VZCZCXYZ0019
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1539 3121419
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 071419Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2437
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001539 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR S/ES NATALIE CHAGNON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPDC PREL OVIP AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO 
PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA FROM PRESIDENT FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER 
 
REF: STATE 118192 
 
(U) On November 6, post obtained from the Argentine Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs a copy of a letter from President Cristina 
Fernandez de Kirchner to President-elect Barack Obama.  Post 
does not have the official copy of the letter.  According to 
the MFA, the letter was transmitted to the Argentine Embassy 
in Washington for direct delivery to President-elect Obama's 
office.  The Office of the Presidency released the text to 
the press, and it was published in the November 6 edition of 
the English-language daily, "The Buenos Aires Herald." 
Leading dailies "Clarin", "La Nacion", and other press 
carried excerpts of the letter in their November 6 editions. 
Below is the full text of the letter in the English 
translation as provided by the MFA: 
 
---------- 
BEGIN TEXT 
---------- 
 
                        Buenos Aires, November 2008 
 
Mr. President-elect: 
 
Many will congratulate you for successfully interpreting the 
dreams and hopes of the American people.  I wish to join in 
those well-deserved expressions of admiration.  However, the 
era ushered today in your country is, above all, a major 
milestone in one of the most fascinating epics in history: 
the fight against discrimination and for equal opportunity. 
 
All minorities around the world watch with much hope as the 
American people again walks next to them, just like the world 
marched, despite the geographical distances, alongside Martin 
Luther King during the epic march on Washington.  I am sure 
that on November 4 many veterans of those days will have 
recalled the words of Reverend King: "I have a dream that my 
four little children will one day live in a nation where they 
will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the 
content of their character".  That day has come. 
 
It is no doubt a time of great joy and yet we must remember 
those men and women who made the greatest sacrifice in the 
fight for a society of equals, by giving their own lives. 
 
When I read the account of the lynching of three students in 
Mississippi I recognized the feeling of community with the 
youths that were starting to rebel in our own country.  The 
same ages, the same generosity, the same tragedy. 
 
Just as we pay homage to our companions fallen in that epic, 
I pay heartfelt tribute to those who paved the way for hope 
in your country.  Such a communion of sacrifice and 
rebelliousness, of solidarity and respect for justice, is 
what you will find between my administration and your people, 
with the determination to advance relentlessly towards a fair 
and free world. 
 
We have achieved a lot in Latin America.  We too have fought, 
and continue to fight, the big battle for social equality. 
Democracy, won after decades of dictatorship and persecution, 
has taken deep roots in our land. 
 
Still, every day presents us with great and numerous 
challenges.  The current global economic crisis, unleashed 
with the destructive speed of the epidemics of times past, 
calls for bold and innovative measures, but also for joint 
action. 
 
Therefore, just as those who faced the challenge of World War 
understood the importance of multilateralism, we must also 
act with the same nobility and intelligence and step up the 
urgent and necessary changes for multilateralism to address 
our complex realities. 
 
We have a great opportunity to eradicate poverty, 
discrimination and inequality in our societies.  As you 
pointed out during your campaign, this requires more 
education, more health and more opportunities, and certainly 
more dialogue between the peoples and their leaders. 
 
I am sure that we can count on you and please be assured of 
my sincere friendship. 
 
Christina Fernandez de Kirchner 
 
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END TEXT 
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KELLY