MEDIA REACTION VENEZUELAN/BRAZILIAN CLASH

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001069

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC,
WHA/EPSC
CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION VENEZUELAN/BRAZILIAN CLASH
BOLIVIAN GAS NATIONALIZATION WAR IN IRAQ STATEMENTS
FROM NOMINEE FOR US AMBASSADOR TO ARGENTINA EARL
ANTHONY WAYNE THE VISIT OF US GENERAL CRADDOCK TO
ARGENTINA MERCOSUR 05/11/06


1. SUMMARY STATEMENT

Today's key international stories include the clash
between Venezuela and Brazil over the Bolivian gas
crisis; the implications of Bolivian nationalization
of the energy sector; the aftermath of the war in
Iraq; the statements made by nominee for US Ambassador
to Argentina, Earl Anthony Wayne; the visit of US
General Craddock to Argentina; and the fragile status
of Mercosur.


2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES

- "Clash between Venezuela and Brazil due to the
Bolivian gas crisis"

Eleonora Gosman, Sao Paulo-based correspondent for
leading "Clarin," writes (05/11) "The relationship
between Brazil and Venezuela is tense for the first
time in years. Yesterday, Caracas returned,
'surprised,' Brazil's criticism. One day before,
Brazilian FM Celso Amorin told the Senate of his
country that he is 'disgusted' by Hugo Chavez's
influence' on the nationalization of Bolivian oil.

"The Brazilian president even expressed his 'disgust'
with his Venezuelan counterpart during last week
meeting in Puerto Iguazu...

"... Yesterday, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry
reacted with 'much surprise' to the statements made by
the Brazilian FM and Lula's main advisor on foreign
affairs, who referred to a return of the Cold War
because of Hugo Chavez's clashes with the US. Caracas
sustained it did not influence Morales' decision to
nationalize hydrocarbons."

- "Jigsaw puzzle"

Marcelo Cantelmi, international editor of leading
"Clarin," writes (05/11) "South America seems to be
breaking down through a visible destruction of old
alliances.

"The Andean Community of Nations has been broken.
Mercosur is resented by asymmetries that are
suffocating its minor partners and by the battle
between Argentina and Uruguay. Venezuela's oil
diplomacy is not far from having unleashed al those
effects. Its influence in the Southern Cone, which
many consider arrogant, was related to the changes in
Bolivia...

"Now, the clash between Brasilia and Caracas is
another piece that got loose in the regional jigsaw
puzzle. To make matters worse, there is an air of
confrontation over the leadership of this implacable
maze."

- "State-control comeback"

James Neilson, contributor to liberal, English-
language "Buenos Aires Herald," writes (05/11) "...
According to Evo Morales and his admirers, his
country's oil industry now belongs to all Bolivians.
Does it? Not really, just to some. Though the new
management will certainly be unlike the old, those
involved in it will be equally determined to ensure
that the profits stay in the right hands, namely
theirs. This is what happened in Argentina when YPF...
was part of the 'national patrimony,' and there is no
reason to suspect that YPFB... will be any different.

"Privatization came into fashion throughout Latin
America a decade-and-a-half ago, not because
politicians such as Carlos Menem let themselves be
convinced by neo-liberal theories, but because most
allegedly public companies were a miserable mess."

- "The punished partners of war"

Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for
daily-of-record "La Nacion," writes (05/11) "According
to the head of the US Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld, they




represented the 'new Europe,' the US-friendly leaders,
far from the 'old Europe,' represented by Germany and
France. It was during the period running up to the
invasion of Iraq...

"In spite of doubts and protest demonstrations in
several capital cities of the world, the four leaders
announced that they would never let Saddam use WMD.
Other leaders joined them... Three years later, the
chore of the 'new Europe' is broken into pieces, while
nothing is known about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts.

"... In the case of Bush, his weakening is not only
due to the war in Iraq (his weakest point),but to the
status of the US economy and the immigration debate...
However, the White House is confident that Bush's luck
will differ from that of the leaders who supported him
in the campaign against Saddam Hussein."

- "Washington asks (Argentina) to improve investment
climate"

Conservative "La Prensa" reports (05/11) "The nominee
for US ambassador to Argentina, Earl Anthony Wayne,
said yesterday that the government should create 'a
more favorable climate' for investment in order to
continue on the road of economic recovery.

"During a hearing at the US Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, Wayne said that Argentina's economy has
been growing at 9% ever since 2002 'terrible crisis.'

"However, he pointed out that for the country's
economy 'to continue growing at its current pace and
attend to the critical problem posed by poverty, it is
crucial that it continues creating a more favorable
environment for national and foreign investors."

- "According to the US, Argentina should improve its
investment climate"

Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading
"Clarin," comments (05/11) "If Earl Anthony Wayne is
confirmed by the US Senate as the new US ambassador to
Argentina..., his three priority issues will be
business climate, expansion of bilateral trade and
FTAA promotion.

"And he will insist that the Kirchner administration
should 'honor its commitments' related to the
Bilateral Investment Treaty between the US and
Argentina...

"Wayne remarked that he 'would seek to strengthen
bilateral ties'... and counteract the 'negative image
the US has in Argentina.'"

- "The cop of the world"

Left-of-center "Pagina 12" carries an opinion piece by
Juan Gelman, writer, who writes (05/11) "It does not
merely come down to 'pre-emptive attacks' against
wicked countries. After three years of work, the US
Special Operations Command has completed a plan of
clandestine military interventions in nations not at
war and which do not represent any danger for the US
national security...

"... The US president's desire of absolute power
increasingly concerns the so-called 'realistic'
conservative sectors, particularly with respect to the
'antiterrorist war' and the reduction in the faculties
of the Legislative Power."

- "US military chief wants information about new
(Argentine) espionage"

Edgardo Aguilera, columnist of business-financial
"Ambito Financiero," comments (05/11) "Argentine
Defense Minister Nilda Garre will meet today with US
General Craddock, head of the US South Command...

"The US general has come from Uruguay... and decided
to make a stop in Buenos Aires en route to Chile




perhaps not to rebuff Garre. According to its Website,
the South Command is focused on the global war on
terrorism and on preventing terrorist groups from
using the region as a sanctuary to prepare operations
against the US and its vital interests in the region.
One can infer that Craddock and Garre will have little
in common... The Argentine Defense Minister's new
initiative eliminated from the Armed Forces' tasks
that of confronting the threat posed by international
terrorism."


3. EDITORIALS

- "Mercosur fails without real integration"

Business-financial "El Cronista's" editorial reads
(05/11) "... Mercosur will not be sustainable in the
medium term if it is only based on the bilateral ties
between Argentina and Brazil. The understanding
between the two main partners is necessary, although
not enough.

"The commercial strength of Mercosur will fade away if
minor partners, such as Paraguay and Uruguay, are not
taken into account.

"Mercosur has not met its main goals, such as the
implementation of a free trade area and a custom union
with really common rules and tariffs. It is also
affected by clashes like that of paper mills and
Venezuela's political diatribes."

To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our
classified website at:
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires

GUTIERREZ