ARGENTINA REQUESTS ADVANCE NOTICE OF FUTURE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001884

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DRL FOR BORST

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV OPRC KIRF KPAO CASC AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA REQUESTS ADVANCE NOTICE OF FUTURE
INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORTS

REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 1047


B. SECSTATE 128772

C. BUENOS AIRES 1185

Classified By: AMBASSADOR E. ANTHONY WAYNE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (U) This is an action request. See para 7.


2. (C) Summary. On September 18, CDA was called in by the
MFA's Under Secretary for Bilateral Relations Vicente Espeche
Gil to discuss the Department's 2007 International Religious
Freedom Report. Espeche Gil reiterated GOA concerns that it
gets blindsided by the release of USG reports, leaving it
unprepared to respond to instant media requests for GOA
reactions. Espeche Gil noted that Argentine media have two
"very active" correspondents in Washington and that advanced
notice of USG "scorecards" on Argentina would help the GOA
ward off sensationalist distortions that could irritate
U.S.-Argentine relations. CDA stressed that this year's
report was very positive and offered to ask the Department to
consider allowing post to share in advance an embargoed copy
of the IRFR in the future. While post recognizes that the
GOA's reaction to this and other reports is overly sensitive,
the MFA has demonstrated a willingness to work with us on
managing the Argentine press to avoid undue political fallout
resulting from routine Department reports. Post recommends
that the Department consider sharing with cooperative
governments, such as Argentina, advanced copies of the 2008
IRFR --or its gist-- on the condition that the report remain
embargoed until after its public release (para 7). End
Summary.

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MFA Urges Advanced Notice to Manage Sensationalist Press
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3. (C) On September 18, CDA was called in by the MFA's
Under Secretary for Foreign Policy and Bilateral Relations
Vicente Espeche Gil to discuss the Department's 2007
International Religious Freedom Report. Espeche Gil
reiterated oft-repeated GOA concerns that USG reports are not
shared ahead of time with the GOA. (Note: In May, the MFA
called in the Ambassador to express displeasure for not being
advised ahead of time that the Department had updated the
Consular Information Sheet (CIS). The Argentine press had
characterized the CIS as a "severe" warning to American
tourists planning to travel to Argentina, prompting the MFA
at the direction of President Kirchner to issue a press
release stating that the CIS is "inadmissable" and contains
"characterizations that do not reflect the reality" of
Argentina (Ref A).) Espeche Gil noted that Argentine media
have two "very active" correspondents in Washington and that
early receipt of the report would help GOA efforts to
minimize the risk that the press will misrepresent the
reports in a manner that could irritate U.S.-Argentine
relations. He noted that the U.S. Embassy had shared this
year's Trafficking in Persons Report with the MFA ahead of
time with the understanding that the report was embargoed
until its actual release and asked why the procedures for the
IRFR's release was different.


4. (C) CDA noted that the Embassy provided a report to the
MFA's Office of Worship soon after the report was delivered
to the Congress. Poloff added that the report was embargoed
until one hour after its delivery to the U.S. Congress (ref
B) and that the Embassy had shared the report with the MFA's
Office of Worship shortly thereafter. CDA offered to ask the
Department to consider allowing post to share in advance an
embargoed copy of the IRFR in the future.


5. (C) CDA also stressed that this year's report was very
positive, noting the generally free practice of religion as
well as the GOA's efforts to promote inter-religious
dialogue. Espeche Gil expressed concern that the report did
not include all of the GOA's efforts to update and reform the
legal framework in which religious groups operate and offered
to set up a meeting with the MFA's Secretary of Worship. As
in previous MFA offers of assistance with official
appointments (ref C),Espeche Gil stated that an official
from the MFA's North America Directorate would broker and
attend the meeting. He added that instead of the USG
presenting the GOA with an "already cooked" report, the MFA
would like to have the opportunity "to season" the report
with their input. CDA noted that embassy officers, in
researching and drafting the report, had met with an MFA
official who had since departed the MFA. CDA explained that
the Embassy would continue to seek information from the MFA

and other sources, but that ultimately the U.S. Congress
required the State Department's independent assessment of
conditions in each country. The CDA said the Embassy
welcomes closer cooperation with the MFA on this and other
issues. He assured Espeche Gil that post would inform the
MFA's Office of North American Affairs of future reports as
soon as notification is permitted.

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Comment
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6. (C) Post recognizes that the GOA's reaction to this and
other reports may seem overly sensitive. At its root,
though, the reaction reflects a desire -- which we share --
to keep the sensationalist media from portraying conflict
where there is none. The MFA has demonstrated a willingness
to work with us on managing the Argentine press to avoid
undue political fallout resulting from routine Department
reports. For the Department's most recent TIP report, we
found the combined approach of informing the government ahead
of time and briefing the local press immediately after the
report's release to be effective. When the Department
updated the Country Background Notes, we used a similar
approach to great effect by giving the MFA advanced notice of
the report followed by a press briefing once the report was
published. End Comment.

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Action Request
--------------


7. (C) Post recommends that the Department consider sharing
with cooperative governments, such as Argentina, advanced
copies of the 2008 IRFR on the condition that the report
remain embargoed until after its public release. Given the
sensationalist tone Washington correspondents of Argentine
dailies have used to describe our reports in the past, we
believe that sharing an embargoed copy of the IRFR -- or at
least its key conclusions -- in advance of public release
will help to ensure that our reports receive balanced
coverage and avoid needlessly irritating the GOA. There are
three benefits to a day's advance notice. Such an approach
would:

-- provide more time to brief the government;
-- give the host government more time to internalize the
substance and prepare a reasonable commentary; and
--foster a more collegial working relationship with the GOA.


8. (C) In addition, we recommend that the Department give
posts greater than a one-or two-day notice that the report
will be released, so that we (and the MFA) have sufficient
time to prepare a strategy to reach out to journalists to
dampen their tendency to overdramatize.
WAYNE