ARGENTINA: NOMINATION FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000300 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/IWI DEPT ALSO FOR WHA/BSC DEPT ALSO FOR G/TIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KWMN PHUM PREL AR KCRM SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: NOMINATION FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE REF: STATE 00012871 ¶1. (U) Below is Post's response to reftel request for a woman of courage in Argentina. In Argentina, women have been leaders on a number of social and political issues, such as human rights abuses, drug abuse, poverty, and trafficking in persons. AmEmb Buenos Aires' nomination has faced danger and death threats in her efforts to combat human trafficking in Argentina and to find her missing daughter. ¶2. (U) Nominee: Susana Trimarco de Veron Title: Mother of trafficking in persons victim Maria de los Angeles Veron Institution: N/A DOB: Not available Contact information: Tel: 0381-432-2811 Cellular: 0381-15-589-6094 Email: Marita.Veron@gmail.com ¶3. (U) Susana Trimarco de Veron's daughter Marita Versn was kidnapped by a human trafficking ring on April 3, 2002 in San Miguel de Tucumn, Argentina when she was 23 years old. Desperate to find her daughter, Trimarco de Veron has dedicated herself to exposing the traffickers who kidnapped her daughter. ¶4. (U) In her search for her daughter, Susana Trimarco has uncovered evidence of trafficking networks operating in the provinces of La Rioja, Tucumn, Buenos Aires, Csrdoba and Santa Cruz provinces of Argentina. She has rescued 96 victims of human trafficking, including some 17 women from Argentina who were forced into prostitution in Bilbao, Burgos and Vigo in Spain. ¶5. (U) Trimarco de Veron's efforts have led her into dangerous situations, disguised as a prostitute, trolling bars and alleys in search of anyone who might know something about her daughter's whereabouts. She has been threatened, spied upon, and tricked. She has received false leads and death threats, but has not been deterred from her investigations into human trafficking in Argentina. ¶6. (U) Thanks to Trimarco de Veron's work, human trafficking is now gaining public and government attention in Argentina, and victims of forced labor and human trafficking are being encouraged to report the crime. Nearly 70 cases have been filed in Tucumn in the last five years regarding women and girls who have disappeared and are presumed trafficked. In May 2005, the Office for the Integrated Assistance for Victims of Crime (Oficina de Asistencia Integral a la Vctima del Delito - OFAVI) noted they were assisting two young women from Tucumn who were kidnapped using chloroform and forced into prostitution in La Rioja. ¶7. (U) Buenos Aires emboffs for women's issues are Heidi Gomez, gomezhn@state.gov and Martha Buckley, buckleym@state.gov. WAYNE