VZCZCXYZ0012
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1156/01 2961254
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 231254Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4510
INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHMFISS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001156 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2029 
TAGS: PREL PTER SNAR KTIP SENV AR
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS ARGENTINE VP COBOS 
 
REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0971 (B) BUENOS AIRES 0653 (C) 
     BUENOS AIRES 1148 
 
Classified By: CDA Tom Kelly for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Argentine Vice President Julio Cobos, long 
estranged from the Kirchners and now the country's most 
popular politician and leading contender for the presidency 
in 2011, received the Ambassador for a warm and friendly 
half-hour introductory courtesy call in his Senate office 
October 23.  Cobos regretted a small anti-U.S. protest in 
Mendoza, his home province, but the Ambassador assured him 
that it had not marred her visit there, and that she was 
eager to return.  Cobos gave a tour of the horizon that 
touched upon international relations, the economy, education, 
the environment, and other issues.  End summary. 
 
Student Protests 
---------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The Ambassador paid her introductory call on Argentine 
Vice President Julio Cobos in his Senate office October 23 
accompanied by Polcouns.  Cobos offered his regrets to the 
Ambassador for the student protesters she encountered (ref C) 
in Mendoza, his home province.  (Note:  Cobos had called the 
embassy shortly after the October 15 incident to express 
sympathy and concern.)  The Ambassador said she had grown 
accustomed to student protesters during her 14 years of 
service on the Board of Regents of the University of 
California, and she assured him that it had not marred her 
visit there, and that she was eager to return.  Cobos said 
he, too, endured many student protests while serving as dean 
of a technical university in Mendoza. 
 
Tour of the horizon 
------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Cobos congratulated the Ambassador on President 
Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, and he said he was confident that 
President Obama would live up to the high expectations the 
international community had of him.  He said he hoped 
Argentina would continue to be a strategic partner for the 
United States in combating narco-trafficking, terrorism, and 
trafficking in persons.  Cobos told the Ambassador he thought 
Argentina's political class needed to develop a longer-term 
vision.  He noted that economic growth in Argentina had been 
very uneven, and that Argentina's recent growth spurts had 
failed to translate into sustained economic development.  He 
expressed optimism that regional integration via Mercosur 
would be a boon to Argentina, and he noted that the United 
States was Argentina's third biggest trading partner. 
 
¶4. (C) Cobos said he hoped the new administration in 
Washington would work to reduce trade barriers, specifically 
on lemon and beef imports.  Cobos claimed his home province 
of Mendoza (""the California of South America"") was the fifth 
largest wine exporter in the world.  He noted that water 
resources and climate change had become of great concern to 
Mendoza, which had less than 200 mm of rainfall annually. 
Even with minimal rainfall, however, Mendoza was diligently 
exploiting irrigation to great effect in its agriculture and 
forestry.  He was pleased that the Argentine Senate the 
previous day had unanimously approved new legislation 
governing Argentine glaciers, and he credited the recent 
visit to Argentina by former vice president Al Gore for 
spurring movement on the legislation.  The Ambassador noted 
there were many areas for potential cooperation related to 
climactic change, citing NASA's upcoming launch of an 
Argentine satellite that will gather, among other things, 
meteorological and oceanographic data that will help track 
trends. 
 
¶5. (C) Cobos praised Argentina as a country of great racial, 
ethnic, and religious diversity which nonetheless managed a 
peaceful coexistence of its various communities.  He said it 
was remarkable that Argentina was still able to provide free 
university education but worried that education standards 
were rapidly declining, particularly at the primary level. 
He attributed this to a move away from the basics to a 
curriculum more focused on new technology.  He said he was 
also troubled by the loss of respect for teachers and school 
authorities and the implication for school discipline.  This 
led Cobos to express some unease about a growing disregard in 
Argentina for social comity, and the Ambassador quoted Benito 
Juarez's observation that ""respect for the rights of others 
is peace."" 
 
¶6. (C) He asked about health care reform in the United 
States, and the Ambassador recapped recent legislative 
progress on the President's proposals.  She also noted that 
U.S. epidemiologists at the center for Disease Control and 
elsewhere were learning from Argentina's experiences and 
looking for best practices in coping with H1N1 influenza 
during the recently concluded austral winter.  Cobos said it 
was a relief that Argentina had survived the influenza season 
but worried about expected dengue outbreaks in the 
approaching austral summer season. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (C) As in previous meetings with U.S. officials, Cobos was 
warm and gracious, conveying open admiration for President 
Obama and the United States with an ingratiatingly 
unpretentious style. 
 
MARTINEZ