VZCZCXRO8168
OO RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHMT RUEHNG
RUEHNL RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRG RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC
DE RUEHSG #0312/01 0921950
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021950Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4735
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTIAGO 000312 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2019 
TAGS: OVIP BIDEN JOSEPH PREL ECON PGOV SOCI ETRD AR
SUBJECT: VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN'S MARCH 27 MEETING WITH 
ARGENTINE PRESIDENT CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Paul Simons for reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
¶1.  (U) March 27, 2009; 7:15 pm ) 7:55 pm; Vina del Mar, 
Chile. 
 
¶2.  (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
Joseph Biden, Vice President 
Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor to the 
     Vice President 
Brian McKeon, Deputy National Security Advisor to 
     the Vice President 
Dan Restrepo, Senior Director, Western Hemisphere 
     Affairs, National Security Council 
Craig Kelly, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary 
     of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. 
     Dept. of State 
Jennifer Spande (notetaker), Senior Political 
     Officer, U.S. Embassy Santiago 
 
ARGENTINA 
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President 
Jorge Taiana, Foreign Minister 
Hector Timerman, Argentine Ambassador to the U.S. 
Carlos Zannini, Legal and Technical Secretary 
 
¶3.  (C) Summary:  During a cordial and relaxed meeting on the 
margins of the Progressive Governance Leaders Summit in 
Chile, Vice President Biden and Argentine President Kirchner 
agreed that the current economic crisis presents an 
opportunity to promote equitable economic growth and address 
structural issues about new financial instruments and 
practices.  Kirchner signaled the "second chance" the U.S. 
and Latin America have to build a strong relationship under 
the Obama administration, called for specific economic 
policies and tools to emerge from G20 and Summit of the 
Americas meetings, and spoke repeatedly about Argentina's 
struggles with capital flight.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Kirchner:  Obama Administration A Second Chance to Establish 
Strong U.S.-Latin America Relations 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶4.  (C) President Fernandez de Kirchner opened the meeting by 
describing the upcoming Summit of the Americas as Obama's 
"christening" in Latin America.  With the election of 
President Obama and his very positive image, both the United 
States and Latin America have a "second chance" to establish 
strong relations, she said.  Under the previous 
administration, Latin Americans felt that they were treated 
as distant and unimportant, and were frustrated by U.S. 
policies that did not meet their needs or desires. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
Kirchner:  G20 and Summit Must Lead to Specific Commitments 
and Tools 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) Kirchner emphasized that it would be critical to 
fulfill the high expectations that Latin Americans hold for 
the Summit of the Americas.  The Summit must lead to 
well-defined policies and tools to deal with the financial 
crisis.  If the world does not believe that the Summit has 
left strong and effective policy instruments in place to deal 
with the crisis, the dashed expectations of the meeting could 
be worse than having no meeting at all, she asserted. 
 
¶6.  (C) Ensuring that emerging economies do not suffer the 
worst damage from the financial crisis must be a chief goal 
of the Summit of the Americas and the G-20 meeting, she 
urged.  In addition to their efforts to address the banking 
crisis, world leaders also need to take steps to stem capital 
flight and agree on new infrastructure programs, perhaps 
funded by the World Bank or Inter-American Development Bank, 
to restore global demand and create jobs. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Biden:  Crisis is an Opportunity to Push for Equitable 
Economic Growth 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Vice President Biden assured the Argentine leader 
that he and President Obama are "painfully aware" of their 
responsibility to address the financial crisis. 
Policies--including American policies--from the last 8 to 15 
years have put the U.S. and the world in a difficult economic 
position, and now the U.S. and other leading countries must 
 
SANTIAGO 00000312  002 OF 002 
 
 
work both to stimulate demand and develop policies to address 
new financial structures such as derivatives, extreme 
leveraging, and hedge funds.  The crisis presents an 
opportunity for us to work with international financial 
institutions to address structural issues that have not been 
addressed for the past 20 years, he noted. 
 
¶8.  (C) While climbing out of the "deep hole" of the economic 
crisis, the U.S. and other leaders must also work to lay a 
new foundation for sustained and equitable economic growth, 
similar to the efforts of the post-World War II generation. 
President Obama and the Vice President believe there is a 
societal responsibility to ensure that the living standards 
of the middle class and those aspiring to be middle class 
increase as a result of the government's response to the 
economic crisis.  Their plan is focused on creating growth 
that does not leave some Americans behind. 
 
¶9.  (C) The Vice President described the administration's 
stimulus plan as a gamble.  He noted that their vision would 
increase spending by USD 2 trillion on economic stimulus, 
improved credit availability, and neutralizing bad assets, 
when they had already inherited a USD 1.2 trillion debt.  The 
President's USD 3.7 trillion proposed budget focuses on 
education, health, environment, and a more transparent and 
disciplined approach to budgeting. 
 
¶10.  (C) The Vice President acknowledged that U.S. efforts to 
address the crisis and outcomes of these efforts are 
connected to the rest of the global economy, and called for a 
collaborative approach.  "Your success is essential to our 
success," he told President Kirchner, and alluded to 
Argentine efforts to distribute the benefits of economic 
growth.  He also assured the President that the Obama 
Administration would have a different attitude toward the 
Americas than past Administrations. 
 
¶11.  (C) The Vice President acknowledged that capital flight 
was a serious issue, noting that its causes went beyond 
inadequacies of international financial institutions to the 
internal and external political stability in affected 
countries. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Kirchner:  Worried about Capital Flight 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (C) President Kirchner strongly agreed with the Vice 
President's emphasis on economic equality and the need to not 
just address the immediate causes of the crisis but to also 
tackle broader policy changes.  She highlighted her country's 
recent economic success:  the highest economic growth in its 
history over the past 5 1/2 years and a drop in unemployment 
from 25 percent in 2003 to 7.3 percent today.  The Argentine 
dream and the American dream are the same--the ability of 
people from humble circumstances to rise to prominence and 
responsibility, she said, highlighting her own rise from a 
working class background.  She also echoed Biden's comments 
about the interconnectedness of global economies, noting that 
stimulating the U.S. economy was key to the global recovery. 
 
¶13.  (C) While she acknowledged that internal political 
factors can play a role in capital flight, she asserted that 
the U.S. could play a role in stemming Argentina's capital 
flight because the dollar is used as a reserve currency. 
Argentina has been a "good student" of global economics in 
recent years, implementing a responsible economic policy that 
has led to current account, fiscal, and trade surplus.  This 
warrants special consideration from the U.S. in developing 
policies that would affect the movement of capital from 
Argentine pesos to U.S. dollars. 
 
¶14.  (C) Biden and Kirchner closed the meeting by agreeing 
that avoiding protectionism is critical.  They and other 
leaders must work together to develop effective solutions to 
the crisis and gain full funding for international financial 
institutions so as to avoid calls for protectionist policies. 
 
¶15.  (U) The Office of the Vice President cleared this 
message. 
SIMONS