US embassy cable - 05QUITO834

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 000834 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/FO, NEA/FO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, ECON, EFIN, EC, BR 
SUBJECT: FM TAKES CREDIT FOR "SOFTENED" LATAM-ARAB 
DECLARATION 
 
1.  In a burst of braggadocio, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister 
Patricio Zuquilanda informed the Ambassador March 31 that the 
"USG had me to thank" for watering down the inflammatory 
declaration that would emerge from the May 10-11 summit of 
South American and Arab state leaders.  The original draft, 
which Zuquilanda and other chancellors debated days earlier 
in Morocco, was heavily anti-Israel and anti-U.S., the FM 
asserted.  The revised declaration, while still wavering from 
the summit's initial intent -- promoting economic and 
cultural ties between blocs -- looked far more balanced. 
 
2.  Zuquilanda's office April 14 forwarded the Embassy a copy 
of the declaration, annotated "Rev. 11  Col.0213/(o4/10)04-GA 
corr 11(0473)," which we in turn faxed to WHA and NEA front 
offices.  Having not seen earlier versions, we cannot verify 
the FM's claim that this draft represents an improvement. 
Yet it does appear less problematic than the version Miami 
Herald analyst Andres Oppenheimer disparaged in a January 6 
column.  Oppenheimer wrote that Declaration Section 2.9 
called for "a UN conference 'to study' terrorism and define 
the terrorist crime, distinguishing terrorism from the 
legitimate right of peoples to resist foreign occupation with 
a view to reach national independence." 
 
3.  The revised document still calls for a UN conference to 
define terrorism.  The paragraph asserting the right to 
oppose occupying forces has been bracketed, however, perhaps 
for revision or removal.  Further, Section 2.9 begins 
positively, "Emphasizing the importance of combating 
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations through active 
and efficient international cooperation" and concludes with a 
call for greater sharing of C-T information and expertise. 
 
4.  By no means do the United States and Israel get off easy. 
 Anti-American digs include: 
 
-- Reaffirming the necessity of resolving all conflicts 
non-violently; 
 
-- Emphasizing the importance of respecting the unity, 
sovereignty, and independence of Iraq, and not interfering in 
its internal processes; 
 
-- Commiting to implementing all UN resolutions 
non-selectively; 
 
-- Expressing profound worries over the unilateral sanctions 
the United States imposed on Syria; 
 
-- Recognizing the need for protection of intellectual 
property, but not when it affects national development, 
especially in terms of national health policies; 
 
-- Emphasizing the need to eliminate distortions (subsidies) 
in agriculture, which impede developed nations from 
exploiting comparative advantages; 
 
-- Welcoming the recent entry into force of the Kyoto 
Agreement, and calling on the international community to 
better protect the global climate. 
 
5.  While "Israel" appears infrequently in the text, 
anti-Israeli sentiment abounds: 
 
-- Reaffirming that Middle East security depends on the 
region being free of nuclear arms and other WMD; 
 
-- Emphasizing the need that Israeli forces withdraw from 
Arab territories occupied since June 1967; 
 
-- Strongly considering the opinions noted in the 
International Court of Justice's 2004 report on the "Legal 
Consequences of Constructing a Security Wall in Occupied 
Palestinian Territory." 
 
6.  (SBU) COMMENT:  We leave to the experts to determine if 
this text betters past versions.  On Zuquilanda's bombast 
that he saved the day, we won't be so hesitant with our 
opinions.  Ecuador's foreign minister regularly claims he is 
Washington's best friend in the region, yet rarely backs word 
with deed.  Similarly, we are hard-pressed to remember a 
pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli motion MFA diplomats did not 
support.  The bottom line?  We doubt Zuquilanda left the 
sidelines in Marrakech, but believe he saw in the revised 
declaration an opportunity to curry USG favor.  END COMMENT. 
KENNEY