US embassy cable - 04QUITO3147

UNCLAS QUITO 003147 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, EC, Regional 
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