VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0701 1432054
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 222054Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1123
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0089

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000701 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: KDEM PHUM PREL EU CU AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: CUBA SOLIDARITY DAY 
 
REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0597 (B) STATE 46997 
 
¶1. (SBU) Embassy Buenos Aires placed in newspaper-of-record "La 
Nacion" on May 21 an op-ed written by Cuban independent journalist 
Jorge Olivera-Castillo. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Also per ref A, post sought to contact Dr. Roberto 
Quinones, the son of Cuban neurosurgeon Hilda Molina who, since 
1994, has been denied permission to leave Cuba to join her family. 
Quinones declined a meeting with the Ambassador, and it subsequently 
became apparent why.  On May 21, Argentine media reported that the 
GOC had issued a passport to Hilda Molina's 89-year-old mother, 
Hilda Morejon.  Although Morejon has not yet been granted an exit 
visa, and her daughter's request to leave the island shows no 
progress, the GOC's move won the praise of President Cristina 
Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK), who interpreted it as "a gesture to the 
Quinones family and the Government of Argentina."  Interior Minister 
Florencio Randazzo said "this family's reunion is the result of many 
entreaties undertaken by the GOA" for humanitarian reasons. 
Argentine media reported that Dr. Quinones's Argentine wife, 
Veronica Scarpati, had traveled to Cuba a few days earlier in 
anticipation of the announcement to help with travel arrangements. 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) PAS asked leading Radio 10 and Cable signal C5N to organize 
an interview with Dr. Hilda Molina for Cuban Solidarity Day.  These 
outlets had previously interviewed her about her mother's inability 
to travel to Argentina to see family because of Cuban government 
restrictions.  The interview was held on May 21st by Radio 10 and 
coincided with the unexpected announcement that the Cuban government 
had restored her mother's passport.  The news immediately hit 
television as a breaking story and was a front page headline in all 
major papers May 22nd. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment:  Although initial media coverage interpreted the 
GOC "gesture" as part of an "opening" by the Raul Castro regime, 
follow-up stories seem to be picking up on the unfairness of 
Molina's plight. 
 
WAYNE