Timerman Corrects Newspapers on Behalf of Obama

The Secretary of State of Argentina, Hector Timerman, convened Argentine press at the Convention Center of Buenos Aires yesterday to complain about the information published after a meeting between the Argentine President, Cristina Kirchner, and her American counterpart, Barack Obama.

According to Timerman, the White House did not use the word “concerns” (“preocupación” in Spanish) when talking about the trade dispute between the two countries; instead, they translated the word used in the official communiqué as “interest.” “We reiterate our special interest in trade issues,” read Timerman according to his own translation. The word used by the White House was “concerns,” translated in Spanish as “preocupación” in English dictionaries.

Timerman, who yesterday became Obama’s spokesman, said that Cristina Kirchner met Obama during the official photo session, which all the presidents have attended this morning, and that there the Democratic president expressed his surprise at the covers of the Argentine newspapers La Nacion and Clarín.

“It surprised President Obama a lot. He said: ‘I cannot believe it, seriously?’” said Timerman. According to his version, this occurred when he handed in the press summary that the Argentine president reads every morning and showed her the newspapers’ covers.

The photos of this encounter were never seen. Hence they must have held this conversation with the presence of an interpreter, since Obama does not speak Spanish. The White House did not say anything about Obama being uneasy with the Argentine press; last night the content of the official communiqué was confirmed by U.S. government sources. Timerman said that the American president asked him to inform the Argentine press that the information they have published was “false.” The use of that word was not confirmed by his administration either. “Here I have what we have said. I am profoundly sorry. Tell them (the Argentine press) on my behalf, that it is false.” Those were the words used by Obama according to Timerman.

Timerman reiterated that Obama told the Argentine president that “they did not deal with anything in relation to the U.S. complaining or making any demand or imposition to Argentina.” None of these words were used by La Nacion.

Last night, in the Argentine TV show, “Fútbol para Todos,” it was repeatedly announced that Timerman would tell “how Obama reacted when he showed him how La Nacion and Clarín twisted his words.”