VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #2079/01 2951804
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221804Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9523
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6637
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 6515
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 6847
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0851
RUEHLP/DEA LA PAZ OCT HQS WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 002079 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM ASEC PREL PGOV SNAR AR
SUBJECT: POLICE REFORM AND CORRUPTION IN ARGENTINA'S BUENOS 
AIRES PROVINCE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Ambassador met with Federal Prosecutor 
Dr. Carlos Stornelli, who will likely be the next Minister of 
Security for the Province of Buenos Aires following October 
28 elections.  His first priority and greatest challenge will 
be the institutional and cultural reform of the notoriously 
corrupt provincial police force and the need for modernizing 
the police structure.  He also talked of rebuilding the 
people's trust in police, rebuilding trust between the police 
and the political leadership, and "taking back the street." 
He said the government was too permissive on some security 
issues, including on drug use.  Stornelli also stated that 
corruption in Argentina, while perhaps not practiced by as 
many public officials as in the 1990s, is a bigger problem 
and more concentrated in fewer hands.  Ambassador noted 
Embassy agencies' close cooperation with federal and 
provincial security forces and with the judicial sector and 
offered USG assistance in training and possible exchanges and 
visits on security-related issues.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Federal Prosecutor Dr. Carlos Stornelli called on 
the Ambassador October 11 to discuss security issues in 
Buenos Aires Province.  Stornelli has been tapped by favored 
gubernatorial candidate (and current Vice President) Daniel 
Scioli to be his Security Minister.  Stornelli told the 
Ambassador he "would have a lot to do" if Scioli wins and he 
is appointed Minister.  He said his most difficult job will 
be the reform -- institutional and cultural -- of the BA 
provincial police, a notoriously corrupt institution.  It is 
a long-standing and multi-layered problem that will not be 
fixed overnight. 
 
REBUILDING TRUST 
---------------- 
¶3. (U) A top priority will be trying to restore public 
confidence in the police and police confidence in the 
political leadership.  Stornelli said his top priority will 
be to restore a sense of public security by returning the 
police to the streets.  Stornelli explained that the police 
are an "armed group" that does not know its mission.  This is 
the fault of the political leadership.  The problem goes back 
30 years, he explained.  First, there were leftist guerrilla 
attacks on street patrolmen, then the period of military 
dictatorship and security force repression.  This was 
followed by the return of democracy in 1983 and the long 
reconciliation process of trying to account for the numerous 
human rights abuses of Argentina's security forces, including 
by the BA provincial police. 
 
¶4. (U) After the military government's repression, Stornelli 
explained that the political pendulum swung the other way, 
initiating a much more liberal attitude toward criminal 
prosecution and imprisonment.  He said this included an 
excessively permissive attitude toward drug use in Argentina. 
 The police began "ceding the streets," i.e. not forcefully 
going after criminals for fear of being accused of abuse.  He 
explained that police were afraid to do their jobs for fear 
of becoming ensnared in bureaucratic and legal proceedings. 
Coupled with Argentina's inefficient and ineffective judicial 
system that routinely bounces offenders back to the streets 
and with the police's poor pay and training, police see 
little incentive to do their jobs.  Stornelli stated that it 
made little sense having the police on the street without a 
clear mission. 
 
BUDGET AND MODERNIZATION 
------------------------ 
¶5. (SBU) Stornelli said he would work to get the necessary 
budget for proper training and modernizing of the force.  He 
noted that in Buenos Aires province the police bureaus do not 
communicate with each other, citing as an example the lack of 
contact between the Criminal Investigations and Criminal 
Prevention bureaus.  He also noted little effective 
communication with prosecutors, responsible along with judges 
for directing investigations.  Although he said the current 
administrative structure was too decentralized with six 
subsecretaries, Stornelli said he did not plan to make 
significant organizational changes initially. 
 
¶6. (U) The Ambassador noted Embassy agencies' close and 
positive cooperation with Argentine federal and provincial 
security forces and expressed our willingness to work with 
the new provincial administration on these issues through 
training, exchanges, visits, and facilitating contacts with 
U.S. state and municipal law enforcement agencies 
 
CORRUPTION ALIVE AND WELL 
------------------------- 
¶7. (SBU) Stornelli has worked on major public corruption 
cases in Argentina since the early 1990s.  He led 
investigations against former President Menem, and is 
currently working on the Skanska gas pipeline corruption 
investigation.  Corruption, according to Stornelli, remains a 
very serious concern in Argentina.  He said that corruption 
was perhaps not as pervasive as in the 1990s (Argentina's 
supposed golden era of corruption), i.e., not as many 
officials were involved, but added that corruption today was 
just as bad, if not worse, and concentrated in fewer hands. 
Corruption, he said, was part of the culture and will be very 
difficult to address.  He noted that, personally, he 
sometimes had to work hard to overcome his discouragement 
over the persistence of the problems, but said there exists a 
core of individuals dedicated to improving the situation. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶8. (SBU) Provincial gubernatorial candidate Scioli has 
stressed to the Embassy (and in his public campaign) his high 
interest in improving security in the Buenos Aires province. 
Stornelli, with his background as a prosecutor, knows the 
issues well, seems to understand the enormity of his job, and 
appears realistic about what he can accomplish.  If appointed 
Security Minister, Embassy believes Stornelli promises to be 
a positive and effective interlocutor on security issues in 
Argentina's most populous and important province.  We will 
look to target programs and training the forces whose 
leadership he will assume to our mutual interests.  Stornelli 
expressed interest in a possible early visit to the U.S. to 
learn from U.S. experiences. 
WAYNE