US embassy cable - 05BUENOSAIRES373

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUENOS AIRES 000373 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA FOR A/S NORIEGA, PDAS DERHAM, WHA/BSC 
NSC FOR TOM SHANNON 
USCINCSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2015 
TAGS: CASC, PREL, PGOV, AR, US, CUBA 
SUBJECT: GOA CALLS IN AMBASSADOR TO COMPLAIN ABOUT CONSULAR 
INFORMATION SHEET; CUBA DISCUSSED 
 
REF: LLORENS-MATERA/LLORENS-BREIER E-MAILS OF 2/15 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Lino Gutierrez for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (U) Reacting to sensationalist stories in Clarin and La 
Nacion about the description of Argentina in the Consular 
Information Sheet on February 16 (reftel), Foreign Minister 
Rafael Bielsa and Tourism Secretary Enrique Meyer held a 
press conference that night to take issue with our Consular 
Information Sheet.  Bielsa said the GoA had been "surprised" 
by the report, which was inaccurate and not objective.  He 
took issue with our description of bombings, terrorism in the 
Tri-border region, and said that piqueteros posed an 
"infinitesimal" danger to tourists.  That said, Bielsa opined 
that the report had been a "technical" and not a "political" 
one.  Meyer cited figures of over 200,809 U.S. tourists 
visiting Argentina, and listed only 162 amcit complaints 
received by the tourist police.  Bielsa said he would be 
calling me in to discuss the matter.  Later that night his 
secretary asked if I could come in, and we agreed to meet at 
 
SIPDIS 
11:45 the following day. 
 
2.  (U) Prior to the meeting, I went on a morning radio show 
to explain our position, i.e., 
 
a.  The United States does not wish to discourage tourists 
from visiting Argentina -- quite the contrary.  But 
b.  The United States wants its tourists to have the most 
up-to-date and accurate information. 
c.  The U.S. issues these reports for all the countries in 
the world.  Many reports, including those of European 
nations, neighboring countries and others, report on the 
crime situation in those countries, and in many cases crime 
in these countries is far more serious than in Argentina. 
d.  The Argentina report is almost the same as the ones 
issued six months ago and a year ago.  The situation in 
Argentina has improved, and the reports reflect that. 
e.  Asked if I thought U.S.-Argentina relations were good, I 
said that from our standpoint they were, and cited the 
Scioli-Cheney meeting, and recent public events, such as the 
donation of 11 vehicles to Argentine law enforcement, and an 
event attended by the VP and GoA officials hosted by an 
American company which is expanding operations in Argentina. 
 
3.  (U) Major newspapers picked up my remarks immediately and 
posted them on their web sites. 
 
4.  (C) I met with Bielsa at the appointed time on February 
17.  He had heard my interview on the radio.  He did not/not 
ask for a retraction or any changes to the CIS, but asked if 
the U.S. would be willing to receive statistics and 
information from the GoA in order to assure "a more accurate 
report."  I told him we would be glad to receive such 
information.  I explained (and he  obviously knew) that we 
issue CISs for all countries in the world.  Bielsa indicated 
that President Kirchner had asked him to call me in after 
reading the newspaper reports.  I said it was too bad that 
this had happened at a time when we were building momentum in 
the relationship, and cited the three events in paragraph 4, 
letter e above.  This is an important year in our relations, 
culminating with the Summit of the Americas and the expected 
visit of President Bush.  I said we had been exploring the 
possibility of a meeting between the FM and Secretary Rice. 
"That would be excellent," he said. 
 
5. (C) I also said that Kirchner's planned trip to Cuba (ref 
e-mail) in May, if undertaken as expected, would complicate 
any high-level meetings that might be envisioned.  (NOTE:  On 
February 15, Under Secretary for Political Affairs Ambassador 
Roberto Garcia Moritan confirmed to DCM that press reporting 
of that day was accurate and that plans were in the works for 
a Kirchner trip to Cuba in May.  DCM conveyed our 
disappointment, but reiterated that Washington would be very 
concerned if Kirchner, a man with strong credentials in the 
human rights arena, traveled to Cuba and failed to meet with 
the dissidents on the island.  Garcia Moritan responded that 
the press reporting was accurate and that Kirchner had plans 
to meet with Cuban dissidents, but that he did not have any 
further details since substantive plannning had not begun. 
Moritan agreed to keep us informed as trip plans unfolded. 
END NOTE)  If Kirchner decides to go, it would be imperative 
that he meet with dissidents, I emphasized.  Bielsa said he 
would pass my comments to the President.  Bielsa described 
the Cubans as unreliable and difficult to deal with.  He said 
the U.S. should bear in mind two principles from which 
Argentina will not waver: 
 
a.  The GoA will continue its efforts to secure the travel of 
dissident Dr. Hilda Molina to Argentina. 
b.  First Lady Cristina Kirchner has stated that a sine qua 
non for her travel to Cuba was to be able to meet with the 
"white handkerchief" wives/mothers of dissidents. 
 
6.  (U) After the meeting, the MFA spokesman said that the FM 
and I had had a "cordial" meeting.  He said that the U.S. had 
not apologized for the report, but that I had agreed to 
receive information from the GoA.  The matter appears closed 
for now. 
 
7.  (C) Comment:  Once again, President Kirchner and the GoA 
have reacted somewhat to a newspaper article in the Argentine 
press.  On Cuba, our message has been unequivocal:  any trip 
to Cuba by Kirchner has to include a meeting with dissidents. 
 Kirchner seems to want to travel to Cuba - a move that would 
be popular among his leftist constituency - but the Castro 
regime is not making it easy for him to go. 
GUTIERREZ