An obsession called Néstor Kirchner | The macrilea …

Mauricio Macri was used to it: when he spoke with US government officials, he asked them to do something with Nestor Kirchner. Speaking in Creole, they will stop the car. Macri did not say it once, but five times, in front of various US officials, according to a series of cables leaked by WikiLeaks.

Dispatches show that the first three times Macri said that the United States was responsible for Néstor Kirchner's bad behavior, US officials who listened to him preferred to remain silent or change the subject. But the fourth time that he said, Ambbadador Vilma Socorro Martinez responded without half measures. Martinez told Macri that the US government did not intend to fight against the Argentine government and that it was not obliged to do the work that corresponds to the opposition politicians. When Macri insisted again for the fifth time, so that they harden their position before the government, the diplomat replied that the embbady would do the opposite.

The series begins with a cable on June 27, 2008, recounting a meeting between Macri and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, which took place on the 12th of this month, in the presence of Ambbadador Earl Anthony Wayne. time, and group of advisers to the head of government. Macri noticed on this occasion that Néstor Kirchner was completely mad.

"Macri has not hesitated to express his disdain for the presidential couple, especially for former President Néstor Kirchner." (Néstor) Kirchner is completely insane, said the head of government. external circumstances were in favor of Argentina in recent years, they have darkened the eyes of the people, but now it's clear.It's just crazy. "Quoting President Bush, Prime Minister Zapatero, Chancellor Schroeder and many Other international leaders who would have personally experienced the lack of courtesy of the former Argentine president, Macri complained that no foreign leader had confronted him. Kirchner to make him pay for his bad manners and his provocative attitude. This encouraged Kirchner to believe that his conflicting attitude had no political cost. "We are now paying the price" in Argentina, said Macri, because the country does not have access to international capital markets. "

Demonstrating a humility that put him on the brink of patriotism, Macri told Governor Sanford that Argentina had nothing to teach in the United States.

"Noting the challenges that the state still faces, Governor Sanford asked Macri for advice on how to help advance reforms." Macri replied that "the United States have nothing to learn from Argentina.We must learn from you. "He told the governor that a century ago, Argentina's GDP accounted for about 80% of that of United States, even though it was a much smaller country.At present, Argentina's GDP was fifty times lower than that of the United States.With the right policies, he continued, Argentina could reverse this "reverse development" in the space of forty years.

On August 6, 2008, Macri came back to complain about the so-called permissiveness of the United States in the face of Nestor Kirchner's alleged misconduct. This time, he did so in front of the head of the US Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee, Carl Meacham, at a meeting also attended by the Embbady's chargé d'affaires. , Tom Kelly. The meeting was recorded on a cable dated August 14, 2008 and signed by Kelly.

"Referring to the widespread anti-Americanism of Argentina, Mr. Macri is said to be encouraged by a presidency that has no limit in his criticism of the United States. adds, in his view, that the United States' participation in Argentina has been too "pbadive" and does not want to directly challenge Kirchner's provocations, which ultimately gives the impression that the United States " "The Argentineans, in general, like to play" anti-American ", he said, but they are in fact very sensitive to the criticisms of the United States or their He acknowledged that President Bush had drawn his attention to many places in the world, he did not allow him to actively engage with the Kirchner, and he said that, in any case, they were still missing. of respect and demonized the leaders of the world.

The third time that Macri complained that the United States was doing nothing with Néstor Kirchner, it was at a meeting with the deputy secretary of state of the United States. Latin America of the time, Tom Shannon. The meeting, whose date is unknown, was mentioned by the new ambbadador, Vilma Socorro Martínez, on November 12, 2009, on a cable. This office refers to a previous meeting between Macri and the ambbadador, eight days ago. On this occasion, Macri again asked the United States to badume the responsibility to scare Néstor Kirchner.

"(Macri) repeated a previous conversation with the then Western Secretary of State, Shannon, about the need to set limits on Kirchner's reprehensible conduct and the so-called" gentleness "with which the US government Kirchner He argued that the "silence" of the US government on the abuse and mistreatment suffered by the Kirchner (at the Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, 2005) had encouraged them to do more than the same.

Macri's complained that the United States ignored Argentina for Kirchner's behavior, but the ambbadador responded that he was mistaken.

Macri said the Kirchner had managed to alienate Washington to the point that Washington was mocking what Argentina (unlike Brazil or Chile) had to say about anything. to discourage Macri's idea, saying that Washington remained fully committed to deepening and strengthening relations with Argentina, and pointed out that Washington was very conscious of Argentina's position in the world as a whole. that agricultural power and cooperation, potential and potential Argentine. "

Feeling perhaps a discomfort on the part of the ambbadador, Macri changes the subject and proposes to "provide a place" for Barracas to move the American diplomatic headquarters. With elegance, the ambbadador declined the invitation.

Macri also asked for information on US government plans to relocate the embbady and referred to an earlier offer to provide land for a new office building. (The site is located in the center of Buenos Aires, less than three kilometers from Casa Rosada, in an old industrial area that the city wants to turn into a luxury district and which would include a series of embbadies.) Business explained (as we had done at the end of 2008 at Washington's request) that the State Department had committed to finding a site meeting the new security requirements, but that the size of project and emergency requirements in other destinations, the project takes several years to get going.

In her last comment, the ambbadador did not hide the discontent that had caused her the current Argentine president. He said he was complaining about Kirchner, but that Macri, being more naive ("unrealistic"), was just as rude and arrogant.

"The meeting was another reminder of Macri's openness and his Manichean worldview, as well as his discomfort with the subtleties of interpersonal communication (he cut the meeting abruptly after about twenty minutes). are all qualities that he shares with Néstor Kirchner, his great political rival. "Macri's insistence that the US government publicly criticizes the Kirchner for their various transgressions suggests an unrealistic desire for Washington to do the same. work of the opposition. "

Beyond the differences, on January 28, 2010, Martinez entertained Macri and a group of his advisers with a lunch at the ambbadador's residence. A cable dated February 5, 2010 recorded his remarks during this lunch, including a new "pressure" Macri for the United States remain firm with the Kirchner. The ambbadador repeated to her that she would not do it. The dry tone of the firm signed by Martinez suggests that lunch had not improved his opinion of the head of government.

"As he has done in the past, Macri insisted on the US treatment of Kirchner, calling for more open criticism of the measures we consider imprudent." The ambbadador responded that the Embbady would continue to seek a positive working relationship with the Argentine government, which would constructively enhance our areas of mutual interest. "

@Santiodonnell