VZCZCXRO6872
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #1062/01 1571018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061018Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5572
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3185
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0009
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0015

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001062 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND WHA/CCA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI ETRD EPET ETTC VM CU VE
 
SUBJECT: CPV GENERAL SECRETARY STOKES FRATERNAL TIES HALF A WORLD 
AWAY 
 
HANOI 00001062  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
A) Hanoi 984; B) State 65523 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Vietnam's State-run press has characterized Communist Party 
of Vietnam (CPV) General Secretary Nong Duc Manh's official visits 
to Venezuela and Cuba from May 30 to June 1 and June 1 to June 3, 
respectively, as "successes" that have enhanced Vietnam's 
"solidarity, friendship and traditional relations" with these two 
countries.  Manh used his Latin America trip, which included stops 
in Chile and Brazil as well, to lobby for support of Vietnam's bid 
for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council and recognition 
of its "market economy" status.  Contacts have told us that the 
14-member Politburo had decided "months ago" on the countries Manh 
would visit and claimed that the timing of Manh's Latin America 
visit -- less than a month before President Triet's own visit to the 
United States -- was driven by two central factors:  1) the 
reelection of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and 2) Cuban 
President Fidel Castro's health.  Manh's dwindling set of 
counterparts around the world limits where he can be "warmly 
welcomed," and he and the Party clearly remain committed to 
maintaining solid (if largely symbolic) relations -- and regular 
high-level exchanges -- with their ideological soul-mates in 
Venezuela and Cuba.  End Summary. 
 
Breaking Bread With Chavez 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) After official visits to Chile and Brazil from May 25-29, 
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) General Secretary (GS) Nong Duc 
Manh paid an official three-day visit to Venezuela.  The visit -- 
Manh's first to the South American country -- reciprocated President 
Hugo Chavez's official visit to Vietnam last year.  Deputy Prime 
Minister and Politburo member Nguyen Sinh Hung, CPV External 
Relations Commission Head Nguyen Van Son and ministers and vice 
ministers from the Ministries of Culture and Information, Industry, 
Science and Technology, Planning and Investment, Trade and Foreign 
Affairs, accompanied Manh on this trip.  Manh and his delegation 
held court with President Hugo Chavez, Parliament Chairwoman Cilia 
Flores and Head of the Board of Leaders of the United Socialist 
Party of Venezuela Hoochie Rodriguez. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Joint Statement signed by President Chavez and GS Manh 
highlighted the two countries' determination to build and develop a 
"comprehensive partnership" and promote further high-level 
exchanges.  President Chavez offered his country's continued support 
for Vietnam's "socialist-oriented market economy" and bid to gain a 
non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 
2008-2009 term.  In covering the event, Vietnam's State-controlled 
press drew attention to Manh's statement of gratitude for the 
Venezuelan people's support of Vietnam's past fight for national 
independence and reunification, as well as its current economic 
development efforts.  State television carried Manh saying Vietnam 
stands "united with the Venezuelan people in protecting Venezuela's 
independence and sovereignty" and in building "peace and democracy." 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) The two sides signed a number of bilateral agreements to 
promote trade in seafood, automobiles, motorcycles, agricultural 
machinery, electronics and consumer goods.  They also pledged to 
work together to explore for crude oil reserves off the coast of 
Venezuela, construct an oil refinery in Vietnam and transport crude 
oil and gas.  They signed agreements on science and technology 
cooperation, tourism and the establishment of a joint venture 
between Vinamotor (Vietnam's State-owned automotive corporation) and 
Venezuela's Veninsa. 
 
A Communist Party 
----------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The last stop on Manh's Latin American tour was Cuba, where 
he held talks with President Fidel Castro,   Vice President Raul 
Castro, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Secretary of the 
Council of Ministers Carlos Lage.  TV coverage of GS Manh's warm and 
lengthy embrace with Fidel Castro also led the evening news here. 
In the Joint Statement issued at the conclusion of Manh's June 1-3 
visit, the two sides expressed support for each others' 
"independence and self-determination."  Manh stressed that Vietnam 
stands "firm" with Cuba in its struggle to lift the U.S. embargo, 
win the release of five Cubans from U.S. custody and bring to trial 
Luis Posada Carriles.  Raul Castro expressed Cuba's support for 
Vietnam's bid for a non-permanent UNSC seat. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The two sides also committed to increasing bilateral 
 
HANOI 00001062  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
exchanges of Party and State officials, advancing security and 
diplomatic cooperation and expanding cooperation in the energy, 
biotechnology and agriculture sectors, according to the Joint 
Statement.  Manh and Raul Castro also witnessed the signing of eight 
agreements on finance, sports, television, oil exploration, a 
cultural cooperation protocol, an archives cooperation plan and rice 
cultivation in Cuba. 
 
Why now? 
-------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Officials at the Communist Party's External Relations 
Commission and the National Assembly told us that the 14-member 
Politburo had decided months ago which senior GVN leaders would go 
where:  Manh to Latin America; President Nguyen Minh Triet to China 
and the United States; Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung to Europe and 
Japan; and, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong to Laos, 
Cambodia and Thailand.  The officials claimed that the timing of 
Manh's Latin American trip was driven by two key factors: 1) the 
reelection of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and 2) Cuban 
President Fidel Castro's health.  Once these situations were clear, 
the GVN started in earnest to firm up arrangements, they said. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Vietnam has diversified its relations with the rest of the 
world over the past decade, and high-level visit diplomacy is a 
regular task of the Prime Minister and President.  General Secretary 
Manh, as the Politburo's most senior member, also needs to be seen 
as a statesman.  However, unlike in China, the Vietnamese Communist 
Party head has no parallel government position, and the General 
Secretary faces a dwindling pool of true counterparts to visit. 
 
SIPDIS 
Caracas and Havana are two places which will accord him full pomp 
and circumstance, and that factored into the decision to travel 
there.  The irony of General Secretary Manh literally embracing two 
dictators leading troubled regimes is not lost on all here, but to 
most Vietnamese the entire trip was a non-event:  just another 
five-minute segment of the nightly news showing much kissing of 
cheeks and many children waving flags. 
 
MARINE