US-LATIN AMERICAN TIES; AMIA-RIO TERCERO BLAST; ARGENTINA'S

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 002828 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: US-LATIN AMERICAN TIES; AMIA-RIO TERCERO BLAST; ARGENTINA'S DEBT WITH THE PARIS CLUB; 12/27/06; BUENOS AIRES ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Today's most important international stories include US Senator Joseph Biden's statement that, once the US Congress is controlled by the Democratic Party, it will pay "much more attention" to Latin American issues; an interview with Brazilian sociologist Helio Jaguaribe, who speaks about US-Latin American ties and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez; Argentine Defense Minister Nilda Garre's "outrageous Christmas Day remark that the (Rio Tercero) explosion was the 'most hideous' event of its decade, worse even than the terrorist bomb destruction of the AMIA Jewish community center;" and Argentina's proposal to restructure its defaulted debt with the so-called Paris Club. Leading "Clarin" (12/27) publishes an opinion piece in which US Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne points out that the U.S. people believe that international education "enriches our nation" and welcome students wishing to study in the U.S. Also highlighted is that the U.S. granted 590,000 student visas in 2006. ¶2. OPINION PIECES - "The US will pay more attention to the region" Business-financial, center-right "InfoBae" (12/27) reports "Joseph Biden, who will preside over the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee as of January, asserted yesterday that the US Congress, the two Houses of which will be controlled by the Democratic Party, will pay 'much more attention' to Latin American issues than Republicans have done in the past. "According to Biden, such issues include the US anti-drug policy on Andean countries; the role of President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela; multiple bilateral issues in Mexico; and other specific regional problems. "Regarding US President George W. Bush's policy during the last six years, Biden said: 'Latin America has been basically ignored.' 'We cannot speak the same language without a clear policy.' "Biden believes that 'the topics of interest (between the US and Latin America) are not only related to the anti-drug struggle but also to immigration, oil, democracy, ...'" - "'Brazil and Argentina should not isolate President Chavez'" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" front-pages an interview with Brazilian sociologist Helio Jaguaribe (12/27) "According to Brazilian lawyer and sociologist Helio Jaguaribe, 'Argentina and Brazil should not isolate President Hugo Chavez but try and come to terms with him.' "He added: 'What South America, and particularly Argentina and Brazil should do is tell him:'Look, Mr. Chavez, you may either become the 'caudillo' (leader) of a small part of Latin America and create a tiny leadership or join us (that is, Kirchner and Lula) to create a big Latin American leadership.' Chavez would not say no.' "Far from criticizing him, Jaguaribe said that Chavez, who recently was reelected, does not run a dictatorship but a 'plebiscite-driven authoritarianism.' In a realistic rather than optimistic way, Jaguaribe said that Kirchner's administration strategy based on confrontation with Uruguay over paper mills is senseless. "... Asked whether the US has lost importance in the region, Jaguaribe said: 'The conditions are simply not set for the US to have unilateral hegemony. Under the current complex world scenario, hegemony should be grounded on common interest projects. There is no room for a country to impose its sovereign will on the others without having to pay too high a cost for the attempt'. "Regarding the FTAA, Jaguaribe said: 'It is very negative. The US has been in an unfavorable moment when it comes to international ties, but I think it would be common sense to make a distinction between the great people of the U.S. and Bush's regretable leadership. Bush, as the president on duty, is very negative and incompetent. It is important to see beyond Bush.'" ¶3. EDITORIALS - "Defense to prosecute" An editorial in liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald" reads (12/27): "While this newspaper backs Defense Minister Nilda Garr's efforts to keep the investigation of the 1995 Rio Tercero munitions plant blast alive, we are not always convinced by her methods - least of all when they take the form of her outrageous Christmas Day remark that the explosion was the 'most monstrous' event of its decade, worse even than the terrorist bomb destruction of the AMIA Jewish community center in the previous year. We can only hope that Garr is being deliberately provocative in a frantic bid to bring attention to this military scandal rather than actually believing her own logic that presumption of a more active state role in the Rio Tercero blast makes it more reprehensible than the AMIA atrocity despite a far lower death toll... - if Garr really believes that Rio Tercero was worse than AMIA, then she is as much politically misguided as ethically flawed... "... Garr clearly believes that the Ro Tercero blast was engineered to destroy the evidence of gunrunning to Croatia and Ecuador between 1991 and 1995 but the two episodes may be less interlinked than widely assumed - there are reasons to believe that the arms sales to Croatia were a surrogate activity to save the George Bush Senior administration a new Irangate (not that stopping Slobodan Milosevic in the Balkans was an entirely evil cause) while the smuggling to Ecuador was an opportunistic follow-up by a rogue group of officers." - "The (Argentine) debt with the Paris Club" An editorial in daily-of-record "La Nacion" reads (2/27) "The Argentine Government has submitted a proposal to restructure its defaulted debt with the so-called Paris Club; thereby attempting to normalize its financial commitments with the official entities of several of the government members of this forum. If Argentina's proposal succeeds and an agreement is reached, it would be a further step towards normalization of its financial ties to the rest of the world. "... The normalization of (Argentina's) ties with the Paris Club is necessary. It is not merely a political or diplomatic issue but there are also practical issues involved. As long as the situation is not normalized, multinational lending agencies will not agree to grant loans or safeguards to finance the sale of capital goods to Argentina. This could significantly slow the attraction of large investment to the infrastructure and industry sectors..." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE