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230651,10/21/2009 14:34,09BUENOSAIRES1147,Embassy Buenos Aires,
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C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - CORRECTED MISSPELLING IN SUBJECT

SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2029
TAGS: PGOV, KPAO, ASEC, PHUM, SOCI, KDEM, AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: AMBASSADOR ENCOUNTERS PROTESTERS IN MENDOZA; PUBLIC AND (EVENTUALLY) GOVERNMENT SUPPORT HER

REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 1084 (B) BUENOS AIRES 0526

Classified By: DCM Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d).

1. (SBU) Summary: During her first trip outside of Buenos Aires, Ambassador Martinez was forced to change the location of a speech at the National University of Cuyo due to disorderly protests by far-left groups on October 15. Public reaction has been mostly sympathetic to the Ambassador and critical of the protesters, and the Ambassador’s subsequent statements were well-received. The government took a few days to comment publicly on the incident, but the GOA Chief of Cabinet eventually denounced it on drive-time radio programs on October 19. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK), receiving the Ambassador’s credentials later that day, said “”there is intolerance everywhere,”” which the media interpreted as a sign of support for the Ambassador. End Summary.

Ambushed by Student Protesters

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2. (SBU) On October 15, Ambassador Martinez, accompanied by a control officer, press assistant, and two bodyguards, traveled to the National University of Cuyo in Mendoza to meet with administrators and deliver a speech on foreign policy. The visit was one of many events planned for the Ambassador’s first trip outside of Buenos Aires. The university hosts a number of U.S. college students studying abroad, has worked well with Embassy Buenos Aires in the past on exchange programs, and has expressed a strong interest in deepening cooperation with the Embassy and with U.S. universities. After arriving at the university, the Ambassador met with Vice Rector Kent and Institutional Relations Coordinator Abihaggle, as well as representatives from each of the university’s schools. During the meeting, Vice Rector Kent mentioned to the Ambassador that there were a few members of a leftist student organization planning on protesting her speech. He added that he did not think there were more than five or six protestors and that while they might make some noise, they would not cause a significant problem. After hearing about this potential disruption, the Ambassador responded that with fourteen years of experience as a member of the Board of Regents for the University of California system, she was accustomed to such disruptions. All of the participants in the meeting then proceeded to the medical faculty where the speech was to be held.

3. (SBU) The Ambassador entered the lecture hall, which was filled with approximately 70 attendees, all of whom were sitting quietly in their seats. A university administrator made a few opening remarks and then passed the microphone to Vice Rector Kent. Once Vice Rector Kent began to introduce the Ambassador, more than half the attendees stood up, began to sing and displayed large banners denouncing U.S. actions in Honduras, Colombia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The protestors criticized the Embassy’s involvement in the labor dispute between unions and Kraft Foods (ref a). The Ambassador waited in the hope that the protest would die down, but after approximately eight to ten minutes of continued yelling, singing, and drum-banging by the protestors, she decided that it was unlikely the protestors would allow her to deliver her speech. The university administrators, bodyguards and the Ambassador’s party then moved to another room within the same building. (One of the protestors threw an orange at the departing Embassy group that thankfully missed its target.) Local police and the Ambassador’s bodyguards then screened those interested in listening to her speech in the separate location, first at the entrance to hall where the room was located and then at the door of the room itself. She then delivered her speech and took questions from the audience without incident.

Media and Public Sympathy for the Ambassador

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4. (U) The incident has been widely reported and commented on in the Argentine media. Ambassadorial activity in the provinces rarely makes national news, but in this case reports of the protest reached the national level, including the top circulation dailies, “”Clarin”” and “”La Nacion.”” Clips of the protest were aired on national TV and radio, prompting commentary during the weekend. Pundits tied the incident to the violent attack in remote, northern Jujuy province a day later on the head of the opposition Radical Party, Senator Gerardo Morales, who was assaulted and heckled by a group of pro-government picketers. Columnists Joaquin Morales Sola in La Nacion and Fernando Gonzalez in El Cronista Comercial said that the two episodes reflected increasing political intolerance fueled from the top down in Argentine society. La Nacion ran a photo of the protest next to a front-page editorial on the decline of standards of courtesy and public discourse, though the editorial said nothing about the incident as it focused on the obscene anti-media tirade by Argentina’s national team soccer coach Diego Maradona.

5. (U) All the articles and TV and radio reports made a point of showing or describing how the Ambassador endured the heckling and waited patiently and calmly to speak as the protest was happening. Her comment afterwards that “”I listened to them, but unfortunately they did not want to listen to me”” was highlighted in most of the stories. National daily “”Clarin”” and Mendoza daily “”Los Andes”” followed up with reports on the Ambassador’s breakfast talk to Mendoza leaders the next day. Both chose to quote her comment that “”we all need to work together against intolerance.”” In the blogosphere, comments posted on media websites and on the Embassy’s Facebook page strongly criticized the demonstrators and expressed sympathy toward the Ambassador. The few exceptions were posted in the name of leftist organizations, focused on solidarity with the workers at Kraft and sought to link the Ambassador’s legal work for U.S. corporations with union-busting.

Putting the University on Notice

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6. (SBU) Shortly after the event concluded, CAO spoke by phone to Vice Rector Kent and conveyed Embassy,s disappointment that security failed. Kent expressed regret about the “”uncomfortable incident”” and lamented that among the university’s 40,000 students, there were inevitably a small number with leftist views, intolerant attitudes, and ties to extremist parties, and that it was impossible to completely screen them out. However, he acknowledged that the university’s security arrangements were inadequate. Kent sought to emphasize that the protestors’ opinions were in no way representative of the university or of the vast majority of its students, and noted that the Ambassador was ultimately able to give her speech. CAO replied that nonetheless, the very awkward incident would make it difficult to deepen Embassy cooperation with the University, which the university,s rector had emphasized as one of his goals.

Government Conveys Solidarity, Eventually

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7. (SBU) The incident took place while President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) and Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana were on a state visit to India, and perhaps reflecting their absence, the government hesitated to comment publicly on the case. Taiana’s chief of staff called the DCM a few hours after the incident to register the Foreign Ministry’s “”solidarity”” with the Ambassador; news of the call was promptly reported by the government wire service TELAM. Argentine Ambassador to the United States Hector Timerman called the Ambassador to express his sympathy.

8. © On Monday, October 19, four days after the incident, Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez publicly commented on it. Labeling it “”embarrassing”” and criticizing the protestors’ “”Nazi methods,”” Fernandez said “”these kinds of things shouldn’t happen. He also claimed (falsely) that he had called the Ambassador over the previous weekend to express his sentiments personally.

9. (SBU) Later that same day, as she received the Ambassador’s credentials, CFK told the Ambassador “”there is intolerance everywhere,”” which the media interpreted as a sign of support for the Ambassador. CFK and the Ambassador chatted amiably for about five minutes. Afterward, in remarks to the press, CFK said she was positively impressed by the Ambassador’s distinguished record in civil rights, and she reiterated her view that President Obama’s designation of a woman lawyer to be ambassador to Argentina was a “”personal gesture”” to CFK.

Comment

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10. © Much of the Argentine public was positively impressed by the way which the Ambassador, unfazed, held the high ground, and she struck a chord among many Argentines when she called for working together against intolerance . Many Embassy contacts are appalled and worried by the growing lack of civility in political discourse and the impunity with which protesters shout down speakers, “”piqueteros”” block roads and shut down bridges or attack people celebrating Israel’s anniversary, workers seize factories, and students occupy schools.

11. © Under the Kirchner administrations, GOA authorities have been loathe to engage in anything that appears to be repressive of free speech. This reluctance is often attributed to be a reaction to the heavy-handed repression used by the 1976-83 military dictatorship, and also a recognition (stemming from the 2001-02 crisis) that protests can serve to let off steam. This bias may also explain the government’s initial reluctance to publicly condemn the aggression against the Ambassador, at least at a high level. Another factor is the government’s frequent complicity in mob attacks against political opponents. In the October 16 attack in Jujuy on opposition UCR leader Morales, it was clear that the marauding “”piqueteros”” receive GOA financing (ref b). In the Mendoza protest of the Ambassador’s speech, there is no evidence of a direct link to the Kirchners; some of the protestors also denounced the government. In any event, we also believe it a fairly isolated incident, and we do not intend to let it deter us from keeping up our public diplomacy outreach efforts.

MARTINEZ

248743,2/12/2010 21:07,10BUENOSAIRES91,”Embassy Buenos Aires”,
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“,”C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000091

SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2035/02/12
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ECON, AR
SUBJECT: Argentina: Profiles of Key Anti-Kirchner Piqueteros

REF: BUENOS AIRES 526; BUENOS AIRES 794; BUENOS AIRES 13
09 BUENOS AIRES 1084; 08 BUENOS AIRES 980

CLASSIFIED BY: VilmaSMartinez, Ambassador, DOS, Exec; REASON: 1.4(B), (D)

1. (SBU) Summary: In recent months, Argentina’s social activist movements, known as piqueteros, have captured the media spotlight through frequent protests. While former President Nestor Kirchner’s efforts to co-opt the movement have divided it, the hotly contested title for noisiest piqueteros goes (at least recently) to groups that oppose the Kirchners. Nicknamed by the press “”anti-K”” piqueteros, these activists have pushed the government for greater inclusion in President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s (CFK) new jobs program. This cable examines key anti-K piquetero leaders, including: Raul Castells from the Movement of Retired and Unemployed Workers (MIJD); Toty Flores from the Movement of Unemployed Workers of La Matanza (MTD-La Matanza); Juan Carlos Alderete from the Classic and Combative Current (CCC); and Jorge Ceballos and Roberto Baigorria from the Foot Neighborhoods (Barrios de Pie).

2. (SBU) As part of the Embassy’s ongoing efforts to reach out to a broad spectrum of Argentine society, Emboffs held a series of meetings with key piquetero leaders and an academic piquetero expert. This cable is the third in a series on this social movement. The first cable analyzed the history of the piqueteros (ref A), while the second assessment profiled the Kirchners’ key piquetero allies (ref B). End Summary.

Who are the Piqueteros?

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3. (SBU) Argentina has, for more than a decade, experienced organized protests and activism by social movements known as “”piqueteros,”” which literally means “”picketers.”” These groups, representing the claims of unemployed citizens, distribute benefits from the national government (150-200 pesos a month) to their members, who in exchange must work 20 to 40 hours a week in workfare programs. According to 2007 national government statistics, the family aid plan reached 504,784 families, which includes 1,766,744 children. Local piquetero leaders believe the actual number of recipients dropped as Argentina’s economy began to recuperate from its 2001 economic crisis. They estimate that only 800,000 Argentines are currently benefiting from these programs, while there are no government statistics on recipients after 2007.

4. (SBU) While most piquetero leaders initially distrusted former President Nestor Kirchner (NK) when he came to power in 2003, because they believed he would continue what they considered to be the market-oriented (“”neo-liberal,”” in the local jargon) policies of his predecessors, over fifty ended up joining his government and his allies at the local and national levels. They aligned their groups with NK because he ordered government security forces to refrain from suppressing piquetero marches, and agreed to include them in his government and to address their concerns. Several key piquetero groups, however, never allied with the administrations of NK and his wife/successor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK), and instead opposed NK’s congressional slate in the June 2009 mid-term elections. They also sided with farm leaders during the government’s extended conflict with the sector in 2008.

5. (SBU) In late 2009, “”anti-K”” piqueteros became particularly vociferous about CFK’s new job creation plan “”Argentina Works.”” They staged overnight protests outside the nation’s Social Development Ministry calling for more jobs and direct participation in distributing the plan’s jobs. (Under the new plan, jobs will be distributed via some Kirchner-allied mayors and neighborhood cooperatives, a plan that even “”pro-K”” piqueteros—who wish to distribute the largesse themselves—have begun to question.) In late January 2010, “”anti-K”” piqueteros held marches regarding this same issue in at least 13 provinces, including in key cities in Buenos Aires province, and in Buenos Aires City.

6. (SBU) Piquetero protests are a frequent occurrence in Buenos Aires City, and some reports indicate they increased in 2009. According to the think-tank “”New Majority,”” in September 2009 there were over 102 blockades in Argentina, more than in any month since the piquetero movement began in 1997. Paper-of-record “”La Nacion”” reported that there were 440 arrests for street blockades in Buenos Aires City from January to September 2009, compared to 265 in 2008. (Given the government largely assumes a hands-off approach with protests, these arrest figures do not paint an accurate picture of the number of protests.) A sociologist and piquetero expert disagrees, saying he does not see Argentina as having experienced a “”peak of conflict”” in 2009. Moreover, he doubts the methodology behind these statistics, which he believes is based on selective press reports of protests.

Raul Castells - Movement of Retired and Unemployed Workers

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7. (SBU) One of the most well-known piquetero leaders and a vocal opponent of the Kirchners, Raul Castells founded the Movement of Retired and Unemployed Workers (MIJD) in 1999. An active piquetero leader for decades, Castells ran in the 2007 presidential race against CFK. He came in twelfth place, winning less than 50,000 votes (about one-quarter of one percent of all votes cast). Over the years, Castells has been jailed for his protests and conducted hunger strikes. In mid-January, he and his wife and fellow piquetero, Nina Pelozo, were detained (and released several hours later) for trying to storm the Central Bank in protest of CFK’s presidential decree calling for Bank President Martin Redrado’s resignation (ref C).

8. © Virulently anti-American, Castells began an April 2009 meeting with Emboffs by noting his incredulity at their interest in meeting him, describing himself as the “”Embassy’s enemy.”” He added that his past interactions with the Embassy had been outside protesting against what he described as the “”unsympathetic treatment”” by U.S. companies, such as McDonalds and Walmart, of him and his demands. Referencing an older Gallup poll, which he claimed indicated that 93% of Argentines are anti-American, Castells attributed Argentines’ anti-Americanism to USG policies and the actions of large U.S. companies. (Over the past two years, and especially since President Obama took office, anti-Americanism has decreased significantly in Argentina.) Castells blames NK and the USG for his arrest in 2004, after the MIJD occupied nine McDonalds’ branches and demanded 10,000 books and 20,000 boxes of milk powder from McDonalds. He also blames the USG for his poor health after he conducted a hunger strike while in jail for occupying a casino in northern Argentina. Prior to concluding the meeting with Emboffs, Castells insisted that he read officers a petition of complaints against the USG.

9. © Castells espouses no clear ideology, but has flirted with both Maoism and Trotskyism. In 2004, then Minister of Interior Anibal Fernandez called him a “”Maoist-Trotskyite idiot,”” who “”sought conflict for conflict’s sake.”” A supporter of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales, Castells advocates nationalizing gas, petroleum and mining industries, reclaiming lands held by foreigners, and stopping IMF debt payments.

10. (SBU) Under former President Eduardo Duhalde (2002-2003), the MIJD managed 20,000 benefit plans. (We do not have current statistics for benefit plans under the Kirchners.) Castells claimed to Emboffs that the MIJD assists 8% of Argentina’s poor through its soup kitchens, which feed 40,000 people. Disputing the national statistical agency’s (INDEC) poverty statistics, Castells asserted that poverty has increased in Argentina over the last ten years, and that current subsidies do not meet the poor’s needs. He also expressed concern about the rising use of paco (cocaine residue) among Argentina’s youth. He added that in a roundtable he held with youths, eight out of ten reported using paco with four out of ten stealing to obtain funds to buy it.

“”Toty”” Flores—Movement of Unemployed Workers of La Matanza

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11. (SBU) National Deputy for Buenos Aires province Hector “”Toty”” Flores founded the Movement of Unemployed Workers of La Matanza (MTD-La Matanza) in 1996. (La Matanza, with a population of 1.3 million in the 2001 census, is one of Buenos Aires province’s largest and poorest municipalities, and a longtime Peronist stronghold.) Unlike many piquetero groups, MTD-La Matanza rejects government subsidies. Instead, the group actively campaigns for jobs as a means to better integrate their members into Argentine society. In 2001, Flores opened a community center in La Matanza, which provides work opportunities to locals through a number of small enterprises, including a bakery and a printing press. Flores said he entered politics as an ally of Elisa Carrio’s Civic Coalition because he hoped to expand his La Matanza model to other parts of the country.

Juan Carlos Alderete - Classic and Combative Current

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12. (SBU) The Classic and Combative Current (CCC) formed in 1994, and while originally part of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist and Maoist ideology), is now a diverse front which includes Communists, Socialists, Peronists, Civic Radical party members, evangelicals, and members of the nation’s second largest (but not officially recognized) trade federation - the Central of Argentine Workers (CTA). The CCC is divided into three groups representing workers, unemployed workers, and retired workers. Alderete is the national coordinator for unemployed workers. Located primarily in Argentina’s northern provinces and in La Matanza in Buenos Aires province, the CCC has built over 4,000 lower-income housing units and constructed a water treatment facility which provides potable water to 500,000 La Matanza residents. The personable Alderete has addressed conferences in Mexico, South Africa, and a UN conference on world poverty in Nairobi, Kenya.

13. (SBU) The CCC participated in one pro-Kirchner rally, but quickly distanced itself, refusing to join NK’s government because it doubted Kirchner would integrate its principles into government policies. The CCC has since further distanced itself from the Kirchner Administration citing governmental corruption. At the end of December 2009, the CCC, accompanied by Barrios de Pie and Polo Obrero, threatened to “”create a major mess in the entire country on January 15”” if the government did not respond favorably to their demands for greater participation in CFK’s Argentina Works program. (The CCC, Barrios de Pie, and Polo Obrero participated in the previously mentioned national protests in late January.) Alderete openly supports the smaller farmers of the agriculture sector against the GOA and appeared at several rallies during the government’s conflict with the sector in 2008. The CCC has also participated in violent September 2009 marches directed against the U.S. firm Kraft Foods (ref D). While Alderete toyed with allying with the Civic Coalition in the June 2009 midterm elections, he withdrew his name from the candidate lists and instead mobilized volunteers to monitor the elections for fraud.

Jorge Ceballos and Roberto Baigorria, Barrios de Pie

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14. (SBU) Jorge Ceballos and Roberto Baigorria direct Barrios de Pie, a grassroots neighborhood movement of the larger, umbrella political party, Libres del Sur. Libres del Sur, which is comprised of Peronists, non-Peronists and local groups against big business, has two national deputies (Victoria Donda Perez from Buenos Aires province and Paula Cecilia Merchan from Cordoba). Barrios de Pie was formed in 2001 in Buenos Aires and is now active in 16 provinces and in the city of Buenos Aires.

15. © Barrios leaders worked in both Kirchner governments until December 2008, when they left, claiming that CFK had distanced herself from the people. Both Ceballos and Baigorria worked for the national Social Development Ministry in the Office of Organization and Capacity Building, where Ceballos was subsecretary. Ceballos said he had planned to leave the government when NK “”sold out”” and assumed the presidency of the Peronist Party in 2007, but stayed longer because he supported the GOA during its 2008 conflict with the farm sector (ref E). In 2009, Ceballos decided to run in the June midterm elections, but lost his bid. Nonetheless, during the election, by campaigning alongside Martin Sabatella, a popular mayor in a poor town in the Buenos Aires suburbs, Ceballos gained greater name recognition. The previously mentioned sociologist and piquetero expert believes that during the election campaign Barrios de Pie sought to soften its media image to broaden its electoral appeal.

16. © While Ceballos accepts the government’s claim that conditions for the poor have improved since 2003, he believes that NK seeks to limit the political involvement of social organizations. Baigorria told Emboffs that NK initially included lower income and unemployed Argentines in political debate and provided them with adequate retirement pensions. For Baigorria, the Kirchners lost Barrios’ support because they stopped listening to other viewpoints, overestimated their power, and underestimated their enemies. He also feels that they ceased to integrate piquetero goals in the GOA.

17. © Comment: The government’s relations with social activist movements will continue to be a delicate balancing act with important implications for its political prospects. With the GoA budget under pressure and with authority over the public works program being redirected from piquetero groups to provincial mayors, the “”anti-K”” piqueteros are not likely to change their stance. While most pro-Kirchner piqueteros are likely to stay affiliated with the government, their enthusiasm could diminish, depending on the Kirchners’ political fortunes and whether benefits decline as a result of budgetary pressures and accelerating inflation. Finding financing for the jobs program will therefore remain a central component of the Kirchner government's strategy for the 2011 presidential election.

MARTINEZ