AMBASSADOR MEETS ARGENTINE VP COBOS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001156 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2029 TAGS: PREL PTER SNAR KTIP SENV AR SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS ARGENTINE VP COBOS REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0971 (B) BUENOS AIRES 0653 (C) BUENOS AIRES 1148 Classified By: CDA Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Argentine Vice President Julio Cobos, long estranged from the Kirchners and now the country's most popular politician and leading contender for the presidency in 2011, received the Ambassador for a warm and friendly half-hour introductory courtesy call in his Senate office October 23. Cobos regretted a small anti-U.S. protest in Mendoza, his home province, but the Ambassador assured him that it had not marred her visit there, and that she was eager to return. Cobos gave a tour of the horizon that touched upon international relations, the economy, education, the environment, and other issues. End summary. Student Protests -------------- ¶2. (C) The Ambassador paid her introductory call on Argentine Vice President Julio Cobos in his Senate office October 23 accompanied by Polcouns. Cobos offered his regrets to the Ambassador for the student protesters she encountered (ref C) in Mendoza, his home province. (Note: Cobos had called the embassy shortly after the October 15 incident to express sympathy and concern.) The Ambassador said she had grown accustomed to student protesters during her 14 years of service on the Board of Regents of the University of California, and she assured him that it had not marred her visit there, and that she was eager to return. Cobos said he, too, endured many student protests while serving as dean of a technical university in Mendoza. Tour of the horizon -------------- ¶3. (C) Cobos congratulated the Ambassador on President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, and he said he was confident that President Obama would live up to the high expectations the international community had of him. He said he hoped Argentina would continue to be a strategic partner for the United States in combating narco-trafficking, terrorism, and trafficking in persons. Cobos told the Ambassador he thought Argentina's political class needed to develop a longer-term vision. He noted that economic growth in Argentina had been very uneven, and that Argentina's recent growth spurts had failed to translate into sustained economic development. He expressed optimism that regional integration via Mercosur would be a boon to Argentina, and he noted that the United States was Argentina's third biggest trading partner. ¶4. (C) Cobos said he hoped the new administration in Washington would work to reduce trade barriers, specifically on lemon and beef imports. Cobos claimed his home province of Mendoza (""the California of South America"") was the fifth largest wine exporter in the world. He noted that water resources and climate change had become of great concern to Mendoza, which had less than 200 mm of rainfall annually. Even with minimal rainfall, however, Mendoza was diligently exploiting irrigation to great effect in its agriculture and forestry. He was pleased that the Argentine Senate the previous day had unanimously approved new legislation governing Argentine glaciers, and he credited the recent visit to Argentina by former vice president Al Gore for spurring movement on the legislation. The Ambassador noted there were many areas for potential cooperation related to climactic change, citing NASA's upcoming launch of an Argentine satellite that will gather, among other things, meteorological and oceanographic data that will help track trends. ¶5. (C) Cobos praised Argentina as a country of great racial, ethnic, and religious diversity which nonetheless managed a peaceful coexistence of its various communities. He said it was remarkable that Argentina was still able to provide free university education but worried that education standards were rapidly declining, particularly at the primary level. He attributed this to a move away from the basics to a curriculum more focused on new technology. He said he was also troubled by the loss of respect for teachers and school authorities and the implication for school discipline. This led Cobos to express some unease about a growing disregard in Argentina for social comity, and the Ambassador quoted Benito Juarez's observation that ""respect for the rights of others is peace."" ¶6. (C) He asked about health care reform in the United States, and the Ambassador recapped recent legislative progress on the President's proposals. She also noted that U.S. epidemiologists at the center for Disease Control and elsewhere were learning from Argentina's experiences and looking for best practices in coping with H1N1 influenza during the recently concluded austral winter. Cobos said it was a relief that Argentina had survived the influenza season but worried about expected dengue outbreaks in the approaching austral summer season. Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) As in previous meetings with U.S. officials, Cobos was warm and gracious, conveying open admiration for President Obama and the United States with an ingratiatingly unpretentious style. MARTINEZ