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id: 144460
date: 3/5/2008 21:11
refid: 08LIMA397
origin: Embassy Lima
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 08LIMA385
header:
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DE RUEHPE #0397/01 0652111
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RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7789
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 3304
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1084
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAR 4783
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO PRIORITY 9466
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 1803
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 1795
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----------------- header ends ----------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 000397 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR CO EC PE
SUBJECT: GARCIA SEEKS SOLUTIONS WITH "AGITATED" CORREA 
 
REF: LIMA 385 
 
Classified By: CDA James Nealon for reasons 1.4 (B) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa flew to 
Lima on March 4th to meet President Alan Garcia on the first 
stop of a regional tour to drum up support for his country in 
the aftermath of Colombia's raid on the FARC inside Ecuador. 
According to a readout from Peru's Foreign Minister, Correa 
was very agitated in the meeting, focused on the principle of 
national sovereignty and on President Uribe's alleged 
duplicity rather than on finding solutions.  Garcia, by 
contrast, said Peru was working closely with Brazil on a 
proposal that called for a Colombian apology and commitment 
to improved bilateral counterinsurgency coordination as well 
as OAS rebuke of Colombia and a fact-finding mission.  The 
Presidents' public comments echoed the private meeting, with 
President Garcia emphasizing Peru's sympathy with both 
Ecuador's concern over national sovereignty and Colombia's 
FARC challenge.  Garcia added a blunt rebuke of Venezuela's 
effort to exacerbate the bilateral conflict, and highlighted 
Peru's concerns with Bolivarian ideological and political 
meddling in Peru.  Our Peruvian contacts underscore that 
Peru's own experience with terrorism grounds its reaction in 
reality as well as high principle.  End Summary. 
 
Correa Focused on Principles, Garcia on Solutions 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
¶2. (C) Ambassador McKinley called Foreign Minister Jose 
Antonio Garcia Belaunde March 4 for a readout of the meeting 
earlier in the day between Ecuadorian President Correa and 
President Garcia to discuss the crisis resulting from 
Colombia's recent attack on a FARC camp inside Ecuador. 
Belaunde described Correa as extremely agitated throughout 
most of the meeting and not focused on finding a diplomatic 
solution to the crisis.  Instead, Correa criticized 
Colombia's violation of Ecuadorian national sovereignty, 
arguing that the Colombians knew where FARC commander Raul 
Reyes was located several days before the attack but did 
nothing until he had entered Ecuadorian territory.  Correa 
also vented his anger at the GOC for "misrepresenting" as 
collusion his Interior Minister's contacts with FARC.  Correa 
argued that Uribe had express knowledge of these contacts, 
which were solely intended to negotiate hostage releases.  He 
also sought to justify his own efforts to remove the FARC in 
Ecuador, claiming to have liquidated 47 FARC encampments 
since his election. 
 
¶3. (C) President Garcia in turn promoted a diplomatic 
solution, which Peru had coordinated closely with Brazil, 
involving another Colombian apology combined with a 
commitment to handle future FARC border operations 
differently.  He also proposed a parallel resolution in the 
OAS that would combine a rebuke of Colombia's actions (but 
short of a full condemnation), with an agreement to allow a 
fact-finding mission, and a Foreign Ministers meeting to 
bless the accord.  (Note: Belaunde believed such a compromise 
would satisfy Correa. End Note.)  Garcia emphasized that for 
a deal to be reached it was important to focus on a bilateral 
Ecuador-Colombia solution and not allow Venezuelan President 
Chavez to insinuate himself and exacerbate tensions.  It was 
important to "de-Chavezify" the situation, he said.  Garcia 
added that President Uribe deeply distrusted Correa, and it 
was important for Correa to address that concern.  Correa did 
not seem convinced by that argument. 
 
Public Statements Reflect Private Meeting 
----------------------------------------- 
¶4. (C) The statements of Presidents Correa and Garcia to the 
press afterwards broadly mirrored their private discussion. 
An impassioned Correa concentrated on the principle of 
national sovereignty and the offenses of "the aggressor" 
against his country.  At one point he asked rhetorically how 
the GOP would have reacted if their territory had been 
bombed, and lamented that his government had no choice but to 
distance itself from the GOC.  He also accused Uribe of 
seeking a "war trophy" to ensure reelection to a third term, 
and sought to shield himself from incriminating revelations 
by referring to "computers that miraculously survived 
bombardment."  (Comment: Correa clearly insinuated that the 
Colombians had planted the computers.  End Comment.) 
¶5. (U) President Garcia, in his comments, played the role of 
statesman seeking common ground for a rapid solution.  Garcia 
began with a call for respect for the international legal 
principle of inviolable sovereign territory, criticized 
Colombia for going beyond what is permitted by international 
law, and encouraged President Uribe to apologize to the 
Ecuadorian government and people.  Garcia added that he 
recognized the dangers and challenges that Colombia faced 
with its internal conflict, and emphasized that Peru has 
dealt with and continues to deal with an insurrection of its 
own.  He said that, once the current impasse is resolved, the 
countries involved should hold broad discussions on the 
dangers of insurgency and ideological penetration.  In this 
connection, he launched into a passionate criticism of 
Venezuela and its persistent meddling in the internal affairs 
of other countries in the region, including Peru.  Garcia 
closed by emphasizing that Venezuela should not seek to 
involve itself and exacerbate the conflict. 
 
Comment: Peru Sympathetic to Colombia 
------------------------------------- 
¶6. (C) While the GOP and many analysts almost always cite the 
principle of national sovereignty first in framing the 
discussion, most observers emphasize that Peru's own 
traumatizing experience with terrorism provides ballast and 
real world grounding to its reaction.  If national 
sovereignty is indeed a critical principle, so is the need 
for a concerted regional effort to ensure terrorists or 
provocateurs are not using neighboring territory to stage 
attacks or plan actions.  GOP allegations regarding 
Venezuelan efforts to undermine Peru's democracy or sow 
instability during Peru's year of international summits via 
"ideological penetration" -- the Bolivarian Continental 
Coordinator, ALBA houses, etc. -- only redoubles its emphasis 
on the second principle.  Both points suggest President 
Garcia will continue to press a balanced solution to the 
current impasse that underscores the principle of sovereignty 
but offers no respite to the FARC or President Chavez.  End 
Comment. 
NEALON 

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