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