MEDIA REACTION; ARGENTINE-BRAZILIAN TIES; 11/20/07

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 002243 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; ARGENTINE-BRAZILIAN TIES; 11/20/07 ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT The major international story today is the outcome of the meeting between Argentine President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Brazilian President Lula da Silva and their purpose of stepping up cooperation in oil and gas exploration between the two countries. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS - "Lula and Cristina Kirchner reinforce integration" Daily-of-record "La Nacion," front-pages a story by Lucas Colonna, on special assignment to Brasilia, who comments (11/20) "Cristina Kirchner's short visit to Brasilia served the governments of the two countries to make a clear wink that they intend to strengthen the (Argentine-Brazilian) bilateral ties. "After a 50-minute meeting, the (Argentine) President-elect announced they agreed to create an Argentine-Brazilian committee for cooperation... The new thing of the agenda is a topic that could become controversial - the choice to move forward on nuclear cooperation, about which no specifics were given. "... The nuclear issue is not a minor one for the agenda of the region. Nuclear development is a topic of concern for Brazil. Being the world's 10th economic power, Brazil considers nuclear cooperation a priority even as part of its defense strategic plan... "... Nelson Cervero, Petrobras international director, explained that the two leaders are determined to obtain concrete achievements as far as integration is concerned. This is why... the bi-national committee will work by issues not ministries. Energy cooperation appears as one of the central points of the bilateral relationship Lula and Cristina started to delineate in their meeting. "The point that will surely raise more expectation (and controversy) is their nuclear cooperation purpose." - "Cristina Fernandez confirms an alliance with Brazil that overlooks Hugo Chavez" Valentina Alvarez, on special assignment in Brasilia for business-financial "El Cronista," writes (11/20) "Argentine President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's trip to Brazil ended with just a few concrete announcements and determined support for Mercosur... "After her private meeting with President Lula da Silva..., she asserted that 'we have decided to reinforce Mercosur bearing in mind that the world will interact in blocs'... She termed their meeting as 'very fruitful.' Cristina also announced that during her term in office, a bi-national committee will meet every six months with the purpose of 'reviewing the two countries' issues.' "... Following her meeting with Lula, the President-elect avoided talking about specific issues, although she was warm when labeling Brazil as 'a brother country.' She also said that during her term in office the issues of interest for the two countries will be analyzed 'by subject and not by ministry' and that 'we have to create the awareness in the societies of the two countries that the integration process is moving forward with concrete and measurable results that can be exhibited to the society.' "In addition to the political gestures, two economic announcements were made after the short summit held in Brasilia... The most important was the construction of a joint hydroelectric plant in Garabi... "... A high-ranking source from the Argentine Executive branch that could stay in government under the Cristina administration also said that Petrobras and Enarsa (the Argentine state energy corporation) are working on the joint oil exploration in Argentine deep waters, which was indirectly confirmed by Lula. "... According to Marco Aurelio Garcia, the Brazilian presidential consultant on international issues, Cristina and Lula did not tackle specific political issues related to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez..." - "The President-elect makes a wink" Daniel Juri, political columnist of leading "Clarin," comments (11/20) "This is the issue that makes a difference. Against the feeling of continuity given by Cristina's new Cabinet, the international scenario is where Cristina distances herself from her husband. "On international issues, the President-elect has already prioritized the Southern Cone in principle (she was in Chile, now Brazil, and in the near future she will go to Uruguay). Within the Southern Cone, she has prioritized Lula rather than Hugo Chavez, an old ally of Kirchner. "This is a wink because we all know that when it comes down to foreign policy issues, there are no math formulae. In this case, the order of any number of factors does matter." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE