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FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2904
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BUENOS AIRES 000070 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV AR
SUBJ: ARGENTINE REACTION TO PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION OVERWHELMINGLY 
POSITIVE 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On January 20, Argentine eyes shifted to 
Washington D.C., from that morning to the next dawn to follow every 
detail of President Barack Obama's inauguration.  Five 24/7 news 
channels broadcast live from Washington for hours.  Inauguration 
news splashes massively in the print press January 21 and continue 
to reverberate in broadcast media.  The media's focus on President 
Obama's inauguration overshadowed coverage of President Cristina 
Fernandez de Kirchner's three-day state visit to Cuba (septel).  Her 
first public comments in Cuba in a pre-scheduled speech included 
criticism of the U.S. embargo on Cuba and coincided with President 
Obama's inauguration speech.  After the media highlighted these 
remarks, President Fernandez de Kirchner the same afternoon asserted 
publicly that the Obama speech had promised "good expectations." 
Other government officials quickly followed suit and praised the new 
U.S. President.  Analysts, press observers and the opposition also 
welcomed the new president and noted that Argentina has a chance to 
improve its erratic relations with the U.S. and should take it.  A 
number lamented the bad timing of her Cuba trip, but observers have 
pegged it to poor planning rather than intent to signal the U.S. 
(septel).  END SUMMARY. 
 
----------------------------------- 
PRESS COVERAGE MASSIVE AND POSITIVE 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Argentine press covered very positively President 
Barack Obama's inauguration, which reached a crescendo on the 
mornings of January 20-21.  Headlines announcing the inauguration 
highlighted the hope for change that has captured the imagination of 
the public both in the U.S. and elsewhere.  Even columnists in 
left-inclined, typically anti-U.S. newspapers joined the positive 
tone of coverage and stressed the stark contrast expected between 
the incoming Obama and the outgoing Bush administrations and 
signaling the start of a new era.  Often skeptical minds, such as 
that of Jorge Lanata, editor of the blunt, left-leaning newspaper 
Critica, said Obama-inspired hope was renewing his belief in 
politics.  At the other side of the media spectrum, the center-right 
La Nacion wrote on the front-page that Obama was about to make the 
Martin Luther King Jr. dream a reality.  The largest-selling 
newspaper in the country, Clarin, described Obama as "the 
incarnation of the American dream."  Some diplomatic world insiders, 
such as former Argentine ambassador to France, Carlos Perez Llanas, 
pointed out in an opinion column in El Cronista Comercial that 
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's trip to Cuba coinciding 
with Obama's inauguration made very little foreign relations sense. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
MASS AUDIENCIES GLUED TO TV INAUGURATION COVERAGE ... 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Since early morning on January 20, the country's five 
round-the-clock cable television news channels plugged in to live 
footage coming from Washington.  For hours, these channels devoted 
their coverage almost exclusively to the inauguration, focusing on 
every detail.  Four news channels and two broadcast channels, 
including the state-run Canal 7, requested permission to broadcast 
live from the Embassy residence, where Ambassador Wayne offered a 
reception to watch the inauguration ceremony.  The stations combined 
footage coming from Washington with live broadcast of the local 
flavor at the "standing-room only" event at the Ambassador's 
residence.  These channels, which together reach an audience of an 
estimated 15 million people, all carried the entire inauguration 
ceremony and the President's remarks.  They also carried the 
Ambassador's message, prior and post inauguration, stressing the 
opening of "a new chapter" in U.S. relations with the region and 
describing President Obama's address as "a message of peace and 
cooperation."  The top news station reported a tripling of 
viewership ratings at the peak moments of the inauguration speech 
and strong continuing public interest, well into January 21. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The President's words reverberated on television, radio and 
on-line media throughout the afternoon and the next morning, as 
inauguration coverage and commentary continued.  Leading political 
talk shows in news channels Todo Noticias and C5N that evening were 
devoted exclusively to the inauguration.  The state-run Channel 7, 
the only broadcast TV station that reaches the entire of Argentina, 
aired a three-minute segment on its prime-time evening news program 
which included  the Ambassador highlighted the importance of 
President Obama's inauguration for the strengthening of U.S. 
relations with the region and Argentina. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
... AS A MIXED MESSAGE COMES FROM CFK IN CUBA 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) As Inauguration Day coverage peaked after President Obama's 
address, news wires carried the first public comments by President 
Fernandez de Kirchner since her arrival in Havana January 18.  The 
reports highlighted a line of her speech at a Havana university in 
which the President criticizes the U.S. embargo on Cuba, describing 
it as "a commercial fence unprecedented in the history of the world" 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000070  002 OF 003 
 
 
and adding that Cuba would fully develop "when some barriers are 
lifted for good."  The President's negative line toward the United 
States marked a stark contrast with the overall positive coverage 
and commentary thus far. 
 
¶6. (SBU) These comments by the President quickly triggered criticism 
from the opposition, some of whose leaders had already disapproved 
the timing of the President's trip to the Communist island.  Elisa 
Carrio, last year's presidential runner-up and leader of the 
centrist Civic Coalition, said the President was "disconnected" from 
reality, "while the world moves forward, they (the Kirchners) are 40 
years behind."  Buenos Aires City Mayor Mauricio Macri, leader of 
the center-right PRO party, described the presidential trip to Cuba 
as "unfortunate," "I don't see the point or the content of this 
trip." 
 
¶7. (SBU) In her second speech in Havana on the evening of January 
20, President Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) referred to the 
inauguration of "the first African American president in the country 
that became, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first hegemonic 
power in the world," and she praised President Obama's inaugural 
address.  The following da, after a surprise 40-minute conversation 
with Fidel (septel), CFK claimed that Fidel told her he agreed with 
everything se had said in her speech.  She claimed Fidel said 
President Obama "sincerely believes what he is saying; let's hope he 
can do what he says or that they let him do it." 
 
----------------------------- 
OBAMA PRAISED ACROSS SPECTRUM 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) CFK also said while visiting Cuba that President Obama's 
speech was a "confirmation of the good expectations he has raised." 
She praised President Obama's remarks that "security cannot do away 
with ideals, in a world where there have been attacks and invasions 
on behalf of security."  She also said she shared his beliefs that 
"the market sometimes behaves negligently, and thus (the State) 
needs to watch and monitor it," and that "the growth of a country is 
not only measurable by numbers, but for the quality of people's 
lives."  She added that "the most important thing (President Obama) 
said is that the world changed and nobody can ignore it." 
 
¶9. (SBU) Vice President Cobos posted a letter on Facebook saying 
President Obama's message had been "very encouraging, not only for 
his country but also for the world."  He called Obama "a President 
looking to cooperate rather than to confront; a President concerned 
by the environmental problems that the United States - for its high 
industrial development - has caused - among others."  Cobos also 
praised President Obama's concern for education, health, alternative 
energy and the need to work hard to bring economy back to normal for 
his country and for the world's benefit.  Cobos finished his letter 
by saying that President Obama has successfully raised hopes among 
the international community and that he hoped Argentina could 
establish a mature, lasting relationship with this new leader on 
behalf of both countries. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said that Obama's 
inauguration opens a new era in world affairs.  Taiana called for 
more dialogue, more respect among countries, and "more attention 
over markets' control so that they may be mostly oriented towards 
the real economy and the development of productive structures and 
economies."  Taiana characterized President Obama's speech as 
important and expressed hope it "could turn into a greater calling 
for multilateralism, and into an interest for a frank and horizontal 
dialogue with the countries in the region." 
 
¶11. (SBU) Argentine Ambassador to the United States Hector Timerman 
said the new administration could begin "a stage of greater 
dialogue" with the world and "that (the United States) would have a 
better relationship with the World in general." 
 
¶12. (SBU) Cabinet Chief Sergio Massa said the CFK administration is 
optimistic that President Obama will strengthen ties with the Latin 
American region, and hence with Argentina.  "This is an important 
day.  A new era of hope and expectation has arrived.  It's the 
inauguration of a President with unique characteristics.  Latin 
America and the world have great expectations for Obama."  Massa 
wished him good luck in his administration "because, in the end, the 
United States is the engine of the global economy and if Obama does 
well, the world will be able to overcome the crisis." 
 
¶13. (SBU) Justice Minister Anibal Fernandez said the inauguration 
was rich with symbolism, and he praised the presence of former 
Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George 
¶W. Bush as an example for Argentina to emulate.  Fernandez said he 
was optimistic regarding the future bilateral relationship and said 
he hopes the United States and Argentina "can increase their 
analysis of each of the bilateral issues, with the necessary 
divergences and without the need for feeling insulted." 
 
¶14. (SBU) Kirchner-allied Buenos Aires Governor Daniel Scioli 
remarked that President Obama's arrival represented "changes and 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000070  003 OF 003 
 
 
hopes, and much expectation in Latin America" and recommended 
President Obama "focus more on the south" as "the region needs more 
attention." 
 
¶15. (SBU) The head of the center-left Civic Coalition Elisa Carrio 
said that "(the fact) that Obama can be the President of a country 
like the United States, in which slavery existed a short time ago, 
is a wonderful thing for humanity...with Obama we see that (the 
United States) is a society capable of electing a black man, which 
shows a virtue of the American people.  We need to work for things 
like this." 
 
¶16. (SBU) The head of the center-right PRO bloc in the Chamber of 
Deputies, Federico Pinedo, called for "an alliance with the United 
States based on the rule of law in order to generate further 
economic activity and investment."  He also opined that "it is 
possible that (the United States) will have a more intense 
relationship with the region, which will depend on the willingness 
of those that seek said relationship like Chile, Brazil and Peru." 
He said he did not believe that could happen with Ecuador, Bolivia 
and Venezuela and that "the change in the relation with Argentina 
will fully depend on the (Argentine) National Government." 
 
¶17. (SBU) The President of the Radical Party (UCR) Senator Gerardo 
Morales expressed his hopes that Obama's administration "will not 
resort to the evil reasoning of preemptive wars" while he called on 
President Obama to "search for solutions regarding key issues in 
people's lives, such as immigration, energy or countertrafficking." 
Regarding Obama's future relation with the region, Morales urged the 
new government "to understand the potential of the countries in our 
region and thus, implement proper trade and integration policies." 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶18. (SBU) Argentine media coverage of the presidential Inauguration 
in the United States was overwhelmingly positive, and statements by 
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (after an initial off-tone 
misstep while visiting Cuba) and other Argentine leaders were 
unanimously welcoming and encouraging, if occasionally masking some 
implicit criticism of United States policy. 
 
WAYNE