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RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JAN BRASILIA 3835
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C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000070 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2014 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON AORC EC CO BR XM XR
SUBJECT: UNASUR STRUCTURE AND CARTAGENA MEETINGS UNCERTAIN 
 
REF: A. 07 QUITO 1047 
     ¶B. 07 CARACAS 781 
 
Classified By: DCM Jefferson Brown for Reasons 1.4 (b&d) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary.  Members of the Union of South American 
Nations (UNASUR) are planning meetings of their delegates, 
foreign ministers and heads of state in Cartegena on January 
26-28, but as of January 14 no countries had confirmed 
attendance.  The purpose of these meetings is to approve a 
draft statute of the Union, which will be difficult due to a 
lack of consensus among member states.  The Ecuadorian 
government urged that the Secretariat General be given a more 
responsible role.  It also proposed that UNASUR take over 
Mercosur and CAN responsibilities.  If differences are not 
soon resolved, the Cartegena meetings could be postponed. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador 
sent a letter on December 26, 2007, requesting that the 
members of UNASUR revise the draft of the founding statute of 
the Union, scheduled to be approved January 28 in Cartagena, 
Colombia.  The Foreign Minister stated in a January 11 
interview that the Ecuadorians "believe the statute is not 
completely ready and hope (their) proposals will be 
considered."  During the last UNASUR summit in April 2007 in 
Margarita, Venezuela, the heads of state tasked the council 
of delegates to draft the statute (Ref B).  The council of 
delegates is planning to meet on January 26 in Cartagena, 
followed by a meeting of the UNASUR foreign ministers on 
January 27 and a summit of heads of state on January 28 to 
approve the draft statute.  However, Colombian DCM Hector 
Arenas Neira told PolChief on January 14 that to date there 
had been no confirmations of attendance for the ministerial 
or the summit. 
 
¶3.  (C) The draft statute clearly has no consensus behind it. 
 According to Brazilian Political Counselor Luis Claudio 
Villafane, the Ecuadorian letter requested two changes to the 
statute.  The first of the proposals is that the Executive 
Secretariat be given a more important role, reporting 
 
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directly to the heads of state rather than the council of 
delegates, which would give it greater responsibility for 
presenting initiatives.  Secondly, the GOE would like to see 
UNASUR gradually assume the functions of Mercosur and the 
Community of Andean Nations (CAN).  The Colombian DCM and 
Brazilian Political Counselor both warned that the 
ministerial and summit may be canceled if no prior consensus 
is reached on the statute. 
 
¶4.  (C) MFA Under Secretary of Multilateral Affairs Emilio 
Izquierdo confirmed to PolChief that the GOE wants a more 
important level of responsibility, specifically "an executive 
function," for Rodrigo Borja.  A former president of Ecuador, 
Borja was designated in April 2007 as the Executive Secretary 
of UNASUR.  President Correa apparently feels a political 
debt to Borja because Borja supported an unsuccessful attempt 
to unify his Democratic Left party with the President's Proud 
and Sovereign Fatherland movement (PAIS).  Borja has 
reiterated that he stands ready to leave the position if 
these differences in the statute of UNASUR are not 
reconciled.  On January 9, Borja stated publicly that his 
continued participation as Executive Secretary of UNASUR 
"depends on what UNASUR finally ends up being," if it 
"remains as a new institution of integration," and will make 
this decision "once its objectives and scope have been 
determined." 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The current draft statute establishes Quito as the 
location for UNASUR headquarters.  The Brazilian DCM 
described the provisional structure of UNASUR as modeled 
after Mercosur, with three tiers.  The presidents of member 
nations will have an annual meeting; the foreign ministers 
will meet every six months to formulate concrete proposals of 
action; and the council of delegates, composed of Under 
Secretary or Ambassador rank delegates, will meet on a more 
 
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regular basis to draft proposals for consideration at the 
ministerial level. 
 
JEWELL