ARGENTINA LIKELY TO TAKE MIDDLE GROUND ON U.S.

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 002101 SIPDIS SIPDIS WHA/USOAS FOR SARAH HANKINS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2017 TAGS: KTIA PHUM PREL UN AR SUBJECT: ARGENTINA LIKELY TO TAKE MIDDLE GROUND ON U.S. YEAR OF ACTION PROPOSAL AT OAS REF: A. SECSTATE 145292 ¶B. BUENOS AIRES 02413 Classified By: AMBASSADOR E. ANTHONY WAYNE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) On October 23 poloff delivered ref A points to Eduardo Zuain, MFA Counselor who covers indigenous rights issues. Zuain replied that the GOA will not support our request to suspend ongoing negotiations on the OAS Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIP). However, he indicated that the GOA would likely support our Year of Action proposal, but will need to further consider the proposal. (Comment: Zuain apparently saw no contradiction between the two positions he advanced. End Comment.) ¶2. (SBU) Zuain expressed mild frustration with the pace and productivity of the DRIP negotiations, opining that "many countries would probably like to suspend them." However, the GOA faces tough pressure to continue supporting negotiations from strong indigenous people's rights lobbies, and unnamed countries' that have an interest in "neither suspending nor accelerating" continued negotiations. (Comment: As reported in Ref B, Foreign Minister Taiana is personally interested in the DRIP, as he spearheaded a similar effort during his tenure as Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in 1996-2001. End Comment.) Zuain summarized the negotiations discussion by saying "the train has left the station," and that for the aforementioned and other reasons it is probably necessary to allow negotiations to continue. ¶3. (SBU) Zuain closed the meeting by reiterating GOA support for U.S. efforts to accelerate the overall process and seek practical solutions, and noted that should the GOA choose to support the Year of Action proposal, they would be interested in drawing from all or parts of Argentina's National Indigenous Rights Plan for use in new proposals or initiatives generated from the Year of Action. WAYNE