ARGENTINA: AMBASSADOR ENCOUNTERS PROTESTERS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001148

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2029
TAGS: PGOV KPAO ASEC PHUM SOCI KDEM AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: AMBASSADOR ENCOUNTERS PROTESTERS IN
MENDOZA; PUBLIC AND (EVENTUALLY) GOVERNMENT SUPPORT HER

REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 1084 (B) BUENOS AIRES 0526

Classified By: DCM Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: During her first trip outside of Buenos
Aires, Ambassador Martinez was forced to change the location
of a speech at the National University of Cuyo due to
disorderly protests by far-left groups on October 15. Public
reaction has been mostly sympathetic to the Ambassador and
critical of the protesters, and the Ambassador's subsequent
statements were well-received. The government took a few
days to comment publicly on the incident, but the GOA Chief
of Cabinet eventually denounced it on drive-time radio
programs on October 19. President Cristina Fernandez de
Kirchner (CFK),receiving the Ambassador's credentials later
that day, said "there is intolerance everywhere," which the
media interpreted as a sign of support for the Ambassador.
End Summary.

Ambushed by Student Protesters
--------------


2. (SBU) On October 15, Ambassador Martinez, accompanied by a
control officer, press assistant, and two bodyguards,
traveled to the National University of Cuyo in Mendoza to
meet with administrators and deliver a speech on foreign
policy. The visit was one of many events planned for the
Ambassador's first trip outside of Buenos Aires. The
university hosts a number of U.S. college students studying
abroad, has worked well with Embassy Buenos Aires in the past
on exchange programs, and has expressed a strong interest in
deepening cooperation with the Embassy and with U.S.
universities. After arriving at the university, the
Ambassador met with Vice Rector Kent and Institutional
Relations Coordinator Abihaggle, as well as representatives
from each of the university's schools. During the meeting,
Vice Rector Kent mentioned to the Ambassador that there were
a few members of a leftist student organization planning on
protesting her speech. He added that he did not think there
were more than five or six protestors and that while they
might make some noise, they would not cause a significant
problem. After hearing about this potential disruption, the
Ambassador responded that with fourteen years of experience
as a member of the Board of Regents for the University of
California system, she was accustomed to such disruptions.
All of the participants in the meeting then proceeded to the
medical faculty where the speech was to be held.


3. (SBU) The Ambassador entered the lecture hall, which was
filled with approximately 70 attendees, all of whom were
sitting quietly in their seats. A university administrator
made a few opening remarks and then passed the microphone to
Vice Rector Kent. Once Vice Rector Kent began to introduce
the Ambassador, more than half the attendees stood up, began
to sing and displayed large banners denouncing U.S. actions
in Honduras, Colombia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The protestors
criticized the Embassy's involvement in the labor dispute
between unions and Kraft Foods (ref a). The Ambassador
waited in the hope that the protest would die down, but after
approximately eight to ten minutes of continued yelling,
singing, and drum-banging by the protestors, she decided that
it was unlikely the protestors would allow her to deliver her
speech. The university administrators, bodyguards and the
Ambassador's party then moved to another room within the same
building. (One of the protestors threw an orange at the
departing Embassy group that thankfully missed its target.)
Local police and the Ambassador's bodyguards then screened
those interested in listening to her speech in the separate
location, first at the entrance to hall where the room was
located and then at the door of the room itself. She then
delivered her speech and took questions from the audience
without incident.

Media and Public Sympathy for the Ambassador
--------------


4. (U) The incident has been widely reported and commented on
in the Argentine media. Ambassadorial activity in the
provinces rarely makes national news, but in this case
reports of the protest reached the national level, including
the top circulation dailies, "Clarin" and "La Nacion." Clips
of the protest were aired on national TV and radio, prompting
commentary during the weekend. Pundits tied the incident to
the violent attack in remote, northern Jujuy province a day
later on the head of the opposition Radical Party, Senator
Gerardo Morales, who was assaulted and heckled by a group of
pro-government picketers. Columnists Joaquin Morales Sola in
La Nacion and Fernando Gonzalez in El Cronista Comercial said

that the two episodes reflected increasing political
intolerance fueled from the top down in Argentine society.
La Nacion ran a photo of the protest next to a front-page
editorial on the decline of standards of courtesy and public
discourse, though the editorial said nothing about the
incident as it focused on the obscene anti-media tirade by
Argentina's national team soccer coach Diego Maradona.


5. (U) All the articles and TV and radio reports made a point
of showing or describing how the Ambassador endured the
heckling and waited patiently and calmly to speak as the
protest was happening. Her comment afterwards that "I
listened to them, but unfortunately they did not want to
listen to me" was highlighted in most of the stories.
National daily "Clarin" and Mendoza daily "Los Andes"
followed up with reports on the Ambassador's breakfast talk
to Mendoza leaders the next day. Both chose to quote her
comment that "we all need to work together against
intolerance." In the blogosphere, comments posted on media
websites and on the Embassy's Facebook page strongly
criticized the demonstrators and expressed sympathy toward
the Ambassador. The few exceptions were posted in the name
of leftist organizations, focused on solidarity with the
workers at Kraft and sought to link the Ambassador's legal
work for U.S. corporations with union-busting.

Putting the University on Notice
--------------


6. (SBU) Shortly after the event concluded, CAO spoke by
phone to Vice Rector Kent and conveyed Embassy,s
disappointment that security failed. Kent expressed regret
about the "uncomfortable incident" and lamented that among
the university's 40,000 students, there were inevitably a
small number with leftist views, intolerant attitudes, and
ties to extremist parties, and that it was impossible to
completely screen them out. However, he acknowledged that
the university's security arrangements were inadequate. Kent
sought to emphasize that the protestors' opinions were in no
way representative of the university or of the vast majority
of its students, and noted that the Ambassador was ultimately
able to give her speech. CAO replied that nonetheless, the
very awkward incident would make it difficult to deepen
Embassy cooperation with the University, which the
university,s rector had emphasized as one of his goals.

Government Conveys Solidarity, Eventually
--------------


7. (SBU) The incident took place while President Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) and Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana
were on a state visit to India, and perhaps reflecting their
absence, the government hesitated to comment publicly on the
case. Taiana's chief of staff called the DCM a few hours
after the incident to register the Foreign Ministry's
"solidarity" with the Ambassador; news of the call was
promptly reported by the government wire service TELAM.
Argentine Ambassador to the United States Hector Timerman
called the Ambassador to express his sympathy.


8. (C) On Monday, October 19, four days after the incident,
Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez publicly commented on it.
Labeling it "embarrassing" and criticizing the protestors'
"Nazi methods," Fernandez said "these kinds of things
shouldn't happen. He also claimed (falsely) that he had
called the Ambassador over the previous weekend to express
his sentiments personally.


9. (SBU) Later that same day, as she received the
Ambassador's credentials, CFK told the Ambassador "there is
intolerance everywhere," which the media interpreted as a
sign of support for the Ambassador. CFK and the Ambassador
chatted amiably for about five minutes. Afterward, in
remarks to the press, CFK said she was positively impressed
by the Ambassador's distinguished record in civil rights, and
she reiterated her view that President Obama's designation of
a woman lawyer to be ambassador to Argentina was a "personal
gesture" to CFK.

Comment
--------------


10. (C) Much of the Argentine public was positively impressed
by the way which the Ambassador, unfazed, held the high
ground, and she struck a chord among many Argentines when she
called for working together against intolerance. Many
Embassy contacts are appalled and worried by the growing lack
of civility in political discourse and the impunity with


which protesters shout down speakers, "piqueteros" block
roads and shut down bridges or attack people celebrating
Israel's anniversary, workers seize factories, and students
occupy schools.


11. (C) Under the Kirchner administrations, GOA authorities
have been loathe to engage in anything that appears to be
repressive of free speech. This reluctance is often
attributed to be a reaction to the heavy-handed repression
used by the 1976-83 military dictatorship, and also a
recognition (stemming from the 2001-02 crisis) that protests
can serve to let off steam. This bias may also explain the
government's initial reluctance to publicly condemn the
aggression against the Ambassador, at least at a high level.
Another factor is the government's frequent complicity in mob
attacks against political opponents. In the October 16
attack in Jujuy on opposition UCR leader Morales, it was
clear that the marauding "piqueteros" receive GOA financing
(ref b). In the Mendoza protest of the Ambassador's speech,
there is no evidence of a direct link to the Kirchners; some
of the protestors also denounced the government. In any
event, we also believe it a fairly isolated incident, and we
do not intend to let it deter us from keeping up our public
diplomacy outreach efforts.

MARTINEZ