ARGENTINA: AMBASSADOR MEETS BUENOS AIRES MAYOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001222 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2029 TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC AMGT AR SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: AMBASSADOR MEETS BUENOS AIRES MAYOR MACRI Classified By: Ambassador Martinez for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Buenos Aires city mayor Mauricio Macri let slip to the Ambassador that he intends to run for president in 2011. He criticized the Kirchners for the failure of their economic model, for the country's growing crime problems, and for alienating the United States. He also reiterated past criticisms that the USG was "too soft" on the Kirchners. The Ambassador said Washington remained fully committed to deepening and strengthening relations with Argentina. Macri also reiterated an earlier invitation for the United States government to build a new site in prime real estate in downtown Buenos Aires. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Mayor Macri received the Ambassador for an introductory call at City Hall on November 9. He was accompanied by his Secretary General Marcos Pena, international relations advisor Diego Guelar (former ambassador to the United States),and city international relations department chief Fulvio Pompeo. The Ambassador was accompanied by DCM and polcouns (notetaker). Macri's Take on the Kirchners -------------- ¶3. (C) The Ambassador asked about relations between the city, the province and the federal government, particularly in coordinating police coverage and public security. Macri bluntly said, "There are no relations with the Kirchner administration at all." He said he would be meeting with President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner later that day, but that it was only the second time in almost two years that they have met. He said the GOA had not been receptive to city overtures to discuss jurisdiction responsibilities to be divided between the new metropolitan police force and the PFA. Indeed, Macri said he suspected the GOA was deliberately fostering havoc in the streets in order to sabotage his new metropolitan police force from the outset. ¶4. (C) The Ambassador said she had noticed in the press that a judge had dismissed charges against (Kirchner-allied "piquetero" social activist) Luis D'Elia for seizing a police station despite the strong evidence against him, including videotape of D'Elia. Macri said he considered the court ruling a prime example of judicial susceptibility to intimidation, but he also said he believed the decision would be appealed. ¶5. (C) The Ambassador noted that Macri, like many other Argentines she had spoken with, had used the word "fear" in describing the current political climate. Macri said the Kirchners often succeeded by bullying their opponents and critics, but now that 80% of the Argentine public reject the Kirchners, he thought the media were pushing back against the Kirchners where political and business leaders had not. He reprised an earlier conversation with then-WHA A/S Shannon regarding the need to set limits on the Kirchners' misbehavior and the USG's supposed "softness" on the Kirchners. He argued that the USG's "silence" on the abusive mistreatment it suffered at the hands of the Kirchners (such as at the 2005 Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas) had encouraged more of the same. ¶6. (C) Macri also ridiculed the Kirchners for touting an economic "model" that had left 30% of Argentines in poverty. "What kind of model is that?" he asked. ¶7. (C) Macri said the Kirchners had succeeded in alienating Washington to the point where Washington did not care what Argentina (unlike Brazil or Chile) had to say about anything. The Ambassador sought to disabuse Macri of that notion, arguing that Washington remained fully committed to deepening and strengthening relations with Argentina. She pointed out that Washington was keenly aware of Argentina's position in the world as an agricultural powerhouse and of Argentine cooperation, actual and potential. As an example, she cited Argentina's role in developing satellites to be launched by NASA as evidence of Washington's appreciation for the high-tech value that Argentina could bring to bear. Macri's Running! -------------- ¶8. (C) In discussing agricultural trade, Macri let slip his presidential ambitions for 2011. He said beef exports may not be an issue for the Kirchners (because they want to keep beef at home),but beef will be an issue for him in a couple of years (i.e., when he is president). New Embassy Building? -------------- ¶9. (C) Macri also asked about USG plans to relocate the Embassy and referred to a previous offer to provide a site for a new office building. (The site is located in downtown Buenos Aires, less than two miles from the Casa Rosada, in an old industrial area that the city wishes to develop into an upscale neighborhood that would include a number of Embassies -- see 08 Buenos Aires 1564.) The Ambassador and DCM explained (as we did in late 2008 after consulting with Washington) that the Department was committed to finding a site that would conform to new security requirements, but that the size of the project and more pressing demands elsewhere meant that it would be several more years before the project could get underway in Buenos Aires. Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) The meeting was another reminder of Macri's directness, his Manichean view of the world, and his discomfort with the niceties of interpersonal communication (he cut off the meeting abruptly after about twenty minutes). These are all qualities that he shares with Nestor Kirchner, his bitter political rival. Macri's insistence that the USG publicly reproach the Kirchners for their various transgressions suggests an unrealistic desire that Washington do the opposition's bidding. Nonetheless, the mayor remains one of the top contenders for the 2011 presidential race (arguably the second most competitive candidate, after Vice President Julio Cobos). We will continue to engage him actively as the elections approach. MARTINEZ