US embassy cable - 04QUITO2499

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 002499 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR T: JANICE NEAL, CHRISTINE SAMUELIAN; 
WHA/PPC: CLARK LYNN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2014 
TAGS: PREL, EC, KICC, UNGA 
SUBJECT: ECUADOR EVASIVE OVER NEW YORK BOLTON MEETING 
 
REF: STATE 179724 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
1.  (U) In response to Reftel, the Embassy August 20 
contacted the Ecuadorian MFA's Article 98 coordinator, 
attorney Renan Mosquera, to seek a New York meeting between 
Foreign Minister Patricio Zuquilanda and Under Secretary John 
Bolton.  Customary in the overly formal MFA, Mosquera 
requested the Embassy formalize the request via diplomatic 
note.  Our correspondence, dated August 24, sought a 
bilateral encounter on the margins of the UN General 
Assembly, to "consult on a wide range of security and 
political-military issues, to include Article 98." 
 
2.  (C) Having received no written response, Poloff attempted 
to telephone Mosquera numerous times, with no success. 
Finally, on September 14, the reclusive diplomat made 
contact.  Speciously contrite for the delay in responding, 
Mosquera claimed he could not commit Zuquilanda to a Bolton 
get-together at UNGA, since the foreign minister was 
incommunicado in Manaos, Brazil, attending an Amazon Basin 
ministerial.  He instead suggested the U.S. delegation 
organize the call while on the ground in New York. 
 
3.  (C) COMMENT:  The meeting debacle is another example of 
MFA stalling and unwillingness to engage on Article 98 - we 
predict Zuquilanda's advisors at UNGA will swear the FM is 
"fully booked" and cannot receive the U/S.  Nonetheless, the 
Embassy is planning a renewed Article 98 offensive, to 
commence after Ecuador's October 17 elections.  We'll need a 
more serious working-level interlocutor than Mosquera to gain 
traction, however, and are considering options to bypass him. 
 END COMMENT. 
KENNEY