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O 191944Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4170
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTIAGO 001126 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV XM XL XS
SUBJECT: REGIONAL MEETINGS IN BRAZIL:  CHILE'S FM WORRIED 
BY EXCLUSIONARY APPROACH; CALLS FOR INCREASED U.S. 
ENGAGEMENT 
 
Classified By: DCM Carol Urban for reason 1.4 (b). 
 
¶1.  (C) In a short one-on-one conversation with the 
Ambassador on December 19, Foreign Minister Foxley noted that 
he was troubled by the mood at the December 17 Latin 
American/Caribbean summit meetings in Brazil.  Presidents 
Calderon and Lula, he suggested, were genuinely serious about 
replacing the OAS with a body that would exclude Canada and 
the U.S.  This exclusionary approach dominated discussions of 
most of the subsidiary meetings in Bahia (e.g. UNASUR, Rio 
Group, and Mercosur). 
 
¶2.  (C) Chile, Foxley noted, wanted to work closely with the 
incoming U.S. administration on a positive agenda for the 
hemisphere.  It would be important, according to Foxley, to 
offer a clear statement of U.S. hemispheric goals at the 
April Summit of the Americas, which would include some 
specific initiatives on how to utilize the hemisphere's key 
regional institutions (i.e. the OAS and the Interamerican 
Development Bank) to promote common goals.  In the absence of 
a clearly stated policy of engagement with the hemisphere, he 
suggested, others with a more exclusionary agenda would fill 
the gap, to the detriment of the long term interests of both 
Chile and the U.S. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Foxley also made a plea to identify and confirm on 
an expedited basis the new Administration foreign policy team 
dealing with Latin American issues. 
 
¶4.  (C) Comment:  Foxley's request for active U.S. engagement 
at the upcoming Summit of the Americas echoes similar 
requests made to the Ambassador by President Bachelet in 
November and Interior Minister Perez Yoma on December 16. 
SIMONS