Cablegate: Media Reaction; G-20 Summit; Argentine President Kirchner

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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1049/01 2641517
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211517Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4369
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001049

STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC,
WHA/EPSC
CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION; G-20 SUMMIT; ARGENTINE PRESIDENT KIRCHNER
TRIP TO NEW YORK; US-ARGENTINE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP; UN GENERAL
ASSEMBLY; 09/21/09; BUENOS AIRES

1. SUMMARY STATEMENT

Weekend international stories are related to Argentina's attendance
at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh; expectations over Argentine
President Cristina Kirchner's trip to New York; the current status
of the US-Argentine bilateral relationship; as well as the UN
General Assembly in New York.

2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS

- "Argentine redefines its role at the G20 Summit"

Daily-of-record "La Nacion's" economic columnist Emilia Subiza
writes (09/20), "The crisis engendered by the downfall of Lehman
Brothers brought consequences that surpass the economic ones. Some
new world power engineering has been delineated since then, and
Argentina has the opportunity to have a position of its own at the
upcoming G20 Summit.

"Jorge Castro, an expert in foreign policy issues, said: 'The G20 is
not an event but a process from which a new world governance
platform will emerge. Some will be left inside it while others will
be left out. The financial crisis and recession have marked the end
of the US hegemony, which prevailed since the implosion of the
Soviet Union in 1991.'

"... Felix Pena, the head of the Institute for International Trade
at Fundacion Standard Bank, believes the G20 is going through some
thorough review - 'Our country could play a role by contributing
ideas...'

"Pena believes that controlling and soothing the impact of the
crisis and putting the effect of the new world power distribution on
a safe track will be the hot issues of this encounter. He pointed
out that Argentina's challenge is to remain attending international
fora and set a precedent as the spokesperson of the region.

"The leaders of the G20 country-members have the challenge of making
progress with the commitments made last April in London...

"Analysts agree that emerging countries (among them Argentina) could
well contribute their experience in financial regulation...

"In last Monday's speech, US President Barack Obama reiterated his
purpose of reorganizing the financial regulation system and he urged
Capitol Hill to approve the reform as soon as possible...

"Another expectation about the region is focused on the change in
the IMF and WB leadership."

- "Cristina agrees to create an IMF exclusively for poor countries"

Ana Baron, on special assignment in New York for leading "Clarin,"
writes (09/21), "Among US economists Nobel Award Joseph Stiglitz is
one of the few allies of President Cristina Kirchner. During their
one-and-a-half hour meeting at Four Seasons Hotel in New York, both
of them agreed to criticize the IMF and they both said they favor
the eventual creation of a parallel institution aimed at attending
to the problems of emerging countries such as Argentina.

"Stiglitz reinforced his anti-IMF stance and he praised Argentina's
performance during the crisis sparked by the bankruptcy of Lehman
Brothers Bank in New York, which afterwards impacted all over the
world...

"... Furthermore, Stiglitz believes that the recovery of the US
economy will be slow while that of the Asian countries will be much
faster. This would keep high the prices of Argentine exports.

"What the prestigious economist did not say is how to solve the
Argentine Government's need for financing in the short and medium
term. Neither did he say how to reach a deal over the country's
Paris Club debt without having to resort to the IMF, a topic in
which Cristina Kirchner is much interested. Stiglitz did not tackle
either the INDEC issue, which raises concern among academics,
businessmen and bankers with interests in our country.

"Cristina Kirchner does not want to speak about these issues...

"From the very beginning, Argentina has defended four points at the
G20 summit - the IMF reform, the regulation of the world financial
system, the struggle against tax havens and the IDB capitalization,
which has not taken place yet."

- "A crisis that is more profound that what it seems"

Leading "Clarin's" political analyst Eduardo van der Kooy opines
(09/20), "... One can easily observe that Argentina is heading for a
crisis in which, perhaps for the first time, politics is leading the
economy...

"The media bill cleared by the Lower House largely meant a summary
of the crisis. Essential issues for any nation such as freedom of
expression, the right to private property and judicial guarantees
were discussed amid huge improvisation...

"For some days, the world had its eyes on Argentina due to the back
and forth moves on the media draft bill..., but this is over.
Cristina travelled to New York to attend the UN General Assembly and
the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh...

"The Government made two attempts to have the Argentine President
hold a bilateral meeting with Barack Obama. Both attempts failed.
Not even were they lucky in having a lesser prize - the Argentine
diplomacy had asked that the new US Ambassador Vilma Martinez
postpone her trip to Buenos Aires for some days to have a meeting
with Cristina in New York, but the State Department also denied it.
There are some more difficulties - Spain has also avoided top-level
contacts.

"Perhaps this isolation, the mistrust with which the world eyes the
Kirchners is part of the same political crisis that is falling on
the country, although not so loudly."

- "The UN is again in the eyes of the world"

Alberto Armendariz, on special assignment in New York for
daily-of-record "La Nacion," comments, (09/20) "After several years
being the target of criticism that even questioned its relevance,
this week the UN will be the focus of the world scenario.

"... After eight years of George W. Bush administration, which
dismissed global warming as well as the UN role in the Iraq issue
and warned that the UN could turn irrelevant, there is much
expectation about Obama's presence. It will be his first UN General
Assembly, which will tackle a variety of issues - among them
disarmament, non nuclear proliferation and the Middle East peace
process...

"... Obama will become the first US president that will lead a UN
session, which will be exclusively devoted to the nuclear issue. The
meeting will take place one week before Washington and Tehran start
direct negotiations on the latter's controversial enriched uranium
program...

"The Iranian leader is expected to be received with strong protest
demonstrations of exiles... The eyes will also be placed on Libyan
president Khadafy, who was questioned due to his welcoming reception
of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the terrorist who was convicted over the
criminal assault against 1988 Pan Am flight in Lockerbie.

"... There are little chances of a tripartite summit among Obama,
Netanyahu and Abbas to re-launch the stalled peace process in the
Middle East, which the White House wishes so much. Israelis have not
given any sign that they are willing to put a brake on the
settlements of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem,
which is a sine qua non requisite for the Palestinian National
Authority to sit at the negotiating table.

"As to Latin Americans, the assembly will be colorful as well as
tense - Chavez and Uribe are both expected to talk about their
points of disagreement over the US-Colombian military agreement.
Chavez will also be criticized over his anti-media policies while
Uribe is likely to face uncomfortable questions on his manipulation
of democratic institutions and intelligence services."

To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our
classified website at:
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires

MARTINEZ

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