VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB
DE RUEHSG #0851/01 2611753
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171753Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3723
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3533
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 2095
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 1045
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0424
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1777
RUEHGE/AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN 0074
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ SEP LIMA 5682
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 4041
RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO 0026
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1908
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000851
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC, INR/IAA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON VE BL CI
SUBJECT: UNASUR LEADERS TO SUPPORT DIALOGUE IN BOLIVIA
REF: SANTIAGO 846
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The UNASUR Summit concluded with a commitment from
leaders to facilitate dialogue through a UNASUR commission in
Bolivia. The leaders also agreed to send a team to investigative
the deaths and disappearances in Pando Department and provide
(undefined) experts to assist and support the Bolivian government.
The final UNASUR statement did not mention the OAS or the United
States. President Bachelet on September 16 named Ambassador and
former Foreign Minister Juan Gabriel Valdez as her Presidential
delegate to that UNASUR commission. A translation of the UNASUR
statement is in para 5. END SUMMARY.
2. (U) The five-hour session of the Union of South American Nations
(UNASUR) on September 15 concluded with a nine-point statement from
the Presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Peru's Foreign
Minister and representatives from Guyana and Suriname also
participated.
3. (U) The UNASUR leaders agreed to send a commission organized by
Chile (in its capacity as UNASUR President Pro-Tempore) to
facilitate the dialogue process. They also expressed their support
for the democratically-elected government of Evo Morales and urged
all the political players to cease immediately the violence. The
leaders decided to support a Bolivian government request to send an
UNASUR team to investigate the death and disappearances in Pando
Department.
4. (U) On September 16, President Bachelet named Ambassador and
former Foreign Minister Juan Gabriel Valdes as her representative to
lead the UNASUR commission tasked with
facilitating the dialogue in Bolivia.
UNASUR STATEMENT
----------------
5. (U) Informal translation of UNASUR text:
La Moneda Declaration
Santiago, September 15, 2008
The Heads of State of the Governments of UNASUR, assembled together
at La Moneda Palace, on September 15, 2008, with the goal of
reviewing the situation in the Republic of Bolivia and while
remembering the tragic episodes that, 35 years ago in this same
location, touched all humanity;
And considering that the Constitutive Agreement of UNASUR, signed in
Brasilia on May 23, 2008, codifies the principles of unrestricted
respect for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs,
territorial integrity and inviolability, democracy and its
institutions and unrestricted respect for human rights.
Faced with the serious actions that have occurred in the sister
Republic of Bolivia and in pursuit of the strengthening of political
dialogue and cooperation for the strengthening of citizen security,
the member countries of UNASUR:
1. Express their full and decisive support of the Constitutional
Government of President Evo Morales, whose mandate was ratified by a
wide majority in a recent Referendum.
2. Inform their energetic rejection of and refusal to recognize any
situation that indicates an attempt at a civil coup, the disruption
of institutional order, or that compromises the territorial
integrity of the Republic of Bolivia.
3. In conformity with the previous point, and in consideration of
the serious situation that affects the sister Republic of Bolivia,
condemn the attacks on government facilities and law enforcement by
groups looking to destabilize Bolivian democracy and demand the
swift return of those facilities as a condition for the initiation
of a process of dialogue.
4. At the same time, call on all of the involved political and
social actors to take all necessary measures to immediately stop
acts of violence, intimidation and contempt for democratic
institutions and the established legal order.
5. In this context, express their strongest condemnation of the
massacre that took place in the Department of Pando and support the
call made by the Bolivian government that an UNASUR committee be
formed in that brother country in order to conduct an impartial
investigation that would permit the clarification, as soon as
possible, of this lamentable event and to formulate recommendations
that can guarantee that it does not go unpunished;
6. Encourage all members of Bolivian society to preserve national
unity and territorial integrity, basic foundations of any State, and
to reject any intent to undermine these principles;
7. Call for dialogue in order to establish conditions that will
help overcome the current situation, and coordinate the search for a
sustainable solution within the framework of full respect for the
rule of law and the established legal order;
8. Along this line, the Presidents of UNASUR agree to create a
commission open to all of its members, coordinated by the President
Pro-Tempore, to accompany the work of a dialogue task force headed
by the legitimate Bolivian government; and
9. Create a commission of support and assistance to the Government
of Bolivia, according to its requirements, including specialized
human resources.
I want to say that after this meeting, which was an extensive but
very fruitful one, and these agreements, UNASUR has come out more
consolidated. Thank you very much.
6. (U) End of Text.
SIMONS