Raw content

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000095 SIPDIS NOFORN OES FOR EVAN BLOOM AND HAROLD TAYLOR DEPT OF ENERGY FOR MANOLIS PRIONIOTAKIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/17 TAGS: ECON, PHSA, PBTS, EFIN, PREL, ENRG, AR SUBJECT: Falklands/Malvinas: GoA Requires Permission for Ships to Travel to the Islands REF: Buenos Aires 0118; Buenos Aires 0071 CLASSIFIED BY: Tom Kelly, DCM; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) Summary 1. (C) The GoA issued a decree on February 16 requiring ships to obtain GoA permission before sailing from Argentina or through Argentine waters to reach the Falkland/Malvinas Islands. Argentine President Fernandez de Kirchner sought to justify the decree based on UN resolutions. The decree is intended to discourage oil exploration in territorial waters of the islands. British diplomats in Argentina are seeking to calm the waters, but note that Argentina has sent warning letters to companies currently involved in such exploration. They think that there is a real possibility that the GoA might place sanctions against these companies, even if Argentine economic interests might be harmed in the process. While it is unclear to what extent U.S. companies may be affected, one target may be U.S. tour operators for Southern Cone and Antarctica cruises that include a stop at the islands. The British strategy is to let CFK score political points now and wait for the issue to fade away as the public debate shifts to more pressing domestic issues. End Summary. Argentina Requires Ships to Request Permission to Travel to Falklands/Malvinas 2. (SBU) On February 16, Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez announced that President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (CFK) had that day signed a new decree (Executive Order equivalent) requiring ships to obtain GoA permission to sail from Argentina or through Argentine waters to the Falklands/Malvinas and other South Atlantic islands claimed by Argentina, or before loading cargo destined for them. According to a GoA press release, it "establishes the requirement for (GoA) permission to navigate between the Argentine continental territory and the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands." Anibal Fernandez will head a commission (which will include representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Planning, Industry and Tourism, Economy and Justice) to oversee implementation of the decree. 3. (SBU) At a public event later in the day, CFK explained that "all ships that are headed to Puerto Argentino (i.e., Port Stanley) must request authorization from Argentina, whatever their reason for going." She justified this new requirement, arguing that "there are numerous UN resolutions which request and require both countries (i.e., Argentina and the U.K.) to renew talks to reach an agreement on sovereignty (of the islands), and resolutions which say that neither party can take unilateral actions." She added that "these resolutions have been systematically ignored by the United Kingdom, which refuses to discuss the matter," and that "the U.K. refuses to sit at the table to discuss it as the UN orders." She stated that she would raise the issue at the Rio Group summit meeting to be held next week in Playa del Carmen, MC)xico. The Reason: To Raise the Cost of Doing Business in the Islands 4. (SBU) Numerous press reports cited anonymous government sources with more detailed justifications and explanations of intent. Leading daily Clarin's source stated that "The ships that go (to the Falklands to support oil drilling) should know that they won't get any assistance in Argentine ports." Pro-government daily Pagina 12's source in the MFA went further, claiming that the goal was "to make the exploration process more expensive" and thus discourage firms from operating there. Foreign Minister Taiana, in a closed-door session with CFK-aligned congressmen, reportedly repeated that last argument, while also expressing the hope that companies would choose instead to conduct similar activities in nearby (undisputed) Argentine waters. Another MFA source told pro-government Pagina 12 that "last Friday, the Financial Times reported that stock prices (of Desire Petroleum, the British company leading the exploration efforts) were falling. That is what our sanctions aim for, always through peaceful and legal means, so that the risk factor that every petroleum company (operating in the Islands) faces is increasingly higher." 5. (C) While the decree has yet to be published in its entirety, the GoA may have already begun to enforce it. A British-flagged ship, the "Thor Leader," was detained in a port north of Buenos Aires on February 11 (it arrived at the port February 4) based on allegations that it had delivered equipment related to the oil exploration activity to Port Stanley prior to stopping in Argentina. (Initial reports quoted GoA sources accusing Argentine oil tubing manufacturer Techint of shipping its goods to the Islands on board the Thor Leader. The company quickly denied those claims, stating that the goods to be loaded on the ship were destined for various customers in the Mediterranean. The accusations against Techint have not been repeated in the past few days, but the ship remains detained.) Local press cited the Financial Times as the source for the information that the ship was owned by Desire Petroleum, and attributed the drop in Desire's stock price to the detention. However, other press reports state that the justification for the detention was a resolution issued in 2007 (see Ref B) which threatens to shut down the Argentine operations of any oil company that operates in the Falklands without GoA permission. UK Expects Continued GoA Moves to Discourage Oil & Gas Exploration Off Falklands 6. (C) British diplomats in Argentina are concerned about how far the GoA will take this matter, and are therefore seeking to downplay the situation as much as possible. British Ambassador Shan Morgan told DCM February 16 that the British strategy is to be quiet and patient in the hope that the situation blows over, but adding that London was "jumpy" over the issue. A British Embassy source quoted by multiple dailies has followed that tack, stating that "Argentina applies its own laws in its own territory," suggesting that this regulation was strictly a domestic Argentine issue. (Several newspapers said that the quote was in response to a question about the British-flagged Thor Leader, suggesting that the UK is not making the detention a bilateral issue.) However, the source is quoted as adding that "The U.K. has no doubt over its sovereignty in the Falklands and its maritime waters, and is convinced that the petroleum exploration is a completely legitimate activity." Morgan noted her belief that the Kirchners were fanning the flames in an effort to score political points domestically, a point underscored in the Argentine press as well. 7. (C) British DCM Simon Thomas told EconCouns on February 11 that the GoA had, as widely reported in the press, formally delivered to him (as ChargC) d'Affaires) on February 2 a protest over hydrocarbons exploration activity in the Falklands/Malvinas Islands territorial waters that was expected to begin in mid-to-late February. He downplayed the protest, calling it similar to many their mission has received previously. Thomas was surprised to learn that the USG had not yet received any similar protest, despite the fact that the drilling rig contracted by Desire Petroleum to do the drilling in the Falklands/Malvinas is owned and operated by a major U.S. drilling firm, Diamond Offshore Drilling. (British Ambassador Morgan also raised this point with DCM, saying she has been told by London that U.S. companies had been warned by the GoA to not participate in the project. She asked us to confirm that the USG is not/not aware of such approaches, either to U.S. companies or to the USG itself.) 8. (C) British diplomats also told EconCouns that several companies involved in the planned exploration had received warning letters from the GoA threatening to cancel (or prevent) their operations in Argentina if they participate in the Falklands/Malvinas exploration without GoA permission. In addition to Desire Petroleum, these include Danish shipping giant Maersk, which is towing the rig to the planned drilling site. The British believe that the intent of the letters is to pressure companies into dropping all Falklands-related activity; they did not rule out GoA sanctions against these companies for continuing Falkland-related activities, even if such action would also damage the Argentine economy. Maersk, in particular, handles approximately 20% of Argentina's foreign shipping, including an estimated 50% of Argentina's soy exports, the country's top export commodity and a critically important source of export tax revenues for the GoA. 9. (SBU) There have also been press reports claiming that British-owned Barclay's Bank, the lead bank working on behalf of the GoA on the proposed debt restructuring agreement to resolve the problem of the "holdouts" from the earlier 2005 debt swap (Ref A), is the single largest shareholder in Desire, with about 4.5% of the shares. Barclay's is also said to own an interest in Minera Alumbrera, a large copper and gold mining firm, which was Argentina's 10th-largest exporter in 2009. Post has not yet been able to verify either claim. In light of Barclay's ownership position in Desire, a former Argentine congressman has filed a lawsuit seeking to force the GoA to end Barclay's participation in the debt restructuring. Australian company BHP Billiton was also identified in the press as a firm with interests in both the Falklands/Malvinas exploration and mining in Argentina. Comment 10. (C) While the GoA seeks to prevent companies from participating in oil exploration activity in the waters off of the Falklands/Malvinas, it is not clear how much it is willing to risk real harm to the Argentine economy as it exploits a nationalistic issue for political gain. For now, the GoA is being scrupulous to couch its actions in terms of adherence to UN resolutions and international law. In the absence of an (unlikely) British-Argentine accord on the Islands, the GoA will, in all probability, continue to ratchet up economic pressure on Falkland Islands residents, for whom tourism is an important cash generator. An aggressive position on the issue unites Argentines behind their unpopular government, and there is still a long way to go before the steps contemplated by the GoA cause any real damage to the Argentine economy. Current ship traffic between Argentina and the Falklands (as well as the other islands) is limited, and the impact of the decree on U.S. and other companies will likely also be limited for now. However, this could change if the GoA ups the ante and imposes significant sanctions on companies such as tour cruise ship operators with current activities in both the Falklands and Argentina, harming both the companies and the Argentine economy. MARTINEZ