VZCZCXYZ0024
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #2755/01 3490949
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 150949Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6762
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 002755 
 
SIPDIS 
 
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 MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: DEATH OF PINOCHET; FATF AND ARGENTINA; AMIA BOMBING CASE; 
12/12/06; BUENOS AIRES 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Leading international stories today include the implications of 
General Pinochet's death and the USG reaction to it; a probable FATF 
sanction on Argentina for its lack of stricter anti-terrorist 
legislation; and the current state of Argentine-Iranian ties after 
an Argentine judge charged former Iranian government officials with 
having orchestrated the AMIA attack. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES 
 
- "Old soldiers also die" 
 
Michael Soltys, executive editor of liberal, English-language 
"Buenos Aires Herald," writes (12/12) "If the landslide reelection 
of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the first weekend of December 
represented a changing of the guard for the left in Latin America 
(confirming his replacement of the ailing Fidel Castro as the 
supreme leftist icon), the death of former Chilean dictator Augusto 
Pinochet in the second weekend should be seen as a milestone for the 
right. 
 
"So much so indeed that there are many reasons to argue that his 
death should give more joy to his friends than to his enemies. The 
latter cannot in all conscience celebrate because in the final 
analysis Pinochet's death represents the triumph of impunity - the 
old soldier has the last laugh. A gallows awaits Saddam Hussein in 
Iraq but the noose never did close around Pinochet's neck despite 
nearly 100 months of prosecution efforts ever since his London 
arrest in October, 1998." 
 
- "Wounds" 
 
Paula Lugones, international columnist of leading "Clarin," writes 
(12/12) "Pinochet's victims were not able to obtain a judicial 
ruling holding the former dictator accountable for his crimes... 
 
"This is really frustrating but does not mean there has been 
impunity - the past continues open and under scrutiny. There are 
nearly 400 probes underway for crimes during the dictatorship and, 
even after Pinochet's death, those involved will continue under 
investigation. As pointed out by Socialist Deputy Isabel Allende, 
the daughter of the president overthrown by the former dictator, as 
she demanded that investigations continue, 'Chile has an open 
wound.'" 
 
- "The US' 'thoughts'" 
 
Oscar Raul Cardoso, international analyst of leading "Clarin," 
comments (12/12) "... A White House's spokesperson, Tony Fratto, 
issued a cautious diplomatic lament for the victims to the 
para-state repression of the Pinochet dictatorship... 
 
"His words could have been sounded almost as an act of compassion 
had they not failed to mention the US responsibility in the 
bloodbath that was unleashed in Latin America, not only in Chile, 
during those years... 
 
"There would maybe not have been any victims if the 'thoughts' of 
another Republican administration, Richard Nixon's, had not spent so 
much energy to accelerate the downfall of Salvador Allende at any 
price, as revealed during recent years by several declassified 
official documents." 
 
- "Rumors of a sanction against Argentina" 
 
Alcadio Oa, political columnist of leading "Clarin," writes (12/12) 
"There are rumors that Argentina could be sanctioned by the 
Financial Action Task Force (FATF)... 
 
"What the FATF has demanded for some time, and which Argentina has 
failed to meet, is 'stricter legislation against terrorist 
financing.' According to the Government, the problem is not 
terrorist financing itself but the definition of the crime of 
terrorism. 
 
"According to Justice Minister Alberto Iribarne, 'it is almost 
impossible to define (terrorism) as a crime without harming 
constitutional guarantees.' In other words, the difficulty lies in 
drawing a clear line between what could be considered terrorism and 
social protests. 
 
"... What could be the FATF's sanction? Firstly, what it is known as 
Recommendation 21, 'paying special attention to transactions from 
Argentina.' This means loss of prestige and confidence, certain 
obstacles to foreign financial transactions, setting a precedent for 
major sanctions, and perhaps, probable frictions with the US." 
 
 
- "Iran makes new protest over AMIA accusation" 
 
Natasha Niebieskikwiat, political columnist of leading "Clarin," 
writes (12/12) "Right when turbulences with Iran seemed to quiet 
down, the Iranian FM surprisingly summoned Argentine diplomat Mario 
Enrique Quinteros - who had to listen to yet another bitter protest 
over what Iran calls Argentina's 'ungrounded' charges against eight 
former Iranian government officials in the AMIA bombing case... 
 
"... Everything seems to indicate that Argentina will also ask the 
Iranian DCM in Buenos Aires, Mohsen Baharvand, to clarify the 
statements made by the General Director of American Affairs at the 
Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ahmad Sobhani, who urged the Argentine 
government 'not to fall in the Zionists' trap and not to repeat past 
mistakes.' He was referring to Argentine authorities' insistence in 
pursuing the so-called Iranian connection in the 1994 AMIA 
bombing." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
WAYNE