ARGENTINA: AMBASSADOR WAYNE'S JUNE 20 & 21

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001236

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: AMBASSADOR WAYNE'S JUNE 20 & 21
MEETINGS WITH JUJUY AND NEUQUEN GOVERNORS


Classified By: Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On June 20 and 21 Ambassador Wayne
received governors of two key border provinces. Presidential
candidate and Neuquen Governor Jorge Sobisch described the
main themes of his long-shot presidential run. Jujuy's
Governor EduardoFellner stated his continuing commitment to
anti-drug cooperation and his hopes for further development
of his frontier province. The Ambassador had extended an
invitation to meet with all of the governors whenever they
are in Buenos Aires. END SUMMARY.

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Jujuy: Northwest Border with Bolivia and Chile
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2. (SBU) On June 20, Ambassador Wayne and emboffs received
Governor Eduardo Fellner and Minister of Production Hugo
Tobchi who represent the northwest border province of Jujuy.
Fellner, who has already served nine years as governor of
northern province Jujuy, started by highlighting the
excellent counter-drug cooperation between federal and
provincial police and the embassy. The vast majority of
cocaine coming into Argentina from Bolivia enters via Jujuy,
and there is a long standing DEA cooperation in the province
which began under Fellner's leadership. He also explained
the importance of local industries in his province such as
tobacco, which employs 20-25 thousand in Jujuy and exports
80-85 percent of its production. He noted that U.S.
companies are involved in the processing and purchasing of
Jujuy's tobacco crop. Fellner and Tobchi mentioned that they
were interested in exploration for hydrocarbons in the
province and that they would welcome the participation of
U.S. companies. They explained that Jujuy in 2005 had opened
a new highway into Chile that gives cargo shipments quicker
access to ports. Fellner mentioned that President Kirchner's
support and federal funding were essential to the completion
of the full transportation grid. Fellner said that Jujuy's
tourism industry is underdeveloped and lags behind other
provinces, despite the potential of its natural beauty which
has similarities to the U.S.'s southwest. He said he thought
this could be overcome with some investment and modernization
of the province.


3. (C) Fellner said that he was happy to be finishing his
mandate as governor in December after so many years. Fellner
said that he personally believes in changing leaders, but he
had only pushed to amend the provincial constitution to allow
indefinite reelection at President Kirchner's request. He
said that, luckily, the widely publicized defeat of
indefinite reelection in Misiones in October 2006 ended
Kirchner's pressure for the amendment. While content to leave
his post as governor, Fellner said he hoped that U.S.
investment and interest in the province would deepen.

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Neuquen: Oil-rich Border Province and Presidential Ambitions
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4. (U) On June 21, Ambassador Wayne and poloffs received
Neuquen Governor and presidential candidate Jorge Sobisch and
his son Federico Sobisch. (COMMENT: Sobisch is a
center-right politician from a regional party. He has no
national party structure and has no real chance of winning
the presidential elections in October. Local pollsters have
consistently shown him with less than 1 percent of estimated
votes. END COMMENT.) Sobisch explained that he had
implemented more orthodox economic practices in his home
province and how their success had spread to other provinces.
Sobisch described his main campaign messages as: pursuing
long-term economic planning for the country, strengthening
democratic institutions, and a more concrete, open foreign
policy. He criticized the Argentine habit of trying to
reconstruct the government from scratch after each election.
He said that since 1983, each new president has changed all
of the policies of his predecessor, instead of trying to
build on the success and learn from the mistakes, as has been
in other countries with steadier development paths. He was
very critical of what he described as the lack of any real
foreign policy under President Kirchner.


5. (C) Sobisch said that the current administration's
short-term focus was bringing the country problems like food
and energy shortages. He said that we are starting to see
the cracks in the surface of Kirchner's regime. He strongly
criticized the current energy subsidy program, pointing out
that the generally poorer provinces were subsidizing the
richer city of Buenos Aires' energy consumption.


6. (SBU) Sobisch told Ambassador that he has enjoyed good
relations with the U.S. and that his province has benefited
from them. He joked that he would be very pleased to receive
the Ambassador at the Casa Rosada in December, saying "we
have much work to do together."


7. (SBU) Sobisch explained that he has worked in Neuquen to
explore renewable energy sources and alternative solutions to
problems, so that the province would have options as its oil
and gas resources waned. He also mentioned a major public
works project to use alternative water processing to bring
potable water to four cities in Neuquen. He said that the
country needs more policies like these and must try to make
its economy more horizontal. The governor added that
Neuquen's abundant petroleum resources gave it a financial
independence that few other provinces have. He lamented the
increased financial dependence of provinces on the federal
government and said he favored a tax reform to increase the
provincial share of tax revenue.


8. (SBU) Ambassador Wayne expressed his condolences for the
accidental death of a teacher during teachers' union strikes
in April. Sobisch said that he thought the political fallout
from that death had mostly passed, and that although the
situation had a high political cost, he thought it was
essential that elected officials fulfill their mandates and
take responsibility for their management. (COMMENT: This is
not the usual Argentine response to difficult situations.
Most politicians resign their positions when faced with a
situation of this magnitude. END COMMENT.)
WAYNE