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Viewing cable 08BUENOSAIRES1166, ARGENTINE PRESIDENT HELPS BROKER CHAVEZ MEETING

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08BUENOSAIRES1166 2008-08-19 14:49 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Buenos Aires
VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1166 2321449
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 191449Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1812
INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS IMMEDIATE 1855
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV IMMEDIATE 0088
RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001166 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR DRL/SEAS RICKMAN AND PAIKEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF VE AR BZ
SUBJECT: ARGENTINE PRESIDENT HELPS BROKER CHAVEZ MEETING 
WITH JEWISH LEADERS 
 
REF: A. CARACAS 1142 
     B. BUENOS AIRES 990 
     C. CARACAS 969 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Argentine President Cristina Kirchner (CFK) 
and her Ambassador to Washington, Hector Timerman, appear to 
have played a role in setting up Hugo Chavez's August 13 
meeting in Caracas with Jewish leaders, as confirmed by 
Timerman's participation in the meeting.  CFK's involvement 
appears to have been prompted by her June 25 meeting with 
World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder.  Argentine 
Jewish groups applauded Chavez's meeting but called for 
concrete follow-up by the BRV to combat anti-Semitism and 
restrain Iran's President Ahmadinejad.  End summary. 
 
2. (SBU) In an August 14 telcon, Argentine Ambassador to the 
United States Hector Timerman confirmed to Ambassador Wayne 
press reports claiming that Argentine President Cristina 
Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) helped to broker the August 13 
meeting in Caracas (ref A) between Venezuelan President Hugo 
Chavez and a delegation of Jewish leaders headed by Ronald 
Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress (ref A). 
Timerman, who participated in the meeting, indicated that the 
idea for the meeting came out of Lauder's  June 25 meeting 
with CFK in Buenos Aires.  Since then, Timerman and the 
Venezuelan Ambassador in the United States had worked to 
arrange the meeting with CFK's active support.  According to 
Timerman, Chavez designated an official to serve as a liaison 
with the Venezuelan Jewish community.  When the Jewish 
leaders asked Chavez to use his relationship with the Iranian 
government to express concern with President Ahmadinejad's 
anti-Israel rhetoric, Timerman stated that Chavez claimed to 
have told Ahmadinejad that it was wrong to call for the 
destruction of Israel.  Timerman told the Ambassador that 
Chavez also committed himself to signing a statement with 
Argentina and Brazil to fight anti-Semitism.  (Note: 
Director for the Latin American Jewish Congress Claudio 
Epelman, who was also present at the meeting, told poloff on 
August 15 that the signing would take place on September 6 in 
Brazil.)  Finally, Timerman reported that the Venezuelan 
Foreign Minister made many positive public statements after 
the meeting.  Although the Jewish News Agency (JNA) quoted 
Timerman as saying "the Venezuelan Jewish community enjoy the 
same rights that ordinary Venezuelan citizens do," he 
acknowledged to the Ambassador that "we will have to see if 
Chavez follows through." 
 
3. (U) According to local press reports quoting Argentine 
real estate mogul and World Jewish Congress Treasurer Eduardo 
Elsztain, the Jewish leaders also raised with Chavez the 
possibility of Venezuela reestablishing diplomatic ties with 
Israel, including the appointment of an Ambassador to Tel 
Aviv.  The 1994 terrorist bombing of the AMIA was not 
discussed, according to press reports quoting Timerman. 
 
4. (SBU) In response to inquiries by poloff, Epelman 
expressed "satisfaction" with the meeting and indicated that 
the World Jewish Congress, the Latin American Jewish 
Congress, the Delegation of Argentine-Israeli Associations 
(DAIA), and the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) 
worked together to lobby CFK, asking her to weigh in with 
Chavez to improve his relationship with the embattled 
Venezuelan Jewish community.  Recalling Special Envoy for 
Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Gregg Rickman's June 
29 - July 6 visit to Venezuela and Argentina (refs B and C), 
Epelman noted that many in the Jewish community shared 
Rickman's concerns.  He pointed out, however, that some 
Jewish groups, primarily the Simon Wiesenthal Center, were 
not in favor of the meeting. 
 
5. (SBU) Local press reports, however, indicated that the 
Wiesenthal Center considered the meeting "a step in the right 
direction," although the Center called for Chavez to follow 
up with "concrete actions" to fight anti-Semitism.  The 
Center's Director for International Relations Shimon Samuels 
praised CFK's and Lula's commitment to help Venezuela's Jews 
reestablish dialogue with their own government, saying that 
it "demonstrated that their commitment against hatred and 
intolerance is not just rhetoric but concrete."  Timerman 
claimed that CFK's role in facilitating the meeting 
demonstrates that she "is the principal defender of human 
rights in the region." 
KELLY