Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BUENOSAIRES186
2009-02-23 13:42:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Buenos Aires
Cable title:  

ARGENTINE FM TAIANA ACCEPTS SECRETARY'S INVITATION FOR

Tags:  AORC AY KSCA KTIA SENV TPHY AR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0186 0541342
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231342Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3082
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000186 

STATE FOR OES/OPA - LAWRENCE O. HUGHES
STATE FOR OES/FO - ELIZABETH O. COLTON
STATE FOR OES/PCI - NINA FITE AND FRANCES COLON
STATE FOR WHA/BSC

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC AY KSCA KTIA SENV TPHY AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINE FM TAIANA ACCEPTS SECRETARY'S INVITATION FOR
ANTARCTIC TREATY COMMEMORATION

REF: STATE 12850

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000186

STATE FOR OES/OPA - LAWRENCE O. HUGHES
STATE FOR OES/FO - ELIZABETH O. COLTON
STATE FOR OES/PCI - NINA FITE AND FRANCES COLON
STATE FOR WHA/BSC

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC AY KSCA KTIA SENV TPHY AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINE FM TAIANA ACCEPTS SECRETARY'S INVITATION FOR
ANTARCTIC TREATY COMMEMORATION

REF: STATE 12850


1. Post delivered Secretary Clinton's invitation to Argentina's
Foreign Minister to attend the April 6 event in Washington
commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty (reftel).
FM Taiana told the Ambassador that he planned to attend the event.
His office later confirmed that the FM would be pleased to deliver
remarks, if requested to do so.


2. Bio information follows:

Jorge Taiana was first appointed Foreign Minister by former
President Nestor Kirchner in December 2005. President Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner asked Taiana to remain as Foreign Minister in
her cabinet. Although not a career diplomat, Taiana has held
several diplomatic posts under various administrations, including
the position of Vice Foreign Minister from May 2003 to December 2005
under former President Nestor Kirchner. He was also the GOA's
coordinator for the IV Summit of the Americas, hosted by Argentina
in November 2005. During former President Menem's administration,
Taiana was first Director for International Organizations and then
Ambassador to Guatemala and Belize.

Political Background: Ambassador Taiana's public sector career
dates back to 1973 when he served as Chief of Cabinet in the
National Ministry of Education for his father, Jorge Alberto Taiana,
who was Minister during the third government of Juan Domingo Peron.
Taiana's father was also Peron's personal physician. Taiana was
active in the Juventud Peronista, the youth branch of the
Justicialista Party, and a supporter of the Montoneros, attending
high school with the future leaders of the leftist guerilla group.
Taiana and his wife were arrested by the military dictatorship
ostensibly in connection with the July 4, 1975 terrorist bombing in
Buenos Aires, which killed a waiter and a woman in a cafe. He spent
the next seven years in prison.

Previous Positions: After his release from prison, Taiana worked as
an analyst for the Under Secretariat of Programming of the Ministry
of Economy. Between 1984 and 1985 he served as Educational Advisor
for the Buenos Aires City Council. He was also an advisor to the
Committee of Foreign Relations of the Chamber of Deputies from 1987
to 1989. In 1989, he was appointed Under Secretary of Special
Organizations and Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Worship and later, Under Secretary of Foreign Policy in 1990.
Taiana has had a strong interest in human rights throughout his
career. He served as the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American
Human Rights Commission from 1996-2001 and from 2002 to 2003 he
served as Secretary of Human Rights of the Province of Buenos Aires.
Ambassador Taiana has broad experience in the academic area. He
worked as an assistant professor and lecturer from 1972 to 2001 for
several Argentine universities, - Universidad de Buenos Aires,
Universidad de Lomas de Zamora and Universidad Nacional de Quilmes-
and Guatemala -Universidad Rafael Landivar.

Personal Information: Ambassador Taiana was born in Buenos Aires on
May 31, 1950. He has a degree in Sociology from the Universidad de
Buenos Aires and a Master's degree in Social Sciences from FLACSO
(Latin American School of Social Sciences). He is a member of CARI
(Argentine Council for International Relations),CELS (Center for
Social and Legal Studies),and the Inter-American Dialogue in
Washington, DC. Taiana is married; he and his wife three children
and several grandchildren.

KELLY