PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS WITH GOA ON SUMMIT OF THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 003066 SIPDIS WHA FOR USOAS AND EPSC NSC FOR TOM SHANNON AND MIKE DEMPSEY E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2014 TAGS: ECON KSUM PGOV PREL AR HA SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS DEMARCHE SUBJECT: PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS WITH GOA ON SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS REF: OCT. 22 LISTON-LLORENS E-MAIL Classified By: Ambassador Lino Gutierrez reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Summary: DCM met October 22 with Argentine MFA Under Secretary for Latin American Policy Ambassador Dario SIPDIS Alessandro to discuss planning for next year's Summit of the Americas and to deliver talking points on Summit preparation. DCM also raised with Alessandro the recent visit to Washington of Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister Taiana and the visit of Foreign Minister Bielsa to Haiti. End Summary. ¶2. (C) DCM, accompanied by POLCOUNS, met on October 22 with Ambassador Dario Alessandro, the Argentine Under Secretary for Latin American Policy, and his deputy, the Director General for Latin American Policy, Minister Jose Maxwell to discuss Summit preparations and other bilateral and multilateral issues. In response to a question from the DCM, Alessandro noted that the meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana and Assistant Secretary Roger Noriega had gone well. He noted the two discussed how Argentina and the U.S. could further their cooperative relationship in both hemispheric and bilateral affairs. Noting that OAS Ambassador John Maisto was also present at the meeting, Alessandro stated a good environment had been established for preparations for next year's Summit of the Americas. ¶3. (C) Alessandro was in broad agreement with the Summit points delivered by DCM. He said Argentina wanted to include Caribbean themes in the Summit and would work diligently to encourage greater involvement and participation by Caribbean nations. He agreed with the need to obtain comprehensive statistics for the Caribbean and said Argentina was already in contact with its executive directors at the IFI's on this subject. Regarding Summit documents, Alessandro agreed that the emphasis should be on a short, concrete declaration. He also agreed on the need to push for commitments on Special Summit follow-ups. He noted that, to date, only seven countries had come through with commitments on the Special Summit. ¶4. (C) DCM stressed that we were already working to identify our logistical needs for the Summit and that we hoped to make a preliminary site survey by the end of the year. Alessandro said he understood the U.S. had special security and logistical requirements and that working level contacts would be named in the near future that would coordinate with us on these issues. ¶5. (C) Turning to other issues, the DCM asked for his impressions of Foreign Minister Raphael Bielsa's visit to Haiti. Alessandro described the situation as difficult and very fluid. He said the mission was still lacking forces and outside resources. However he said security incidents, while continuing, were not a great problem if confronted with force. The real problem, he said, was the total infrastructure collapse and complete breakdown of political legitimacy of the state. He noted that the Argentine mission had "totally changed" as a result of the hurricane from a predominately security-related to a humanitarian relief operation. The DCM noted that the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti had referred to the Argentine contingent as "heroes" for their relief work in the Gonaives region. GUTIERREZ