VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0857/01 1752006
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 232006Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1398
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1099
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 2311
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JUN SOUTH OPSDIR

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000857 
 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL AR
SUBJECT: Argentina: San Juan Welcomes Ambassador 
 
Summary 
----------- 
 
¶1.  During Ambassador's June 12 - 13 visit to San Juan, provincial 
authorities emphasized their desire to work with U.S. interests to 
explore mutually beneficial relationships.  Ambassador had extensive 
meetings with San Juan Governor Jose Luis Gioja, San Juan 
Vice-Governor Dr. Jose Ruben U$ac, and San Juan Deputy Ruperto 
Godoy, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the National 
Chamber of Deputies.  These meetings highlighted possibilities for 
working together in the energy, agriculture, tourism, and mining 
sectors and opportunities for cultural exchanges.  Ambassador 
focused on shared cultural values between the U.S. and Argentina in 
visits to a kindergarten and a museum that honors San Juan 
native-son, former Argentine President, Domingo F. Sarmiento. 
Ambassador emphasized current ties between San Juan and the U.S. as 
well as the corporate social responsibility programs of U.S. 
companies in San Juan in visits to Clorox Corporation and Wal-Mart. 
The Ambassador was a featured guest at gala concert celebrating the 
446th anniversary of the founding of the city of San Juan and toured 
the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ischigualasto National Park, the 
site of the world's oldest dinosaur fossils.  The visit received 
extensive and very positive media coverage.  End Summary. 
 
San Juan Seeks to Work Together: Energy, Agriculture, Tourism, 
Mining, Democracy 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2.  San Juan Governor Jose Luis Gioja welcomed the Ambassador to San 
Juan by noting San Juan's long history of good relations with the 
U.S., as evidenced by the works of former President Sarmiento.  He 
acknowledged that Sarmiento's emphasis on public education, 
democracy, free trade and freedom of speech in Argentina arose in 
part out of his experiences in the U.S. Governor Gioja said he 
seeks to build on this history and respond to the forces of 
globalization by increasing cooperation with USG agencies and U.S. 
private sector.  The Ambassador congratulated Gioja on being 
reelected in August 2007 by a substantial margin and on the results 
of a recent poll that showed him as the most popular governor in the 
entire country.  Ambassador explained that he looked forward to 
paying tribute to President Sarmiento during his visit and was eager 
to hear the ideas of the people of San Juan for working together 
with U.S. interests. 
 
¶3.  Gioja explained that rivers in San Juan province provide great 
opportunities for energy production.  The first major hydroelectric 
project in San Juan, the Caracoles Dam, is scheduled to open next 
year and will be operated by American firm, AES.   A second major 
hydroelectric project, Punta Negra, is also being developed.  The 
Governor mentioned that the province would appreciate any assistance 
the Ambassador could provide in securing USG support for the 
financing of the project by the Inter-American Development Bank. 
 
 
¶4.  Gioja emphasized the importance of the wine industry in San Juan 
while also explaining that agricultural producers have diversified 
production, and that frozen grape juice is a particularly important 
product in the province.  Ambassador noted that the U.S. is San 
Juan's number one export market for frozen grape juice and Gioja 
readily agreed.  Gioja further commented, however, that he believes 
U.S. tariffs on frozen grape juice are "a problem" and asked for the 
Ambassador's assistance in reducing the U.S. tariff on frozen grape 
juice.  Ambassador acknowledged Gioja's concern, but also explained 
that tariffs present a difficult and sensitive topic and that 
reduction of tariffs would be tied to larger multilateral and 
international trade negotiations. 
 
¶5.  Gioja emphasized the potential for tourism in San Juan and 
encouraged Americans to visit the province for tourism and cultural 
exchange.  He noted that San Juan intends to send an exhibit to the 
U.S. in 2010 promoting the Valle de la Luna/ Ischigualasto World 
Heritage site.  He responded positively to the Ambassador's 
statement that the Embassy is committed to promoting cultural 
exchange programs and that Americans are visiting Argentina in 
record numbers.  Gioja appeared surprised and pleased to hear the 
Ambassador describe the advances the Embassy consular section has 
made in simplifying the U.S. visa process for the Argentine public. 
 
 
¶6.  Gioja explained the "political decision" he made several years 
ago to promote the mining industry in the province.  The mining 
industry has experienced strong growth over the last several years 
and Gioja said he thinks there are opportunities for close 
cooperation between U.S. interests and San Juan in the mining area. 
He did not address concerns expressed by some environmentalists that 
mining activities are adversely effecting the environment in San 
Juan and instead referred to the decision to promote the extraction 
of resources from the land as being in the tradition of Sarmiento. 
 
 
¶7.  Gioja noted San Juan's strong democratic institutions and 
traditions and the commitment of his government to working together 
with the military and all parts of Argentine society to strengthen 
further democracy in San Juan.  In referring to the present dispute 
between the Argentine federal government and the agriculture sector, 
he acknowledged Argentina is experiencing some problems right now, 
but said these problems are nothing compared to the problems the 
country faced in 2000 - 2001.  He described the current situation as 
normal for Latin America and compared the situation to a Boca - 
River soccer match.  Separately the Vice Governors acknowledged to 
the Ambassador that the strike was causing significant disruption of 
trucking, both for supplies coming into the province--e.g. fuel--and 
for exports of its products. 
 
Provincial Legislature - - Interest in Exchanges 
------------------------ ----------------------- 
 
¶8.  San Juan Vice-Governor Ruben Unac hosted the Ambassador in a 
brief visit to the Provincial Legislature.  Unac also recognized the 
forces of globalization and emphasized that the people and the 
provincial government of San Juan are eager to explore opportunities 
for working together with U.S. interests.  The provincial 
legislators in particular emphasized an interest in cultural 
exchanges between local legislators and their U.S. counterparts. 
The provincial legislators expressed a strong desire to visit the 
U.S. and learn more about how state and local legislators in the 
U.S. confront local issues.  The Ambassador expressed enthusiasm for 
this idea and referred to the legislature of his home state of 
California as an interesting example of how disparate interests in a 
state legislature can work together with a strong governor to effect 
legislative changes that can influence the entire country. 
 
Paying Tribute to Sarmiento - - Past and Present 
----------------------------- ------------------ 
 
¶10.  The Ambassador visited San Juan, in part, to pay tribute to the 
legacy of Domingo F. Sarmiento, a former Governor of San Juan 
Province, former Argentine Ambassador to the United States, and the 
seventh President of Argentina.  Sarmiento is considered the father 
of the Argentine public education system and one of his initial 
efforts to promote public education in Argentina was a program to 
bring teachers from the U.S. to Argentina.  The Ambassador visited a 
public kindergarten named in honor of Sarah Chamberlain Eccleston, 
one of the first U.S. teachers to come to Argentina under 
Sarmiento's program.  He met with the head mistress of the school, 
listened to a teacher explain the story of Sarah's work in 
Argentina, enjoyed a dance program by the students and then talked 
with 200 well-behaved kindergarten students.  The visit to the 
kindergarten received extraordinarily positive press coverage in the 
local newspapers. 
 
¶11.  The Ambassador also visited the Sarmiento family home where the 
former President was born.  The home is now a museum dedicated to 
telling the story of Sarmiento's life.  The Ambassador received a 
tour of the museum from the director accompanied by several local 
politicians and members of the media.  The tour emphasized 
Sarmiento's positive influence on Argentine history and highlighted 
his strong ties to the U.S.  As part of the museum visit, the 
Ambassador had an opportunity to speak to the media about the shared 
cultural values between the U.S. and Argentina that are reflected in 
Sarmiento's words and deeds.  The museum visit also received 
extensive positive coverage in the local media. 
 
Company Visits -- Jobs and Corporate Social Responsibility Programs 
 
---------------  ----------------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  The Ambassador visited two American companies operating 
successfully in San Juan, accompanied by Vice Governor U$ac, Deputy 
Godoy, and Minister of Production Raul Benitez.   The first visit 
was to Clorox Corporation.  Oakland, California-based Clorox, has 
been operating in Argentina since 1985.  At its San Juan facility, 
Clorox produces home cleaning and disinfecting products, 
insecticides, air fresheners, laundry additives, cleaning utensils 
and automotive care products. Clorox executives provided an 
 
insightful tour into the well-managed facility and explained how 
recent new investments in San Juan had led to increased production 
capacity and approximately 20 new jobs at Clorox.  Clorox produces 
all of its aerosol products for the world in San Juan. 
 
¶15.  The second company visit was to a Wal-Mart Super-Store.  In 
2006, Wal-Mart invested $10 million to build a hypermarket and a 
mall featuring 50 retail stores in San Juan. The company initially 
hired 250 "Sanjuaninos" and in April 2007, opened its San Juan 
location - - its fourteenth store in Argentina. Prior to opening 
the store, Wal-Mart worked with the provincial government to 
identify local producers that could be included in Wal-Mart's Global 
Supplier Program. The Ambassador visited Wal-Mart and heard 
testimonials from several companies based in San Juan describing how 
inclusion in Wal-Mart's Global Supplier Program increased their 
sales, allowed them to begin exporting and improved their 
operational and quality standards. At the conclusion of the 
meeting, Minister of Production Benitez told the Ambassador he hoped 
to replicate Wal-Mart's model with other companies in the province. 
 
 
¶16.  Both Clorox and Wal-Mart have active corporate social 
responsibility programs functioning in San Juan.  To highlight and 
learn more about these programs, the Ambassador visited "comedores" 
sponsored by both companies.  A comedor is a community dining hall 
where local children can come after school to enjoy milk, a snack 
and a safe environment.  Clorox sponsors a comedor that has a 
reading room and serves 120 local children; a crowd of nearly 200 
people greeted the Ambassador there with cakes and hot chocolate. 
Wal-Mart provides food, milk and volunteers to a comedor that serves 
120 children from 75 families and ten pregnant women living in the 
area.  Approximately 150 people greeted the Ambassador at the 
Wal-Mart-sponsored comedor where the Ambassador served hot chocolate 
to the children and enjoyed a cake they had made for his visit. 
 
San Juan Anniversary 
-------------------- 
 
¶17.  The Ambassador attended a gala concert featuring local folk 
music in honor of the 446th anniversary of the founding of the city 
of San Juan.  The Ambassador was accompanied by Governor Gioja and 
members of his cabinet and was named a distinguished guest of honor 
by the Mayor of the city.  The following morning the Ambassador 
accepted the invitation of Vice-Governor U$ac to take a helicopter 
tour of the Ischigualasto National Park in the "Valley of the Moon" 
in the north of the province.  The park is a UNESCO World Heritage 
site, the location of the world's oldest dinosaur fossils, and the 
central component of San Juan's plans for promoting tourism to the 
province. 
 
Wide and Favorable Media Coverage 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶18.  San Juan is a small province not accustomed to the visit of 
someone like the Ambassador of the United States.  The Ambassador 
was accompanied throughout the day by local politicians and 
dignitaries as well as every major media outlet in the region.  The 
Ambassador's visit was the lead story in the local papers for 
several days and the day after the visit the first five pages of the 
major local newspaper were dedicated exclusively to documenting 
every aspect of the Ambassador's trip. 
 
WAYNE