MEDIA REACTION ARGENTINE MINISTER DE VIDO'S

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000876 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 ARGENTINE MINISTER DE VIDO'S UPCOMING TRIP TO THE US US IMMIGRATION POLICY OLLANTA HUMALA DALLAS FEDERAL RESERVE HEAD RICHARD FISHER'S UPCOMING TRIP TO ARGENTINA 04/18/06 ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Today's leading international stories include Argentine Planning Minister Julio De Vido's upcoming trip to the US; the US immigration policy and its implications; the IMF spring meetings; the Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala; and the upcoming visit of the head of the Dallas Federal Reserve, Richard Fisher, to Argentina. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES - "The US is waiting for De Vido's visit" Alejandro Bianchi, columnist of business-financial "El Cronista," writes (04/18) "The more power (Argentine) Planning Minister Julio De Vido accumulates, the greater his commitments are. The US, with which De Vido has always tried to have a smooth relationship, invited him to attend two important conferences on future foreign investment in the country. "The first invitation was issued by the US Department of State to attend the 36th Conference 'Creating jobs, building hope - The hemispheric growth agenda in a changing world.' "Attendees will include US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; the World Bank head, Paul Wolfowitz; the IDB head, Luis Moreno; US Assistant Secretary for Latin American Affairs Thomas Shannon; USTR Rob Portman; Mexican Finance Minister Francisco Gil Diaz; and Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez. "... Minister De Vido is also expected to attend a forum on investment opportunities in Argentina, which is being organized by the New York Council of Americas." - "The agony of globalization" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed piece by Niall Ferguson, professor of History, University of Harvard, who writes (04/18) "Some believe we are witnessing the beginning of the end of globalization... "However, when US citizens start to question the direction of international economic integration, something serious is happening. "... The violent reaction against porous borders is not focused on the immigration problem: the US Congress is also attempting to toughen rules on foreign investment since the story emerged that US ports could be transferred to an Arab Emirates-located company." - "Humala's turn" Andres Oppenheimer, contributor to daily-of-record "La Nacion," writes (04/18) "Ollanta Humala, a former ultra-nationalistic military who won the first round of Peruvian presidential elections, seems to be turning to the center. During an interview, he asserted that if he is elected, he will neither expropriate private corporations nor amend press legislation, and he even admitted that, 'probably,' Cuba is not a democracy... "... I believe that Humala is a shrewd political leader that is better trained than I thought. I am not particularly worried about his economic line, which he could change in the future as he finds out that Peru will not grow without investment, but about the fact that he has distanced himself from his original sin - the military rebellion he led in 2000. "Why is this disconcerting? Because we are witnessing the same phenomenon first in Venezuela, then in Ecuador, now in Peru - an army official with political ambitions organizes a military rebellion, obtains publicity without spending a dime, gets out of prison by using radical rhetoric aimed at getting newspaper headlines, makes progress in opinion polls, runs for president and wins elections. "Breaking the rule of law is turning into a prescription for winning elections, which is a dangerous precedent." - "The IMF will not close its office in Argentina" Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for daily-of-record "La Nacion," writes (04/18) "According to IMF sources, the IMF will retain its office in Buenos Aires as a way to keep in contact with the Argentine Government and to get information on the status of the country's economy. "The IMF issued a press release stating that the expert in charge of the office went back to Washington after having concluded his assignment and that the IMF office (in Buenos Aires) will not be closed as reported by a newspaper yesterday. 'The IMF representative residing in Argentina will be replaced by Andrew Wolfe as part of the IMF's staff usual rotation.'" - "The IMF reshuffles its role and deepens its own adjustment" Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading "Clarin," comments (04/18) "Tomorrow, the IMF will start holding its spring meetings knowing that its future is at stake - its image has deteriorated due its controversial role and its economic and financial prescriptions during the Argentine crisis and that of the Asian countries. Now it is confronted by a very different international framework than that under which it was created. "As a matter of fact, when (Argentine) Economy Minister Felisa Miceli lands in this city on Thursday, she will find out that IMF high-ranking officials themselves will pose the same questions that are being made by anti-IMF activists on the streets of the largest capital cities in the world... "What is at stake is not so much the adjustment program that the IMF has started to implement for itself since Brazil and Argentina canceled their debt... but basically the role to be played by the IMF in the international financial system." - "A key visit for markets" Business-financial "Ambito Financiero" reports (04/18) "The Dallas Federal Reserve president, Richard Fischer, will arrive in the country tomorrow to participate in a seminar organized by the Argentine Central Bank, and he will meet with Argentine government officials, bankers and businessmen. "The financier's opinions are very important because he acts as a member of the Open Market Federal Committee, which establishes US monetary policy. "... Fisher will lecture at Central Bank headquarters on the US role vis a vis the challenges faced by the world economy." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires LLORENS