Cablegate Chronicles: Eating Trout With the President of Argentina

This is an installment from our on-going series on the adventures of American diplomats and the people they monitor. The red button below will take you to another random episode.

A U.S. ambassador evaluates Argentine President Nestor Kirchner's governance style.

FROM: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
TO: STATE DEPARTMENT
DATE: JUNE 29, 2006
CLASSIFICATION: CONFIDENTIAL
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¶9. (C) Kirchner has a reputation for taking slights or any perceived lack of respect from others personally, but is also known for quick changes in temperament. Acevedo told the DCM that once then-Governor Kirchner became enraged with his Deputy Energy Minister for making a statement regarding Santa Cruz energy policy he did not personally approve. Kirchner called the Deputy Minister into his office and proceeded to scream at him at the top of his lungs, ultimately effectively throwing him out of his office physically. Everyone in the provincial government leadership expected the Deputy Minister to be fired. Kirchner did not speak to him for two weeks, until he unexpectedly called him asking for some trout for a dinner that Kirchner was hosting. Acevedo said this individual had a reputation for knowing where to get the best trout in Rio Gallegos. The Deputy Minister complied with the request, and two days later Kirchner invited him for coffee. Kirchner greeted him warmly, thanked him for the trout, and proceeded to chat with him for a long period, as if the previous incident had never happened, to the shock of everyone else present, including the Deputy Minister. In the end, the Deputy Minister was not fired, and Kirchner did not raise the issue again.