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)

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Summary:
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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).

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Anti-Americanism a la Chavez
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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)

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Comment:
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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