MEDIA REACTION US-BOLIVIA US-CUBA US-INDIAN

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000534

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-BOLIVIA US-CUBA US-INDIAN
NUCLEAR DEAL US-COLOMBIAN FTA 03/07/06



1. SUMMARY STATEMENT

Today's major international stories include Bolivian
President Evo Morales accusing the USG of "blackmail"
for withdrawing anti-terrorism funding for his
country; India's new strategic role in the current
geopolitical scenario; the recent expulsion of the
Cuban delegation from Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel in
Mexico City; and the upcoming Regional Summit on
Terrorist Funding Prevention at Argentine Central Bank
in Buenos Aires.


2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES

- "According to Evo, (Bolivian) military will not be
subject to Washington any longer"

Pablo Stefanoni, on special assignment in La Paz for
left-of-center "Pagina 12," writes (03/07) "Bolivian
President Evo Morales warned that the US will lose its
past influence over the country's military policy.
Also, the (Bolivian) government is deciding whether to
nationalize companies.

"Strengthened by the national consensus that cleared
the way for the Constituent Assembly and July 2
autonomy referendum, the Morales administration has
toughened his stance vis--vis the US on military
issues, and he is deciding whether to 'recover the
corporations that have been privatized' during the
golden years of neo-liberalism through the control of
51% of shares. New nationalistic winds are blowing in
the economic and political fields."

- "Tension between Bolivia and the US - Morales
denounces 'blackmail'"

Daily-of-record "La Nacion" reports (03/07) "Bolivian
President Evo Morales accused the US of 'blackmail'
for cutting its anti-terrorist financial aid for the
country in a tough statement that is a turning point
in the coca leader's moderate discourse...

"Visibly irritated, Morales attributed the US decision
to cut its military financial aid to the (Bolivian)
government's refusal to veto a Bolivian military
commander in spite of Washington's request for this.
However, USG sources told 'La Nacion' that financial
aid cuts imply the USG's response to Bolivia's refusal
to grant immunity to US troops at the International
Criminal Court (ICC),which Washington has not
acknowledged."

- "Playground politics"

James Scout, columnist of liberal, English-language
"Buenos Aires Herald," writes (03/07) "The 45-year
cold war between the US and Cuba recently claimed a
new casualty: the Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel in
Mexico City.

"US officials effectively killed a meeting there last
month between 16 Cuban officials and Texan oil
executives interested in drilling in the waters off
the Caribbean island.

"Threatened with fines for violating the longstanding
embargo, the hotel management promptly evicted the
Cuban delegation, barring them from having any food or
drink on the way out the door.

"Mexico fired back. President Vicente Fox called for
an investigation into whether any discrimination laws
had been broken while city officials sent in a team of
building inspectors who ordered the hotel to close for
code violations.

"In a political spat that seems better suited for a
schoolyard playground than the world political stage,
the Sheraton Hotel has become the latest incident to
expose what some argue is the futility of the decades-
old embargo, as well as deepen the growing rift
between the US and many countries across Latin
America."

- "Free trade resurrection?"

Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an opinion piece
by columnist Andres Oppenheimer, who writes (03/07)
"Surprisingly enough, the US-Colombian FTA that was
announced last week and the probable signature of
deals of the sort with Ecuador and Panama could mean
that the US plans to create a hemispheric free trade
area are not so 'dead' as they seemed some months ago.

"Four months after the disastrous Mar del Plata
Summit, in which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
captured the media attention by proclaiming that the
US proposal to create the FTAA was going to be
'definitively buried,' the USG officers sustain that
the free trade agenda is gaining new impetus.

"During a phone conversation, US Assistant Secretary
Thomas Shannon told me that ever since the Mar del
Plata Summit, the free trade plan 'is not only rising
from its tomb, but it is on its feet and walking.

"According to Shannon, in addition to the US-Colombian
free trade deal, Washington has already signed FTAs
with countries accounting for two-thirds of the
hemisphere's GDP, without taking into account the US
economy."


3. EDITORIALS

- "US-Indian agreement"

Leading "Clarin" editorializes (03/07) "The agreements
signed between the US and India (which were announced
in the framework of US President George W. Bush's
visit to New Delhi) reveal the strategic and
moderating role the US assigns to India in the search
for a new international balance, which includes the
sensitive issue of nuclear power. It is a matter of
political realism overriding non-proliferation
international regimes.

"In fact, India is one of the four countries not
endorsing the NPT and the recent US-Indian deal could
be setting a precedent of larger uncertainty about the
enforcement of nuclear commitments. But the truth is
that the current danger is a consequence of the arms
race and the powers' nuclear development as well as of
WMD spreading among belligerent regimes...

"India and Pakistan, whose dispute over Kashmir has
been for years the main threat to international
security precisely due to the possession of nuclear
weapons, are now States deemed by the major powers to
be reliable partners for containing serious conflicts
and threats spreading in the region. India has an
additional strategic value for the US - it is also a
counterweight to China's power and influence in Asia.
For the international community, this is more evidence
of the limitations of the multilateral regimes built
in the post-war period."



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