VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSG #0851/01 2611753
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171753Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3723
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3533
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 2095
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 1045
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0424
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1777
RUEHGE/AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN 0074
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ SEP LIMA 5682
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 4041
RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO 0026
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1908
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000851 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC, INR/IAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON VE BL CI
SUBJECT: UNASUR LEADERS TO SUPPORT DIALOGUE IN BOLIVIA 
 
REF: SANTIAGO 846 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The UNASUR Summit concluded with a commitment from 
leaders to facilitate dialogue through a UNASUR commission in 
Bolivia.  The leaders also agreed to send a team to investigative 
the deaths and disappearances in Pando Department and provide 
(undefined) experts to assist and support the Bolivian government. 
The final UNASUR statement did not mention the OAS or the United 
States.  President Bachelet on September 16 named Ambassador and 
former Foreign Minister Juan Gabriel Valdez as her Presidential 
delegate to that UNASUR commission.  A translation of the UNASUR 
statement is in para 5.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) The five-hour session of the Union of South American Nations 
(UNASUR) on September 15 concluded with a nine-point statement from 
the Presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, 
Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.  Peru's Foreign 
Minister and representatives from Guyana and Suriname also 
participated. 
 
¶3. (U) The UNASUR leaders agreed to send a commission organized by 
Chile (in its capacity as UNASUR President Pro-Tempore) to 
facilitate the dialogue process.  They also expressed their support 
for the democratically-elected government of Evo Morales and urged 
all the political players to cease immediately the violence.  The 
leaders decided to support a Bolivian government request to send an 
UNASUR team to investigate the death and disappearances in Pando 
Department. 
 
¶4. (U) On September 16, President Bachelet named Ambassador and 
former Foreign Minister Juan Gabriel Valdes as her representative to 
lead the UNASUR commission tasked with 
facilitating the dialogue in Bolivia. 
 
UNASUR STATEMENT 
---------------- 
¶5. (U) Informal translation of UNASUR text: 
 
La Moneda Declaration 
Santiago, September 15, 2008 
 
The Heads of State of the Governments of UNASUR, assembled together 
at La Moneda Palace, on September 15, 2008, with the goal of 
reviewing the situation in the Republic of Bolivia and while 
remembering the tragic episodes that, 35 years ago in this same 
location, touched all humanity; 
 
And considering that the Constitutive Agreement of UNASUR, signed in 
Brasilia on May 23, 2008, codifies the principles of unrestricted 
respect for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, 
territorial integrity and inviolability, democracy and its 
institutions and unrestricted respect for human rights. 
 
Faced with the serious actions that have occurred in the sister 
Republic of Bolivia and in pursuit of the strengthening of political 
dialogue and cooperation for the strengthening of citizen security, 
the member countries of UNASUR: 
 
¶1.  Express their full and decisive support of the Constitutional 
Government of President Evo Morales, whose mandate was ratified by a 
wide majority in a recent Referendum. 
 
¶2.  Inform their energetic rejection of and refusal to recognize any 
situation that indicates an attempt at a civil coup, the disruption 
of institutional order, or that compromises the territorial 
integrity of the Republic of Bolivia. 
 
¶3.  In conformity with the previous point, and in consideration of 
the serious situation that affects the sister Republic of Bolivia, 
condemn the attacks on government facilities and law enforcement by 
groups looking to destabilize Bolivian democracy and demand the 
swift return of those facilities as a condition for the initiation 
of a process of dialogue. 
 
¶4.  At the same time, call on all of the involved political and 
social actors to take all necessary measures to immediately stop 
acts of violence, intimidation and contempt for democratic 
institutions and the established legal order. 
 
¶5.  In this context, express their strongest condemnation of the 
massacre that took place in the Department of Pando and support the 
call made by the Bolivian government that an UNASUR committee be 
formed in that brother country in order to conduct an impartial 
investigation that would permit the clarification, as soon as 
possible, of this lamentable event and to formulate recommendations 
that can guarantee that it does not go unpunished; 
 
¶6.  Encourage all members of Bolivian society to preserve national 
unity and territorial integrity, basic foundations of any State, and 
to reject any intent to undermine these principles; 
 
¶7.  Call for dialogue in order to establish conditions that will 
help overcome the current situation, and coordinate the search for a 
sustainable solution within the framework of full respect for the 
rule of law and the established legal order; 
 
¶8.  Along this line, the Presidents of UNASUR agree to create a 
commission open to all of its members, coordinated by the President 
Pro-Tempore, to accompany the work of a dialogue task force headed 
by the legitimate Bolivian government; and 
 
¶9.  Create a commission of support and assistance to the Government 
of Bolivia, according to its requirements, including specialized 
human resources. 
 
I want to say that after this meeting, which was an extensive but 
very fruitful one, and these agreements, UNASUR has come out more 
consolidated.  Thank you very much. 
 
¶6. (U) End of Text. 
 
SIMONS