VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSG #1085 3461844
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111844Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4099
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION PRIORITY 3667
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 2207
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0572
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 1178
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1874
RUEHGE/AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN PRIORITY 0084
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ DEC 6038
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 5847
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO PRIORITY 4141
RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO PRIORITY 0036
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 2015
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0407

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001085 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/AND FOR BARBARA ROCHA, WHA/BSC FOR LEAH CATO, BEN CHIANG 
PM/RSAT FOR JEFF BURNETT 
PENTAGON FOR KRISTI HUNT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PTER MARR CI BL BR
SUBJECT: UNASUR AGENDA:  REPORT ON BOLIVIAN KILLINGS, 
SEARCH FOR SECRETARY GENERAL LIKELY TO DOMINATE DEC 16 
MEETING 
 
REF: A. LA PAZ 2543 
     ¶B. SANTIAGO 852 
 
¶1.  (U) On December 16, leaders from the Union of South 
American Nations (UNASUR) will meet in Bahia de Salvador, 
Brazil on the margins of the MERCOSUR meeting in the same 
city.  Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, acting in her 
capacity as UNASUR President Pro Tempore, will chair the 
meeting. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) MFA Planning Subdirector Patricio Pradel told 
Poloff December 10 the official agenda for the meeting 
includes discussion of the UNASUR Commission's report on the 
killings in Pando Department, Bolivia, on September 11.  The 
group will consider whether or not to publicly release the 
full text of the report, which, according to press reports 
and comments by the head of the investigative commission, 
Argentine lawyer Rodolfo Mattarollo, finds that the Bolivian 
opposition committed a "massacre."  The report further states 
that the incident led to 19 confirmed deaths--17 Morales 
supporters and two opponents. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Pradel expects that UNASUR members will also 
discuss possible means to select a Secretary General, 
although the issue is not formally on the agenda and, 
according to Pradel, no new possible names have been floated. 
 (Note:  Filling the seat has been a challenge since former 
Ecuadorian president Ricardo Borjas, who had accepted the 
job, changed his mind and gave up the position before taking 
office when other members balked at his plan to use UNASUR to 
unite other regional groupings.  Bolivian trade negotiator 
Pablo Solon, who served as UNASUR's Secretary General 
Pro-Tempore last year, was the next leading contender for the 
post, but Peru, Ecuador and Colombia opposed his candidacy. 
The door seemed to be open to Nestor Kirchner, the popular 
former president of Argentina, to fill the position, but 
Uruguay has publicly objected to this choice.  End Note.) 
Pradel stated that he has not yet heard any new concrete 
suggestions for a Secretary General, but that the topic is 
sure to come up. 
 
¶4.  (U) The short, 90 minute meeting is also slated to 
include discussion and possible formal approval of UNASUR 
councils on health, infrastructure, and defense.  In 
addition, UNASUR members may also create a transition team to 
assist in preparing for a new secretary general when 
Bachelet's term ends in May 2009. 
SIMONS