Cablegate: Unasur Agenda: Report On Bolivian Killings,

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DE RUEHSG #1085 3461844
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P 111844Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
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WHA/AND FOR BARBARA ROCHA, WHA/BSC FOR LEAH CATO, BEN CHIANG
PM/RSAT FOR JEFF BURNETT
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM PTER MARR CI BL BR
SUBJECT: UNASUR AGENDA: REPORT ON BOLIVIAN KILLINGS,
SEARCH FOR SECRETARY GENERAL LIKELY TO DOMINATE DEC 16
MEETING

REF: A. LA PAZ 2543
B. SANTIAGO 852

1. (U) On December 16, leaders from the Union of South
American Nations (UNASUR) will meet in Bahia de Salvador,
Brazil on the margins of the MERCOSUR meeting in the same
city. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, acting in her
capacity as UNASUR President Pro Tempore, will chair the
meeting.

2. (SBU) MFA Planning Subdirector Patricio Pradel told
Poloff December 10 the official agenda for the meeting
includes discussion of the UNASUR Commission's report on the
killings in Pando Department, Bolivia, on September 11. The
group will consider whether or not to publicly release the
full text of the report, which, according to press reports
and comments by the head of the investigative commission,
Argentine lawyer Rodolfo Mattarollo, finds that the Bolivian
opposition committed a "massacre." The report further states
that the incident led to 19 confirmed deaths--17 Morales
supporters and two opponents.

3. (SBU) Pradel expects that UNASUR members will also
discuss possible means to select a Secretary General,
although the issue is not formally on the agenda and,
according to Pradel, no new possible names have been floated.
(Note: Filling the seat has been a challenge since former
Ecuadorian president Ricardo Borjas, who had accepted the
job, changed his mind and gave up the position before taking
office when other members balked at his plan to use UNASUR to
unite other regional groupings. Bolivian trade negotiator
Pablo Solon, who served as UNASUR's Secretary General
Pro-Tempore last year, was the next leading contender for the
post, but Peru, Ecuador and Colombia opposed his candidacy.
The door seemed to be open to Nestor Kirchner, the popular
former president of Argentina, to fill the position, but
Uruguay has publicly objected to this choice. End Note.)
Pradel stated that he has not yet heard any new concrete
suggestions for a Secretary General, but that the topic is
sure to come up.

4. (U) The short, 90 minute meeting is also slated to
include discussion and possible formal approval of UNASUR
councils on health, infrastructure, and defense. In
addition, UNASUR members may also create a transition team to
assist in preparing for a new secretary general when
Bachelet's term ends in May 2009.
SIMONS

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