US embassy cable - 05ROME3640

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 003640 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2015 
TAGS: PREL, XM, XL, IT, HUMAN RIGHTS 
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ STEALS THE SPOTLIGHT AS LATIN AMERICAN 
LEADERS GATHER IN ITALY 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor David D. Pearce, reasons 1. 
4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Summary. Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi delivered our 
message on consolidating democracy and ensuring respect for 
human rights to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during their 
meeting October 17 in Milan.  Chavez was in Italy for the 
October 17 UN Food and Agriculture Organization's 60th 
Anniversary ceremony and the October 17-18 Second National 
Conference on Latin America, organized by the Lombardy 
regional government and Milan Chamber of Commerce.  President 
Ciampi canceled a planned meeting with Chavez to attend the 
funeral of an assassinated official in Calabria.  Although 
the Chavez visit grabbed the most headlines, Ciampi and 
Berlusconi met with heads of state and/or foreign ministers 
from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, 
and Uruguay.  Talks focused mostly on trade and investment, 
development assistance, and UN reform. End summary. 
 
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Chavez meeting comes down to oil and gas 
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2. (U) Pol M/C and poloff met with DG for Americas Claudio 
Bisogniero, MFA Vice Director General for the Americas 
Roberto Spinelli, North America Office Director Francesco 
Tafuri, and South America Desk Officer Pietro Benassi, 
October 25 to discuss the series of visits from Latin 
American heads of state and foreign ministers. 
 
3. (C) Flanked by the CEO of ENI and general manager of ENEL, 
large Italian energy sector holding companies, Berlusconi met 
with Chavez at the Milan Chamber of Commerce October 17 for 
about an hour.  Berlusconi opened the meeting noting that 
Italy was closely following political developments in Caracas 
and emphasized the need for Venezuelan efforts to consolidate 
democracy and ensure respect for human rights.  Bisogniero, 
who was present at the meeting, said he "took your line," 
before the two leaders recognized their political differences 
and quickly turned to economic matters. 
 
4. (C) The heart of the meeting, according to Bisogniero, was 
Chavez's briefing on general plans for oil and gas 
exploration, construction of an oil pipeline in Latin 
America, and prospects for oil and gas concessions.  Chavez 
also gave Berlusconi a report on the Venezuelan economy, 
emphasizing Venezuela's 16% GDP growth for last year as a 
result of high oil prices, poverty reduction; control over 
inflation, and his policy to use oil revenues to promote 
social sector programs like health and education.  The two 
leaders also spoke in broad terms about cooperation on 
tourism, medical assistance, professional training, and 
infrastructure. 
 
5. (C) Ciampi was scheduled to meet with Chavez as well, but 
the Italian president canceled in order to attend the funeral 
of a local official assassinated in the southern province of 
Calabria. Bisogniero emphasized that Chavez was not in Italy 
on an official visit, the Berlusconi meeting took place at 
the chamber of commerce instead of a government building, and 
no agreements were signed during the visit. 
 
6. (C) Pol M/C praised positive Italian initiatives in the 
Western Hemisphere like anti-drug trafficking and organized 
crime cooperation and involvement in the Bolivia Support 
Group, but expressed U.S. concerns about Chavez.  He 
encouraged Italy to assist with democracy promotion in 
Venezuela, support civil society and human rights groups, and 
encourage political party development.  He also asked the 
Italian government to take a lead role in ensuring the 
success of an EU observer mission for the December 4 
legislative elections.  Bisogniero agreed that the mission 
was important and expressed strong Italian support for 
sending monitors and being actively involved in EU 
negotiations.  He noted, however, that prospects were dim for 
a big showing by the opposition.  When pressed, Italian 
officials could not recall a public statement by Italy in 
support of democratic freedoms in Venezuela.  They noted that 
there was no press conference attached to Chavez's meeting 
with Berlusconi.  Bisogniero concluded by assuring us that 
Italy would continue to monitor political developments in 
Caracas and would raise Venezuela issues in EU consultations. 
 
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Not the only show in town 
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7. (C) Although media reports tended to focus on Chavez, his 
meeting with Berlusconi was one in a series of visits of 
Latin American heads of state and foreign ministers. Placing 
the Chavez trip in perspective, Bisogniero briefed on nine 
additional visits October 17-24: Brazilian President Luiz 
Silva, whose trip was the only one designated as official; 
Uruguayan President Vazquez; Chilean President Ricardo Lagos; 
Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco; Brazilian Foreign 
Minister Celso Amorim; Paraguayan Foreign Minister Leila 
Rachid; Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Derbez; and Chilean 
Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker. 
 
8. (C) Most of the visitors were already in country for the 
Latin America meeting in Milan, which Italy plans to continue 
on a biennial basis.  Meetings with Ciampi and Berlusconi 
focused largely on trade and investment opportunities, 
development assistance, and UN Security Council reform. 
Although Bisogniero said it was "wishful thinking" to call 
the series of meetings part of a broader strategy to increase 
Italian involvement in the Western Hemisphere, he noted that 
the region had not received much attention in the past two 
years because of the focus on Iraq, Afghanistan, and the 
Balkans.  This year brought renewed attention to Latin 
America, Bisogniero said, which Italy hopes to continue. 
 
9. (C) Comment:  Bisogniero's offer to brief Pol M/C came 
after U/S Dobriansky had earlier raised with MFA our concerns 
about the Chavez visit.  With its significant commercial 
interests and large Italian population in Venezuela, Italy 
has a strong motivation to maintain dialogue with Caracas. 
However, they seem to have gotten our message to keep 
applying pressure on the democracy issue. 
PEARCE