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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USEU BRUSSELS 000378 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV XK XL XM UEU
SUBJECT: U.S.-EU TROIKA MEETING ON LATIN AMERICA 
 
 
BRUSSELS 00000378  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: Alyce Tidball, Deputy Political Minister Counselor, for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY.  WHA PDAS Craig Kelly participated in the 
March 5 U.S.-EU troika meeting on Latin America in Brussels. 
PDAS Kelly updated participants on the Colombia/Ecuador 
situation and the EU delegation noted that Colombian VP 
Santos would be meeting with EU HiRep Solana the evening of 
March 5.  The EU reiterated its commitment to dialogue with 
Cuba, emphasizing our shared goal of promoting a transition 
process.  Participants agreed the Cuban people would have to 
recognize the need for transition and decide when and how 
that would occur, but PDAS Kelly cautioned that pushing for 
patience could be misconstrued as not welcoming rapid change. 
 The EU is concerned that the Chavez government, while still 
very popular, is paralyzed by the centralized, authoritarian 
system that requires all decisions be taken by the President. 
 The EU noted that the continued strong growth of Venezuela's 
GDP is being undermined by the protective policies of the 
government, which are weakening the economy.   Participants 
agreed that Brazil should be encouraged to take a leadership 
role in the region, citing its role in the Colombia/Ecuador 
crisis and in Haiti.  The EU reiterated its commitment to 
Haiti for the long haul and praised the participation of 
regional actors in MINUSTAH.  Participants also compared 
notes on the status of EU and U.S. trade agreements in the 
region.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. BRAZIL 
(U) Slovenian Presidency Head of Delegation Bogdan Salej 
praised the Lula government for expanded engagement on 
international issues, noting that Brazil is establishing 
embassies in Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Bratislava, and is 
engaged on regional issues such as Haiti, Cuba, and the 
recent Colombia/Ecuador crisis, as well as increased activity 
on African issues. PDAS Kelly confirmed U.S. strategic 
partnership with Brazil, noting U.S. hope that Brazil could 
play a constructive role in encouraging fruitful dialogue 
between the Bolivian government and the opposition. 
Marie-Anne Coninsx, Head of Unit in the European Commission 
(EC) Latin America Directorate said Brazil's huge economic 
growth was not very sustainable and it still suffers from 
huge problems of social inequality and exclusion. 
Participants agreed on the importance of youth exchange 
programs such as the U.S. Youth Ambassadors and EU student 
exchange programs. 
 
¶3. BOLIVIA 
(C) PDAS Kelly outlined U.S. concern about the deteriorating 
situation in Bolivia, noting worrisome indications that the 
political divisions will become more serious and the 
democratic space will be reduced.  Europe can be helpful in 
promoting dialogue between the parties and we are also urging 
Brazil, Chile, and other neighbors to play an active role. 
Jose Gomez, Deputy Director for Mexico, Central America, and 
the Caribbean in the French Foreign Ministry, shared EU 
concern that Bolivia is falling apart and said we must call 
for moderation from all parts.  He opined that the regional 
powers were also being unreasonable and intractable.  PDAS 
Kelly encouraged the EU to urge their member state 
Ambassadors in La Paz to urge the Bolivian government to tone 
down its anti-American rhetoric and especially the highly 
personalized vitriolic statements against our Ambassador. 
 
¶4. VENEZUELA 
(C) PDAS Kelly emphasized that despite current problems, the 
U.S. has a strong and long-standing positive relationship 
with the people of Venezuela.  We are concerned that the 
Chavez policy of increasingly authoritarian rule and inward 
looking economic development will condemn yet another 
generation of Venezuelans to poverty since this sort of model 
will ultimately hurt the most vulnerable.  Gomez said the EU 
shares to a large extent U.S. views on Venezuela.  Chavez has 
strong popular support, but the authoritarian, centralized 
way he manages the country is worrying and has paralyzed the 
administration because all decisions are ultimately referred 
to the President.  Although Venezuela's GDP continues to 
grow, its protective policies have weakened the economy. 
Following the defeat of his constitutional reform referendum 
in December, Gomez opined, Chavez may be more prudent in what 
he pushes and how hard he pushes.  The Venezuelan people want 
a better life, he said, but not necessarily a socialist 
state.  NOTE: Gomez suggested there was no concrete evidence 
that Chavez provides economic and logistical support to the 
FARC, but this opinion is likely to be revised following the 
evidence gathered by Colombia after the attack on the FARC 
camp in Ecuador.  Colombian VP Santos personally briefed 
HiRep Solana on this evidence in Brussels the evening of 5 
March.  END NOTE.  PDAS Kelly briefed the group on the OAS 
discussions regarding the Ecuador/Colombia border crisis. 
 
¶5.  ASSOCIATION AGREEMENTS 
 
BRUSSELS 00000378  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
(U) Coninsx reported that the EU economic relationship with 
Latin America has increased, along with its policy dialogue. 
The EU is currently negotiating association agreements with 
Central America and the Andean Community.  These agreements 
follow a three pillar approach: political dialogue, 
cooperation, and trade.  The EU has the strong impression 
that the negotiations are helping bring the regions together 
and the EU has made it clear that it will negotiate only 
these regional agreements, no bilateral agreements.  The next 
Andean Community negotiation, in April, will take place in 
Quito. The next round on the Central America agreement will 
take place in El Salvador. 
The EU-LAC Lima Summit in May will take stock of progress 
with the hope of concluding both agreements in 2009. 
Undocumented migration is one of the main difficulties in 
negotiations with Latin America and will be a topic for the 
Lima Summit.  The third experts meeting on migration will 
take place March 10-11 in Brussels.  There were at least two 
million undocumented migrants to Spain alone last year, 
mostly from Ecuador and Colombia. 
 
¶6.  MARAS 
(U) PDAS Kelly briefed participants on U.S. anti-gang 
efforts, which is being approached regionally through the 
Merida Initiative.  Coninsx welcomed the integrated approach 
to fighting maras and suggested there was scope for EU-U.S. 
cooperation on this issue.  The EU currently funds programs 
for prevention of youth delinquency in El Salvador and 
Guatemala and a justice program in Honduras.  Salej suggested 
this area for cooperation should be emphasized and we should 
have a specific dialogue on the issue.  PDAS Kelly agreed the 
U.S. would encourage our embassies to share information on 
best practices in combating gangs. 
 
¶7. CUBA 
(C) Salej opened the luncheon discussion emphasizing that the 
EU and U.S. are working toward the same goals in Cuba.  The 
EU is trying to help in the transition process, but it is 
difficult to see when real transition might happen.  Some of 
the Member States have experience in making the transition to 
democracy and can serve as an example to the Cubans.  The EU 
will continue to work on the transition process and will 
continue to demand release of political prisoners and respect 
for human rights.  The EU is under pressure from some member 
states to increase cooperation with Cuba, because they 
understand the Cuban people need help.  Regarding EU 
cooperation with the U.S. on Cuban policy, Salej insisted 
that the U.S. should consider the EU as a united Europe and 
should discuss Cuba policy with all the EU and not just with 
the member states.  The EU, he said, wants efficient results, 
not just movement without achieving results.  PDAS Kelly said 
it is important to the U.S. to have close contact with the EU 
on Cuba.  The U.S. wants to see a true transition in Cuba, 
not a succession.  He emphasized that no solution would be 
imposed from the outside and that this is for the Cuban 
people to decide.  We hope, Kelly said, that other countries 
will encourage the Cuban government to open a dialogue with 
its own people.  Now is the moment to seek that change - 
release of political prisoners is a good place to start, but 
it cannot stop there.  Kelly asked how the EU would deal with 
the Cuba issue at the EU-LAC Summit in Lima.  Gomez said the 
EU's messages to Cuba encouraging release of political 
prisoners and a transition to democracy have already been 
sent by member states and the Lima Summit will not deal with 
any specific country. 
 
¶8. (C) EU Council Advisor on Latin America Nicolas Pascual de 
la Parte opined that most Cubans think a better life can be 
achieved within the current regime and it will take a while 
before they realize that this is not possible.  The regime, 
however, realizes it is running out of time and will try to 
stay ahead of the Cuban people by making cosmetic changes. 
We must allow the people to realize that they need to press 
for change and to turn to us for help.  Meanwhile, new 
leaders will emerge and none of the current dissidents will 
be relevant in the transition. The opposition is atomized and 
weak, not able to confront the regime and not able to form a 
common platform. Gomez emphasized that we must continue to 
support the dissidents even if they are not very relevant. 
Commission Head of Unit for the Caribbean John Caloghirou 
said it is not a foregone conclusion that the current 
government is a monolithic block.  People in the current 
government believe in different speeds of reform and this is 
where dialogue is important.  He insisted it should be a 
gradual transition.  PDAS Kelly insisted that it is important 
to speak out in more general terms about the need to move 
toward democracy.  If the Cuban people do not hear the 
message that we will be there to support a transition they 
will not know they can count on us.  If we all voice this 
support together it will have more impact.  On the other 
hand, a message of "patience" risks sending the signal to the 
Cuban people that the outside world is not with them in their 
 
BRUSSELS 00000378  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
desire for change. 
 
¶9. (C)  Kelly asked EU interlocutors what we could do 
together to reach out to the Cuban people.  Caloghirou noted 
that the EU still has in place an executive training progra 
through a Spanish University in Cuba, but in general the EU 
requirement for complete transparency keeps groups from 
proposing projects in Cuba, because once they are identified 
as supporters or funders of a project it jeopardize the 
project.  Pascual de la Parte suggested that cultural 
programs such as filmmaking could provide opportunities for 
more contact wit the Cuban people if the filmmaking 
companies insisted on the right to hire people themselves as 
opposed to only using people identified by the government. 
PDAS Kelly reiterated that a more public message of support 
for movement toward democracy, issued in conjunction with 
others, would give hope to the Cuban people. 
 
HAITI 
¶10. (U) Caloghirou reported that the situation in Haiti has 
evolved and although the security situation is still 
problematic, it is significantly better.  He highlighted the 
important roles of Brazil and Chile in improving security. 
He confirmed that the EU will continue to support MINUSTAH 
and is committed to Haiti for the long haul.  Caloghirou 
emphasized the importance of highlighting to the 
international community the need to stay committed for as 
long as it takes. 
 
 
¶11. (U) MEETING PARTICIPANTS 
Slovenian Presidency 
Dr. Stefan Bogdan Salej, Minister Plenipotentiary, Special 
Envoy for Latin America, Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
Marko Osolnik, First Secretary, Policy Planning and Research 
Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
 
EU Council 
Karl Buck, Head of Unit for Latin America 
Nicolas Pascual de la Parte, Head of UN and Latin America 
Task Force, EU Council Policy Unit 
 
European Commission 
Marie-Anne Coninsx, Head of Unit, Directorate for Latin 
America 
Angel Carro, Head of Unit, Mercosur, Chile 
John Caloghirou, Head of Unit for Caribbean and OCTs 
Tomas Abadia, Relations with the US and Canada 
Valentin Gescher, Relations with the US and Canada 
Francisco Fontan, Latin America policy desk officer 
 
France 
Jose Gomez, Deputy Director for Mexico, Central America and 
the Caribbean, Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
 
U.S. 
WHA PDAS Craig Kelly 
USEU Minister Counselor for Political Affairs Laurence Wohlers 
USEU Deputy Minister Counselor for Political Affairs Alyce 
Tidball 
 
This report has been cleared by PDAS Kelly. 
Murray 
.