US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA448

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 000448 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PREL, VE, CO, CA 
SUBJECT: CANADA SHARES CONCERNS OVER VENEZUELA'S WEAPONS 
ACQUISITIONS; WANTS TO HELP 
 
REF: SECSTATE 25063 
 
Classified By: POL M/C Brian Flora.  Reason 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) In response to reftel demarche on February 11, FAC 
South America Division Director Jose Herran-Lima told 
polmiloff that Canada shares USG concerns about the course 
Chavez is taking and will find a way to convey those concerns 
to the Venezuelan government.  He said that the GOC is 
conducting an internal "strategy review" to address the 
situation, including from a regional perspective.  Citing the 
Canadian Ambassador to Venezuela's contacts with USG 
officials in Washington, Herran-Lima added that the strategy 
would include continued close dialogue and consultation with 
the U.S.  He elaborated that those contacts had helped bring 
about meetings in Ottawa with representatives of the NGO, 
Sumate, only two weeks ago, over the protestations of the 
Chavez government.  It also was important, Herran-Lima said, 
to bring "other" countries into the solution, to dispel the 
perception that the U.S. was the only one pressuring Chavez. 
 
 
2. (C) Polmiloff welcomed Canada's engagement and asked 
whether Canada would be consulting with any other countries 
as part of its approach.  Herran-Lima noted that Prime 
Minister Martin had raised the issue with Brazilian President 
Lula da Silva during Martin's November 22-23 visit.  More 
recently, Herran-Lima, himself, had just returned from Bogota 
where Colombian officials bemoaned the breakdown of the 
established bilateral mechanisms to address/resolve issues 
with Venezuela; everything went "straight to the top" where 
it was blown out of proportion.  It would be good for the EU 
to become involved, Herran-Lima continued, an aspect where 
Canada might be helpful.  Another element of the GOC strategy 
was to develop Canadian domestic interest in and support for 
democracy in Venezuela.  It was important to sensitize the 
Parliament and Canadian civil society to the situation. To 
this end, the GOC was "exploring options" with Canadian NGOs 
that are active in the Andean region. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
CELLUCCI