Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BUENOSAIRES158
2006-01-20 20:10:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Buenos Aires
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION US AMBASSADOR TO BUENOS AIRES

Tags:  KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL MEDIA REACTION 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0021
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0158/01 0202010
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 202010Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3176
INFO RHMFIUU/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000158 

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 US AMBASSADOR TO BUENOS AIRES
US-ARGENTINE RELATIONSHIP CHAVEZ IRAN MICELI TO
WASHINGTON US-URUGUAYAN FTD AFTERMATH OF THE VISIT OF
A/S THOMAS SHANNON TO BUENOS AIRES OUTCOME OF CHILEAN
ELECTIONS 01/17/06


UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000158

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 US AMBASSADOR TO BUENOS AIRES
US-ARGENTINE RELATIONSHIP CHAVEZ IRAN MICELI TO
WASHINGTON US-URUGUAYAN FTD AFTERMATH OF THE VISIT OF
A/S THOMAS SHANNON TO BUENOS AIRES OUTCOME OF CHILEAN
ELECTIONS 01/17/06



1. SUMMARY STATEMENT

Weekend international stories include: Michele
Bachelet winning Chilean presidential elections and
considering relations with Argentina "strategic" for
Chile; US President George W. Bush and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel's joint statement to put
mutual pressure on Iran in a bid to halt Tehran's
nuclear ambitions; former Spanish President Felipe
Gonzalez' statements that there is not such a tilt to
the left in Latin America; Washington hindering the
sale of Spanish airplanes to Venezuela; Argentine
Ambassador to the US Jose Bordon's statement that the
visit of A/S Shannon contributed to more visibility in
the US-Argentine relationship; an alleged US military
and technological blockade on Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez; and Argentine Ambassador to UN Csar
Mayoral's statement that Argentina adopted the "wait
and see" policy at the UN Security Council regarding
possible sanctions on Iran due to the nuclear issue.


2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES

- "No replacement for Gutierrez as US ambassador to
Argentina has been decided"

Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading
"Clarin," writes (01/15) "The replacement of a US
ambassador to Argentina not only unleashes expectation
in our country but also in Washington. And, obviously,
the replacement of Lino Gutierrez is not an exception
to the rule.

"Since last December there is an insistent rumor that
current US Assistant Secretary for Economic and
Business Affairs, Earl Anthony Wayne, will be
appointed as such. But, according to a US source,
while Wayne is the favorite at the US State
Department, he has not received the White House's
approval.

"According to a US diplomat, 'there must be some
political candidate interested in the position that is
lobbying to obtain it.'

"According to the US State Department's bio, Wayne was
one of those who led the efforts to organize rescue
packages for Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

Furthermore, Wayne has also contributed significantly
to drafting and implementing the international energy
policy, including the Western Hemisphere. He has also
played a role in economic and trade liberalization
negotiations.

"... Everything indicates that the White House has not
OK'd Wayne... This means that Gutierrez is likely to
stay longer in his position."

- "The US has a public and a private discourse on its
ties with Argentina"

Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading
"Clarin," writes (01/14) "It is not hard to find out
that the Bush administration has currently a double
discourse about the Kirchner administration. In
public, it says that bilateral ties are excellent, and
that the SOA was a success. In fact, this is what A/S
Shannon said during his visit to Buenos Aires.
However, in private, there is criticism of Kirchner
inside the US State Department corridors. Many USG
officials feel disappointed due to what happened at
the SOA...

"... Two former US ambassadors to Argentina, James
Cheek and Manuel Rocha, said that today the US State
Department has no choice. 'They cannot publicly
recognize that the SOA was a failure.'

"According to Rocha, 'Diplomats never say anything
negative except when ties with a country start to
break, and this has not happened yet.'"

- "Bush's blockade on Chavez will be the landmark of
Brasilia summit"





Carlos Pagni, columnist of business-financial "Ambito
Financiero," comments (01/17) "Perhaps, Nestor
Kirchner will discover in Brazil the strategic sense
of A/S Shannon's cordiality during his visit last
Thursday. Kirchner will meet there with Lula... They
will speak about the somewhat fictitious entry of
Venezuela into Mercosur... However, the main topic of
talks will be the USG decision to start a
technological and military blockade on the Chavez
administration.

"Last Friday, the US State Department made two
important decisions... It vetoed the sale of Spanish
and Brazilian airplanes to Caracas.

"... It is the first time the USG took into practice
its so far rhetoric criticism of the Bolivarian
regime."

- "While the White House is sleeping"

Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed piece by
writer Tomas Eloy Martinez, who opines (01/14) "...
The new Latin American leaders no longer fear the US.
When they rule, they think less of hurting Washington
than of defending national interests.

"This creates confusion because what the US newspapers
call left and right wing are simplifications of a much
more complex reality.

"... However, Latin America's economic growth is high,
and democracy is consolidated; it's not only what the
US calls a shift to the left that is changing the
atmosphere of the region. Conservative leaders (such
as in Chile and Mexico) have also appeared and they
will make others rethink national projects. At last,
George W. Bush's long nap, which is full of Babylonian
and remote dreams, is letting Latin America find
itself."

- "Iran: no need to panic"

Liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald"
carries an opinion piece by contributor Gwynne Dyer,
who writes (01/16) "... The current US campaign to
impose UN sanctions on Iran is doomed to fail, because
Iran is not breaking the law. As a signatory of the
NPT, it is fully entitled to develop nuclear power for
peaceful purposes, including the technology for
enriching uranium, even though that also takes it much
of the way to a nuclear-weapons capability. In any
case, it is practically unimaginable that all the veto-
holding powers on the UN Security Council would agree
to impose sanctions on a major oil-producer on the
mere suspicion that it ultimately intends to break the
law."

- "Miceli will receive Washington's criticism of price
controls"

Martin Kanenguiser, economic columnist of daily-of-
record "La Nacion," writes (01/16) "The criticism that
Economy Minister Felisa Miceli will receive during her
trip to the US will basically be focused on the
sustained inflation increase and the trouble to
capture long-term investment.

"US analysts and investors gladly note the strong
Argentine growth but they are not very impressed by
the payment of the debt to the IMF and they sway
between disbelief and fear due to the strategy to
fight inflation. This is why Miceli is expected to
hear skeptical comments in Washington regarding price
controls.

"For her part, Miceli will attempt to convince her
interlocutors... that Argentina will maintain a high
fiscal surplus as the best test of her conviction to
put a brake on inflation."

- "Uruguay 'aspires' to US trade deal"




Liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald"
(01/14) "Uruguay aspires to a free-trade deal with the
US but it will only be able to achieve this if it
receives permission from its Mercosur partners and the
US accepts to negotiate sensitive products, Uruguay's
Foreign Minister Reinaldo Gargano said yesterday.

"'If the US eliminates the list of 300 sensitive
products, why shouldn't I support a FTD that would
enable us to enter a market as important as the US one
with zero tariffs?' the minister said in a report
published by the online edition of 'El Observador.'"

- "A new round with Washington?"

Eduardo van der Kooy, political columnist of leading
"Clarin," comments (01/15) "... The White House has
decided to focus its attention again on Nestor
Kirchner based on scare rather than love. Not scare of
Kirchner, but doubts about the future role to be
played by his administration in a chaotic region that
increasingly impairs US interests.

"Evo Morales is an unchangeable reality in Bolivia...

"... According to diplomatic and military sources,
there is an increase in Chilean military budget...

"Perhaps, all this explains why Washington has again
focused its attention on Argentina. Brazil is a
natural leader in the region, which Shannon did
underscore, but its power seems insufficient to
stabilize a chaotic region of the world. Our country
should play a role in it, which Shannon told
Kirchner."

- "Shannon loves me, loves me not"

Left-of-center "Pagina 12's" columnist Mario Wainfeld
writes (01/15) "... The US idea that Argentina and
Brazil should guarantee the regional stability surely
does not sound the same South and North of Rio Bravo.
Shannon, who is termed as 'the most 'dove' among
hawks' by members of the Argentine foreign Minister,
will go to La Paz and will surely congratulate the
president-elect in his excellent Spanish. But, while
in Argentina he did not deprive himself of commenting
on his concern over an axis of the region..., which
includes Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Ollanta Humala...

"... Fidel Castro has lost his number one public enemy
role to the hands of the Venezuelan president."

- "Shannoningans in BA"

Martin Gambarotta, political columnist of liberal,
English-language "Buenos Aires Herald," writes (01/15)
"... The immediate impression to get from Shannon's
visit is that the US is not interested in antagonizing
Kirchner unless he deliberately wants to pick a real
fight. Kirchner... has said nothing about the way Bush
goes about dealing with things in Iraq - that makes
Argentina acceptable visiting ground for
Republicans...

"Shannon and the US senators said they were impressed
by what can only be now described as sustained
economic growth. Shannon urged Miceli to assure clear
market rules to woo potential US investors."

- "End of pinochetism"

Claudio Uriarte, left-of-center "Pagina 12's"
international analyst, writes (01/15) "These Chilean
elections... are important because Chile has ended its
'normalization' process, and because the ghost of
Pinochet is fading away... Would a victory of Bachelet
imply a tilt to the left in Latin America, which
Washington fears? Not completely, firstly because
Bachelet represents continuity of an also socialist
outgoing president, Ricardo Lagos, and secondly
because Chile, with all its social inequalities, is
still the 'best pupil' (perhaps, the only one) of the
so-called Washington consensus in the region..."





- "The US believes (Chile) sets an example for the
region"

Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for
daily-of-record "La Nacion," comments (01/15)
"According to USG officials, diplomats and political
and financial analysts, Chile is the exception; the
lonely example in Latin America, which the US would be
happy to see multiply all through the hemisphere...

"A/S Tom Shannon and his staff do worry about other
leaders in Latin American countries. First of all,
they are concerned over Hugo Chavez, after him, Evo
Morales and, to a lesser extent, about Peru, Ecuador,
Nicaragua, Mexico, and, to a minimal extent,
Argentina.

"According to a Republican source at the strategic US
Senate foreign Relations Committee, 'What we still
cannot understand is why the rest of Latin America
does not take Chile as a model of what should be
done.' 'And it is not because Chileans play in favor
of our interests - they voted against us at the UN
Security Council on the invasion of Iraq, but they are
predictable, and this is an asset.'"


3. EDITORIALS

- "The 'leash' policy had a break"

Business-financial "El Cronista" editorializes (01/16)
"Start from scratch? Based on the visit of A/S Thomas
Shannon to Buenos Aires, the US-Argentine political
and economic relationship seems to have taken the road
of rationality...

"... Obviously enough, intentions should be seen in
the framework of the regional scenario. The Southern
Cone, in which Washington seems to be finding
hostility, is in political turmoil - made up of the
well known confrontation between Bush and Chavez, Evo
Morales taking over in Bolivia, the Peruvian and
Chilean elections, and Brazil and Argentina's decision
to pay off their debt to the IMF.

"Uruguay's intention to negotiate a FTD with the US is
a clear sign that regional partners are not willing to
abandon pragmatism beyond their center-left
identification.

"Is Argentina in a position to disregard the important
US markets, or the possibility of new investment? It
is true that a prominent debate on the FTAA and farm
subsidies was necessary, but Argentina should put
aside its taste for the tribune and hold firm
negotiations in the framework of a more constructive
diplomacy."

- "And quiet flows the Shannon"

Liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald"
editorializes (01/15) "If the Washington State
Department's new man for Latin America Tom Shannon has
a much smoother style of public diplomacy than his
predecessors Otto Reich and Roger Noriega, this is
entirely apposite to current needs - the US is not out
to antagonize Argentina with so much trouble brewing
elsewhere in the region and the world at large. It is
easy to scoff at the notion that Shannon's flying
visit last Thursday was a success simply because he
said so but in point of fact there was a clear will on
both sides to make it a success...

"The mutual goodwill seems reflected in the third
country chosen to costar in the agenda along with
bilateral ties, almost by common consent - not Bolivia
or Venezuela but normally peaceful Uruguay and its
debate over a US trade alliance...

"But if Argentina cannot beat Uruguay's interest in
the US, why not join it? Shannon left here impressed
by three years of nine-percent growth, the twin fiscal
and trade surpluses and the debt repayment to the IMF




earlier this month. Doubts continue about legal
security... and the very fact of US interest in energy
and infrastructural investments points to flaws in
these areas but now seems as good a time as any to go
wooing the US."

- "Responsible relations with the US"

Leading "Clarin" editorializes (01/15) "The
improvement of the US-Argentine relationship is a
positive step that should pave the way for diplomacy
oriented towards the defense of national interests
while developed with practicality and responsibility.

"... In this framework, the country could play a
moderating role that will contribute to shared
regional interests and to building a relationship with
the US that is based on mutual respect instead of
strident rhetoric."

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

The Media Reaction Report reflects articles and
opinions by the cited news media and do not
necessarily reflect U.S. Embassy policy or views. The
Public Affairs Section does not independently verify
information. The report is intended for internal U.S.
Government use only.

GUTIERREZ