KIRCHNER MOVES SECURITY SECRETARIAT INTO CASA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUENOS AIRES 002419

SIPDIS

FOR STATE WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC
PASS NSC FOR TOM SHANNON, MIKE DEMPSEY
PASS USTR FOR SUE CRONIN
USCINCSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL AR PROTESTS
SUBJECT: KIRCHNER MOVES SECURITY SECRETARIAT INTO CASA
ROSADA

REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 02320


B. BUENOS AIRES 01023

Classified By: Ambassador Lino Gutierrez for reason 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On August 20 President Nestor Kirchner
announced the transfer of the Security Secretariat from the
Justice Ministry to the Interior Ministry. This is widely
viewed as a positive step that will increase the profile of
security issues, by both placing one of the most influential
Ministers in charge of the portfolio and locating the
Secretariat's offices in the same building as the President.

SIPDIS
It is also an indication that the President is anxious to
halt his falling poll numbers by taking a more active role in
the management of security issues. The move comes days in
front of what promises to be the biggest anti-crime protest
to date by anti-crime crusader Juan Carlos Blumberg, and is
just one of several recent GOA initiatives designed to
demonstrate the Government's work to improve the security
situation. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) On August 20 President Nestor Kirchner announced the
transfer of the Security Secretariat from the Justice
Ministry to the Interior Ministry. Newly-appointed Security
Secretary Alberto Iribarne (reftel A) and his entire staff

SIPDIS
have been bureaucratically moved from the Justice Ministry to
the Interior Ministry, and will be physically relocated to
the Casa Rosada. The move illustrates the increasing
importance of security concerns in Argentina, and Kirchner's
attempts to indicate he is proactively addressing the
problem. As a result of the move Iribarne will report to
Interior Minister Anibal Fernandez, one the most outspoken
and influential members of the Kirchner Cabinet. The move
also locates Iribarne in the same building as the President,
which is locally being seen as a sign that the President will
now play a personal role in GOA security policies. Buenos
Aires Province Governor Felipe Sola reflected the view that
the change would increase Presidential involvement in this
contentious issue when he said: "the security issue will be
physically closer to the President." (COMMENT: Not everyone
agrees-- one local observer told Ambassador that moving the
Security Secretariat to the Presidency increased the risk of
further politicization of the Security Forces. END COMMENT.)


3. (C) In the days leading up to the transfer Fernandez
seemed to go out of his way to pick a fight with both the
moderate and the radical piquetero elements. Other members
of the Cabinet did not support his statements, but were also
restrained in their criticism. Since adding the security
issue to his portfolio, Fernandez has remained quiet on the
piquetero issue, but did spend his first weekend in charge of
the nation's security "personally supervising" the work of
the Gendarmeria (border guard) and the Prefectura (coast
guard) working in the Buenos Aires area. The Government
announced the change while Justice and Security Minister
Horacio Rosatti was out of town, and reports indicate he was
not consulted prior to the announcement. Rosatti has yet to
comment publicly on the move.


4. (C) On August 24 the Commander of Operations for the
Gendarmeria, General Roberto Nieva Malaver, met with the DCM.
He expressed concern for the President's current security
strategy but support for placing the Security Portfolio under
Fernandez. He informed the DCM that more then 1,000 of the
total 17,000 strong Gendarmeria were currently serving in and
around the Capital. He stressed that they were filling an
internal security role that his troops were neither trained
nor equipped to accomplish, and expressed great concern that
the diversion of his agency from its traditional border
security function would lead to a general worsening of the
border security and drug trafficking situation. He lamented
that the current administration is focused totally on
security in the Buenos Aires area and stated that "for
Kirchner the national border is General Paz" (a street that
marks the end of the Buenos Aires suburbs.) He reflected the
commonly held view that the security problem has recently
gotten much worse. He intimated that the Administration's
policy of purging the police and involving the Gendarmeria,
instead of providing sufficient resources to establish a
credible and clean police force, was a mistake. He stressed
that "I do not argue for my force (Gendarmeria) but for my
country, the problem of security is very serious, I have
children and when they go out dancing I can't sleep."
However, he also commented that he felt that transferring
responsibility for security to the Interior Ministry was a
positive move. He stated that Fernandez "is a fighter, and a
very important person in the Government."


5. (C) The Security Secretariat's move comes days before the
third protest organized by anti-crime crusader Juan Carlos
Blumberg (Reftel B). Blumberg has focused most of his
attention on the Buenos Aires provincial leadership, but he
has also made petitions to the National Congress and demanded
swifter action from the Federal Government. The move also
comes during a flurry of security-related activity by various
government agencies attempting to demonstrate their
pro-security efforts in advance of the August 26 Blumberg
march. Recent changes include: passing of a crime bill
enabling Judges to order convicts to serve separate sentences
non-consecutively up to a 50-year maximum jail term; the
deployment of an 80-man elite provincial police unit that
will act independently of existing provincial police forces
in San Isidro, a provincial area known as the kidnapping
capital of Argentine, to both combat crime and investigate
police corruption; the start of a cooperative anti-crime push
between federal and provincial agencies including the
Gendarmeria, Prefectura, and provincial police in five
provincial neighborhoods surrounding the Capital; the
announcement of plans to summon the Federal Security Council
to increase coordination; and, the appointment of Maria del
Carmen Falbo as the new prosecutor-general for the Province
of Buenos Aires.


6. (C) Federal and Provincial leaders have all roundly
downplayed the importance of Blumberg as a national figure as
well as the importance of his grassroots social protest
movement. Buenos Aires Governor Sola recently attempted to
minimize Blumberg's importance by stating that "Kidnappers
are not bothered by marches." (COMMENT: While it is
probably true that marches have little impact on kidnappers,
it is obvious that politicians including the President, the
Buenos Aires Mayor and many members of congress do read the
papers and are clearly bothered by marches and falling poll
numbers. Blumberg his anti-crime campaign, and the growing
public discontent are fueling a slide in the Kirchner
Administration's approval ratings. Both the Federal and
Provincial leaderships are keenly aware that the Greater
Buenos Aires populace has become increasingly fixated by
security issues, and are attempting to take concrete -- and
publicized -- steps to improve the situation. END COMMENT.)


GUTIERREZ