MEDIA REACTION; MIDDLE EAST; CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001449 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; MIDDLE EAST; CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER'S TRIP TO SPAIN;07/26/07 ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Leading international stories today include the "historic" summit between Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and Egyptian and Jordan Foreign Ministers; and implications of Argentine First Lady Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner's trip to Spain. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS - "Historic summit between Israel and the Arab League in Jerusalem" Shlomo Slutzky, Tel Aviv-based correspondent for leading "Clarin," comments (07/26) "Yesterday, Egyptian and Jordan Foreign Ministers held a crucial summit with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem. They presented Olmert with a peace plan putting forward the creation of a Palestinian State. The positive gestures made during the meeting made Israeli President Shimon Peres say 'winds of peace are blowing over the region' to summarize the situation. "... Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries that have signed peace accords with Israel. "... The Saudi initiative, which was re-launched in March in Ryad, is intended to put ties to Israel on a safe track as long as Israel withdraws from the Arab territories that have been occupied since June 1967, a Palestinian State is created with East-Jerusalem as a capital city, and an 'egalitarian and agreed upon set of rules' is established regarding Palestinian refugees. "While Israel rejected the proposal initially submitted, it recognizes that it contains positive elements... "... Political observers opine that due to Olmert's current difficult political situation..., he has nothing to lose by implementing a peace plan that a couple of years ago Olmert himself would have denounced as 'a betrayal.'" - "On Cristina's histrionics" James Neilson, contributor to liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald," writes (07/26) "... Cristina (Fernndez de Kirchner)'s campaign is certainly innovative. Unlike presidential candidates of a previous generation, she is not going to waste her time rabble-rousing. Instead, she prefers to deliver carefully scripted speeches that sound like community college lectures in which she alludes to philosophers such as Hegel... It is her way of telling voters she is a very learned lady... "Equally peculiar is Cristina's decision to do most of her campaigning abroad. While her husband has done his utmost to persuade his compatriots that he despises most foreigner potentates, especially those whose Spanish is not up to scratch, by treating them as though they were obnoxious panhandlers, Cristina is more than happy to be seen chatting up the kind of people whose names regularly crop up in TV bulletins, newspapers or glossy magazines, hence her successful efforts to persuade King Juan Carlos of Spain and the beleaguered head of his government, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, to grant her an audience. Will that win her any extra votes? It might. As well as clearly enjoying traveling the world in style and getting photographed in the company of well-known monarchs, politicians and writers, among them the viscerally anti-Peronist centenarian Francisco Ayala, Cristina is trying to convince the electorate that she would make a very respectable head of state. Her approach could be interpreted as a rebuke to her husband, but he seems to be rather proud that his wife manages to feel at ease in situations in which he would be unable to hide his discomfort." - "Investment supported" Conservative "La Prensa" (07/26) editorializes "The excellent bilateral relationship between Argentina and Spain has been confirmed by the visit of Senator Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner to Spain, where she had a broad schedule of activities ranging from the Royal House to the business and political sectors. Her trip was crowned by her speech at the New Economic Forum, in which one of businessmen's main impressions was that if she wins the presidency, the senator could well inaugurate a less confrontational era with businessmen... Cristina herself hinted that she wants to have a cordial relationship with businessmen... Of course, no one mentioned the thorny issue of utilities rates, although it is not a secret to anyone that businessmen expect a decision on this subject... "The positive relationship between Spain and Argentina has been reflected in Spain's support for Argentine negotiations with multinational lending agencies over the country's foreign debt as well as in its negotiations with corporations filing lawsuits against Argentina..., and in Spain putting the situation of Argentine immigrants (to Spain) on a safe track. "Everything indicates that the reinforcement of Argentina's democracy will remain a priority for the Spanish government in the aftermath of the October presidential elections." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE