VZCZCXYZ0004
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHBU #0182 0481837
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171834Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0534
INFO MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000182
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/PPC DIRECTOR MCILHENNY
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/EPSC DIRECTOR DOWDY
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREL EAGR AR
SUBJECT: Argentina: Government Interested in Partnering for
Trilateral Assistance
1. (U) Action request for Department in para 6.
2. (SBU) Summary: The Argentine MFA North American Affairs and
International Cooperation Directorates asked DCM on February 11 to
explore the possibility of establishing a mechanism for
coordination of U.S. and Argentine development assistance projects
toward a third country or countries. Argentina supports small
scale assistance in agriculture, health and human rights in a
number of Latin American countries, and might also be receptive to
proposals to build on its nascent work in Africa, particularly
Lusophone countries . Embassy views this as a rewarding avenue
for enhancing bilateral cooperation on regional issues and requests
Department's support and guidance on possible next steps, including
countries and areas of work that the Department might wish to
promote. End Summary.
3. (SBU) DCM visited MFA North American Affairs Director Trombetta
and MFA Director General for International Cooperation Julia Levi
on Thursday February 11 at their request. The Argentines were
interested in following up with us on a proposal they broached with
visiting WHA/BSC Officer Director Milt Drucker on February 1 to
generate trilateral cooperation projects involving the United
States, Argentina and a third country. Trombetta described a
recently publicized US-Chile agreement on trilateral development
assistance as an inspiration for the Argentine approach.
4. (U) Levi described Argentina's development assistance work in
Latin America and toward a few other countries in Africa as
"two-way," stressing the GOA's belief that donors can also learn
much from aid recipient countries. She noted that the GOA has
received other donor support to sustain its work in third
countries, particularly in Haiti, but neither she nor Trombetta
described the GOA initiative as designed to utilize U.S. resources
for Argentine projects. Instead they emphasized coordinating
ongoing and future efforts by our two governments in a third
country.
5. (SBU) Argentina does not emphasize the relatively small monetary
value of its development assistance work. Among areas of emphasis
are:
-- Human Rights Assistance - almost all focused on forensic
anthropology, including in Paraguay, Bolivia, and Guatemala.
-- Agricultural exports/small farming/disease and pest control.
Paraguay, Bolivia, and Haiti are the major recipients; the Spanish,
Canadians and the National Democratic Institute are all listed as
"trilateral" partners supporting Argentina's "Pro-Huerta"
garden/truck farming program in Haiti.
-- Assistance in measuring and monitoring poverty and the
achievement of Millennium Goals in Peru and Bolivia. (Comment:
Argentina's own statistical agency has been widely criticized for
underrepresenting both inflation and poverty in Argentina. End
Comment).
-- Africa: small assistance to Angola (ophthalmology) and North
Africa (desertification).
6. (U) Action Request: Argentine MFA awaits a confirmation of USG
interest in doing something jointly and then it will propose (or
hear our proposals) for a specific trilateral pilot project.
Embassy requests Washington feedback on the idea of trilateral work
with Argentina, including whether a formal umbrella agreement is
advisable. We would welcome Washington's feedback on locations and
types of assistance we would like to encourage in a pilot GOA-USG
effort.
MARTINEZ