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INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

205622,5/5/2009 21:19,09BUENOSAIRES526,Embassy Buenos Aires,CONFIDENTIAL,,"VZCZCXYZ0000PP RUEHWEBDE RUEHBU #0526/01 1252119ZNY CCCCC ZZHP 052119Z MAY 09FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRESTO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3660}INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY}RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITYRUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY","C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000526 SIPDIS 
 E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2039 TAGS: PREL PGOV ELAB KDEM ECON AR

SUBJECT: ARGENTINA'S PIQUETEROS: THE KIRCHNERS' KEY PROTEST ARM Classified By: CDA Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). 

¶1. (SBU) Summary/Introduction:  After being largely co-opted by the government of former President Nestor Kirchner (NK), some Argentine social protest groups, the ""piqueteros,"" have begun to distance themselves from current President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's (CFK) government.  They remain a force to be reckoned with, but their role in the 2009 
mid-term congressional elections is not yet clear.  It may be 
that the government has given them enough to sustain their 
support but not enough to gain their active mobilization. 
This cable analyzes the history of the piqueteros and their 
association with the Kirchner governments; a subsequent 
report will profile key leaders and examine particular groups' roles and positions on key issues. 2. (SBU) As part of the Embassy's ongoing efforts to reach out to a broad spectrum of Argentine society, Emboffs recently held a series of meetings with key piquetero leaders.  This amorphous social movement has raised the 
profile of the concerns and demands of Argentina's large 
under-class and has also played a role in amplifying the 
political power of the Kirchners, in part through marches, 
roadblocks, and boycotts.  Many Argentines also view the 
GOA's acquiescence in the piqueteros' sometimes illegal 
tactics, particular roadblocks, as fostering a culture of 
lawlessness and intimidation.  End Summary/Introduction. 
 Who are the Piqueteros? ----------------------- 3. (SBU) Argentina has, for over a decade, experienced organized protests and activism by social movements known as ""piqueteros"", which literally means ""picketers.""  These groups, primarily representing unemployed citizens, receive benefits from the national government to be distributed to their members (150-200 pesos a month, about US$40-53) in exchange for working 20 to 40 hours a week in workfare 
programs.  According to 2007 national government statistics, 
the family aid plan reached 504,784 families, which includes 
1,766,744 children.  Local piquetero leaders believe the 
actual number of recipients has dropped as Argentina's 
economy began to recuperate from its 2001 economic crisis. 
They estimate that only 800,000 Argentines are benefiting 
from these programs, while there are no government statistics 
on recipients after 2007. 4. (SBU) Piquetero organizations gained greater control over their funding during former President Fernando de la Rua's (1999-2001) administration.  Plan benefits were initially 
disbursed from the federal government through local city 
governments to beneficiaries.  However, under De la Rua, 10% 
of the benefit plans were distributed directly through the 
piquetero associations once they registered their organizations.  According to local academics, De la Rua was trying to limit piquetero power by requiring them to register before their members could receive benefits.  However, in the process of ""legalizing"" them, he granted the groups direct access and control over their workfare programs.  Once they gained some financial control, many groups concentrated on conserving and enlarging that funding through negotiation and protest with local and federal governments. 
 ¶5. (SBU) Today, there are some 60 different piquetero organizations in Argentina, with the majority registered in the poorer suburbs of Buenos Aires.  According to a 2002 UNDP report, there are at least three types of piquetero groups: those who fight for subsidies for social emergencies, those who seek to address collective needs in their communities, and those who promote micro-businesses.  The five largest are the Federation of Land and Housing (FTV) with 125,000 members and led by the most notorious of the piqueteros, Kirchner ally Luis D'Elia; the Classicist and Combative Current (CCC) 
with 70,000 members; the Integrated Movement of Retired and 
Unemployed Persons (MIJD) with 60,000 members; the Standing 
Neighborhoods (Barrios de Pie) with 60,000 members; and the 
Worker Pole with 25,000 members.  MTD Evita is smaller than 
the other groups, but their leader Emilio Persico, a strident 
supporter of the Kirchners and former Buenos Aires provincial 
official under former Governor Felipe Sola's administration, -gfv
is often able to mobilize some 2,000 people for pro-government protests.  Many of these groups were initially allied (and some still are) with the unofficial labor confederation, Argentine Workers Central (CTA). Opposition piquetero groups tend to be more leftist, and the 
pro-Kirchner groups, while still leftist and virulently anti-American, have shown more flexibility.  Most groups, regardless of their relationship with the Kirchner regime, are affiliated with the government by virtue of their government subsidies.  However, MTD in La Matanza (a key  electoral district in the poorer outskirts of Buenos Aires province) is one exception; it has refused government 
funding.  What are their Goals? --------------------- 6. (SBU) Many piquetero leaders approach key officials in government with one clear goal in mind: to increase their government subsidies in order to broaden their member base. If their demands are not met, they threaten or execute roadblocks and protests.  Local analysts observe that election years, such as this year with Argentina's mid-terms 
on June 28, are particularly favorable to piqueteros as the 
government tries to keep conflict low while securing as many 
votes as possible. Piqueteros and the Kirchners ---------------------------- 
 ¶7. (SBU) Former President Nestor Kirchner (NK) saw in the 
piquetero movement a potential to strengthen support for his 
administration among the lower-class voting base.  He won the 
allegiance of some piquetero groups by not suppressing their 
protests and including over 50 leaders in national and local 
government.  NK's treatment contrasted sharply with the police action against their protests during former Presidents Fernando De la Rua (1999-2001) and Eduardo Duhalde (2002-2003) administrations.  NK also used the power of the purse to gain their loyalty, succeeding in co-opting half of the piquetero groups (FTV, Barrios de Pie, and MTD Evita) to protest on behalf of the government or mobilize in support of 
his administration. 8. (SBU) Although the piqueteros have gained greater official recognition from the national government since the Kirchners first came to power in 2003, they appear to have distanced 
themselves from the government during President Cristina 
Fernandez de Kirchner's (CFK) administration.  Groups which 
formerly supported NK have weakened their ties to the Kirchners during CFK's administration while some, such as Barrios de Pie, have broken away and are openly courting other parties for the June elections.  Out of the five key piquetero groups, only FTV remains firmly aligned to the Kirchners.  Even that group may be wavering.  Its leader Luis D' Elia is currently feuding with NK on the grounds that his 
group is insufficiently represented in the government's list of candidates for the mid-term election. Origins of the Movement 
----------------------- 9. (SBU) The movement dates back to the 1990s when the country experienced historically high levels of unemployment (18%) while many state-owned companies were privatized.  The first ""piquetero"" demonstrations were held in late 1996/early 1997 by laid-off oil workers in Salta and Neuquen provinces. Demonstrators blocked roads, including a national highway, and demanded re-employment or new jobs.  The protestors did nt disperse until the provincial governors offered to create 
new jobs.  Although these early local protests were not linked to any parties or social plans, their success set the standard for other social activist movements.  Social organizations not only assumed the piquetero name, but adopted the oil workers' protest tactics.  As a result, roadblocks flourished in Argentina increasing from 27 in 1997 
in Buenos Aires province to a total of 7269 protests by 2005,according to local researchers.  10. (SBU) While the movement gained its name from the oil workers' protests, the first government subsidy plan for 
unemployed workers was implemented in the early 1990s. Former 
President Carlos Menem implemented the first workfare plan in 
1993 in response to increased unemployment generated by his 
privatization policies.  In 2002, President Eduardo Duhalde, 
responding to 33 percent unemployment, created, ""Plan for 
Unemployed Heads of Household,"" (PJJHD) which aimed to reach 
all unemployed heads of households, with some two million 
Argentines receiving benefits by 2003, according to local 
social movement historians.  NK converted the PJJHD plans 
into three separate plans: a family aid plan, a food security plan, and a local socio-economic development plan.  11. (C) Comment: Argentines are decidedly mixed on their views of the piqueteros.  While many lower-class citizens see them as both a lifeline of support and as a legitimate tool for political protest, others, particularly in the middle classes, see them as reckless or even nihilistic.  In the past, they have been a powerful tool for the Kirchners, but in a much less forgiving climate in the run-up to the June 
 mid-terms, the ruling Victory Front seems less inclined to mobilize them (which explains NK's recent tiff with D'Elia). The number one issue reported in many polls of voter concerns is public security and crime.  Sending out piqueteros to block roads and pressure voters may not be the wisest of tactics in such a climate. KELLY