US embassy cable - 05QUITO680

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000680 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, EC, VE 
SUBJECT: GUTIERREZ SAYS NO TO CARACAS TRIP 
 
REF: QUITO 661 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Reason 1.4 (b) 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez 
confirmed to the Ambassador he will not/not travel to Caracas 
in April, as was earlier rumored (Reftel).  His decision 
comes as no surprise -- we repeatedly expressed concern over 
the visit, noting Chavez had little local appeal.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) At a March 28 working breakfast, Gutierrez himself 
raised Venezuela, asking the Ambassador for a "readout" of 
her personal visit to Caracas.  In response, she noted the 
city appeared tired and run-down, a product of Venezuela's 
continued polarization and its leader's focus on ideology, 
not governance.  Chavez was directing his oil windfall not 
according to need, but to political obedience and expedience. 
 Did Gutierrez still intend to travel there in April? 
 
3.  (C) The president replied no, concurring with the 
Ambassador's expressed doubts over the visit's benefits.  He 
also cited the Venezuelans' inability to craft a useful visit 
agenda.  Further, the president refuted Caracas media play 
that alleged the Ecuadorian was urgently seeking the summit. 
Chavez was pressuring him, Gutierrez clarified, not 
vice-versa.  Taking into consideration the Venezuelan 
leader's media misinformation campaign, the visit organizers' 
poor performance, and the likely bad optics of a call on 
Chavez (a regurgitation of earlier Ambassadorial talking 
points), Gutierrez had erased the trip from his April travel 
calendar.  A late fall trip was still a possibility, however. 
 
4.  (C) The Ambassador agreed there was little to gain, 
politically or commercially, from the president visiting 
Caracas in April.  If he must travel north in November, she 
continued, he might want to couch the visit in regional 
terms, visiting Venezuela and other South American nations on 
a multi-stop tour.  Gutierrez welcomed the suggestion. 
 
5.  (C) COMMENT:  We had repeatedly hinted of our disquiet 
over the visit and suspected that Gutierrez's Chavez 
flirtation could have been intended to temper our support for 
democracy defenders pressing for changes here in Ecuador. 
While keeping the door open for a later visit, Gutierrez may 
have reconsidered for domestic political reasons -- with his 
Congressional alliance crumbling, he needs our support more 
than ever.  Increasing ill will toward his Venezuelan 
counterpart may also have played a part. 
KENNEY