ARGENTINA MAY NOT RATIFY ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000578 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2016 TAGS: PARM PREL KNNP AR SUBJECT: ARGENTINA MAY NOT RATIFY ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL BEFORE BRAZIL REF: BUENOS AIRES 3053 Classified By: AMB Lino Gutierrez, for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On March 8, in a meeting with Visiting Desk Officer Gomez, POLOFF, and POL Intern, Minister Ricardo Bocalandro of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke openly about the GOA's intentions to wait for Brazil before signing the Additional Protocol (AP). (Note: This is the same thing we have been hearing from GOA officals for over a year, see REFTEL. The only GOA official who is singing a different tune is Deputy Foreign Minister Roberto Garcia Moritan, who recently told Ambassador that Argentina will eventually ratify the Additional Protocol "with or without Brazil." End Note). Bocalandro stressed the importance of the two countries moving forward together in order to maintain regional equilibrium, which he said was important given the history of conflict between Argentina and Brazil. He emphasized that now there is a great deal of political cooperation between the two countries, and that Argentina prefers to wait until Brazil resolves the internal politics regarding the AP. ¶2. (C) Bocalandro believed that some in Brazil resented the United States' decision to cooperate on civilian nuclear energy with India, but that he did not see this same reaction in Argentina. He said that he did not think the private energy sector objected, rather that it was simply a matter of a country that prides itself on its sovereignty and needed time to make the decision. He said, "It is nationalism, but not in a bad way, in a rational sense". Bocalandro expressed confidence that it was simply a matter of time, before Brazil decided to ratify the AP. GUTIERREZ