Obama's Latin America Envoy Gets An Earful In Argentina

[Judi Lynn]

Obama's Latin America Envoy Gets An Earful In Argentina
12/18/2009 By Matthew Cowley
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- President Barack Obama's senior Latin America diplomat came to Argentina this week determined to listen, and left with an earful.

"I want to stress again that the purpose of my trip is not to go down with a series of specific issues that I want to explore," Arturo Valenzuela, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said before leaving Washington for a trip which also included Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. "I want to listen."

Talking to local press in Buenos Aires as his trip was wrapping up Wednesday, Valenzuela relayed some criticism he'd heard from the representatives of U.S. companies about the local investment climate. That triggered a ferocious response from the Argentine government that has been front-page news for the last two days.

The episode highlights the difficulty of diplomacy in a region where attitudes toward the U.S. can often be ambivalent, particularly among the more populist administrations, including Argentina's.

On the one hand, they blame the U.S. for many of the region's historical woes and most recently for triggering the global financial crisis. On the other hand, after frosty relations with former President George W. Bush, many are trying to figure out how best to handle their relationship with Obama, who's often viewed more favorably in local opinion polls.

More:
http://www.advfn.com/news_Obamas-Latin-America-Envoy-Gets-An-Earful-In-Argentina_40832585.html

http://www.pbs.org.nyud.net:8090/newshour/images/latin_america/jan-june05/vene15.jpg http://www.minuto59.com.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/arturo-valenzuela.jpg http://www.infinita.cl.nyud.net:8090/media/noticias/imagenes/arturovalenzuela.jpg

Arturo Valenzuela

http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com.nyud.net:8090/World+Leaders+Gather+Discuss+Financial+Crisis+8_Wk-XAXR2Al.jpg

President Cristina Fernandez

[Braulio]

1. Argentina's Investment Climate is so so

Valenzuela stated what many know: the investment climate in Argentina is so so. It's no big deal, companies can invest elsewhere, and the way Argentina is going, soon they'll be importing meat from Brazil - which means the country as a whole won't have much money to spend on anything anyway.

[Peace Patriot]

2. This article is 1% news and 99% propaganda, disinformation and psyops.

It is news that Bill ("free trade for the rich") Clinton's top Latin American diplomat,...er..Barack (deja vu) Obama's top Latin American diplomat, who said he "went down" to South America "to listen," stirred up a raft of shit by criticizing the Argentine government's measures to rescue Argentina from utter ruination by Bill Clinton's "free trade for the rich" policies.

That tells us a lot. On every front, from toppling democratic governments (Honduras) and supporting the slaughter of union leaders (Colombia) to imposing the corrupt, failed, murderous US "war on drugs" as a ruse for vast escalation of US militarism in Latin America, to the egregious hypocrisy of claiming to want "to talk" while intending to do everything possible to re-impose ruinous "free trade for the rich," the Obama administration is not only extremely dangerous to the people of Latin America, like Bush, it is also DULL, STALE and mindbogglingly STUPID, in its allegiance to the corporate rulers, banksters and war profiteers, like Clinton.

One thing that Latin American leaders have NOT been, over the last decade, is stupid. So, when they meet stupid again, or its brother, brutality, they shrink back as if they'd encountered a vampire and get out the crosses.

That is what this encounter with US stupidity in Argentina, in the context of US brutality in Honduras and Colombia, is all about. The Argentine government's political leaders know stupid when they meet it, and they certainly know about US brutality.

The article tells us almost nothing of what the Argentine government leaders said, in answer to Valenzuela's stupid advocacy of "free trade for the rich," and everything about why the US Chamber of Commerce should be running Argentina's economy. The article itself promotes stupid, by the black holes where information should be, and by coy disinformation like this:

---

"...Argentina was booming in 1996, and private-sector investors piled into privatizations as the government withdrew from large parts of the economy. Yet pressures were already starting to build, particularly with regard to the heavy debt load. In 2001, the country's economy collapsed, leading to the largest debt default in history.

"A remarkable recovery followed, helped along by massive government subsidies and a windfall from international commodities, mainly agricultural, which are a major source of revenue for Argentina. Until the global crisis broke, stellar economic growth eclipsed most figures from the 1990s." --from the OP

Guess where that "windfall from international commodities" came from? The CHAVEZ GOVERNMENT of Venezuela, in a barter trade of oil for beef! The CHAVEZ government helped bail Argentina out of ruinous, Clinton-imposed, World Bank/IMF debt!

"International" windfall? Nope. SOCIALIST windfall, from Argentina's brothers and sisters in LEFTIST Venezuela, based on the Chavez government's strong commitment to "raising all boats" in Latin America, a commitment it shares in close alliance with the Lula da Silva government in Brazil, in particular, and with others.

It is IMPERATIVE, for Argentina's well-being, that it look to its regional NEIGHBORS in Latin America-only trade groups, and ultimately in a Latin America-only "common market," which have goals of regional autonomy and SOCIAL JUSTICE, and NOT to the ruinous, murderous, greedy, militaristic, evil global corporate predators and war profiteers of the US, of which Valenzuela is a typical front man.

"Free trade for the rich" is STUPID for the non-rich 98% of the population. It means that if you are a small business person, a worker, poor, elderly--i.e., not rich-- you can't afford water, you can't afford electricity, you can't afford a telephone, you can't afford medical care, and you can't afford to put food on the table, let alone hope to improve your life or those of your children--because some multi-billionaire in New York or London is SQUEEZING your country's privatized public services for every penny in your pocket. And he and his brethren are meanwhile stripping your country of its mineral wealth, to add to their billions, and giving nothing, absolutely nothing, back to your country. It means the banksters rule. It means slave labor in multinational corporate sweatshops. It means loss of sovereignty and self-determination. It means ruination, as we are now seeing in the US itself.

Valenzuela is on a "divide and conquer" mission in Latin America--as evidenced by this and all other Obama administration actions in Latin America thus far--meeting amicably with the rightwing opposition (representative of the rich, rightwing MINORITY), carrying water for the US Chamber of Commerce, and seeking to undermine the leftist government and RETURN Argentina to World Bank/IMF slavery and ruination. They are chipping off pieces of Latin American unity, one by one--with the rightwing military coup in Honduras, the pressure on neighboring El Salvador's leftist government not to join ALBA, the massive US military buildup in Colombia, the corrupt "free trade" trade government in Peru, and multi-millions of USAID and other US taxpayer money to corpo-fascist MINORITY groups all over Latin America--in a continuum of rotten policy from Clinton to Bush to Obama. Latin Americans have become good at ignoring the corpo-fascist press, here and there. I hope they continue those smarts in Argentina and avoid the utter stupidity of believing that the US is into "raising all boats." The US banksters will ruin them once again, and that is Obama/Clinton/Valenzuela's intent.

[Braulio]

4. Argentina's economic troubles

Are caused by Argentina's politicians, and the people who elect them. I know because I lived there, and I saw it work (or not work). Problems go way back before Bill Clinton, way way back, to Peron's times.

[Peace Patriot]

3. I finally found a better article on this than this crap from "Dow Jones Newswires":

At least it provides the CONTENT of the Argentine government's objections to Valenzuela's remarks and a clearer picture of the controversy (which I will comment on below).

------------------------------

Legal insecurity” becomes top issue of Argentina’s political agenda

Top United States official remarks about the lack of “legal security” in Argentina echoed in Copenhagen’s climate conference where Foreign Secretary Jorge Taiana approached Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to about these “unfortunate statements”.

Argentine diplomatic sources confirmed that Taiana spoke with Hillary Clinton in the sidelines of the climate change summit about US Under-Secretary of State for the Americas Arturo Valenzuela remarks during his visit this week to Buenos Aires.

The controversy was triggered when Valenzuela in a meeting with the Buenos Aires press shared US corporations’ doubts about “the current management of the Argentine economy”.

Valenzuela who has a long experience and knowledge of Latinamerica as an academic and for having spent eight years in top jobs related to the region under President Bill Clinton administrations, also said he noted a “change” in the climate investment atmosphere among US corporations, recalling that in 1996 under the administration of Carlos Menem “there was great enthusiasm in investing in Argentina”.

His remarks triggered immediate reactions from President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner administration top officials: cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez; Planning minister Julio de Vido and Interior minister Florencio Randazzo.

“Valenzuela statements have been unfortunate and even less fortunate his mention of President Menem’s years, 1996, as a period of great economic surge when exactly the opposite was happening : Argentina was steaming full ahead towards its greatest financial crisis in history”, said Taiana quoted in Copenhagen.

“We regret Mr. Valenzuela has shown so little knowledge about Argentina”, added Taiana.

“We’ve been saying so for over two months: there are no specific claims from, or problems with US corporations. Certainly not from the over 500 US corporations established in Argentina”, insisted Taiana.
Cabinet Chief Fernández charged against Barack Obama's envoy by declaring that "there is no legal insecurity in Argentina" and emphasized that "this man is not the United States".

He also commented during a radio interview that people "should be careful with the expressions they use" and pointed out that "(both administrations) should be working to strengthen a relation that they all need it to happen”.

Planning Minister De Vido also rejected Arturo Valenzuela's comments and declared that "when contracts are violated by private companies, it feels as if we are back on a neo-liberal economy".

The minister also questioned "people who talk about legal insecurity when it's the state that has to make sure that contracts are not violated by private corporations" and complained that "people talk about legal insecurity when it was actually the government that passed a legitimate law that would allow the state to partially recover funds belonging to pensioners, which were being horribly administered."

Argentine Ambassador to the US Héctor Timmerman also joined the controversy saying that "we'll have to analyze which are the underlying factors behind Valenzuela’s words: whether there has been a change in stance or if we are been demanded to state a new position." He added: "Judicial safety was not part of Valenzuela's agenda."

Timmerman declared that he had received a letter from Valenzuela before his visit, "where he pointed out the topics he was to be dealing here, and ‘judicial safety' was not a part of the list". And he stated: "We are highly disappointed; dialogue with the United States was supposed to be different."

In addition, Argentina Ambassador considered that Valenzuela's agenda in Argentina "clearly shows his ideological position." Timmerman described Obama's envoy comments as "a complete ignorance of Argentine reality" and deepened: "They can be seen as a personal interest to block dialogue".

Timmerman is convinced that Valenzuela is seeking ways to move this bilateral relationship backwards, "to level it with that of Menem, De La Rúa or Duhalde's administration; he is not willing to see that Latinamerica is living a whole different reality nowadays."

But in spite of strong reaction not all Argentines agree. The farming sector showed support. Hugo Biolcatti, Argentine Rural Society president, specified: "Valenzuela is right; there is indeed an enormous legal uncertainty to invest”.

Joaquín Morales Solá, probably Argentina’s most respected and knowledgeable political analyst recalled that the lack of “legal security” and lack of “reliable of rules of the game” is a recurrent problem in the Kirchner-couple’s Argentina.

Not only has it been expressed several times by the US ambassador in Buenos Aires Vilma Socorro Martínez but also Chief Justice Ricardo Lorenzetti in his farewell speech dedicated several paragraphs to the issue in “terms very similar to those expressed by Valenzuela”. Leaders from the Argentine opposition have stated it openly while different industrial groupings have done so low key.

More over Morales Solá recalls that Valenzuela, born in Chile, is a very much respected political scientist on Latinamerican affairs and “has been travelling regularly to Argentina for the last fifteen years”.

“It is hard to understand why the Kirchner government made an international scandal of something which did not exist and would have not existed had it not been for the press coverage of local top officials from the Argentine administration”.

http://en.mercopress.com/2009/12/18/legal-insecurity-becomes-top-issue-of-argentinas-political-agenda

--------------------------------------------

This article makes Valenzuela's and US (Obama/Clinton)'s intentions much clearer. First of all, Valenzuela pulled a fast one on the Argentine government, by springing this "legal insecurity" thing on them. As Argentina's ambassador to the US points out, he did not advise them of this topic (a diplomatic courtesy, especially when relations have not been great), and as the Cabinet chief says, it flies in the face of the government's experience with 500 US companies. So where did it come from, and why did he say it?

It came from frigging CIA psyops, is where it came from. This is a classic CIA DESTABILIZATION technique--to spread RUMORS of "insecurity" and other problems, with the CIA black ops teams sometimes then making the rumors come true, or seem to be true.

This was no arbitrary action--or flub-up, or even just gratuitous trouble-making. It is shocking behavior for a top US diplomat's first official visit under the Obama administration, all by itself. But it's more than than this. This was a very pointed attempt to PREVENT further investment in Argentina, and to create a jittery economic/financial IMPRESSION of Argentina, in order to topple the leftist government. It is reminiscent of US diplomatic behavior against the Allende government in Chile back in the 1970s. That is, it is CRUDE, Kissinger-like, Milton-Friedman-like MEDDLING.

It is no wonder that Argentina officials reacted as they did.

If we had any hopes that the Obama administration might pull back from the hostilities it has thrown at Latin America--with the rightwing military coup in Honduras, and the secretly negotiated huge US military buildup in Colombia--we can now put that hope aside, and face the reality that Obama may well be worse than Bush, on Latin American policy.

They are trying to pick off the weakest leftist governments first. Mel Zelaya was vulnerable because, though he had a 67% approval rating in Honduras, he was way out ahead of his party on things like raising the minimum wage and the need for fundamental reform of Honduras' putrid political system. They simply axed him with a coup, ran him out of the country through the US military base in Honduras.

Now the Obamites are working on El Salvador--one of the most recently elected leftist governments. They just pressured the new president, Mauricio Funes, NOT to join ALBA (the regional trade group started by Venezuela for the Central American/Caribbean region). There have been some strange goings on in Guatemala that might be CIA or local assets (trying to smear the new leftist president with a murder). We know that the Bushwhack CIA was working on Argentina (that absurd "suitcase full of money" caper out of Miami). I figured that the big ag landowners' strike last year might be CIA funded/instigated. Now this--a frontal assault on Argentina's economic security, by Obama's top diploma, in his first visit to the country in that capacity.

I think they've got this country picked out for the next installation of a rightwing regime. The Bushwhacks tried, in Bolivia last year, to carve a big chunk out the leftist movement in South America, right in the heart of the continent, with a US funded/instigated white separatist insurrection against the Morales' government. They failed--in large part due to the solidarity of the other governments in the region, most especially that of Argentina and Brazil. Our corporate rulers will benefit with one less government objecting to their dirty rotten schemes and cooperating with others to prevent them.

Argentina is next door to Bolivia, similarly placed in the heart of South America. Its recovery from Clinton ruination in the 1990s, with the help of its neighbors, must smart--providing additional motivation to Hillary & co. Argentina has also taken the lead on prosecuting the murderers and torturers of the Reagan "dirty war" era. That's another thing the US likely wants to stop. Those murderers and torturers are tied to the CIA and the Pentagon. And as we've learned with Obama, 'We need to look forward not backward" when it comes to the heinous crimes of the super-rich, the super-powerful and the well-connected.

The US clearly wants to promote more such crimes against leftists--as it has been doing in Colombia, and as it has now done in Honduras, and as it apparently wants to do with "full spectrum military operations throughout the region" launched from Colombia.

Now that I understand this incident better, I think it is even more ominous than I originally thought. Valenzuela's remarks were not just generalized advocacy of "free trade for the rich" (and looting and repression of everybody else). I've come to expect that of Obama's appointees, and this one's "free trade for the rich" creds go way back to the original Clinton "free trade" looting of Latin America. This was more pointed and strategic than I thought--quite deliberately designed and aimed at toppling the Kirchner-Fernandez government.

[Braulio]

5. Don't be naive

Corporations don't rely on "CIA psyops" to understand the investment climate, they use their own resources. I happen to make a living analysing the investment climate, and 70-80 % of the information I use comes from the governments themselves, or from the UN, OPEC, etc. Other sources include bond ratings (by private agencies), historical exchange rate trends, and direct interviews with experts living inside the country (which I doubt all happen to be CIA agents).

Valenzuela may have spoken out of turn, but the investment climate in Argentina has been downgraded. It's so bad, their own citizens are taking money out of the country to Uruguay, Brazil, and other locations they feel it'll be safer. And this is one reason why Argentina's beef and agricultural exports are going to be lower in the future. However, Argentina does have a corrective mechanism - the Kirchner-Fernandez era is likely to end soon, they are doing poorly in the polls.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Fascist government's, corporate interests ALWAYS run counter to the wellbeing of the vast majority.

Who hasn't always understood that?

People who attempt to direct the thinking of others through posturing, assuming inappropriate authoritarian airs here and elsewhere are compensating for their choice in having chosen to live for themselves at the great expense of the human race itself.

Every post you've written which I have read has held aloft the absolute necessity to work for the greater good, and done it brilliantly.

Your sense of Valenzuela seems completely accurate. It's hard to imagine how ANYONE could make his initial approach to a designated diplomatic position this way, storming in to inform them they are screwed up, and he longs for the days of a major anti-Argentina criminal who even NOW is hiding behind the protection of the Senate to avoid imprisonment for a number of charges which WILL put him in jail.

Menem has been loathed for ages, ever since he drove Argentina into the ditch, brought in an economic dark ages for the population, covered up the bombing of the Jewish center, pardoned the arch-monsters of the dirty war and arranged immunity for the only slightly less sadistic, murdering, torturing assholes.

Thank you so much for your stamina, your convictions, your truthfulness, and your atonishing strength, and patience, not to mention an amazing ability to comprehend and assimilate enormous amounts of information.

Merry Christmas, Peace Patriot.