HUMALA'S ANTI-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIMA 002185 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2016 TAGS: PGOV PINR PHUM PE SUBJECT: HUMALA'S ANTI-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER REF: LIMA 2017 Classified By: Polcouns Alexander Margulies. Reason 1.4 (b,d) -------------- Summary: -------------- ¶1. (C) Candidate Ollanta Humala's official campaign newspaper "La Olla" is virulently anti-U.S. and calls into question his 5/17 reassurances to visiting WHA PDAS Charles Shapiro and Ambassador Struble that he seeks good relations. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Candidate Ollanta Humala's newspaper, entitled "La Olla" (or "the kettle" in Spanish, the ballot symbol for Humala's Union por el Peru party as well as a pun on his first name, website: www.laolla.org) has appeared on a weekly basis since mid-March. The publication is little more than a campaign pamphlet in tabloid format. While the majority of articles deal with campaign issues, a significant number attack the United States, at times reprinting verbatim or with exaggerations, articles from the Chavez-financed "Daily Journal." The steady barrage of anti-Americanism belies candidate Ollanta's occasional public protestations, and his 5/17 statements to WHA PDAS Shapiro and the Ambassador, that he is not anti-American and wants good relations with the United States (reftel). -------------- Anti-Americanism a la Chavez -------------- ¶3. (U) A brief sampling of articles gives the flavor of "La Olla's" highly derivative, Chavista-style anti-Americanism, which include: --A two-page spread on 5/28 that reproduced an article from Caracas' "Daily Journal," which alleged that visiting WHA PDAS Charles Shapiro was a "veteran CIA operator" and an expert in destabilization. Shapiro, the author said, possessed a long record of "intervention and violent suppression" of peoples in a variety of Latin American countries, including Chile, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Venezuela. Shapiro's 5/17-5/18 visit to Peru, the article explained, was designed to destabilize Ollanta Humala's presidential campaign and went on to charge that, "U.S. Ambassadors are intelligence agents first and diplomats second." The same spread reprinted two other articles, one from the Peruvian right-wing daily "Correo" from last February, alleging that visiting leadership expert and Evangelical Pastor John Maxwell was a CIA agent, and an editorial that maintained the CIA and Alan Garcia were conspiring against Ollanta Humala. (Issue 10) --An essay arguing that control of the narcotics trade has influenced U.S. foreign policy through the Vietnam War and the Korean War (which the author says took place after Vietnam). Today the U.S. is using Plan Colombia, the piece continued, to create a "controlled supply and demand situation" for narcotics, which will ensure that earnings from the drug trade "are returned to the United States via a cartel dominated by the USG." For this reason, "La Olla" stated, the U.S. wants to destroy similar cartels dominated by the FARC. (Issue 9, 5/22) --An article on Lourdes Flores' campaign advisor Juan Jose Rendon (who ultimately never joined Flores) labeling him a "CIA Jackal." (Issue 3, 4/6) --A near verbatim summary of President Hugo Chavez' attacks on President Bush during a broadcast of his "Alo Presidente" program. (Issue 2, 3/25) -------------- Comment: -------------- ¶4. (C) "La Olla" provides further confirmation of the Humalistas' anti-American convictions and their penchant for political paranoia. We suspect the paper reflects Humala's personal views, despite his occasional disclaimers to the contrary. End Comment. STRUBLE