US embassy cable - 05QUITO1506

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 001506 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, EC 
SUBJECT: ECUADOR'S PARTICIPATION IN MERCOSUR SUMMIT 
UNREMARKABLE 
 
REF: QUITO 1403 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  On June 18 Alfredo Palacio embarked on his 
first international visit as president of Ecuador, arriving 
in Asuncion, Paraguay, for the 28th Mercosur Summit.  He went 
with two main objectives: to form and strengthen bilateral 
ties with other South American countries, and to publicly 
express his position towards integration in the region. 
Palacio secured meetings with three of his peers, the 
presidents of Colombia, Uruguay, and Chile.  He also 
delivered a brief pro-integration speech in front of the 
assembled summit body of chiefs of state of Mercosur and 
associated countries.  End Summary. 
 
President Palacio Experiments with Bilateral Networking 
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2.  (U) Though Palacio's arrival and two-night stay in 
Asuncion was met with little fanfare (he was met by no 
Paraguayan executive office officials), a Presidency source 
said the president felt the visit was a success.  His first 
goal in traveling to the Summit - bilateral networking - was 
accomplished in meetings with Presidents Uribe, Vazquez, and 
Lagos.  The meetings were conducted behind closed doors, and 
little could be discovered about the substance of the talks. 
Ecuadorian officials denied that aerial coca fumigations in 
southern Colombia - a touchy subject here - was discussed by 
the presidents at the Palacio-Uribe meeting, saying that 
chancellors of the two countries would handle the matter 
later.  The Palacio - Uruguayan President Vazquez meeting 
amounted to little more than a courtesy call.  According to a 
palace official, Palacio and Lagos discussed the Chilean 
president's anticipated visit to Ecuador, date as yet unknown. 
 
Palacio Speaks in Favor of South American Integration 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
3.  (U) In comments to the press at the end of the summit, 
Palacio proclaimed himself satisfied with the accomplishment 
of his second objective for the trip: "For the first time, 
Ecuador presented a clear idea for South American Union; we 
begin to look south without giving up looking north." 
Indeed, his ten-minute speech before the assembled summit 
body could hardly be seen as anything but pro-integration. 
He called the rapprochement between Mercosur and the Andean 
Community of Nations (CAN) an opportunity for the South 
American countries to "become what they all dreamed of: true 
and powerful nations."  Palacio also highlighted the need for 
increased investment in science and technology. 
 
4.  (U) Palacio finished the speech with a reference to that 
favorite symbol of South American union, Simon Bolivar. 
After closing with the expression of his belief that Bolivar 
"has awakened and is perhaps among us," he received the 
congratulations of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.  Though 
Palacio was not granted a private meeting with Chavez, the 
Venezuelan president later made it clear that he did not feel 
any rancor towards the Ecuadorian government as a whole over 
GOE Administrative Secretary Herreria's June 10 anti-Chavez 
remarks (Reftel). 
 
Comment 
------- 
5.  (C) President Palacio's words during the summit in favor 
of integration and a new economic order in the region were 
not surprising.  However, they cannot be viewed without some 
concern when placed in the context of his Minister of 
Economy's Bolivarianesque agenda, and the president's overt 
kowtowing to Chavez.  In light of the recent minor diplomatic 
drama between the GOE and Chavez, it can be safely assumed 
that part of Palacio's aim in invoking Bolivar during his 
speech was to distance himself from his secretary's words. 
Aside from this, however, the trip was somewhat of a 
non-event, with no remarkable moments of statesmanship, 
little (if any) substantive political outcome, and the 
completion of an agenda that was vague at best.  For a first 
foray into the world of regional politics, though, this is 
about what we would expect from Palacio. 
Kenney