VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1373 2811846
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 071846Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2180
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN IMMEDIATE 1146
RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE IMMEDIATE 0003
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA IMMEDIATE 0041
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 1263
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW IMMEDIATE 0771
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001373 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S - BRIAN WALCH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC BEXP ECON EFIN AR ZI
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA:  DELIVERY OF ZIMBABWE DEMARCHE RE BANK 
NOTES 
 
REF: STATE 103129 
 
¶1. (SBU) EconOff delivered reftel demarche in separate 
meetings on October 1 to Marcelo Cesa, Argentine MFA desk 
officer for the U.S., Adrian Cosentino, new Finance 
Undersecretary at the Ministry of Economy, and also with 
Argentine Central Bank Managing Director and Chief Economist 
Hernan Lacunza and Lacunza's chief advisor, Guillermo 
Zuccolo. 
 
¶2. (SBU) These GoA and Central Bank officials agreed to 
review the information provided on the situation in Zimbabwe 
and the possibility that the Government of Zimbabwe may be 
considering a supply contract with well-known Argentine 
supplier of bank note paper, Ciccone Calcografia.  They each 
said they would have to discuss internally within their 
institutions whether the government and/or Central Bank would 
be willing to approach the printing company to discourage 
their participation in any contract with Zimbabwe.  However, 
all emphasized that Argentina has no legal grounds for 
blocking such an arrangement. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The MFA's Marcelo Cesa confirmed October 3 that he 
has passed the substance of the demarche up the chain of 
command in the MFA, but is so far unable to provide a general 
GoA position on Zimbabwe.  However, Post notes that the MFA 
announced June 25 that it had suspended its plan to send 
Argentine election observers to Zimbabwe, following the 
UNSC's June 23 unanimous statement criticizing pre-election 
violence in Zimbabwe and raising concerns about the 
elections.  The GoA press release calls for a negotiated 
solution to the situation in Zimbabwe.  Post will highlight 
the statement in follow-up discussions with GoA and Central 
Bank officials on this topic. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Post is conducting due diligence on Ciccone 
Calcografia before pursuing direct contact.  Ciccone 
Calcografia is one of the largest Argentine suppliers of bank 
notes and has contracts with the Argentine Central Bank for 
printing bank notes and the Argentine Federal Police for 
printing passports.  However, it has a troubled history 
(including allegations of corruption), may currently be 
experiencing financial difficulties, and has been the subject 
of several critical media exposes by local investigative 
journalists.  One of these articles, in left-leaning daily 
"Pagina 12," criticized U.S. Embassy advocacy in 2005 on 
behalf of Californian firm Cogent Systems, which was bidding 
on computer security and digital fingerprint technology 
contracts in partnership with Ciccone Calcografia.  Given the 
sensitivities involved, therefore, Post plans to move 
cautiously in approaching this company. 
 
WAYNE