GOA CALLS IN AMBASSADOR TO COMPLAIN ABOUT CONSULAR INFORMATION SHEET; CUBA DISCUSSED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUENOS AIRES 000373

SIPDIS

WHA FOR A/S NORIEGA, PDAS DERHAM, WHA/BSC
NSC FOR TOM SHANNON
USCINCSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2015
TAGS: CASC PREL PGOV AR US CUBA
SUBJECT: GOA CALLS IN AMBASSADOR TO COMPLAIN ABOUT CONSULAR
INFORMATION SHEET; CUBA DISCUSSED

REF: LLORENS-MATERA/LLORENS-BREIER E-MAILS OF 2/15

Classified By: Ambassador Lino Gutierrez for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) Reacting to sensationalist stories in Clarin and La
Nacion about the description of Argentina in the Consular
Information Sheet on February 16 (reftel),Foreign Minister
Rafael Bielsa and Tourism Secretary Enrique Meyer held a
press conference that night to take issue with our Consular
Information Sheet. Bielsa said the GoA had been "surprised"
by the report, which was inaccurate and not objective. He
took issue with our description of bombings, terrorism in the
Tri-border region, and said that piqueteros posed an
"infinitesimal" danger to tourists. That said, Bielsa opined
that the report had been a "technical" and not a "political"
one. Meyer cited figures of over 200,809 U.S. tourists
visiting Argentina, and listed only 162 amcit complaints
received by the tourist police. Bielsa said he would be
calling me in to discuss the matter. Later that night his
secretary asked if I could come in, and we agreed to meet at

SIPDIS
11:45 the following day.


2. (U) Prior to the meeting, I went on a morning radio show
to explain our position, i.e.,

a. The United States does not wish to discourage tourists
from visiting Argentina -- quite the contrary. But
b. The United States wants its tourists to have the most
up-to-date and accurate information.
c. The U.S. issues these reports for all the countries in
the world. Many reports, including those of European
nations, neighboring countries and others, report on the
crime situation in those countries, and in many cases crime
in these countries is far more serious than in Argentina.
d. The Argentina report is almost the same as the ones
issued six months ago and a year ago. The situation in
Argentina has improved, and the reports reflect that.
e. Asked if I thought U.S.-Argentina relations were good, I
said that from our standpoint they were, and cited the
Scioli-Cheney meeting, and recent public events, such as the
donation of 11 vehicles to Argentine law enforcement, and an
event attended by the VP and GoA officials hosted by an
American company which is expanding operations in Argentina.


3. (U) Major newspapers picked up my remarks immediately and
posted them on their web sites.


4. (C) I met with Bielsa at the appointed time on February

17. He had heard my interview on the radio. He did not/not
ask for a retraction or any changes to the CIS, but asked if
the U.S. would be willing to receive statistics and
information from the GoA in order to assure "a more accurate
report." I told him we would be glad to receive such
information. I explained (and he obviously knew) that we
issue CISs for all countries in the world. Bielsa indicated
that President Kirchner had asked him to call me in after
reading the newspaper reports. I said it was too bad that
this had happened at a time when we were building momentum in
the relationship, and cited the three events in paragraph 4,
letter e above. This is an important year in our relations,
culminating with the Summit of the Americas and the expected
visit of President Bush. I said we had been exploring the
possibility of a meeting between the FM and Secretary Rice.
"That would be excellent," he said.


5. (C) I also said that Kirchner's planned trip to Cuba (ref
e-mail) in May, if undertaken as expected, would complicate
any high-level meetings that might be envisioned. (NOTE: On
February 15, Under Secretary for Political Affairs Ambassador
Roberto Garcia Moritan confirmed to DCM that press reporting
of that day was accurate and that plans were in the works for
a Kirchner trip to Cuba in May. DCM conveyed our
disappointment, but reiterated that Washington would be very
concerned if Kirchner, a man with strong credentials in the
human rights arena, traveled to Cuba and failed to meet with
the dissidents on the island. Garcia Moritan responded that
the press reporting was accurate and that Kirchner had plans
to meet with Cuban dissidents, but that he did not have any
further details since substantive plannning had not begun.
Moritan agreed to keep us informed as trip plans unfolded.
END NOTE) If Kirchner decides to go, it would be imperative
that he meet with dissidents, I emphasized. Bielsa said he
would pass my comments to the President. Bielsa described
the Cubans as unreliable and difficult to deal with. He said
the U.S. should bear in mind two principles from which
Argentina will not waver:

a. The GoA will continue its efforts to secure the travel of
dissident Dr. Hilda Molina to Argentina.
b. First Lady Cristina Kirchner has stated that a sine qua
non for her travel to Cuba was to be able to meet with the
"white handkerchief" wives/mothers of dissidents.


6. (U) After the meeting, the MFA spokesman said that the FM
and I had had a "cordial" meeting. He said that the U.S. had
not apologized for the report, but that I had agreed to
receive information from the GoA. The matter appears closed
for now.


7. (C) Comment: Once again, President Kirchner and the GoA
have reacted somewhat to a newspaper article in the Argentine
press. On Cuba, our message has been unequivocal: any trip
to Cuba by Kirchner has to include a meeting with dissidents.
Kirchner seems to want to travel to Cuba - a move that would
be popular among his leftist constituency - but the Castro
regime is not making it easy for him to go.
GUTIERREZ