ARGENTINA NAMES STRONG CHAVEZ ALLY AS AMBASSADOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000903

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV OVIP ENRG AR VZ
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA NAMES STRONG CHAVEZ ALLY AS AMBASSADOR
TO VENEZUELA

REF: 05 STATE 1049

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




1. (C) SUMMARY: The GOA announced April 18 that it was

seeking acceptance from the Government of Venezuela to name

former airline stewardess, union leader, congresswoman, and

Chavez ally Alicia Castro as the new Argentine Ambassador to

Venezuela. Castro, 56, is known as one of Chavez's most

ardent supporters in Argentina, and was a main force behind

the ""anti-Summit"" last November in Mar del Plata. Her

appointment comes at a time when Argentine-Venezuelan

relations were beginning to cool, and may represent an

attempt by President Kirchner to please both Chavez and the

Argentine left. We believe Castro will continue to advocate

that Kirchner pursue a closer relationship with Chavez rather

than act as a moderating influence. END SUMMARY.




2. (C) First elected to Congress in 1997, Castro was

reelected in 2001 and recently vacated her seat in December


2005. From 1991-2004 she also led the union that represents

Argentine flight attendants and pursers and still holds a

high-ranking position within the union. She worked as a

stewardess for Aerolineas Argentinas from 1969-1990.

Unmarried, Castro currently lives in Buenos Aires with her

18-year old daughter.




3. (C) Castro is an unflinching supporter of Chavez and his

policies (see reftel). In 2004, Castro sponsored four

pro-Chavez resolutions in the Argentine Congress. Last year

Castro called herself ""Chavez's vanguard in this country,""

and lauded Chavez's economic policies for their ""humanism and

better distribution of incomes."" (Rumors have swirled that

there is also a romantic relationship between the two.)

Castro also said that ""Bush is the real threat,"" and weapons

purchased by Venezuela from Spain ""are part of a strategic

defense."" In November 2005 she was one of the main speakers

at the anti-American ""People's Summit"" (at which Chavez also

delivered a 2-hour speech) that was held simultaneously with

the Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata. She also sent a

letter to President Bush several weeks before the Summit

asking him not to travel to Argentina because he represented

""a danger to the democracies of South America.""




4. (C) Kirchner,s decision comes at a time when relations

between Argentina and Venezuela had appeared to be cooling.

Kirchner had canceled a scheduled mini-Summit with Lula and

Chavez to be held in Mendoza after Bachelet,s inauguration

to discuss the Venezuela-Brazil-Argentina gas pipeline

project. Kirchner had said at the time that not enough

progress had been made in developing a serious project

proposal worthy of discussion by the heads of state.




5. (C) Kirchner has also remained concerned about Chavez,s

increasingly successful seduction of Morales, which he views

as meddling in Argentina,s backyard. (Note: Morales is

playing tough with the Argentines on the gas issue and the

Bolivia-Uruguay-Paraguay mini-Summit in Asuncion has

Chavez,s overt support.)




6. (C) In addition, Argentina and Venezuela have been

involved in a spat related to Venezuelan sales of fuel oil to

Argentina in 2004. The Venezuelan oil parastatal, PDVSA,

wants Argentina to pay nearly $20 million in shipping/port

costs when PDVSA vessels had to wait several months to

unload. Argentina argues that the sales contract did not

cover such a situation and refuses to pay. Finally,

Argentina,s recent lead role in blocking Venezuelan antics

at the recent CICTE meeting in Bogot brought tensions to a

head.




7. (C) COMMENT: From our point of view, the timing of

Castro,s appointment couldn't be worse, particularly in the

wake of Argentina,s position on Venezuela at the UNSC.

However, Chavez has not been invited back to Buenos Aires

since the Summit, and some believe that Kirchner may be

outsourcing his Venezuela policy to Alicia in Caracas, while

he tries to put some distance between himself and Chavez.

There is also an emerging rift among Kirchner,s advisors

between Planning Minister De Vido, who wants to avoid

ideology and keep the Venezuelan relationship strictly to

business, and the Bolivarian minority within the Peronist

movement headed by Alicia Castro. De Vido told us in a

meeting a couple of months ago that Kirchner would gladly

meet with Venezuelan opposition leaders here in Buenos Aires,

and noted that no requests had come in two years. The

Venezuelan opposition should take him up on this and try to

deflate some of the public momentum that Chavez won with

Castro,s appointment.




8. (U) Reftel available at

http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires.< /a>





GUTIERREZ


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