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Viewing cable 08BUENOSAIRES1706, Argentina: Former President Nestor Kirchner Criticizes a

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08BUENOSAIRES1706 2008-12-18 09:43 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Buenos Aires
VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1706/01 3530943
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180943Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2703
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001706 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO KMDR SNAR PHUM AR
SUBJECT: Argentina: Former President Nestor Kirchner Criticizes a 
Cast of Thousands 
 
1. (SBU) Summary.  Former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner 
attacked Vice President Julio Cobos, the opposition, the United 
States, and the press in remarks to party faithful December 16. 
Kirchner accused Cobos of intentionally trying to hinder Cristina 
Fernandez de Kirchner's administration and claimed that opposition 
leader Elisa Carrio has been co-opted by business elites and the 
rural oligarchy.  He lashed out against the United States, claiming 
that it has "many more problems" with narcotrafficking and money 
laundering than Argentina and accusing the U.S. of having built 
"entire cities with laundered money."  Kirchner also criticized a 
recent update of the State Department's Background Notes on 
Argentina, which the country's largest circulation daily Clarin had 
mischaracterized on December 16 as evidence of latent tensions in 
the bilateral relationship.  However, Kirchner applauded the 
Ambassador's efforts to set the record straight, indicating that his 
attack on the United States would have been worse otherwise.  He 
used this, however, to pivot into criticism of the press.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Kirchner takes aim at VP Cobos... 
--------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) At a December 16 political event aimed at relaunching the 
Kirchners' "transversal alliance" which has suffered divisions in 
the aftermath of the GOA's protracted conflict with the rural 
sector, former president and current head of the Peronist party 
Nestor Kirchner used a speech to party faithful to attack Vice 
President Julio Cobos, the opposition, the press, and the United 
States.  Kirchner began by slamming Vice President Julio Cobos and 
accusing Cobos of intentionally trying to destabilize Cristina 
Fernandez de Kirchner's (CFK's) administration.  After naming a 
number of former vice-presidents who had been fully supportive of 
their Presidents, and noting those who chose to resign over 
political differences, Kirchner stressed that he was not asking 
Cobos to resign, but to "reconsider" his attitude and "help the 
President rebuild" Argentina.  (Note: The day before, Kirchner had 
publicly accused Cobos of continuing to hinder CFK's agenda after 
Cobos tie-breaking vote against the administration's efforts to push 
a controversial agriculture export taxes bill through the Congress 
in July.  In response, Cobos maintained that his vote had prevented 
a social crisis and saved CFK from an early exit.) 
 
-------------------- 
...the Opposition... 
-------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) Next under fire was Elisa Carrio, opposition leader of the 
center-left Civic Coalition and the runner-up in the 2007 
presidential elections.  Kirchner mocked Carrio for talking about 
morality when she cannot justify how she makes a living.  He joked 
that he had instructed current Labor Minister Carlos Tomada "to 
intensify his efforts to eliminate informal labor." Kirchner 
described Carrio as a political leader who flirted with many 
factions and is now leaning to the right.  Alluding to the rural and 
business sectors, he asserted that "some people protect her since 
they don't dare compete in elections, and they need employees like 
her to advance their interests." 
 
----------------------- 
...the United States... 
----------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) Kirchner also lashed out against the United States, 
claiming that it has "many more problems" with narcotrafficking and 
money laundering than Argentina and accusing it of having built 
"entire cities with laundered money."  He even offered technical 
assistance to Washington, saying "we are available to help [the 
United States] to eliminate this scourge whenever they want." 
[Note: The Ambassador had previously praised Argentine cooperation 
in the area of money laundering to date.  He had stressed that the 
USG hoped that Argentina would continue to be a strong partner in 
this area as the Congress debates a new tax moratorium and capital 
repatriation bill ("ley de blanqueo") proposed by the executive that 
promised only limited oversight/investigation of the sources of 
returned flight capital.] 
 
5. (SBU) Center-right daily La Nacion interpreted Kirchner's remarks 
as official dissatisfaction with a recent letter from the 34-nation 
member Financial Action Task Force to Minister of Economy Carlos 
Fernandez.  The letter, which had been leaked to the press, 
expressed concern that the draft bill, which is designed to attract 
Argentine flight capital back to Argentina, had the "potential risk" 
of laundering money made through narcotrafficking, terrorism, or 
organized crime.  According to the press, the FATF letter stated 
that, "the draft bill is problematic if it does not include a 
provision to verify the origin of money and other assets that would 
be injected into the financial system."  CFK's reaction to the 
letter has been silence, but la Nacion reports from her traveling 
party that she was very upset by it, with an official close to CFK 
reportedly telling La Nacion that the GOA continues to push the bill 
through the congress offering no further comment. 
 
---------------- 
...and the Press 
---------------- 
 
6. (SBU) Kirchner also made reference to a recent update of the 
State Department's Background Notes on Argentina.  Although the 
report underscored the positive nature of the U.S.-Argentine 
relationship and noted Argentina's continued economic growth, 
largest circulation daily, Clarin, characterized the report as a 
"hard warning" to the GOA and added an editorial column asserting 
that the Background Notes exposed latent tensions in the 
relationship.  Kirchner acknowledged that he had intended to slam 
the report, but said that "I was very angry with the State 
Department.  I was going to dedicate an entire paragraph [of my 
speech to this issue].  But Ambassador, I wanted to be loyal.  You 
have rapid reflexes, you beat me to the punch, and as you said, this 
was all a press fabrication."  According to center-left daily 
Critica, Kirchner used the report as another example of media bias 
against the government, laughing while saying, "even the U.S. 
Ambassador says the press invents [news]."  Kirchner then called on 
journalists to "stop looking at things the way they want them to be" 
and indicating that the press itself can protect press freedom by 
demonstrating its independence from the interests of media owners. 
He then reiterated the government's intentions to push a new 
Broadcasting Law. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
Clarin Story Sets up Embassy for Conflict with Government 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
7. (SBU) The Argentine press has had a tendency to interpret the 
Ambassador's public statements to highlight its own concerns with 
Argentina's social, economic, and political challenges, sometimes 
creating bilateral tension in the process.  Kirchner's speech was a 
clear reaction to Clarin's December 16 morning edition, for example, 
which carried a bold red headline below the major story: "Strong 
U.S. Demands on Prices, Bondholders, and Businesses."  Such Clarin 
headlines, often unjustified, as in this case, elicit from the 
Kirchners a public, angry response that slams the United States. 
 
8. (SBU) To avoid this, the Embassy moved quickly to issue a denial 
of the Clarin story.  The DCM worked the phones, contacting senior 
Casa Rosada and MFA officials and urging them to give the Mission 
time to react to the story.  He also got copies of the anodyne 
report to them so that they could see for themselves that Clarin had 
misreported the story.  The Ambassador revised his prepared speech 
for the annual journalists' holiday reception (which, conveniently, 
happened to be scheduled on the same day the Clarin story ran) to 
include language that asserted that "certain media" had "invented 
tensions" out of the Background Notes, and presented examples of how 
this was a positive report on the Argentine economy.  Ambassador 
Wayne underlined that the bilateral relationship is stable and 
balanced, in spite of disagreements over specific issues that can 
arise from time to time.  He also delivered a very strong message on 
the importance of press freedom in a democracy.  The Embassy's 
Public Affairs Section distributed copies of the Background Notes to 
the press attending the Ambassador's reception, as well as fact 
sheets describing the report's positive elements and neutral nature. 
 
 
9. (SBU) The reception offered an ideal venue for a concerted 
counter-attack on the story, with all media and over 100 journalists 
present at midday, including Clarin.  The GOA-connected director of 
Telam, the state-owned national wire service, who was in attendance, 
immediately ordered via cell phone to send a dispatch for the wires, 
with the Ambassador's main message accurately depicted in its 
headline: "Ambassador Wayne says they're inventing tensions."  All 
press followed suit throughout the afternoon. 
 
10. (SBU) PAS also phoned and hand-delivered the speech, fact sheet 
and Background Notes, to press officers of the Casa Rosada and MFA, 
many of whom were accompanying CFK in Brazil.  PAS sent the same 
package to the chief editor of Clarin, who in a follow-up phone call 
asked sheepishly if the paper's relationship with the Embassy was 
still intact.  The paper covered the Ambassador's statement with a 
full page the morning of December 17, but the chief editor issued an 
editorial defending the previous day's article, suggesting that the 
difference was largely semantic: what the Embassy calls 
"challenges," the paper calls "tensions." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
Comment: Taking the High Road to Protect Long-Term Interests 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
11. (SBU) There was no shortage of political enemies, real or 
imagined, in Nestor Kirchner's remarks.  Throughout his tenure as 
president and into his wife's administration, he has criticized the 
media for derailing the Kirchner agenda, and has now added Vice 
President Cobos, Elisa Carrio, and the opposition to his black list. 
 In the past, Kirchner's criticism of the United States has been 
more indirect, but in recent months both he and CFK have been more 
pointed in their criticism.  The Argentine press has also been more 
creative in its use of the Ambassador's statements to depict more 
conflict than actually exists, for example on the issue of money 
laundering and this week's handling of the Background Notes. 
Mindful of preserving long-term U.S. interests in this large 
country, we have sought to rise above their provocations, 
emphasizing the positive aspects of the bilateral relationship. 
The good news is that, according to many well-informed observers, it 
will be difficult for the Kirchners to continue to use the United 
States as its punching bag once President-elect Obama takes office. 
In the meantime, post will work hard to maintain a policy of 
advancing press freedom along with journalistic integrity, while 
maintaining a good working relationship with the GOA. 
 
WAYNE