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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTIAGO 000309 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2019 
TAGS: OVIP BIDEN JOSEPH PREL ECON PGOV SOCI UY
SUBJECT: VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN'S MARCH 27 MEETING WITH 
URUGUAYAN PRESIDENT TABARE VAZQUEZ 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Paul Simons for reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
¶1.  (U) March 27, 2009; 6:30 pm ) 7:05 pm; Vina del Mar, 
Chile. 
 
¶2.  (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
Joseph Biden, Vice President 
Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor to the 
     Vice President 
Brian McKeon, Deputy National Security Advisor to 
     the Vice President 
Dan Restrepo, Senior Director, Western Hemisphere 
     Affairs, National Security Council 
Craig Kelly, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary 
     of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. 
     Dept. of State 
Jennifer Spande (notetaker), Senior Political Officer, U.S. 
     Embassy Santiago 
 
URUGUAY 
Tabare Vazquez, President 
Alvaro Garcia, Minister of Economics 
Ariel Belgamino, Presidential Advisor 
Jorge Vazquez, Presidential Secretary 
Carlos Pita, Uruguayan Ambassador in Chile 
 
¶3.  (C) Summary:  On the margins of the Progressive 
Governance Leaders Summit in Chile, Vice President Joseph 
Biden and Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez focused their 
March 27 bilateral discussion on further developing the 
"excellent" U.S. and Uruguayan relationship, a shared 
commitment to reducing inequality in their own countries, and 
collaborating to find solutions to the economic crisis.  End 
Summary. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Biden:  Crisis is an Opportunity to Push for Equitable 
Economic Growth 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Vice President Biden opened the meeting by sending 
regards from President Obama and noting that they both 
admired the incredible work that President Vazquez had done 
in a difficult position.  Biden emphasized his eagerness to 
meet with South and Central American leaders during this 
trip, and the Administration's desire to use this visit to 
signal their interest in developing a new relationship with 
the hemisphere.  He and President Obama want to listen to 
others' thoughts on the financial crisis and other topics as 
well as sharing their own views. 
 
¶5.  (C) While climbing out of the "deep hole" of the economic 
crisis, the U.S. and other leaders must also work to lay a 
new foundation for sustained and equitable economic growth. 
Between World War II and the 1970s, workers' real incomes 
rose along with the country's economic output.   Since then, 
however, the American middle class has experienced a net loss 
in real income.  Simply providing a safety for the most 
vulnerable is not sufficient, Biden said; they must also have 
a ladder out of poverty. 
 
¶6.  (C) The Vice President acknowledged the seriousness of 
the current economic crisis, but said that as a "congenital 
optimist," he believes that world leaders can change the 
economic dynamic.  President Obama,s stimulus package 
includes investments in education, energy, and health care 
because long-term growth is impossible without strengthening 
these sectors. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Vazquez:  Relations with U.S. "Excellent," Eager for More 
Cooperation 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7.  (C) President Vazquez said he had followed the U.S. 
election very closely and was pleased with the example it set 
of free democratic expression.  He agreed that a new 
relationship between the U.S. and Latin America was "possible 
and necessary" not just for the sake of this hemisphere, but 
for the whole world.  No country can ignore the United 
States, because it is the world,s largest power.  Vazquez 
hopes that Uruguay's relationship with the U.S. will go 
further and be based on mutual respect, positive dialogue, 
and increased exchange of political, scientific, and cultural 
leaders. 
 
¶8.  (C) The U.S.-Uruguay relationship, which has historically 
 
SANTIAGO 00000309  002 OF 003 
 
 
been very strong, has reached an "excellent" level in the 
last four years, the Uruguayan President said.  Vazquez 
highlighted several areas of cooperation, including the 
recent signings of a Bilateral Investment Treaty and Trade 
and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA); agreements on 
environmental cooperation, scientific exchanges, and trade; 
and phyto-sanitary cooperation which has led to increased 
Uruguayan agricultural exports to the U.S.  In terms of 
moving the relationship ahead, Vazquez noted that his 
government was willing to discuss additional protocols under 
the TIFA --intellectual property rights, government 
purchases, and e-commerce.  He also signaled his interest in 
increasing bilateral cultural and scientific exchanges. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Vazquez:  Uruguay Strong as Financial Crisis Looms 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶9.  (C) Uruguay is in a privileged position due to its 
natural and human resources.  The country is dedicated to 
liberty, democracy, peaceful co-existence with other nations, 
and fighting terrorism.  Vazquez is committed to reducing the 
economic gap in Uruguay.  He believes in rights to health, 
education, and dignified work and sees these as the basis for 
strong international relations. 
 
¶10.  (C) Vazquez noted that during the December 2008 Latin 
America and Caribbean Summit in Bahia, Brazil he had called 
on his fellow leaders to stop blaming their problems on the 
legacy of Portuguese, Spanish, British, and American 
imperialism.  While imperial legacies do have some lingering 
negative effects, too often this is a fig leaf for Latin 
American countries' own failure to address education, social, 
and health concerns. 
 
¶11.  (C) Vazquez noted that Uruguay is in a good position to 
face the financial crisis, having reduced vulnerabilities in 
recent years and enacted some counter-cyclical measures in 
the last few months.  As a result, Uruguay's GDP has grown 
while some of its neighbors have experienced contractions and 
Uruguay has significant foreign investment.  The President 
noted that he believed protectionism would only aggravate the 
crisis and had asked the presidents of Brazil and China to 
avoid protectionist measures.  Uruguay is eager to engage 
with the U.S. in developing a plan to address the crisis. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Biden:  Our Economic Success is Linked to Yours 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶12.  (C) The U.S. does not see economics as a zero-sum game, 
the Vice President stated, asserting that U.S. economic 
success lies in the success of Uruguay and other western 
hemisphere countries.  The Vice President rejected 
protectionism but affirmed the need to ensure that free trade 
creates good jobs.  In the longer term, the Obama 
administration would like to see free trade based on employee 
rights and environmental protection to ensure that the jobs 
created by free trade agreements are good ones and that 
negative environmental impacts are minimized.  "We need to 
make sure that the protectionist instinct is not fulfilled," 
the Vice President said, noting that sometimes trade wars 
lead to physical conflicts. 
 
¶13.  (C) Stimulating the economy is the most urgent task 
before the G-20, the Vice President noted.  Nonetheless, he 
called for members to jettison the idea that re-regulation is 
an economic cure-all. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Closing the Income Gap in U.S. and Uruguay 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶14.  (C) The Vice President explained that, domestically, the 
Obama administration has said that one critical measure of 
their first term success will be whether the living standards 
of the American middle class and those aspiring to be middle 
class rise.  Toward that end, Biden has gone to every cabinet 
agency and asked what they are doing to meet this goal, 
including in the areas of health, child development, 
eldercare, jobs, and the environment. 
 
¶15.  (C) President Vazquez closed the meeting by sharing his 
commitment and approach to reducing poverty.  In two years, 
Uruguay has reduced poverty from 33 to 21 percent by enacting 
structural reforms such as expanding access to health care, 
giving every public school student and teacher their own 
computer, and establishing an income tax to pay for these 
programs. 
 
SANTIAGO 00000309  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶16.  (U) The Office of the Vice President cleared this 
message. 
SIMONS