US embassy cable - 05QUITO2677

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 002677 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ETRD, PREL, PINR, EC 
SUBJECT: FORMER SPANISH PRESIDENT AZNAR PROMOTES TRADE AND 
ATTACKS POPULISM 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Former Spanish PM Aznar told the 
Ambassador on November 22 that the situation in Latin America 
is not good, and faulted the USG and Spain, the two countries 
with the most influence in the region, for lacking a plan to 
counter rising populism.  Aznar was in Quito at the 
invitation of a business forum and said his goal was to 
promote liberty and free markets in the region.  The 
Ambassador told Aznar the USG shared his goals for the 
region; the challenge was deciding how to effectively counter 
rising populism in the region.  Here in Ecuador, we are doing 
so by helping to rebuild damaged democratic institutions. 
End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) The Ambassador and PolChief met with Aznar; another 
featured speaker at the business event, Chilean 
parliamentarian Pablo Longueira; and Seminarium event 
organizer Santiago Samper, a Chilean of long residency in 
Ecuador.  The meeting was organized at the invitation of 
Samper, whose goal, he said, was to promote collaboration 
among allies of a "neoliberal" agenda in Latin America and 
against rising populist forces in the region.  In Ecuador, 
politics itself has become discredited, with leadership 
talent shying away from politics in favor of narrow business 
interests.  His group, "Seminarium" had invited Aznar and 
Longueria to Ecuador in an effort to promote political and 
economic stability and to encourage private sector leaders to 
enter the public arena to advance national interests. 
 
3.  (SBU) Aznar praised the Ecuadorian business community 
initiative, and agreed that a more coordinated response was 
needed to counter Chavez and other populist forces in the 
region.  In his view, he said, the "contemporary situation in 
the continent (of South America) is not good." Democracy has 
not brought prosperity to the region, he said, undermining 
faith in its institutions.  He faulted the lack of proper 
application of liberal economic reforms, rather than the 
popular conception that these reforms were themselves at 
fault. 
 
4.  (SBU) Prefacing his criticism by saying he had "no 
problem" with the USG, and had discussed this situation 
before with his good friend, President Bush, Aznar questioned 
what he perceived as a USG "lack of a Latin America policy." 
The results at Mar del Plata reflect that fact, he said;  it 
was inconceivable to him that the USG had offered no new 
proposal for the region there. 
 
5.  (SBU) Aznar said he had a much greater problem with the 
policies of the current Spanish government, which "has no 
interest" in collaborating with the U.S. in Latin America. 
In contrast, his own Inter-American Foundation intended to 
work with "whoever we can" to support the FTAA or any other 
possible sub-regional trade accords, and to promote a 
political "front" or alliance of forces favoring liberty and 
market-based reforms.  He specifically cited interest 
expressed by the American Enterprise Institute in 
collaborating on this mission.  His current visit to Quito, 
and his recent visit to Costa Rica are to promote these 
causes. 
 
6.  (U) In Aznar's public remarks, he stressed many of the 
same themes, without the criticism of the USG.  He forcefully 
argued that without political and institutional stability no 
progress could be made.  Using the success of the Spanish 
economy under his leadership as an example, Aznar described 
how market liberalization, privatization and the elimination 
of private and public monopolies creates jobs.  To counter 
the rising populist sentiments, Aznar told the audience to 
look to the most advanced countries around the world.  Those 
countries do not have state controlled economies, but they do 
have strong institutions, open markets, fiscal policy and 
independent judiciaries.  He pointed out that, similar to 
Ecuador, 30 years ago, Spain was a developing country under 
dictatorship.  Since then, with a stable democracy and the 
liberal economic policies Spain had risen to join the most 
developed countries in the world. 
 
7.  (SBU) Chilean deputy Longueira (UDI) lamented to the 
Ambassador the effects of growing anti-Americanism in Latin 
America on the region.  Chavez and other populist leaders 
(citing also Toledo over the Peru-Chile maritime dispute) 
were generating conflict for internal political benefit.  He 
worried that populists like Evo Morales in Bolivia and 
Chilean leftists had been boosted by the regional tendency to 
reject USG motives and goodwill. 
 
8.  (SBU) The Ambassador replied that the USG is disposed to 
help the region counter populist threats; the challenge is in 
choosing our methods.  Here in Ecuador we are doing so by 
helping the GOE rebuild damaged democratic institutions, like 
the Supreme Court.  Political parties here, including those 
on the center-right of the spectrum, lack internal democracy, 
and are often part of the problem. 
 
9.  (SBU) Comment:  Both Aznar and Longueira are effective 
public speakers and a good counter-balance to the populist 
rhetoric of Chavez and his ilk.  They were largely speaking 
to the choir at this event.  We are looking into ways we can 
use them and other foreign leaders to help spread our message 
of strong, responsible, institutional democracies and free, 
fair and open trade here, and recommend the Department 
consider the benefits of doing the same for the region. 
JEWELL