THE Argentine
government confirmed on January 9 that its stance on
relations with Cuba is a matter for Argentina alone,
and should not be a subject of pressure. In doing
so, the Argentine government was standing up to the
criticisms made on January 6 by Roger Noriega, U.S.
assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs
of Buenos Aires’ foreign policy, especially its
links with Cuba.
The president
himself, Néstor Kirchner, told U.S. House of
Representatives speaker Dennis Hastert that he
rejected those comments, qualifying them
“inappropriate expressions,” reported the Buenos
Aires government agency Télam, according to Prensa
Latina.
Noriega had
expressed his concern and disappointment over the
improvement of links between Cuba and Argentina. In
spite of the discomfort this caused in Argentine
society and its political spheres, U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell backed up those assertions by
stating that Noriega was speaking loud and clear,
interpreted by the Rose House as agreement with them.
On that same
occasion, Kirchner made clear what his international
policy is and will be after refuting front-page
rumors circulated by domestic media agencies
claiming that Bush had carpeted Kirchner for his
connections with Cuba.
In refuting
this he said, “Argentina - not whoever happens to be
temporarily president - cannot be summoned by anyone
or we will end up being stepped on. We can accept or
arrange meetings, but no one summons us, much less
to scold us, because we are an independent country
with dignity.”
He thus
established a distinct attitude to the so-called
carnal relations and automatic alignment that was
the policy of ex-president Carlos Ménem (1989-1999).
According to
Télam, however, there were no plans to draft any
official letter of complaint. As a result of the
dispute, the national media systematically covered
the controversial issue, highlighting the support of
public opinion in general and the most diverse
individuals for the government’s stance.
Regarding the
matter, Kirchner’s predecessor Eduardo Duhalde said
he held the same opinion on sovereignty in foreign
policy. At the same time, Alberto Fernández, chief
of the Ministerial Cabinet, stated on radio and
television that “we have no reason to change this
position, since it is part of any country’s free
determination.”
He sustained,
in addition, that Argentina would once again abstain
in Geneva in the meeting of the UN Human Rights
Commission with respect to Washington’s attempts to
unjustly condemn Cuba. Noriega is known for his
close relations with Otto Reich (a well-known enemy
of the Cuban Revolution and the Bolivarian process
in Venezuela) and with the Cuban-American National
Foundation (CANF). As a member of right-wing Senator
Jesse Helms’ advisory team, he worked with the
Foreign Relations Committees of both the Senate and
the House, standing out for his “advice” on the
issues of Haiti, Peru and Nicaragua. In the same
manner, he has publicly expressed his “respect” for
Augusto Pinochet’s Chile.
On being
appointed to his new post by George W. Bush in
January 2003, after the Senate rejected Reich’s
nomination to that position, Noriega commented in a
speech last year in Miami in the presence of CANF
leader Jorge Más Santos, that the The New
York Times expressed surprise that he had been
selected after emphasizing his anti-Communist
tendency as if it were big news, to which his
response was that it would have been news if Bush
had named someone sympathetic to communism.”
