Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BUENOSAIRES458
2006-02-27 15:54:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Buenos Aires
Cable title:  

ARGENTINA'S PEACEKEEPING CENTER

Tags:  MARR MOPS KPKO AR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0045
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0458 0581554
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 271554Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3620
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 5376
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 1286
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 5162
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0850
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ FEB LIMA 1783
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 4977
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 5353
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 0714
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000458 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR DAN FISK
WHA FOR A/S SHANNON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2016
TAGS: MARR MOPS KPKO AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA'S PEACEKEEPING CENTER

REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 120


B. BUENOS AIRES 291

C. 05 BUENOS AIRES 3145

Classified By: Ambassador Lino Gutierrez, Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000458

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR DAN FISK
WHA FOR A/S SHANNON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2016
TAGS: MARR MOPS KPKO AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA'S PEACEKEEPING CENTER

REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 120


B. BUENOS AIRES 291

C. 05 BUENOS AIRES 3145

Classified By: Ambassador Lino Gutierrez, Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (U) DCM, accompanied by POLOFF, visited the Argentine
Joint Peacekeeping Training Center (CAECOPAZ) February 24 to
receive a briefing on CAECOPAZ's capabilities, as well as on
ongoing Argentine contributions to PKO's in Haiti (about 600
troops),Cyprus (about 400 troops),Kosovo (about 130 troops)
as well as individual observers to other PKO's.


2. (U) CAECOPAZ's mission is broken into three main phases:
a) training before departure; b) monitoring during
deployment; and c) debriefing and "decompression" after
return. In operation since 1995, CAECOPAZ (located just
north of Buenos Aires) has the capacity to train up to one
battalion per rotation, but also offers courses for
individuals. The U.S. maintains a full-time exchange officer
at CAECOPAZ and has provided significant assistance in the
form of an auditorium for lectures and equipment for computer
simulations. However, due to Brooke sanctions, we have been
unable to provide assistance since 2003. CAECOPAZ also hosts
exchange officers from Brazil and Bolivia, and hopes to soon
include officers from Canada, Chile, and the UK.


3. (C) The Director of CAECOPAZ, Colonel Tissolito, told DCM
that the Haiti PKO represented a new era in Argentine
contributions to international peacekeeping missions.
Overall, he said, the deployment had gone well, and the
Haitian residents in Gonaives (where the Argentine contingent
is located) had received them well, particularly given the
Argentines' quick provision of humanitarian assistance in the
aftermath of Hurricane Jeanne in September 2004. Tissolito
said the only significant problem was Argentina's lack of a
"strategic logistical" capability, i.e. the flexibility to
move spare parts and supplies to PKO operations when needed.
As it now stood, the Argentine contingent in Haiti must wait
for either the arrival of a new contingent every six months,
or the supply ship San Blas (which also doubled as the
Argentine's modest R&R facility). The San Blas, however,
which has been in the Caribbean since November, is returning
to Argentina in March. Tissolito said he was somewhat
worried about the added stress the absence of an R&R facility
could put on the Argentine peacekeepers.


4. (C) Speaking in broader terms, Tissolito said he detected
two mindsets in the Argentine armed forces. There was the
conventional, older view that still believed that the
Argentine military's main purpose was to defend Argentine
territory against outside attacks. The newer (and mostly
younger) viewpoint held that Argentine forces needed to
adjust quickly to a role of fighting asymmetrical warfare and
especially develop and strengthen their peacekeeping
capabilities. In this respect, he said, the new MOD Nilda
Garre was a pleasant surprise for adherents of the latter
view. Despite her left-wing credentials, Garre is strongly
supportive of deploying Argentine for PKO duties. (She listed
this as one of her top priorities in recent meetings with the
Ambassador, A/S Shannon and DASD Pardo Maurer. See reftels.)
Garre attended the January 27 sendoff at CAECOPAZ of the
most recent Haiti PKO rotation, and visited the troops in
Haiti Feb. 21.


5. (U) Reftels available at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires.< /a>


GUTIERREZ