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### Viewing cable 08BUENOSAIRES1763, ARGENTINE CHIEF CABINET MINISTER MEETS CODEL MEEKS

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08BUENOSAIRES1763 | 2008-12-30 17:51 | 2011-03-13 07:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Buenos Aires
Appears in these articles: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1356989-la-presidenta-queria-una-relacion-mas-estrecha-con-estados-unidos

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    VZCZCXYZ0000
    RR RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHBU #1763/01 3651751
    ZNR UUUUU ZZH
    R 301751Z DEC 08 ZDK
    FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2800
    INFO RUCNMER/MERCOSUR COLLECTIVE

` `

    UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001763

    SENSITIVE
    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: PREL OREP ECON AR
    SUBJECT: ARGENTINE CHIEF CABINET MINISTER MEETS CODEL MEEKS

    REF: BUENOS AIRES 1680

    ¶1. (SBU) Summary and introduction:  Argentine Cabinet Chief Minister
    Sergio Massa received in his office at Casa Rosada presidential
    palace Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), and
    Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) December 17.  The codel conveyed a strong U.S.
    desire for dialogue and strengthening bilateral relations.  Massa
    agreed with the codel on the need for international cooperation in
    addressing the global financial crisis, and he said the GOA had
    great expectations for the incoming administration of
    President-elect Obama.  Rep. Meeks concluded the meeting with an
    appeal for the GOA to reach a satisfactory settlement with Met Life
    and New York Life to compensate them for the business they lost when
    the GOA confiscated private pension (AFJP) accounts.  The
    Ambassador, DCM and polcouns (notetaker) accompanied the codel.  End
    summary.

    ¶2. (SBU) After the Ambassador introduced the codel, Massa apologized
    for his delay in starting the meeting, noting that with President
    Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) out of the country, he had to
    deal with a lot of pressing issues.  Rep. Meeks invited Massa to go
    with him to the codel's following event, lunch with the AmCham.
    Massa said he enjoys good relations with AmCham president Juan
    Bruchou but would have to stay in the office.  Meeks said the lunch
    invitation remained pending, in Buenos Aires or Washington.

    Global Financial Crisis
    -----------------------

    ¶3. (SBU) Massa requested codel's views on the global financial
    crisis.  Meeks noted the dimensions of the crisis and the tough
    challenges it presented.  He said the U.S. Congress was doing
    everything it could to stem the tide, employing every stopgap
    measure available, including the $700 billion rescue package.  He
    expressed his belief that President Bush would use at least $10
    billion of that to help the automobile industry.  Meeks pointed out
    the bipartisan nature of the codel, stressing that leaders of both
    parties in Washington were looking to work with other countries like
    Argentina since the impact of the crisis was global.  The crisis was
    a tremendous challenge, but together we could turn it into an
    opportunity.

    ¶4. (SBU) Rep. Hinojosa noted congressional desire to help the
    outgoing and incoming administrations head off growing unemployment
    when major employers were laying off thousands of workers.  He
    stressed congressional support for extraordinary measures, such as
    the stimulus package, to get the economy back on track and generate
    jobs.

    U.S. Economy the Global Tractor
    -------------------------------

    ¶5. (SBU) Massa said that, from his perspective, it looked like many
    good initiatives were underway in the United States, which was a
    relief, because the ""U.S. economy is the tractor for the global
    economy.""  He criticized the speculative bubbles that preceded the
    crisis, and he worried that U.S. leaders were bumping up against the
    false dilemma of having to ""choose between Wall Street and Main
    Street,"" but then he hastened to add that he considered the rescue
    of the financial sector to be essential for the recovery of the
    ""real"" economy.  He also thought the President-elect and his team
    were doing a good job of tempering public expectations in advance of
    the inauguration.

    ¶6. (SBU) Rep. Ryan noted that among the many tools being deployed to
    address the crisis, careful attention was being paid to monetary
    policy, which previously had sought to contain inflation but now
    needed to target potential deflation.  He called ""historic"" the
    Federal Reserve's decision the previous day to lower interest rates
    to near zero.  Ultimately, the important thing was to fix the
    financial system by requiring greater transparency and to keep
    speculation from spinning out of control.  He noted the most
    optimistic projection for the duration of the present recession was
    18 months.

    A Short Recession?
    ------------------

    ¶7. (SBU) Massa disagreed, said he expected the recession to be
    shorter, explaining his belief that the lightning speed of modern
    communications (compared to the pace of information in the 1930s)
    would accelerate the recovery.  Rep. Ryan recalled that Federal
    Reserve Chairman Bernanke was one of the most prominent scholars of
    the Great Depression in the 1930s, and that two lessons he had drawn
    from Bernanke's academic work were the negative consequences in this
    type of crisis of taking liquidity out of the system and of enacting
    protectionist measures.

    ¶8. (SBU) Rep. Hinojosa warned against assuming the recession might
    last only 6-12 months.  He acknowledged there were many differences
    between circumstances on the eve of 2009 and those that existed in
    the 1930s, starting with the size of the U.S. population and
    economy.  He expressed concern for the credit crunch, noting how
    difficult it was to get money churning in the economy.  Rep.
    Hinojosa assured Massa the United States would not build a wall of
    protectionism, and that, convinced that trade could be mutually
    beneficial, we were looking to trade with others like Argentina.  He
    also spoke, as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, of
    his interest in expanding opportunities for educational exchanges
    between the two countries.

    ¶9. (SBU) Rep. Meeks said the United States and Argentina enjoyed
    good relations, but we could always make them better.  ""You've been
    our ally,"" he said, stressing his appreciation for ongoing bilateral
    cooperation in areas such as narcotics interdiction and
    counter-terrorism.  He said he hoped there would be greater dialogue
    because, in recognition of Argentina's leadership role in the
    region, we wanted to work with the GOA to strengthen the region.
    President-elect Obama will seek the GOA's opinion and cooperation.
    He recalled that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the designated
    Secretary of State, had visited Argentina ""and she will be back.""
    Argentina is key to a peaceful, stable, and prosperous region.

    ¶10. (SBU) In stressing the importance of building parliamentary ties
    between Argentina and the United States, Rep. Meeks noted, as
    evidence of U.S. congressional desire for dialogue, the
    establishment of a caucus of House members focused on OAS member
    states, an Argentina caucus, and a Dialogue Caucus.

    ¶11. (SBU) Massa welcomed a change in paradigm for U.S. engagement
    with the region and the world.  He noted there had been some ""ups
    and downs"" in the bilateral relationship over the previous four
    years, but there were great expectations for improving relations
    with Washington's new incoming administration.  He hastened to say
    this was not a criticism of the current administration but simply
    the result of President-elect Obama's much-appreciated gesture of
    calling CFK.  The new year would be tough, but CFK was looking
    forward to seeing President Obama at the Summit of the Americas in
    Trinidad and Tobago in April.  Cultural and educational ties were
    important, but the GOA considered trade and investment to be key to
    generating jobs.  He added CFK's belief that there should be no
    double standard on UN obligations; all nations must obey UN
    resolutions.  (Comment:  Massa was previewing with the codel a theme
    that CFK would touch upon publicly later in the day.  Media quoted
    CFK making a similar point, claiming the UK had been ignoring UN
    calls for Argentina and the UK to negotiate on the
    Malvinas/Falklands.)

    U.S. interests in nationalization of private pensions
    --------------------------------------------- --------

    ¶12. (SBU) Rep. Meeks said he hoped the GOA would be able to work out
    satisfactory compensation to MetLife and New York Life for the
    business they lost when the GOA nationalized the country's private
    pension funds (reftel).  He said it was important to address the
    issue in a manner that would send a positive message to investors,
    who were always looking to invest where the rules are clear and
    contracts are enforced.  Rep. Meeks said U.S. legislators were
    ""lying low for now,"" hoping an amicable settlement could be reached
    without congressional intervention.  Massa said the nationalization
    of the private pension system had been poorly explained in the
    press.  He remarked on the problems of providing pension coverage in
    a labor market where 40% of workers were ""informal,"" or off the
    books, and unemployment was as high as 25% only a few years ago.  He
    noted that the private pension funds' commissions were as high as
    30% of contributions, yet the conventional wisdom was that the state
    remained the ultimate guarantor for workers at retirement.  With the
    incorporation of the private pension systems' assets into the public
    retirement system, ""we now all have defined retirement benefits plus
    the possibility of a complementary 401(k)-type system.""

    ¶13. (U) The codel did not have the opportunity to clear this
    report.

    WAYNE

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