VZCZCXYZ0003
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1049/01 2641517
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211517Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4369
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001049 
 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC, 
WHA/EPSC 
CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION; G-20 SUMMIT; ARGENTINE PRESIDENT KIRCHNER 
TRIP TO NEW YORK; US-ARGENTINE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP; UN GENERAL 
ASSEMBLY; 09/21/09; BUENOS AIRES 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Weekend international stories are related to Argentina's attendance 
at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh; expectations over Argentine 
President Cristina Kirchner's trip to New York; the current status 
of the US-Argentine bilateral relationship; as well as the UN 
General Assembly in New York. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS 
 
- "Argentine redefines its role at the G20 Summit" 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion's" economic columnist Emilia Subiza 
writes (09/20), "The crisis engendered by the downfall of Lehman 
Brothers brought consequences that surpass the economic ones. Some 
new world power engineering has been delineated since then, and 
Argentina has the opportunity to have a position of its own at the 
upcoming G20 Summit. 
 
"Jorge Castro, an expert in foreign policy issues, said: 'The G20 is 
not an event but a process from which a new world governance 
platform will emerge. Some will be left inside it while others will 
be left out. The financial crisis and recession have marked the end 
of the US hegemony, which prevailed since the implosion of the 
Soviet Union in 1991.' 
 
"... Felix Pena, the head of the Institute for International Trade 
at Fundacion Standard Bank, believes the G20 is going through some 
thorough review - 'Our country could play a role by contributing 
ideas...' 
 
"Pena believes that controlling and soothing the impact of the 
crisis and putting the effect of the new world power distribution on 
a safe track will be the hot issues of this encounter. He pointed 
out that Argentina's challenge is to remain attending international 
fora and set a precedent as the spokesperson of the region. 
 
"The leaders of the G20 country-members have the challenge of making 
progress with the commitments made last April in London... 
 
"Analysts agree that emerging countries (among them Argentina) could 
well contribute their experience in financial regulation... 
 
"In last Monday's speech, US President Barack Obama reiterated his 
purpose of reorganizing the financial regulation system and he urged 
Capitol Hill to approve the reform as soon as possible... 
 
"Another expectation about the region is focused on the change in 
the IMF and WB leadership." 
 
- "Cristina agrees to create an IMF exclusively for poor countries" 
 
Ana Baron, on special assignment in New York for leading "Clarin," 
writes (09/21), "Among US economists Nobel Award Joseph Stiglitz is 
one of the few allies of President Cristina Kirchner. During their 
one-and-a-half hour meeting at Four Seasons Hotel in New York, both 
of them agreed to criticize the IMF and they both said they favor 
the eventual creation of a parallel institution aimed at attending 
to the problems of emerging countries such as Argentina. 
 
"Stiglitz reinforced his anti-IMF stance and he praised Argentina's 
performance during the crisis sparked by the bankruptcy of Lehman 
Brothers Bank in New York, which afterwards impacted all over the 
world... 
 
"... Furthermore, Stiglitz believes that the recovery of the US 
economy will be slow while that of the Asian countries will be much 
faster. This would keep high the prices of Argentine exports. 
 
"What the prestigious economist did not say is how to solve the 
Argentine Government's need for financing in the short and medium 
term. Neither did he say how to reach a deal over the country's 
Paris Club debt without having to resort to the IMF, a topic in 
which Cristina Kirchner is much interested. Stiglitz did not tackle 
either the INDEC issue, which raises concern among academics, 
businessmen and bankers with interests in our country. 
 
"Cristina Kirchner does not want to speak about these issues... 
 
"From the very beginning, Argentina has defended four points at the 
G20 summit - the IMF reform, the regulation of the world financial 
system, the struggle against tax havens and the IDB capitalization, 
which has not taken place yet." 
 
- "A crisis that is more profound that what it seems" 
 
 
Leading "Clarin's" political analyst Eduardo van der Kooy opines 
(09/20), "... One can easily observe that Argentina is heading for a 
crisis in which, perhaps for the first time, politics is leading the 
economy... 
 
"The media bill cleared by the Lower House largely meant a summary 
of the crisis. Essential issues for any nation such as freedom of 
expression, the right to private property and judicial guarantees 
were discussed amid huge improvisation... 
 
"For some days, the world had its eyes on Argentina due to the back 
and forth moves on the media draft bill..., but this is over. 
Cristina travelled to New York to attend the UN General Assembly and 
the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh... 
 
"The Government made two attempts to have the Argentine President 
hold a bilateral meeting with Barack Obama. Both attempts failed. 
Not even were they lucky in having a lesser prize - the Argentine 
diplomacy had asked that the new US Ambassador Vilma Martinez 
postpone her trip to Buenos Aires for some days to have a meeting 
with Cristina in New York, but the State Department also denied it. 
There are some more difficulties - Spain has also avoided top-level 
contacts. 
 
"Perhaps this isolation, the mistrust with which the world eyes the 
Kirchners is part of the same political crisis that is falling on 
the country, although not so loudly." 
 
- "The UN is again in the eyes of the world" 
 
Alberto Armendariz, on special assignment in New York for 
daily-of-record "La Nacion," comments, (09/20) "After several years 
being the target of criticism that even questioned its relevance, 
this week the UN will be the focus of the world scenario. 
 
"... After eight years of George W. Bush administration, which 
dismissed global warming as well as the UN role in the Iraq issue 
and warned that the UN could turn irrelevant, there is much 
expectation about Obama's presence. It will be his first UN General 
Assembly, which will tackle a variety of issues - among them 
disarmament, non nuclear proliferation and the Middle East peace 
process... 
 
"... Obama will become the first US president that will lead a UN 
session, which will be exclusively devoted to the nuclear issue. The 
meeting will take place one week before Washington and Tehran start 
direct negotiations on the latter's controversial enriched uranium 
program... 
 
"The Iranian leader is expected to be received with strong protest 
demonstrations of exiles... The eyes will also be placed on Libyan 
president Khadafy, who was questioned due to his welcoming reception 
of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the terrorist who was convicted over the 
criminal assault against 1988 Pan Am flight in Lockerbie. 
 
"... There are little chances of a tripartite summit among Obama, 
Netanyahu and Abbas to re-launch the stalled peace process in the 
Middle East, which the White House wishes so much. Israelis have not 
given any sign that they are willing to put a brake on the 
settlements of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, 
which is a sine qua non requisite for the Palestinian National 
Authority to sit at the negotiating table. 
 
"As to Latin Americans, the assembly will be colorful as well as 
tense - Chavez and Uribe are both expected to talk about their 
points of disagreement over the US-Colombian military agreement. 
Chavez will also be criticized over his anti-media policies while 
Uribe is likely to face uncomfortable questions on his manipulation 
of democratic institutions and intelligence services." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
MARTINEZ