MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US attempts to re-position relations with Argentina

United States seems intent in re-tracking relations with Argentina following the Kirchner administration fierce criticism of the US government for allegedly implementing a “garbage operation” to smear Argentine authorities.

Over the weekend the US and Argentine press published reactions to statements from US assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs Thomas Shannon Jr. who last Friday used the words "regrettable and not positive" to refer to the Argentine response to a US/Venezuelan citizen involvement as a carrier of money that allegedly was to be used in the recent Argentine presidential campaign and is currently on trial in Miami. Guido Antonini Wilson was caught by Argentine customs last August with a suitcase stashed with 800.000 US dollars for which he could not account. He arrived in Buenos Aires from Caracas on a private aircraft contracted by Argentina's Energy corporation, Enarsa together with top officials from that company and Venezuela's PDVSA. However he managed to leave Argentina for Uruguay two days later and then returned to Miami, where apparently Venezuelan and Uruguayan citizens called on Antonini Wilson to cover up the origin and destination of the undeclared money "that was to used in the Argentine presidential campaign". The five have been accused of acting as foreign agents in US territory without the US Attorney General's authorization. After the investigation in Miami became public, fierce criticism arose from the Argentine government, which repeatedly blamed the US government for implementing a "garbage operation" to smear Argentine authorities. Shannon, the main US official for the region, said the initial reaction in Buenos Aires had followed purposes not related to foreign policy, and considered it to be "regrettable and not positive." Nevertheless, he added that recent statements from Argentine officials indicated that "Argentina has now understood that this is a judicial process and that it is best for everybody to allow this to play itself out." Shannon's statement was published on Saturday by the New York Times. It was the first official comment from a high-ranking US official regarding the investigation of four Venezuelans and one Uruguayan who allegedly threatened US-Venezuelan citizen Antonini Wilson. Shannon was also quoted Saturday by Buenos Aires daily Clarín saying that the Argentine national government's reaction with its "garbage" charges had been aimed at "protecting its political support." He argued that the problem had been the "immediate reaction," and considered as "more positive" recent declarations from Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernández who said that the case should "evolve on its own" within the US judiciary. He denied that there has been a "political operation" conducted by the George W. Bush administration. Up to this point, Shannon had said that the case should be handled as a "police investigation" within US boundaries. "The investigation is aimed at foreign agents acting illegally on US soil, not at Argentina," Shannon stressed. In this sense, he said that "it would have been illegal to reveal in advance the actions of the judiciary to the Argentine government" before the legal process. Despite the incident, "bilateral relations should go on without difficulties," he said. However a former picket leader Luis D'Elía (formerly an official of the Néstor Kirchner administration) criticized Shannon's words and considered that the position of the US in the case was "an operation conducted by the CIA to erode three presidents of the Mercosur, namely (Venezuelan President) Hugo Chávez, (Argentine President) Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and (Uruguayan President) Tabaré Vázquez." But an arrested suspect in the US investigation currently in Miami has insisted that the money carried by Antonini Wilson was headed for Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's presidential campaign. Besides two other witnesses have already declared before an Argentine prosecutor having seen Antonini Wilson in the Argentine Government House, Casa Rosada, two days after he was intercepted by the Argentine Customs, a fact which was originally rejected by Argentine authorities. The occasion was an official reception for Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez hosted by his Argentine counterpart Nestor Kirchner, which would mean Antonini Wilson had security clearance from both Argentine and Venezuelan officials.