MEDIA REACTION; ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALEZ'S RESIGNATION;

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001701 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; ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALEZ'S RESIGNATION; INTERNET WATCH OF ALLEGED CASTRO DEATH 08/28/07 ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Key international stories today include the implications of Attorney General Alberto Gonzles' resignation; and the alleged Fidel Castro death watch on the Internet. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS - "The White House's last line of defense" Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for daily-of-record "La Nacisn," comments (08/28) "More than eight high-ranking government officials have recently left the Bush administration... "Whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez stayed or fell took on special importance... He was one of the last members left of Bush's close entourage and he had arrived at the White House in 2001. And, furthermore, he was one of the last 'big walls' separating the president and his VP, Dick Cheney, from the Democrats' 'artillery.' "With Rove, Gonzales, Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Lewis Libby, among others, out of the government, from now until 2008 presidential elections, the opposition's offensive will aim directly at the president. "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday that the investigation did not end with '(Gonzales') resignation. The US Congress should go to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House.' "Reid was referring to the ongoing legislative investigation over the controversial removal of eight federal prosecutors for alleged political and electioneering reasons. However, he was also referring to something broader and more profound - the presidential powers Bush attributed to himself. "Gonzales was 'Mr. Yes', the man who never said no to a request from Bush... In Gonzales' view, the September 11 attacks modified the US reality. The government embarked then on a 'war on terrorism' and amended its constitutional structure in a way that set off short-circuits within the US and abroad. "In January 2002, civil rights defenders repudiated (Gonzales') view that some parts of the Geneva Convention about the treatment of war prisoners were 'obsolete' and that some of its guidelines were 'picturesque' and, therefore, should not be implemented. There was just a short distance between this and the creation and defense of the Guantnamo prison or the Abu Ghraib scandal." - "Harassed by scandals, US General Attorney resigns" Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading "Clarn," writes (08/28) "Attorney General Alberto Gonzles, a personal friend of US President George W. Bush, resigned yesterday, in one more sign of how weakened the Republican administration is and of the growing power of Democrats. "Gonzlez was charged with having legally justified torture and a no-warrant wiretapping program and he was in the middle of a scandal for having organized the political removal of eight federal prosecutors. Democrats had been asking for his resignation for several weeks. However, during Bush's latest press conference, he again said he still trusted Gonzles... "... The truth is that since they became the majority on Capitol Hill, Democrats are not willing to pardon anyone who played an important role in planning the invasion of Iraq. And much less the man who, in their view, infringed on human and civil rights to justify the torture of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib, the arrest of suspects in clandestine prisons and the establishment of special courts. "Nonetheless, in the midst of a presidential election campaign and fearful of been labeled as 'weak and cowardly' in the war on terrorism, Democrats waited until the scandal over the purge of eight federal prosecutors broke out to launch an offensive against Gonzles." - "Death watch blogging" Liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald" (08/28) carries an opinion piece by Paul Scheltus, who writes "It's hardly news to suggest that blogs, or the more explanatory word web-logs, are an important source of news... "An example that goes a long way to showing the importance of this new medium is the recent Castro death watch... The most insistent and by far the best known blogger was Prez Hilton, a Cuban-American whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira who claimed with '100 percent' certainty that Castro had died... "... The US participation on this virtual platform is overwhelming for reasons of sheer wealth. But, although horribly expensive and strictly controlled, Internet in Cuba itself has made online commentary possible for those who live under its severe socialist rule. One of those who claims to blog out of Cuba is 'Karamchand' who related yesterday that as far as he (or she) knew, Fidel was not dead. According to the author of Bitcora Cuban blog, the dictator had undergone a tracheotomy and was in a critical state... "This development is encouraging to say the least. The possibility to exchange information freely is one of the best checks on power there is. If this trend continues and more and more Latinos manage to get online and in contact, soon it might not even matter if the likes of Fidel Castro live or die. He, and his peers across the region, be they leftist power-hungry presidents or rightwing unflinching state governors, could simply be left behind." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE