IAEA DG RACE: JAPANESE REQUEST APPROACHING CFK VIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000628 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/28/2029 TAGS: PREL KNNP AORC IAEA PARM AR SUBJECT: IAEA DG RACE: JAPANESE REQUEST APPROACHING CFK VIA AMBASSADOR TIMERMAN IN WASHINGTON REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0554 (B) STATE 46302 (C) BUENOS AIRES 0460 (D) BUENOS AIRES 0365 (E) BUENOS AIRES 0201 Classified By: Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). ¶1. (C) The head of the Japanese Embassy's political section in Buenos Aires, First Secretary Kenya Uno, called on polcouns May 26 and said Ambassador Yukiya Amano, Japanese candidate for Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, had visited Buenos Aires and met with Argentine FM Jorge Taiana May 18 but was not encouraged or discouraged by the meeting. He said there was no media coverage of the Amano visit. ¶2. (C) Uno said the GOJ thinks Argentine support for the South African candidate might be softer than it appears to be. According to Uno, Tokyo has deduced that potentially the most effective advocate inside the GOA to convince President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) to switch Argentina's support to Amano could be Argentina's Ambassador to the United States, Hector Timerman, who has a direct line to CFK and would "instantly" see how Argentina's vote could potentially help improve U.S.-Argentine relations. Uno said he had instructions from Tokyo to request that we ask the Department and the NSC to consider a demarche to Ambassador Timerman. ¶3. (C) Comment: Embassy sees merit in enlisting Ambassador Timerman to advocate for the GOA to switch its support to Amano. He does indeed have a direct line to CFK and arguably more influence with her than FM Taiana. If the Department succeeds in impressing upon Timerman the importance of getting the right candidate to lead the IAEA and moreover that Washington is watching the race very closely, Timerman may take it upon himself to deliver Argentina's vote. WAYNE