outstanding issues, dividing them by 
difficulty into three categories: 
 
-Technical matters that could likely be worked out soon or 
are already granted in practice by the GOP; 
 
-Points that required negotiation; 
 
-Items that would be difficult for Peru to concede due to 
conflicts with existing law and/or the constitution. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Bellina,s bird's-eye view of the SOFA challenges 
should not be taken as a negotiating position, but rather his 
experienced understanding of where things likely stand.  He 
also stated that the MOD was hiring an outside international 
legal jurist, Juan Jose Ruda of the Catholic University, to 
peruse our proposed text and see how it could best be covered 
by the Vienna Convention and the 1952 US-Peru Agreement on 
Military Cooperation. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Bellina said that the following points should be 
easy to continue in practice and to add to our dip notes or a 
possible SOFA: 
 
-- U.S. military personnel should have no problem obtaining 
immunities equivalent to those according to the 
administrative and technical staff (A and T status) of a 
Diplomatic Mission under the Vienna Convention.  (In effect, 
this enables U.S. personnel to avoid Peruvian jurisdiction 
and civil/criminal charges from actions taken in the line of 
duty.) 
 
-- Peru already recognizes US drivers licenses for 90 days, a 
time period which covers almost all exercises and deployments. 
 
--Recognition of U.S. professional licenses should not be a 
problem, but the Ministry of Health requires a formal 
accreditation process. 
 
--U.S. Armed Forces personnel can wear uniforms and bear arms 
when carrying out their official duties. 
 
--Tax exemptions for imports or exports of personal property, 
equipment, supplies, training, etc.  by U.S. personnel 
involved in approved deployments should not be a problem, 
since the Embassy already enjoys this privilege, though it 
would have to be coordinated ahead of time through the Office 
of Privileges and Immunities at the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs. 
 
-- U.S. military forces already enjoy freedom of movement and 
use of the radio spectrum. Bellina did not think it would be 
difficult to spell out these items in future diplomatic 
notes.  He did say, however, that access to the radio 
spectrum needed to be further detailed.  The present text 
says that U.S. Armed Forces "can use the radio spectrum."  He 
suggested that this be changed to read that the U.S. would do 
this "in consultation with the Government of Peru." 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Bellina said that the following items are likely 
negotiable: 
 
--Yearly agreements that list a series of exercises and 
deployments with weapons. 
 
--Exemption from Customs charges or inspections would be 
possible, but would require previous coordination with 
Customs. 
 
--U.S. aircraft and  vessels could likely be freed from 
boarding and inspection, though Bellina recommended that we 
add language stating that this exemption applied &when on 
official duties in Peru8 and that such exemption would be 
obtained "with prior coordination" between the USG and the 
GOP. 
 
--The United States "shall pay reasonable charges for 
services requested and received at rates no less favorable 
than those paid by the Armed Forces of Peru." 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Bellina said the following would be difficult to 
achieve: 
 
--Having US Military personnel enter Peru with only United 
States identification and travel orders.  Bellina said that 
since the immunities granted to U.S. personnel are based on 
the Vienna Convention, and hence on status as administrative 
and technical personnel attached to the Embassy, they must 
have a passport with an official visa to have A&T status. 
 
--Peru will not agree to explicit language that gives the USG 
exclusive criminal jurisdiction over U.S. military personnel 
while they are in the country, since this would appear to 
derogate the powers of the Peruvian courts.  Instead, he 
pointed out, A&T status essentially grants the same 
privileges, but does so by offering immunity rather than by 
canceling or limiting Peruvian courts' criminal jurisdiction 
over DOD personnel in Peru's sovereign territory.  To do the 
latter would require constitutional changes, to which the 
Peruvian Congress would never agree, Bellina concluded. 
 
--Exemption from all tolls and transit fees would be 
difficult to achieve, since some such fees are levied by 
private owners like Jorge Chavez airport or the Port 
Authority (ENAPU), both independent corporations.  Peruvian 
government official vehicles, with the exception of police 
vehicles or military troop transports, pay road tolls.  U.S. 
vehicles escorted by Peruvian police and military vehicles 
would likely be waved through, but a permanent exemption 
would be difficult to achieve since MOD and Armed Forces 
vehicles pay tolls. 
 
--Bellina said that tax exemptions for articles and services 
acquired in Peru and for those acquired by contractors would 
be difficult to achieve.  He said the GOP would need to get a 
legal opinion on how this would be squared with Peru,s tax 
laws.  Regarding exemptions for US contractors, Bellina asked 
if the phrase referred to anyone contracted by the U.S. or 
U.S. citizen contractors. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On this last point, the Department,s text needs 
clarification.  Bellina stated that this type of exemption 
should be possible for U.S. citizen contractors, but not for 
Peruvian or third country national contractors.  He mentioned 
that we might present all DOD purchases as U.S. Embassy 
purchases to take advantage of the tax benefits already 
granted to the Embassy by the 1993 exemption law. 
 
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Comment: 
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¶8.  (SBU) In contrast to an initial early December meeting in 
which Bellina was dismissive of a SOFA based on the draft 
model text, in the December 20 meeting we found encouraging 
elements in Bellina's list, particularly in Peru's commitment 
to hiring an international jurist.  His comments are 
especially germane given that he was the Director for 
National Security and Defense in the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs prior to assuming his current position as political 
advisor to the Minister of Defense.  A professional diplomat 
who knows the nuances of Peruvian law, Bellina understands 
the larger context of what we are requesting in this SOFA 
text. 
POWERS