VZCZCXYZ0007
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #2290/01 3381729
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 041729Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9831
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 002290 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL OREP KWMN AR
SUBJECT: CODEL REYES VISITS ARGENTINA 
 
¶1.  Summary and Introduction:  Rep. Silvestre Reyes, Chairman 
of the House Permanent Select Committee on  Intelligence 
(HPSCI), visited Argentina November 28 -  December 1 and met 
with Vice President and Senate President Scioli,  the 
president of the Chamber of Deputies, the chairperson of  the 
Argentine Joint Committee on Intelligence Oversight and other 
officials.  The codel also visited the area along the borders 
with Brazil and Paraguay.  Rep. Michael Thompson, member of 
the HPSCI, joined Chairman Reyes for part of his schedule. 
The Ambassador escorted Chairman Reyes to the meeting with 
Argentine Vice President Scioli, who expressed his admiration 
for the U.S. Senate and political system.  In addition to 
their consideration of U.S.-Argentine relations, they raised 
a number of issues related to congressional oversight of 
intelligence.  The codel met with Argentine Congressional 
Deputy Cordoba, who chairs the Argentine Joint Committee on 
Intelligence Oversight.  She reviewed her committee's 
authorities and activities since its inception in 2003.  At 
the conclusion of that meeting, Chairman Reyes invited 
Chairperson Cordoba and members of her committee to 
Washington in 2008.  End Summary. 
 
MEETING WITH THE VICE-PRESIDENT 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  The Ambassador accompanied Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), 
Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence (HPSCI), and his delegation to a meeting with 
Argentine Vice President Daniel Scioli and President of the 
Chamber of Deputies Alberto Balestrini.  The November 29, 
2007, meeting took place at the National Congress. Deputy 
Stella Maris Cordoba, president of the Joint Committee on 
Oversight of Intelligence Agencies, also participated. 
 
¶3.  The Ambassador noted that Scioli and Balestrini would 
depart their current positions on December 10 to be sworn in 
as the new Governor and Vice-Governor, respectively, of the 
Province of Buenos Aires.  Scioli noted that Buenos Aires was 
the nation's largest province, with a population of 15 
million out of Argentina's total of 40 million.  The 
Ambassador said the Embassy was prepared to continue 
supporting efforts to improve law enforcement and judicial 
training in Buenos Aires.  Scioli thanked the Ambassador and 
told Chairman Reyes the Ambassador was "active, hard-working 
and popular."  He claimed there was across the board a desire 
in Argentina for greater cooperation with the U.S. 
 
¶4.  Scioli said he had many friends in the U.S., stemming 
from his first job as a Frigidaire refrigerator salesman and 
his years of competing in speedboat championships in the U.S. 
 He also recalled intense negotiations with U.S. airlines 
when he was Secretary of Tourism and Sport, and he also 
claimed that his personal lobbying of then-Secretary of State 
Colin Powell helped get the State Department to lift a 
"warning" against travel to Argentina.  Fortunately, he said, 
American tourists came back to Argentina in droves.  The 
Ambassador pointed out that there had been about 15% growth 
during the past year in travel in both directions between the 
two countries. 
 
¶5.  Reyes expressed appreciation for his earlier meeting with 
his counterpart, Deputy Cordoba, and noted a number of issues 
that were raised in their discussion, such as the importance 
of congressional oversight of intelligence functions, the 
growing trend in both countries for greater transparency of 
intelligence budgets, and, in Argentina, the concerns (dating 
from the country's experience in the 1970s with the "Dirty 
War") about the potential for government abuse of 
intelligence capabilities.  In response to a query by 
Balestrini, Reyes stressed the importance of close 
consultations between the executive and legislative branches 
on intelligence matters even when the two were controlled by 
opposing parties.  They noted the Argentine Congress had one 
joint, bicameral committee for intelligence matters, whereas 
the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives each had their 
own committees. 
 
¶6.  Scioli indicated he had been following the races in the 
U.S. for the Democrat and Republican presidential 
nominations.  Acknowledging that there had been no equivalent 
debates in Argentina during its recent elections, he said he 
was particularly impressed by how the U.S. pre-candidates 
were forced to address major issues, such as health, 
education and the environment.  He also said he considered it 
instructive for Argentina how, in 
U.S. political parties, the various pre-candidates and their 
factions would close ranks once the party had selected a 
candidate. 
 
MEETING WITH ARGENTINE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  On November 28th, the Ambassador accompanied Chairman 
Reyes and his delegation to a meeting with Reyes's Argentine 
counterpart, Deputy Stella Maris Cordoba, Chairperson of the 
Joint Committee on Oversight of Intelligence Agencies.  The 
meeting was held in the committee's conference room at the 
National Congress and was also attended by the Vice Chairman 
of the Oversight Committee, Deputy Oscar Rodriguez, as well 
as members of the committee staff. 
 
¶8.  Deputy Cordoba gave a briefing on the structure and 
responsibilities of her committee, as well as a brief history 
of the committee's establishment, which was first mandated in 
2002 but was not formed until 2003.  Deputy Cordoba claimed 
that Argentina was the first Latin American country to form 
an intelligence oversight committee within its legislature 
with real powers.  She provided an outline of the committee's 
bicameral composition, made up of seven senators and seven 
deputies, selected proportionally based on party 
representation in the Congress.  Deputy Cordoba commented 
that the committee had modeled itself after its Western 
counterparts, which they had closely studied via 
consultations with members of the intelligence committees in 
the U.S. and Europe, and that they incorporated several 
features found in other Western countries, such as term 
limits for members, intelligence budget oversight and 
control, and the ability to call hearings on specific issues 
that compelled officials from the intelligence agencies to 
testify. 
 
¶9.  An interesting feature of the Argentine intelligence 
oversight committee is the role of "national ombudsman," 
which allows private citizens to seek redress from abuses by 
the intelligence agencies via the committee.  Deputy Cordoba 
outlined that the overall function of the committee was 
heavily influenced by the Argentine experience of 
intelligence abuses during the "Dirty War," which continues 
to provoke heavy distrust within the Argentine public today. 
 
¶10.  Chairman Reyes remarked positively on the strides 
Argentina had made in instituting legislative oversight on 
its intelligence agencies, and particularly its focus on 
preventing future abuses.  In light of the previous Argentine 
visit with the U.S. Congress in 2004, Chairman Reyes extended 
another invitation to Deputy Cordoba and her committee to 
meet with HPSCI in Washington in 2008.  Chairman Reyes and 
Deputy Cordoba also briefly discussed the possibility of 
conducting staff exchanges so that both countries could learn 
from each. 
 
¶11.  As the meeting concluded, the Ambassador raised with 
Deputy Cordoba the status of legislation on the Trafficking 
in Persons (TIP), which Deputy Cordoba has been spearheading. 
 Deputy Cordoba noted that the Argentine Senate had approved 
its version of the legislation but that the Chamber of 
Deputies has not reached a similar agreement, and as such, 
while Argentina remained committed to passing legislation on 
the issue, it would have to wait until the next legislative 
session in early 2008.  She said she believed a number of the 
new committee chairs would favor her more comprehensive TIP 
legislation when the Chamber reconvenes in March. 
 
PRESS RELEASE 
------------- 
 
¶12.  The codel visit was viewed very positively by Argentine 
interlocutors and set an excellent basis for further 
cooperation in the future.  The Embassy issued November 30 a 
press release (available on its website) noting that Codel 
Reyes had called on Vice President Scioli, President of the 
Chamber of Deputies Balestrini, and with Deputy Cordoba and 
her Joint Committee on Intelligence Oversight.  The press 
release noted that the codel's meetings covered issues 
related to congressional oversight of intelligence activities 
and border security, and that the meetings reviewed the 
bilateral cooperation agenda in these areas. 
 
¶13.  The codel did not have the opportunity to clear this 
message before departure. 
WAYNE