Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BUENOSAIRES461
2009-04-21 14:20:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Buenos Aires
Cable title:  

ARGENTINA: MEDIA PRAISE FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA'S

Tags:  PREL KSUM EFIN ENRG ECON PGOV CU AR 
pdf how-to read a cable
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R 211420Z APR 09
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3579
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BUENOS AIRES 000461 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2019
TAGS: PREL KSUM EFIN ENRG ECON PGOV CU AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: MEDIA PRAISE FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA'S
SUMMIT PARTICIPATION; CFK SATISFIED WITH OUTCOME

REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 150

B. 08 BUENOS AIRES 1407

C. 08 BUENOS AIRES 1703

Classified By: CDA Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BUENOS AIRES 000461

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2019
TAGS: PREL KSUM EFIN ENRG ECON PGOV CU AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: MEDIA PRAISE FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA'S
SUMMIT PARTICIPATION; CFK SATISFIED WITH OUTCOME

REF: A. BUENOS AIRES 150

B. 08 BUENOS AIRES 1407

C. 08 BUENOS AIRES 1703

Classified By: CDA Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Argentine press reacted extremely favorably
to President Obama's participation in the Fifth Summit of the
Americas (SOA),describing the meetings as a new, positive
beginning for U.S.-Latin American relations. In a press
conference following the April 18 meeting between President
Obama and UNASUR heads-of-state, President Fernandez de
Kirchner (CFK) praised President Obama for listening and for
his sincerity, though she added that the U.S. would need to
take additional conciliatory actions to address lingering
Latin American distrust of the United States. Local press
drew attention to the fact that CFK did not have a bilateral
with President Obama and that Argentina was absent from most
official and even leaked descriptions of U.S. priorities or
plans for the region. Nonetheless, the media seemed to give
CFK a passing grade for her perceived performance. Her
opening remarks at the Summit were described as ""balanced""
despite the familiar jabs at the United States, and her call
for the U.S. to lift its embargo on Cuba resonated well. For
CFK's part, we hear that she was ""delighted"" with the Summit
and her interaction with President Obama, though she was
reportedly annoyed by negative media stories here that sought
to make an issue of the lack of a bilateral with him.


2. (U) Although photos of President Chavez's moments with
President Obama were run in virtually all papers, the
Venezuela-U.S. theme did not dominate local coverage.
Reporting on substance focused on Argentina's effort to
attract World Bank and IDB financing, on the lack of
agreement over the Summit communique, on Cuba policy, and to
a lesser extent on public security. Environment and energy
issues received relatively little attention. End Summary.


President Obama, Cuba Dominate Local Press
--------------


3. (U) Argentine press reporting on the Fifth Summit of
Americas was focused on two main themes: first, President
Obama's first extensive and positively received interaction
with Latin American leaders and second, the question of U.S.
Cuba policy (and Cuban participation in the OAS). The two
themes were intertwined, as the President's announcements on
dialogue with Cuba and on travel policy changes were
portrayed as key examples of a more balanced and
consensus-based approach to the Hemisphere by the United
States. The press duly noted the calls by President Obama
and Secretary Clinton for Cuba to release its political
prisoners, embrace democratic reforms, and observe human
rights.


4. (SBU) Pro-government daily ""Pagina 12"" got the ball
rolling with a large front page ""I (Heart) B O"" featuring the
President's face in the heart. The paper's coverage noted
the positive reaction of South American heads-of-state to
President Obama at the U.S.-UNASUR meeting and led with the
headline: ""This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.""


5. (U) Ana Baron, U.S. correspondent for largest circulation
daily ""Clarin,"" provided a glowing description of Latin
American reactions to President Obama's humility and
openness. She cautioned that President Obama's focus on
listening aside, it appeared the USG still intended to follow
its own course toward Cuba via a policy of gradualism and
calling for reforms on the island rather than acceding to the
consensus view of other leaders for a quick lifting of the
embargo. Indeed, statements by President Obama and WH
Spokesman Gibbs that the ball was in Cuba's court received
fair coverage on April 19, eliciting only mild implicit
criticism in left-leaning Pagina 12. Following the
U.S.-UNASUR meeting, Baron noted that all of the South
American heads of state appeared anxious to have an exchange
or a photo taken with President Obama.

CFK: Balanced, to a Point
--------------


6. (SBU) Media coverage of President Cristina Fernandez de
Kirchner's (CFK) opening speech at the SOA on April 17 was
light compared to the attention given to President Obama.
Local press described her remarks as balanced, with her
critiques of U.S. Cuba policy ""balanced"" by her recognition
that President Obama was new in office and had taken steps to
""lift the absurd restrictions"" placed by President Bush on
Cuba in 2004. She urged the U.S. to lift its ""blockade""
(sic) of Cuba. Somewhat discordantly, she contrasted U.S.

BUENOS AIR 00000461 002 OF 004


insistence on expelling Cuba from the OAS in 1962 due to
Soviet involvement on the island with the United States'
""failure to comply"" with its Rio Pact obligations of mutual
assistance toward Argentina when Argentina was ""attacked
(sic) by Great Britain in 1982."" She called on the creation
of a new regional order based on ""coordination, not
subordination, and integration, not interference"" to replace
what had been a ""traumatic relationship"" between the U.S. and
the region. FM Jorge Taiana echoed these comments when he
told reporters that ""the SOA demonstrated the hemisphere is
in a new phase based on the recognition of the importance of
dialogue, of respect, of the principle of non-intervention
and cooperation.""


7. (SBU) CFK said her criticisms were not a ""reproach"" to
President Obama. ""He was not responsible for the Washington
Consensus nor that bipolar (Cold War) world. Indeed, he,
too, may have had his civil, economic and political rights
trampled due to the color of his skin."" She also claimed
that the 2005 SOA in Mar del Plata had been a ""turning point""
in hemispheric relations because ""different countries of our
Americas, with different historical experiences and different
ideas said no to the Free Trade Area of the Americas."" In
the wake of that rebellion, Latin America left behind ""the
uncriticizing subordination to any (U.S.) proposal."" CFK
lamented that developing nations were unfairly being forced
to pay the consequences of a global crisis they did not
create.


8. (SBU) Following the U.S.-UNASUR meeting, CFK praised
Obama's participation, noting that it was a ""democratic""
meeting at which all spoke and that President Obama was
sincere in answering every head-of-state in turn. Slipping
into critical mode, she said that ""we all suggested that an
improved U.S.-Latin American relationship would require a
different attitude and commitment to non-interference by the
United States in the internal affairs of the other states.
This hasn't been the case for 30 years."" She alleged U.S.
quiescence over an ""institutional coup"" attempt against
President Evo Morales in 2008. Of the 2002 coup attempt
against President Chavez, moreover, she added that the ""only
government in the world which supported this endeavor was the
United States,"" in turn praising President Chavez for
dialoguing with President Obama despite this history.

CFK's Economic Agenda at the Summit
--------------


9. (SBU) With no bilateral meetings scheduled at the Summit,
CFK focused her attention on firming up multilateral
development bank (MDB) credits that have been in the works
for some time. Local media reports on CFK's public remarks
that ""we need the IDB to be recapitalized and provided with
more funds. Obama told us that he will study the
recapitalization (request). I believe that the study should
be short and the decision needs to be made quickly."" The
President met for 10 minutes with IDB President Luis Albert
Moreno on a US$ 1.5 ) 1.8 billion loan package to support
GOA ""social infrastructure and labor programs."" (Note: Ref B
reported on Moreno's October 2008 conversation with
Ambassador on growing GOA interest in expanded IDB credits in
the face of global credit crunch. The IDB was then working
with the Ministries of Social Development and Labor to
develop a $1.6 billion two-year program to revamp the
nation's social safety net programs. End Note.) Local media
also reported on CFK's meeting with World Bank Latin American
Director Pamela Cox to discuss a pending US$ 700 million
credit to fund the Riachuelo cleanup program. (Ref C for
details).

Brazil Encourages Support for Argentina
--------------


10. (SBU) An interesting economic subtext to the Summit were
overt efforts by Brazil's President Lula and his cabinet to
encourage IMF support for Argentina. (Comment: Argentina is
broadly considered ineligible for new IMF financial crisis
credit lines due to the unreliability of its statistics and
default status on some official and private debt. WH
Economic Advisor Summers' suggestion, quoted in Clarin, that
countries would not qualify unless they had sound economic
policies in place was read as meaning Argentina would in fact
not qualify. End Comment.) In an April 16 interview with
""La Nacion"" that was published on Sunday, April 19, Lula
remarked: ""We don't think there should be an IMF delegation
coming to check Argentina, Brazil, or Venezuela's accounts...
We don't want that any more. We don't want missions... We
don't want them to come and tell us we have to make fiscal
adjustments. That's for the authority and sovereignty of
each country to decide.""

BUENOS AIR 00000461 003 OF 004




11. (SBU) An April 20 article in ""Clarin"" reported that Lula
called the reporter's attention to this earlier interview,
noting ""We gave Cristina a hand, right?"" That same ""Clarin""
article quoted GOB sources on a meeting between National
Security Advisor James Jones, GOB Defense Minister Nelson
Jobim and Lula's foreign affairs advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia
in which the GOB told Jones that Argentina is key to regional
security and integration and that the region needs a strong
GOA and a strong Argentina. The article interpreted these
comments as a GOB request that the USG give Argentina
political and financial support.

Where Does Argentina Fit In?
--------------


12. (SBU) Despite Brazil's best efforts, the negative story
for the GOA out of the Summit was the repeated assertion or
implication that Argentina was not of great importance to the
USG's Latin American policy. Clarin's Baron quoted an
unnamed White House source saying that President Obama had
been interested only in five one-on-one conversations at the
SOA -- with the Presidents of Colombia, Peru, Haiti and Chile
and the Prime Minister of Canada.


13. (SBU) ""La Nacion"" on 19 April reported that the White
House had said Colombia would be the next country in Latin
America visited by the President. It also noted White House
confirmation that President Obama had developed an ""extensive
and very good dialogue"" with Brazilian President Lula. The
paper noted that Argentina had not been raised among possible
travel destinations and that there was no evidence of any
significant dialogue between CFK and President Obama at the
Summit. Other press had noted that Argentina was not among
the countries mentioned by President Obama in his remarks
either by name or by its capital. ""La Nacion"" also noted
that CFK did not meet with Labor Secretary Solis, as had
other heads-of-state and that her ""only"" bilateral with the
U.S. was with ""seven Members of Congress"" (i.e., Codel Engel).

Venezuela: An Interesting Sidebar
--------------


14. (SBU) Although the photos of Presidents Chavez and Obama
shaking hands or of Chavez presenting the President with a
book were run in all media, the lack of U.S.-Venezuela
theatrics made this a one-and-out story. Clarin ran an
interview with Chavez on April 19 in which Chavez described
how important he viewed the book he had presented to
President Obama, Eduardo Galleano's ""The Open Veins of Latin
America."" He confirmed his interest in ""becoming friends""
with President Obama and in an improvement in Venezuelan-U.S.
relations. He said that he could not imagine another Summit
without Cuba's participation and referred positively to
""Cristina's"" (CFK's) admonition that the Hemisphere not miss
a ""second opportunity"" to reestablish the inter-American
system with Cuba included, without conditions.

CFK's Take on the Summit
--------------


15. (C) After debriefing his boss on his return to the MFA
April 20, Foreign Minister Chief of Staff Alberto D'Alotto
reported that CFK and Taiana were ""delighted"" with the
Summit. They both were highly impressed with President
Obama's charisma, noting that he communicated humility and
leadership simultaneously. In the view of Argentina's
leaders, the new U.S. administration got off to a very good
start in a new relationship with Latin America at the Summit.
D'Alotto said that Taiana ranted about Argentine press
reports that President Obama ignored CFK or treated her
coolly. In fact, in Taiana's account, President Obama
eagerly sought CFK out, walking across a crowded hallway to
engage her. CFK, according to this version (documented by a
press photo showing CFK and her aide Carlos Zanini beaming in
his presence) had her share of face time with the POTUS.

Comment: Less Mileage from Anti-Americanism
--------------


16. (C) Although CFK stuck to some of her familiar themes in
criticizing the U.S. record in Latin America, she appeared
sincere in her suggestion that, from Argentina's perspective,
a new beginning was possible under the Obama Administration.
Memories of Kirchner and Chavez-led anti-American theatrics
in 2005 at Mar del Plata were dispelled, at least for the
local audience, with the upbeat photos of CFK with President
Obama. With less political space for profitable
anti-American posturing and little to show in terms of a
positive foreign policy agenda, the CFK Administration finds

BUENOS AIR 00000461 004 OF 004


itself without much to build on for domestic political
consumption from the Summit. At a minimum, though, CFK did
not make any noteworthy misstep at Port of Spain.
WAYNE