US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO542

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 000542 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/AND, WHA/OAS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2015 
TAGS: PREL, CO, DR 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN PRESIDENT REPLIES TO AMBASSADOR ON 
VENEZUELA-COLOMBIA TENSIONS 
 
REF: A. STATE 016270 
 
     B. STATE 011483 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Hans Hertell.  Reason: 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  Dominican President Leonel Fernandez 
confirmed to the Ambassador on January 27 that he had been 
helping mediate between the presidents of Colombia and 
Venezuela, and he found both interested in lowering tensions. 
 He remained concerned that the candidacy for OAS SYGEN 
Francisco Flores had lost momentum.  The Dominican Republic 
continues to support Flores.  End summary. 
 
2. (C) On January 27 the Ambassador outlined to Dominican 
President Leonel Fernandez U.S. concerns about the tensions 
between Venezuela and Colombia resulting in part from the 
arrest of FARC leader Victor Granda (ref b). Fernandez 
confirmed that the President of the Colombian Senate had 
called to enlist his help in lowering tensions, and in 
response Fernandez had telephoned the presidents of 
Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil.  He knows them all well, he 
commented, and he has the impression that President Lula is 
taking a leading role, particularly given the lack of an OAS 
Secretary General.  Fernandez considers that the Peruvians 
 
SIPDIS 
may not have as much weight with the various parties to the 
dispute, given their own domestic problems. 
 
3.  (C) Uribe is concerned, Fernandez commented, and is 
seeking a solution.  Fernandez said that Chavez also had 
expressed a desire to find some accommodation. Chavez had 
told him that the conflict had arisen at lower levels, 
between the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry and the Colombian 
Defense Ministry; Chavez said that he had not been aware of 
the presence of Granda in Venezuela.  Fernandez judges both 
presidents to be sincere.  He had last spoken to them two 
days earlier (January 25).  Fernandez commented that the 
respective Foreign Ministries were seeking a way to save face. 
 
4.  (C) Fernandez sees the conflict as part of the history of 
disputes between the neighboring countries, typical 
throughout Latin America.   In this case the specific 
tensions concern sovereignty and proper legal procedure. 
Chavez told him that he was not protecting the FARC, he has 
no relations with them, and he does not support them.  If the 
Colombians had notified him of Granda's presence and 
requested cooperation in legal enforcement, he would have 
been willing to provide it -- but the use of a bounty and the 
suborning of Venezuelan police officials to kidnap Granda and 
turn him over at the frontier was unacceptable.  Fernandez 
points to two issues:  1) the legal argument about respect 
for sovereignty and 2) the need for closer collaboration 
between the two countries so that Venezuela is not a de facto 
sanctuary.  After all, he commented, both countries are 
"bolivarian" democracies. 
 
5.  (C) Fernandez found little reason for Chavez to blame the 
United States for the developments and commented that perhaps 
the U.S. denial of involvement had in itself raised 
suspicions.  Chavez is impulsive and easily tempted to 
present himself as the spokesman for the underdog, the poor 
and the outsiders.  For example, the gathering at Puerto 
Alegre as an anti-Davos movement unites a wide array of 
discontented voices, a magnet for Chavez.  The anti-globalism 
movement is an alliance of many different interests, 
including the "nostalgic left" eager to blame the successful 
United States for the ills suffered in other countries. 
Fernandez expects that the United States will have to 
continue to tell its story to counter these movements.  This 
will be difficult, he said; the "soft power" of the United 
States (a term invented by Joseph Nye) is an important arm. 
 
6.  (C) Concerning OAS SYGEN candidate Francisco Flores, 
Fernandez is concerned that he may have permanently lost 
momentum.  He did not know if the U.S. public declaration 
would be sufficient to get him started once again. 
 
7.  (SBU) The Ambassador congratulated Fernandez upon the 
positive outlook for the Dominican submission to the IMF 
board and urged him to remain attentive to the agreed 
requirements. 
HERTELL