MEDIA REACTION: AFRICA: LIBYA, BULGARIAN NURSES

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 001280 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD DEPT PASS USTR USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: AFRICA: LIBYA, BULGARIAN NURSES CONDEMNATION; WESTERN HEMISPHERE: MERCOSUL, CHAVEZ INFLUENCE; SAO PAULO ¶1. "Two Hypotheses For Qaddafi's Obstinacy" Center-right O Estado de S. Paulo's Paris correspondent Giles Lapouge opined (12/20): "All experts reject that the five defendants have committed such a monstrous crime.... We believe that the accusation that they have inoculated the AIDS virus in the children is false. How then to explain Colonel Qaddafi's obstinacy in persecuting those six people? There are two hypotheses. The first is that the Libyan population, persuaded that the six defendants have really committed the crime, has exerted so much pressure that Qaddafi has been unable to oppose the popular desire for revenge. The second hypothesis is that Qaddafi is using this case to obtain financial or political advantages from Western nations. The five nurses and the doctor would then be mere bargaining chips with which Qaddafi would consolidate his position on the international scene.... One should not forget that Qaddafi's cynicism is bottomless.... He was recently removed from the list of Washington's 'devilish' leaders, but his past justifies the most repugnant hypotheses." ¶2. "Mercosul's Implosion" The lead editorial in center-right O Estado de S. Paulo (12/20) maintained: "Mercosul's funeral will be much more vivacious with the participation of Bolivian Evo Morales, a follower of Hugo Chvez, who admitted that he joined the bloc to implode it. The Mercosul partners will soon be able to burn previous treaties and sign a new regional pact, of Bolivarian inspiration and opposed to any trade agreement with the rich world's major markets.... Neither of the two inclusions [Venezuela and Bolivia] helps to achieve Mercosul's original goals.... The FTAA idea is already past, as President Lula recently observed with a triumphant tone.... The new partners are the guarantee of the bloc's implosion, unless one believes that it will survive with the format Chvez wants to impose on it." Wolfe