VZCZCXYZ0008
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1286/01 1582007
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 072007Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4820
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 5566
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 5367
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0931
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JUN LIMA 1849
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 5612
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 5177
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
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UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001286 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER AR
SUBJECT: CODEL SHELBY MEETINGS WITH VP SCIOLI AND FM TAIANA 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  Senators Richard Shelby and Paul Sarbanes 
visited Argentina April 22-24.  The Senators' visit was 
focused on examining GoA cooperation on combating money 
laundering and terrorism financing but also touched on 
regional issues and the Argentine economic recovery.  The 
Senators held separate meetings on April 24 with Vice 
President Daniel Scioli and Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby 
and ranking minority member Paul Sarbanes visited Buenos 
Aires April 22-24.  The primary purpose of the visit was to 
examine Argentine cooperation on combating money laundering 
and terrorism financing.  The Senators also assessed regional 
issues such as the current political in Bolivia and the scope 
of Venezuelan influence in the region.  In addition to 
meetings with the Embassy Country Team, the Senators held 
meetings on Monday April 24 with Argentine Vice President 
Scioli and Foreign Minister Taiana.  The Senators were 
accompanied by Banking Committee Staff Director Kathleen 
Casey and Shelby Executive Assistant Anne Caldwell. 
 
-------------- 
Scioli Meeting 
-------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Following a brief tour of the historic Argentine 
capitol building, the Senators, accompanied by the 
Ambassador, met with Vice President Scioli in his Senate 
office.  Scioli opened the meeting with a brief overview of 
his role and primary objectives in his capacity as president 
of the Argentine Senate, namely, the strengthening of 
legislative institutions, community outreach on issues such 
as biotechnology, biofuels and education, and finally, a 
strong commitment on promoting legislation to combat money 
laundering and terrorism financing.  Scioli said Argentina 
was currently in the fourth year of economic growth.  The 
challenge now was to enact needed educational reforms to 
ensure sustained economic growth in the future.  He expressed 
his gratitude to the U.S. for its help in "difficult times" 
and thanked the Ambassador for his support in a "complicated" 
situation where, he said, some want to blame the U.S. for our 
problems. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Senator Shelby noted the primary purpose of their 
visit was to learn more about cooperative efforts with 
Argentina to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. 
 He expressed his thanks for the cooperation that has already 
been provided by the GoA, noting that interdicting the 
financing of terrorist organizations was key to the fight 
against terrorism.  Senator Shelby said he was also 
interested in pursuing better relations with Argentina and 
working to build a better economic base in the country. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Senator Sarbanes asked Scioli what problems in 
U.S.-Argentine relations.  Scioli replied he did not see 
problems with U.S. relations, rather opportunities.  He said 
investment levels in Argentina were still far below what was 
needed for sustained economic growth and that he would like 
to see U.S. corporations become more involved.  He said he 
believed strongly in regional economic integration and that 
this process was, indeed, irreversible.  Scioli acknowledged 
there were obstacles to be overcome, particularly in regard 
to agricultural subsidies, but he believed with democratic 
governments and fiscal surpluses, Argentina would continue to 
move forward on integration. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Scioli listed several challenges the GoA faced in 
achieving its economic goals including ensuring legal 
security, increased competitiveness and fiscal 
responsibility.  He said the Argentine banking sector was 
improving but still needed the assistance of the U.S. to 
ensure a solid system.  In this regard, he said it was 
important to raise the awareness of the financial link 
between drug trafficking and terrorism financing.  Senator 
Shelby concurred, noting that terrorism is not in the 
interest of commerce.  Senator Shelby concluded the meeting, 
stating that the U.S. and Argentina should build a stronger, 
better relationship. 
 
-------------- 
Taiana Meeting 
-------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Following the meeting with the vice president, 
Codel Shelby proceeded to the Foreign Ministry where they 
were met by Foreign Minister Taiana; Deputy Foreign Minister 
Roberto Garcia Moritan; Director of North American Affairs 
Ambassador Vicente Espeche Gil; and Special Representative 
for Counterterrorism Ambassador Victor Beauge.  Senator 
Shelby told FM Taiana the Codel was particularly interested 
in discussing money laundering and terrorism financing but 
also wanted to discuss how to strengthen political and 
economic relations with Argentina. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Taiana responded saying Argentina was "in the same 
boat" with the U.S. in its interest in fighting terrorism. 
He noted that Argentina had experienced international 
terrorism in 1992 and 1994 with the bombings of the Israeli 
Embassy and the Argentine-Jewish Cultural Center (AMIA) and 
that the government still had a debt to society to bring to 
justice those responsible for the bombings.  He said the GoA 
was pursuing this fight through five specific areas:  first, 
defining very clearly that the fight against terrorism was a 
GoA priority; second, a concerted effort to collaborate in 
the fight against terrorism in a multilateral sphere; third, 
its work in the UNSC and as chairman of the Al Qaeda/Tallaban 
committee; fourth, its work in the OAS counterterrorism 
committee (CICTE) and in the three-plus-one initiative in the 
Tri-border region; and fifth, that Argentina has acceded to 
all international treaties and conventions on terrorism 
except on nuclear terrorism which has been signed by 
President Kirchner and is awaiting Congressional approval. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Taiana then noted that the fight against terrorism 
and money laundering is linked to the effectiveness of 
government and the development of the country.  In this 
regard, Taiana said the current administration had inherited 
a society with two major negative factors:  first, "enormous" 
tax evasion which gave rise an out of control exchange 
system, and, second, a large unofficial economy.  The FM said 
the government had made important strides in addressing both 
of these issues.  Another contributing factor, he said, was 
the presence of 800,000 to one million illegal immigrants -- 
70 percent from neighboring countries -- which needed to be 
regularized. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Senator Sarbanes asked what efforts the GoA was 
making to address the issue of Muslim charities in the 
Tri-border region.  Taiana responded that while Argentina has 
a large Middle Eastern population, the majority are of 
Lebanese Christian descent.  He maintained that the Argentine 
Muslim community was generally secular but acknowledged there 
had been "a return to ethnicity" in some portions of the 
community.  Taiana said the Tri-border region was a 
traditional smuggling area and the most important objective 
for the GoA was to improve customs and banking controls at 
the border.  Therefore, a top three-plus-one initiative was 
to train bank workers and public prosecutors. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Senator Shelby asked Taiana if he was concerned by 
the actions of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.  Taiana 
replied he was concerned by the "polarization of discourse" 
between the U.S. and Venezuela.  From a regional perspective, 
he said it was important to recognize that Chavez had emerged 
from a political crisis in Venezuela and that this political 
crisis was repeating itself in other countries.  He said 
Argentina had always had good relations with Venezuela and 
that Venezuela had always stood by Argentina -- even during 
the 1982 Falkland/Malvinas war.  More recently, Venezuela had 
been helpful to Argentina in energy matters and by purchasing 
Argentine bonds.  Taiana said he understood U.S. concerns 
about Chavez but believed that isolating Chavez was not the 
solution.  He maintained it was important to talk with 
Chavez, giving as an example GoA and Brazilian efforts to 
bring Venezuela closer to MERCOSUR. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Senator Sarbanes asked Taiana about relations with 
Bolivia and Chavez' influence in that country.  Without 
commenting on Chavez, Taiana said the objective of the GoA 
was to ensure that Bolivian president Evo Morales does well 
as failure could have serious consequences both in Bolivia 
and regionally.  He said the Bolivian leadership has very 
little government experience, noting that the president of 
the Bolivian senate was an illegal worker in Argentina nine 
years ago.  He said the GoA was working directly with the 
Bolivian government on health issues and was negotiating on 
the price of natural gas supplies. 
 
¶13.  (U)  This cable was cleared by CODEL Shelby. 
GUTIERREZ