BUENOS AIRES MAYOR TELERMAN ON CITY AND NATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001502

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL AR
SUBJECT: BUENOS AIRES MAYOR TELERMAN ON CITY AND NATIONAL
POLITICS

REF: BUENOS AIRES 01240

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


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In an August 1st meeting with
Ambassador, Buenos Aires Mayor Jorge Telerman expressed his
personal affinity for the U.S. and said he thought
U.S.-Argentine relations were "like the swing of a pendulum"
and would move in the other direction eventually. Telerman
offered his views on city and national politics. Telerman
said that a major challenge for Argentines was creating
strong institutions with consistent predictable practices.
He argued that his experience as mayor had prepared him well
for the negotiations over the transition of power to
Mayor-elect Mauricio Macri, which he said are going well and
which he hoped can help set a good example for political
transition elsewhere in the country. Telerman said that he
thought that creating a city-run police force or transferring
control of the federal police in the capital to the city
government will be much more complicated than what is being
portrayed in the media. It will take years. Telerman
candidly shared his view of the general political panorama in
Argentina, lamenting Argentina's inability to break the
boom-bust cycle it has been on for decades. Telerman
explained that the Civic Coalition, with whom he campaigned
for mayor and which now supports center-left leader Elisa
Carrio's presidential candidacy, has the potential to bring
change to the political party system in Argentina, but he
fears it will just end up representing more of the same. On
the growing problem of shanty towns in the capital, Telerman
said he believes the federal government is not doing enough
to improve the conditions of the poor. This is a national,
not a city, problem fueled by the attraction of jobs and
services in the capital. He asked Ambassador for assistance
with exploring a temporary teaching position in the U.S, so
that he may be out of the spotlight immediately following the
end of his mandate in December. Although Telerman did not
make any direct comments about his defeat in the June mayoral
elections, he seemed disappointed by his loss but determined
to continue in politics. He said the fact that he received
21.7 percent of the vote demonstrated that there is a
"political space" that could be filled again in the future.
END SUMMARY.

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Strong Cooperation
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2. (SBU) On August 1, Ambassador Wayne and poloff received
Buenos Aires Mayor Jorge Telerman. The Ambassador thanked
Telerman for the city's strong cooperation and support to the
U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires on security, commercial, and
cultural issues. Telerman expressed his personal affinity
for the U.S., where he spent several years as an Argentine
diplomat and where one of his children was born. He said
that although U.S.-Argentine relations are going through a
difficult period, he believes that this will eventually
change ("like the swing of a pendulum"),as many Argentines
share his feelings of friendship toward the U.S.

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Political Outlook: Buenos Aires
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3. (SBU) Telerman did not explain his future plans, which,
according to local press, include creating his own party and
seeking a legislative office in 2009. But he did say that
his 21.7 percent in the face of a government supported
candidate and a powerful center-right candidate indicated
that there is a "political space" out there to fill for an
alternative political force. He said that he loves and feels
very comfortable working in government and feels proud of his
performance as mayor. (NOTE: Telerman has been acting-mayor
of Buenos Aires since 2006, when then-Mayor Anibal Ibarra was
removed from office in the fallout from the Cromagnon night
club fire. END NOTE.) He said that he was forced to remain
open to dialog and consensus (a unique approach to governing
in Argentina, according to him) because of this circumstance.
He highlighted that the city budget process was done
publicly for the first time under his leadership. Telerman
said that since he did not have any legislators in the city
legislature on his side, he had to negotiate the budget
through a more public dialog than his predecessors.


4. (SBU) Telerman said that his experience as mayor had
prepared him well for the negotiations over the transition of
power to Mayor-elect Mauricio Macri, who will assume office
on December 10 (SEE REFTEL). He described the transition
negotiations as very smooth and congratulated Macri for
having run a very successful campaign. Although Macri has
asked that Telerman cut public works spending and collect
over-due taxes to reduce the city's debt before December,
Telerman said he hopes to find an alternative solution to
cutting public works funding. He said he hoped that the
proposed budget cut would not be approved in the city
legislature, which he thought would vote on it later this
month. Telerman also said he hoped a smooth political
transition in the city could set a model for others as
Argentina does not have a tradition of smooth transitions
between administrations.


5. (SBU) Telerman said that he thought that creating a
city-run police force or transferring control of the federal
police in the capital to the city government will be much
more complicated than what is being portrayed in the media.
(NOTE: The three main candidates for the June mayoral
race--Mauricio Macri of PRO, Daniel Filmus of Kirchner's
Victory Front (FPV),and Telerman--all promised to work for a
city-run police force in their campaigns. The city currently
does not have its own police force, but is policed by federal
police officers. Since Macri's win on June 24, he has had a
series of meetings with President Kirchner and Cabinet Chief
Alberto Fernandez, in which the federal government agreed to
revise the law governing the city's control of a police
force, but has not agreed on details or on resources.
Macri's camp is pushing for a conversion of federal police
into city police and for federal funding to run the city
police force. END NOTE.) Telerman said he suspects that the
Kirchner administration will not transfer power over the
police in the city, or if it does, it will probably be
without funding to make Macri's management of a city force
difficult, if not impossible. (NOTE: There is some
opposition in other provinces to the idea of federal funding
for a city force. Provinces receive no federal funds for
provincial police and argue Buenos Aires should not either.
END NOTE.) Telerman explained that his plan for the police
was much more gradual and comprehensive, with a plan to
deputize 600 officers this year, 700 next year, and then
gradually increase the number of officers each year. He
cited the six to eight year transition in Madrid as an
example to follow.

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Political Outlook: Argentina
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6. (SBU) Telerman candidly shared his view of the general
political panorama in Argentina, lamenting Argentina's
inability to break the boom-bust cycle it has been on for
decades. He said that Argentines have a hard time accepting
normalcy, seeking exceptional solutions to their problems and
then suffering exceptional consequences of those extreme
solutions. He described Argentina as a country that lives
the extreme of what others experience: where other countries
have international disagreements, Argentina nearly declares
war on Chile and fights a war over the Malvinas; where other
countries have problems with inflation, Argentina has two
periods of hyperinflation; where other countries have
domestic political unrest, Argentina suffered "dozens of
thousands" of disappearances and murders under the
dictatorship. Telerman said that he believes this pattern
and the perpetual state of institutional weakness in the
country are due to an inability to accept the normal
development of institutions. He said that each leader--at
all levels of government and society--scraps the work of his
predecessor and starts over. He said he thought it was due
more to naivete than to malicious intent, but nevertheless is
detrimental to the strengthening of institutions over time.
Telerman added that he plans to vote for a female for
president (NOTE: There are currently two females running for
president in October: First Lady Cristina Kirchner and
center-left leader Elisa Carrio. Telerman coyly did not

disclose which of them he prefers. END NOTE.) because men
have already had a chance to improve all of these things and
have not. He said he hopes a woman might do a better job.


7. (SBU) Telerman explained that the Civic Coalition, with
whom he campaigned for mayor and which now supports
center-left leader Elisa Carrio's presidential candidacy, has
the potential to bring change to the political party system
in Argentina, but he fears it will just end up representing
more of the same. He said that he would like to see the
coalition incorporate distinct points of view and various
political groups, but he sees it moving more in the direction
of serving as a vehicle to attain power for a strong leader.
Telerman lamented that the traditional political parties seem
to have no interest in real reform and rather perpetuate the
system of strong leaders and weak institutions in Argentina.
He was not hopeful for significant opportunities for new
political parties outside of the biggest cities, like Buenos
Aires, Santa Fe, and Mendoza. He highlighted that in Buenos
Aires, he and Macri obtained over 70 percent of the votes
against Kirchner's more traditional political party FPV,
which indicates there is room in Buenos Aires for new
political entities to be successful.


8. (SBU) On the growing problem of shanty towns in the
capital, Telerman said he believes the federal government is
not doing enough to improve the conditions of the poor. He
said that the "villas," as they are called locally, could be
urbanized and converted into legitimate neighborhoods within
three to four years. He said that would require resources
beyond what the city can contribute, but he does not see any
indications of federal development or social assistance
planning that would address the mismanagement of resources
meant to improve the villas. He said that while the city
will continue to try to address the issues of the villas, he
does not expect any real progress until the federal
government starts cooperating at the same time in development
and improvement efforts.

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Looking to get out of Dodge
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9. (C) Telerman asked Ambassador for assistance in
establishing communications about a temporary teaching
position as a visiting professor at a U.S. university. He
said that he would like to be away from Buenos Aires after
his mandate ends in December.

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Comment
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10. (C) Although Telerman did make any direct comments
about his defeat in the June mayoral elections, he did say
that it was a shame to "have suffered the consequences of
rage," in an apparent allusion to the Kirchner
administration's smear campaign against him in favor of the
FPV candidate Daniel Filmus. Telerman's request for
assistance to get away from Buenos Aires during Macri's first
few months as mayor also indicates that he is disappointed
and probably pretty tired after his defeat in June. He is an
astute and affable politician who will probably return to
Argentine politics in 2009 for a city or national legislative
office. END COMMENT.
WAYNE