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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #0446 0431659
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O 121659Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6989
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1644
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 6983
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ FEB PANAMA 3002
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 8642
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 7691

UNCLAS BOGOTA 000446 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/AND; TREASURY FOR ARUSHING 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL OVIP OTRA PGOV ECON EAID EFIN IDB CO
SUBJECT: COLOMBIA: INVITATION TO THE PRESIDENT FOR IDB 
MEMBERS' HEADS OF STATE SUMMIT MARCH 31, 2009 
 
REF: BOGOTA 418 
 
 ¶1. On February 10, Post received a copy of an invitation 
from President Alvaro Uribe to President Obama to attend the 
closing event of the 50th Annual Meeting of the Board of 
Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and 
Heads of State and Government Summit in Medellin on March 31, 
¶2009.  Claudia Jimenez, Senior Economic Advisor to President 
Uribe, told EconCouns that the official invitation would be 
delivered in Washington through the Colombian Embassy. 
Paragraph 3 includes an informal translation of the 
invitation.  The Summit invitation to President Obama follows 
reftel invite from the Colombian Government to Treasury 
Secretary Geithner to attend the opening of the IDB meeting 
and subsequent discussions March 27-31. 
 
¶2. Post transmitted copies of the presidential invitation and 
informal translation by unclassified email February 11 to the 
State Department Colombia Desk, EEB/IFD/OMA and WHA/EPSC, as 
well as the Treasury IDB Desk.  Post is in contact with 
Treasury regarding arrangements for U.S. delegation 
attendance to the March 27-31, 2009 IDB meetings. 
 
¶3. BEGIN INFORMAL TRANSLATION. 
 
His Excellency 
Barack H. Obama 
President of the United States of America 
Washington, D.C. 
 
Excellency, 
 
I have the honor to write Your Excellency to inform you that 
Colombia will host the 50th Governors Assembly of the 
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), to be held in 
Medellin, Colombia, on March 27-31, 2009. 
 
It is a matter of great pride for the people of Colombia to 
be the host of the Summit, which will celebrate fifty years 
of the work of this most important regional development 
finance institution.  The meeting will undertake a detailed 
examination of the undoubted impact that it has had on 
regional progress and there will be discussions of ideas for 
its future. 
 
The times we face today in the context of the global economy 
suggest that this meeting will affect paramount importance 
well beyond that of the celebration of the fiftieth 
anniversary.  As we look forward to the future, we are aware 
that we cannot afford to allow the social and economic 
achievements of the last five years to be wasted as a result 
of the global recession.  It is essential that institutions 
such as the IDB enjoy the unrestricted support of Member 
Countries to meet the demand for its products in every corner 
of Latin America and the Caribbean.  It is also equally 
important to support this multilateral institution in its 
immediate challenge to restore inter-American financial 
dynamics. 
 
In this context, I take pleasure in inviting Your Excellency 
to take part in the Closing Session of the 2009 Assembly on 
March 31, 2009, at the Plaza Mayor Convention Center, in 
Medellin.  This Summit of Heads of State and Government of 
IDB Member Countries is a privileged opportunity to unite in 
solidarity and to exchange opinions and ideas on the future 
of the IDB in the context of the current recession and over 
the next few years.  Your Excellency,s presence at the 
meeting will be of great historic value and will enable our 
peoples to send out a signal of the importance that the Bank 
has had and will have throughout this continent. 
 
I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your 
Excellency the assurances of my highest consideration. 
 
END INFORMAL TRANSLATION. 
BROWNFIELD