This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS QUITO 003147
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS USOAS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL EC
SUBJECT: ECUADOR ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT SOUTH AMERICAN
INTEGRATION
1. (SBU) On December 2, President Gutierrez discussed with
the Ambassador his upcoming trip to Peru. He will
participate there in a meeting of Andean presidents and later
join South American leaders in signing a declaration to move
toward the creation of a Community of South American Nations.
Gutierrez said he believed the accord represented an
important step toward further South American cooperation and
integration. The Ambassador welcomed any effort to promote
trade and cooperation, and overcome debilitating border
disputes. End Summary.
2. (SBU) Gutierrez said he would visit Peru December 5-9,
and would later attend a meeting of Amazonian presidents in
Brazil December 18-19. The Peru visit was especially
exciting, he said, to ratify recent agreements between the
CAN and MERCOSUR which would spur South American integration
over the next 10-20 years. Gutierrez expressed hope that the
accord would spur continental cooperation in the short term,
specifically in construction of a South American road system.
3. (U) Andean Parliament Vice President Freddy Ehlers had
earlier raised the significance of the Peru events with us.
Ehlers, a passionate proponent of the dream of South American
unity, told us the Andean Parliament had approved (by a vote
of 24-1) a motion to promote its own integration with
MERCOSUR's parliament. South American Presidents would
ratify the accord in Lima on December 9. Ehlers added that
the media had missed the significance of this accord, which
is an important step toward eventual political integration of
all South American countries into one nation. A united South
America would be in U.S. interests, Ehlers reasoned; without
it, each country will always blame its ills on us. He
suggested that an expression of general USG support for South
American political integration would be helpful to the cause.
Comment
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4. (SBU) Gutierrez was clearly fishing for a USG response,
perhaps concerned that the USG might see these efforts as a
challenge to our efforts toward a hemispheric trade accord.
Realizing that South American integration is a very long ways
off, the Ambassador told President Gutierrez that efforts to
promote hemispheric cooperation are always welcome. She
reiterated the USG interest in increasing hemispheric
cooperation through our free trade negotiation efforts both
regionally (through CAFTA and Andean FTA negotiations) and
the FTAA.
KENNEY