VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0645/01 1361506
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151506Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1037
RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000645 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH SENATE DEFENSE CHAIR MARIA 
CRISTINA PERCEVAL 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  The Ambassador met May 14 with National Victory 
Front Senator and President of the Senate Defense Commission Maria 
Cristina Perceval.  Ambassador Wayne and Perceval discussed her 
recent trip to the United States to attend a conference on the role 
of civilians in the security sector.  Perceval stressed her 
commitment to international security and the importance of 
strengthening multilateral organizations.  She also emphasized her 
commitment to gender issues and her work on the fight against 
trafficking in persons.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Ambassador Wayne said he hoped that Senator Perceval's 
experience at the April 9-11 conference in Washington sponsored by 
the Department of Defense and the Center for Hemispheric Defense 
Studies, "The Development of Careers and Functions for Civilians in 
the Defense and Security Sectors," had been positive.  Perceval 
replied that the seminar was excellent, and reiterated the need to 
cultivate civilians who are familiar with national security issues. 
She said the conference provided valuable opportunities to discuss 
with other representatives from Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil 
the resolution of conflicts in South America. 
 
Multilateralism and Peacekeeping 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Perceval mentioned that she was a board member of the 
non-governmental organization "Parliamentarians for Global Action," 
and that she and other members had met recently in New York.  As 
part of that effort they talked with staff of the U.S. House Foreign 
Affairs Committee.  Perceval said the NGO was now working the 2010 
revision of the Rome Statute.  Ambassador reiterated that it was 
excellent that Perceval had participated in the seminar and that 
such exchanges and conversations were necessary to foster better 
mutual understanding.  She said she wanted to look for ways to make 
more regular exchanges between U.S. and Argentine parliamentarians. 
 
¶4.  (U) Perceval also noted she had recently participated in a 
meeting convened in Peru to discuss and debate MINUSTAH's progress. 
This included representatives from all of the Latin American 
countries participating and allowed for excellent exchanges on 
lessons learned and challenges.  The Ambassador said this was a very 
good idea and that he had told Minister of Defense Nilda Garre the 
same thing.  Ambassador Wayne applauded the Senator's and group's 
efforts to connect politics and practice.  Perceval mentioned that 
she would be traveling to Ecuador to participate in a conference on 
civilian leadership of the military at the University of Quito. 
 
¶5.  (U) Ambassador Wayne said that we all can learn from 
peacekeeping and other humanitarian tasks.  He cited as an example 
his own experiences, noting how difficult it was to coordinate 
relief efforts between so many countries, NGOs, and defense forces 
at first in response to the East Asian tsunami and the 2005 Pakistan 
earthquake, but, after a number of weeks, the process normalized and 
everyone benefited.  Perceval agreed and mentioned that she was 
finishing up online coursework through the University of the United 
Nations regarding peacekeeping.   Perceval mentioned that it was a 
personal decision to prioritize work on an international security 
agenda and said it was important to strengthen multilateral 
organizations. 
 
Women in Politics 
----------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Perceval mentioned that she did not come from a 
traditional political background, and that as a Professor she was 
more familiar with ideas and had more exposure to think tanks.  She 
said that being a senator, nevertheless, was a serious 
responsibility.  Perceval mentioned she was friends with President 
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, but caveated the relationship as 
more professional than personal, dating from their work together in 
the Argentine Senate.  The Ambassador noted that Perceval also had 
worked on women's issues, to which Perceval quickly replied these 
issues were her passion.  She cited the recently formed Women's Bloc 
(caucus) in Congress as an example.  The Ambassador noted 
Argentina's commitment to promoting women in politics and the fact 
that the electoral law (2005 amendment) mandates political parties 
must nominate a minimum percentage of 30 percent women candidates in 
legislative elections.  Perceval agreed, but added that it wasn't 
enough to have women represented at the table.  She said the picture 
was broader and had to take into account their background, views, 
and how they got to their current position. 
 
¶7.  (U) Ambassador noted women's activism in areas where they are 
building broad networks, like in anti-trafficking- in-persons (TIP) 
efforts.  Perceval highlighted her work in contributing to the first 
federal TIP law recently passed in Congress.  Perceval stressed the 
importance of gradual change in strong democracies so that citizens 
have time to internalize the law and then learn to abide by it.  She 
mentioned working with then-Uruguayan deputy (now Minister of the 
Interior) Daisy Tourne against child sex trafficking.  Perceval also 
mentioned how she had worked with Microsoft to push for a child-safe 
Internet environment.  The Ambassador congratulated Perceval on her 
 
efforts and noted the USG had offered the Justice Minister 
assistance and to share best practices on implementation of the 
recently passed federal anti-TIP law. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Senator Perceval was warm and engaging in this meeting 
with the Ambassador.  She understands the important role of civilian 
political leadership in international security affairs and has shown 
initiative and interest in learning more.  She is an activist 
legislator and close to President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and 
other advisors, like Ambassador to the United States Hector 
Timerman, whom she referred to as "her friend" during the meeting. 
End comment. 
 
Bio Note 
-------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Mara Cristina Perceval is currently serving her second term 
as Senator, representing the Peronist Party of the Province of 
Mendoza.  She is President of the Committee on National Defense and 
Member of the Committees on Foreign Relations, Population and Human 
Development, Education, Constitutional Rights and Privileges, and 
the Joint Argentine-Chilean Parliamentary Commission.  She is also a 
member of the Bicameral Commission in charge of supervising 
Presidential decrees.  Perceval is an active member of several local 
and international NGOs active in women's issues, and she has various 
publications to her credit. In recent years, she has gained 
expertise in defense issues as well. 
 
¶10.  (U) Senator Perceval maintains a low profile but is 
nevertheless an important political figure both in her province and 
at the national level.  During her years in Congress, she became 
close to President Cristina Kirchner, as they were both part of the 
officialist bloc in the Senate.  In 2005, Perceval co-founded the 
political group "Movimiento Evita", which was one of the first to 
promote Cristina Kirchner's presidential candidacy.  She is also 
close to the Chief of Cabinet Alberto Fernandez.  She was mentioned 
as a candidate for the Minister of Defense in 2005, which was 
ultimately taken by Nilda Garre, and to run for Mendoza's Governor's 
Office in 2007, but Celso Jaque received the Kirchners' approval 
instead. 
 
¶11.  (U) Perceval received her undergraduate degree in Philosophy at 
the National University of Cuyo in 1980 and has a strong background 
in women's issues.  Before taking office as a Senator in 2001, she 
occupied a variety of political positions, both in Mendoza and in 
the National Government.  She was Coordinator for Equal 
Opportunities in Education for the Province of Buenos Aires in 2000, 
advisor to the Lower House of Congress on social policy and women's 
issues (1993-1995), President of the Women's Institute of Mendoza 
(1993-1995), Coordinator for Equal Opportunities for Women within 
the Mendoza provincial government (1991-1993).  At the same time, 
she served as a professor of social sciences and philosophy at the 
National University of Cuyo. 
 
¶12.  (U) Maria Cristina Perceval was born on September 10, 1956, in 
Mendoza.  She is from a family of prominent musicians in her 
province: her father Julio Perceval was the founder of the Music 
School in Cuyo National University, and her mother Alejandrina 
Suarez was a famous organ player.  She is married to Pablo Martn, 
and has three children: Sebastin (25), Arturo (15) and Julieta 
(14).  She speaks English, French, and German. 
 
WAYNE