MEDIA REACTION; ANTI-US FEELING IN ARGENTINA; US-LATIN

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001257 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 SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION; ANTI-US FEELING IN ARGENTINA; US-LATIN AMERICAN TIES; IRAN; 06/28/07 ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT - "Argentina, one of the countries that most reject the US" Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for daily-of-record "La Nacion," comments (06/28) "The fact that George ¶W. Bush is rejected in Argentina is little surprising, although the broad dimension of said rejection is amazing. The Pew Center revealed that 'Argentina's opinion about the US is worse than that of all other countries surveyed outside of the Middle East.' "... The reasons for this are obvious and also shared by a majority of the 47 countries surveyed in the Pew Center's latest and more thorough annual study. Reasons are 'the global war on terror' (which is only supported by 9 per cent of Argentines),the multiple human rights violations denounced in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and other centers, and particularly, the invasion and occupation of Iraq. "Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said 'I believe Iraq will enter history as the largest disaster of the US foreign policy.' "The difference between Argentina and the other countries surveyed is the scope of rejection of the US - a majority does not agree with the US unilateralism, its alleged democratic ideals, its business practices, its investment, or the role it plays when time comes to deal with, for instance, world 'inequities' or global warming. "... Argentine mistrust also extends itself to other world leaders and their countries, such as China and the Russia of Vladimir Putin. Even more, local mistrust also reaches Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez." - "Washington, increasingly farther away" Business-financial "BAE" (06/28) carries an opinion piece by Peter Hakim, the President of Inter American Dialogue, who writes "Disappointment over the US-Latin American relationship is mutual. The anti-US feeling has appeared in every Latin American country. They resent the Bush administration's blunt unilateralism and condemn Washington's contempt of international institutions and norms. According to a recent opinion survey among Latin American elites, 86 per cent of them disapprove of Washington's handling of the conflicts all over the world. "Only in Cuba and Venezuela is there open hostility towards the US, and most Latin American governments still seek to have closer ties to the US, through free trade deals, migration, and security assistance deals even when many of them no longer consider the US a fully reliable partner nor do they want to be its partners. The leaders of the region are absolutely aware of the US overwhelming political and economic power. And they are pragmatic enough to be determined to have good ties with the sole superpower. However, they see it as a nation that rarely consults others, that reluctantly cedes and reacts badly when other countries criticize its actions or oppose them. "Many in the region do not find the US current human rights defense very believable... "In spite of their disagreement and dissatisfaction with the US policy in the region, most Latin American governments want to strengthen their ties to the US. However, the Bush administration has demonstrated neither the determination nor the required ability to implement policies aimed at obtaining the support of the other hemispheric nations." - "The most challenging crisis" Marcelo Cantelmi, international editor of leading "Clarin," opines (06/28) "Iran is bleeding through the Islamic revolution's deepest wound - its deficient economic planning... It is a surprising paradox - Iran has the second largest oil reserves in the world and is the fourth world exporter, but its refineries are deficient both due to the negligence of its bureaucracy and the blockade imposed on it. This means that Iran imports almost half of its daily consumption of 73 million liters of oil. It has a two-sided problem - it purchases oil at international prices although it sells it in the domestic market five times cheaper in order to fulfill Ahmadinejad's promise that oil would ever be for the people. "The rupture of this promise explains the people's violent reaction last December when it turned its back on him in a blunt defeat in municipal elections due to inflation getting out of control. However, it is not only numbers we are talking about. The core of this crisis is the management of a country that is the focus of international pressures due to its huge and conflictive influence in the Middle East and its nuclear plan, which is sparked by its energy dependence... There are many fronts and perhaps the current one is the most complex and unpredictable one." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE