VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1380/01 2821658
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081658Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2190
INFO RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1882

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001380 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FBI PASS TO DEPUTY DIRECTOR PISTOLE AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR 
FUENTES 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KJUS KCRM AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINE POLICE AGENT CLAIMS FBI OFFERED HER 
ASYLUM AND WORK IN ADVANCE OF HER APPEARANCE IN MIAMI TRIAL 
 
REF: BUENOS AIRES 1300 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Argentina's largest circulation newspaper 
"Clarin" and other media outlets (including television and 
radio) reported that former airport police agent Maria del 
Lujan Telpuk claimed the FBI had offered her "political 
asylum" and help in getting "work,"  presumably in exchange 
for altering her testimony in U.S. court.  The story also 
contains alleged counter-claims on the airport conversation 
by an FBI official.  Argentine Minister of Justice Anibal 
Fernandez took to the airwaves October 8 to question the 
FBI's attempted "bribery" and its failure to advise Telpuk 
that she could remain silent.  Media coverage in Argentina of 
Telpuk's allegations is unfortunately damaging the Embassy's 
position on the independence of judicial processes in the 
U.S.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Telpuk is the former Argentine airport police agent 
who intercepted the infamous cash-filled suitcase brought into 
Argentine Customs by Venezuelan-American dual national Guido 
Alejandro Antonini-Wilson and others at a Buenos Aires airport 
on August 4, 2007.  After testifying October 7 in the Miami 
trial of alleged Venezuelan agent Franklin Duran, Telpuk told 
"Clarin" (http://www.clarin.com/diario/2008/10/08/elpa is/ 
p-01776719.htm) that upon arrival at Miami International Airport 
on September 28, she was intercepted by several FBI officials who 
interviewed her at the airport for two hours.  Telpuk said of the 
FBI approach:  "Between my being scared and exhausted from not 
having slept at all during the overnight flight, I did not dare to 
refuse them the interview.  I noticed they separated me from my 
companion." 
 
¶3. (SBU) "They told me that, if during my stay in Miami it 
became apparent that returning to Argentina would be 
complicated, for fear or whatever, they could eventually 
offer me political asylum.  And what they did offer me was 
help in getting a job.  They gave me the address of a very 
important Miami modeling agency and they told me to take my 
photos there and that things would go very well there.  They 
treated me, or at least they made themselves out to be, very 
nice at all times." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Telpuk said she was certain that if she had accepted 
the FBI offers of asylum and work, "some request would have 
been made in exchange."  She said she was certain the FBI did 
not want her to testify against Antonini or was seeking to 
discredit her.  She said she became indignant by the 
prosecution's line of questioning during her 
cross-examination, making her feel like asking for legal 
counsel. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Clarin article also cites an unnamed "FBI agent" 
who "explained that the conversation at the airport wasn't 
illegal because Telpuk spoke voluntarily and was not detained 
or arrested."  No other Argentine media included this alleged 
comment by an FBI official.  (Comment: The Clarin 
correspondent bylined on the story, Ana Baron, has a 
reputation for making things up, but she's also an aggressive 
journalist who charges after stories.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) Although other media focused more on Telpuk's 
assertion in court that Argentine Customs official Jorge 
Lamastra had urged her to waive inspection of all the luggage 
that arrived August 4, 2007 on the GOA-chartered flight that 
brought the infamous suitcase stuffed with $800,000, they 
also covered her statements about her September 28 two-hour 
FBI interview (noting that Duran's defense attorney termed it 
an "interrogation").  Two dailies, Pagina 12 and Critica, 
carried the alleged work offer on the front page. 
 
¶7. (SBU) According to Buenos Aires newspaper-of-record "La 
Nacion" (http://www.lanacion.com.ar 
/nota.asp?nota id 1057241), Telpuk testified in court that 
FBI officials approached her at the airport, showed her their 
credentials and said they wanted to have a conversation with 
her.  "I had just arrived in Miami and scared by it all, I 
did not refuse to answer.  I was taken by surprise because I 
never imagined that I would be interviewed by the FBI," she 
recalled.  "La Nacion" reported that, encouraged by defense 
attorney Shohat's line of questioning, Telpuk said in court 
that the FBI did not show her a copy of her statement, did 
not tell her she was free to withdraw from the interview 
whenever she wanted, and did not tell her she had the option 
of refusing to answer any of the questions.  "La Nacion" 
noted that she confirmed to the prosecutor that at the 
conclusion of the interview she said goodbye to the FBI 
officials with a hug and a kiss for each.  "That is my 
custom," she answered. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Argentine Minister of Justice Anibal Fernandez took 
to the airwaves October 8 to question the FBI's attempted 
"bribery" and its failure to advise TElpuk that she could 
remain silent.  He is quoted saying that "this woman is 
invited to testify for the defense and, when she got there, 
the FBI grabbed her.  No one told her she had the right to 
remain silent?  In Argentina, that would not have happened 
and those agents would be jailed.  They offered Telpuk work 
and asylum, and that is a form of bribery."  Fernandez 
reiterated his previous assertions that U.S. prosecutors are 
appointed for political reasons and are "capable of trying to 
influence what happens.  The irregularity of the situation to 
stain the name of Argentina is clear," concluded Fernandez. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment:  Unfortunately, Telpuk's statements in 
court and to the media feed the impression that the USG was 
seeking to influence a witness.  The intense media coverage 
of her allegations here is damaging to the Embassy's position 
on judicial independence and is providing fodder for the 
GOA's contentions of an FBI conspiracy against it.  From our 
vantage point, it would be useful to rebut Telpuk's claim 
that she was offered a quid pro quo in exchange for favorable 
testimony. 
WAYNE