VZCZCXYZ0016
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0920/01 1841734
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021734Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1478

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000920 
 
SIPDIS 
 
G/TIP FOR BARBARA FLECK, JANE SIGMON, AND MARK FORSTROM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC ELAB KCRM PHUM PREL SMIG KWMN PGOV AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: VISITING G/TIP AMBASSADOR PRESENTS 
ANTI-TIP ACTION PLAN AND HAS "PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATION" WITH 
FM TAIANA 
 
REF: SECSTATE 64746 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.  On June 19, Ambassador Wayne and 
visiting Ambassador-at-Large and Director of the Office to 
Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Mark P. Lagon 
called on Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana to discuss 
Argentina's efforts to combat trafficking in persons (TIP). 
Drawing from the TIP action plan in ref A, Lagon  presented 
recommendations on how to strengthen Argentina's  anti-TIP 
efforts, urging implementation and enforcement of 
Argentina,s new federal anti-trafficking law, increased 
prosecutions of human traffickers and complicit officials, 
and increased assistance for trafficking victims.  Lagon also 
offered USG cooperation in the fight  against TIP.  Taiana 
acknowledged that TIP is a problem in  Argentina, but stated 
that the new federal law will be a valuable tool in 
investigating and prosecuting human trafficking rings. 
Taiana reiterated GOA "dissatisfaction with the TIP report, 
adding that it was hard to believe that the report was not 
'political' when Argentina, Suriname, and Venezuela are all 
on the Department's Tier 2 Watch List.  Lagon acknowledged 
that he knew the TIP Report can be seen as an irritant, but 
indicated that "clearly Argentina has taken a step forward." 
Lagon indicated that the USG values Argentina's partnership 
in the fight against TIP, and stated that "the United States 
is willing to share best practices on these matters."  Taiana 
thanked him for the "productive conversation" and told Lagon 
that he "came at the right time to tackle the matter."  End 
summary. 
 
------------ 
Participants 
------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU)  On June 19, Ambassador Wayne and visiting 
Ambassador-at-Large and Director of the Office to  Monitor 
and Combat Trafficking in Persons Mark P. Lagon called on 
Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana to discuss 
Argentina's efforts to combat trafficking in persons (TIP). 
The Foreign Minister was accompanied by Director General for 
Bilateral Affairs Vicente Espeche Gil, Special Envoy for 
Women's Affairs Magdalena Faillace, Office Director for North 
American Affairs Antonio Trombetta, and U.S. desk officer 
Counselor Claudio Rojos.  Ambassadors Wayne and Lagon were 
accompanied by G/TIP Reports Officer Barbara Fleck and poloff 
(notetaker). 
 
-------------------------------------- 
FM: TIP Increasingly Relevant in Argentina 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  "Trafficking in persons is unfortunately 
increasingly relevant in Argentina", Minister Taiana began. 
He explained that, according to a report by the International 
Organization for Migration, it appears that Argentina's main 
TIP problem is internal trafficking of Argentine women for 
the purposes of sexual exploitation.  Victims of labor 
exploitation seem to be mostly Bolivians and Paraguayans, and 
Peruvians to a lesser extent.  Taiana explained that before 
the passage of anti-TIP legislation in April, provincial 
authorities were responsible for investigating TIP and the 
federal government could not intervene.  Lack of 
investigations and convictions at the provincial level gave 
the impression that there is a high tolerance for the 
problem.  Now that Argentina has passed a federal law 
criminalizing TIP, it will be a valuable tool in 
investigating and prosecuting human trafficking rings. 
Still, Argentina will need to modify its penal code and 
develop implementing regulations, he explained. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Lagon: Raises Action Plan Points 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) After noting the valuable measures Argentina is 
taking to fight human trafficking, such as putting in place a 
new federal law, pursuing more law enforcement actions 
against traffickers on the provincial level, and taking steps 
to raise public awareness, Lagon addressed with the FM 
several elements in Argentina,s Tier 2 Watch List action 
plan.  (See Reftel, para 9.)  Lagon noted that Argentina,s 
recent enactment of federal anti-trafficking legislation 
posed the hard challenge of implementing and enforcing the 
new law, particularly in terms of prosecuting those 
responsible for exploiting victims, in addition to the 
sensitive issue of prosecuting complicit officials on the 
local or provincial level who may be involved with 
trafficking crimes.  Lagon noted that official complicity 
with human trafficking is a problem found across the globe, 
and pledged USG assistance where possible to tackle this 
 
 
difficult concern, which is often a catalyst for human 
trafficking.  Lagon also noted the importance of providing 
greater victim protection through shelters and social 
services, and increasing efforts to find and rescue victims 
in brothels and sweatshops. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Lagon: Important to Dig Deeper to Find Victims and to 
Maintain Data 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU)  On the labor front, Taiana stated that the GOA's 
2006 "Gran Patria" plan, whereby undocumented immigrants can 
regularize their immigration status in Argentina, has helped 
to improve the situation as undocumented workers are more 
vulnerable to trafficking for labor exploitation purposes. 
Ambassador Lagon noted that it is important to identify ways 
in which migrants can be vulnerable to TIP.  He stated that 
U.S. policy is to provide immigration relief to TIP victims 
so that they do not fear coming forward to denounce the 
traffickers.  He added that it is important for law 
enforcement authorities to dig deeper when interviewing 
potential victims, particularly adults.  Victims may appear 
to have consented at first, but may have lost control over 
their lives along the way.  "Law enforcement officers should 
see if consent has disappeared over time," he stated.  Lagon 
also noted that tracking information and data about 
trafficking cases and victims provides a valuable tool to 
governments, and does not just represent a request from the 
USG to prepare the TIP Report.  The FM agreed that data 
collection is a key element of accounting, and that the GOA 
regularly gathers such information for the U.S. Human Rights 
Report and UNESCO.  The FM further agreed that maintaining 
accurate data is helpful for a government,s own purposes, to 
determine future policies and actions. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Lagon: Inter-agency coordination is key 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Special Envoy for Woman's Issues Ambassador 
Magdalena Faillace reported that she recently attended an 
informal interagency meeting to discuss how the new law would 
be implemented.  In addition, MERCOSUR has taken up the 
issue, as human trafficking is a regional problem.  At the 
MOJ-sponsored MERCOSUR Congress on TIP and Child Pornography 
in early June, participants noted that there is a need for 
dedicated TIP victim shelters that are different from 
shelters for domestic violence victims.  "We are working on 
the issue", she stated.  Lagon underscored the importance of 
inter-agency coordination in the fight against TIP, adding 
that he chairs an inter-agency working group to coordinate 
domestic and international efforts to combat TIP, and 
emphasized that the USG struggles with its own human 
trafficking problems.  He explained that the U.S. evaluates 
its own efforts to fight TIP and issues annual 
recommendations on how best the USG can improve. 
 
---------------------------------- 
FM: Rankings appear to be "Political" 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Taiana stated that the GOA was "very dissatisfied" 
with the U.S. assessment, adding that it was hard to believe 
that the report was not "political" when only Argentina, 
Suriname, and Venezuela are the only countries in the Western 
Hemisphere (WHA) that are on the Department's Tier 2 Watch 
List.  (Note: He was mistaken.  There are seven WHA 
countries, including Argentina, on the Tier 2 Watch List in 
the 2008 TIP Report; Suriname is ranked on Tier 2.  End 
Note.)  He wondered out loud if practice and problems 
regarding TIP were really better in places like the Dominican 
Republic or Mexico compared to Argentina.  He said he found 
this hard to believe. He stated emphatically that Argentina 
is a country that respects human rights and that is very open 
about its problems.  He noted that Argentine public awareness 
of the problem has reached new levels as a result of "Vidas 
Robadas", a popular television series loosely based on TIP 
activist Susana Trimarco's efforts to find her daughter who 
is believed to be a trafficking victim.  "Even my wife 
watches the show," he said. 
 
------------------------------- 
Lagon: Report can be irritant, but notes progress too 
------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Lagon suggested that the TIP Report aims to be 
objective and explained that the U.S. Congress has mandated 
that the State Department produce its annual report 
evaluating the efforts of foreign governments to fight human 
 
 
trafficking.  He also acknowledged that the Report can be 
seen as an irritant because it grades countries, but that the 
Report also recognizes progress.  "Clearly Argentina has 
taken a step forward," he said. 
 
------------------------ 
Lagon: USG values Argentina's partnership 
------------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Lagon noted that the USG values Argentina's 
partnership in the fight against TIP.  He added that the new 
TIP law would be valuable in that effort, but emphasized that 
the hard part is enforcing the law.  At the end of the 
meeting, he presented a copy of the text of the TIP action 
plan specified in reftel, para 9, to Minister Taiana, saying 
that, in an effort to be transparent about what was relevant 
to future rankings, "these are the things we think would be 
the most helpful."  Lagon also noted that "the United States 
is willing to share best practices on these matters."  In 
closing the meeting, Taiana thanked him for the "productive 
conversation" and told Lagon that he "came at the right time 
to tackle the matter." 
 
¶10.  (U)  Ambassador Lagon cleared on this cable. 
WAYNE