MEDIA REACTION; HOUSE SPEAKER PELOSI'S TRIP TO SYRIA;

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000632

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 MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION; HOUSE SPEAKER PELOSI'S TRIP TO SYRIA;
US-ARGENTINE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP; US-LATIN AMERICAN TIES;
04/04/07



1. SUMMARY STATEMENT

Today's local papers focus on the alleged irritation triggered in
the White House by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria; a
predicted overhaul in the US-Argentine bilateral relationship; and
possible implications of the US-Brazilian bio-fuels deal on US-Latin
American ties. Leading "Clarin's" Washington-based correspondent
reports that former Army Major Guillermo Barreiro was arrested
yesterday in Virginia.


2. OPINION PIECES

- "Bush is irritated over a Democratic delegation's trip to Syria"

Leonardo Mindez, on special assignment in Washington DC for leading
"Clarin," penned (04/04) "The dispute between US President George W.
Bush and Capitol Hill, which is dominated by the Democratic
opposition, is getting worse by the day. The White House's Head
harshly criticized yesterday the trip made by House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi to Syria...

"According to Bush, 'We make it clear to high-ranking government
officials, whether Republicans or Democrats, that traveling to Syria
conveys a confusing message.'

"The US President added that 'photo-opportunities or encounters with
President (Bashar) Assad lead him to think that Syria is part of the
international community when in fact it is a country harboring
terrorists.'

"...There was a new episode in the spat between the US President and
Capitol Hill over the war in Iraq yesterday when Bush urged
legislators to suspend their two-week spring break, put an end to
their 'dangerous political dance' and immediately approve an
additional 100-billion-dollar budget for war expenditures, which he
requested about two months ago...

"The White House asked Capitol Hill to authorize the expenditures
without any condition whatsoever. And this is precisely the problem,
because both the House and the Senate did approve both draft bills
grantin funds, but conditioned them to a series of achievements
that should occur in Iraq and set a troop withdrawal schedule that
should take place sometime between March 31, 2008 (according to the
Senate) and August 31, 2008 (according to the House)."

- "Buenos Aires and Washington - a New Direction"

Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, professor of International Relations at
University of San Andres, opines (04/04) "In the event Buenos Aires
and Washington decided to revisit their ties, they would do it for
political rather than economic reasons.

"... The Major Non NATO Ally (MNNA) status should be strictly
assessed in order to understand its importance in the US foreign and
defense policy and its extent for the country that is granted such a
status...

"First and foremost, not every country has the same importance for
the US... Secondly, there is no parallel between being granted the
MNNA status and receiving some kind of military equipment. Third,
when assessing regional dynamics, one sees how the US strategic
preferences work... In the case of Argentina, the greatest military
deployment in the UN framework was closely tied to the end of
authoritarianism, the Armed Forces' overhaul, the importance granted
to the human rights issue and a political willingness to more
actively commit to the UN (purposes). Fifth, the tangible benefits
coming out from the MNNA status are not noteworthy...

"Bearing in mind all this and due to the frictions following the
2005 IV Mar del Plata Summit, and Hugo Chavez's latest rally in
Ferro, we should expect Washington and Buenos Aires to revisit the
immediate future of the US-Argentine bilateral relationship.

These days, the US is frustrated with most of the governments,
whether near or far. Nevertheless, the Argentine case is one of the
most complex ones. The prevailing annoyance in the US Department of
State with the Kirchner administration is unlikely to impact
economic issues. U/S Nicholas Burns may feel very frustrated, but he
would hardly ask the US private sector to invest less in the country
or creditors not to come to terms to collect what is owed to them.

"... For its part, the Kirchner administration has not taken any
important step against US investment, and nothing indicates that it
is planning to nationalize US corporations or seize their assets.
Neither Peronism nor Kirchner is socialist or anti-US. They are both
pragmatic...



"Therefore, the redefinition of the US-Argentine relationship, if it
happens, will be political. In this regard, the MNNA status could
be, as it was in the '90s, symbolically relevant.

"Will Washington want to show its relative irritation with the
current government by withdrawing the MNNA status it granted to
it?... Will it use such a step to impact other Latin American
countries as a sign that from now on the US will not accept any more
hesitation in handling the Chavez phenomenon?

"Or, just the opposite, will the Kirchner administration want to
notify Washington that it is no longer interested in keeping such a
status?..

"... If both the White House and the Argentine Government decide not
to agitate the waters, we could be entering a special 'modus
vivendi' between the US and Argentina - neither intimate nor minimal
relations, but cautiously practical ones."

- "The Road to Isolation"

Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed page by Jorge Castro,
head of the Strategic Planning Institute, who comments (04/04) "The
critical statements made by the number three at the US Department of
State, Nicholas Burns, about the Argentine Government's support for
Hugo Chavez's anti-Bush rally... reflect the change in the US
foreign policy on Latin America...

"... Following the September 11 attacks, Latin America as a whole,
and particularly South America, stopped being a strategic priority
for Washington in its struggle against transnational terrorism. This
favored Chavez's progress in the region.

"... Washington is now revisiting its ties to South America and, for
this purpose, it is rehearsing a new scheme based on a strategic
deal with Brazil on bio-fuels in the framework of a 180-degree turn
in its post September 11 foreign policy. This deal with Brazil is
vital for the US national security because a good amount of the oil
the US receives from abroad comes from unstable or hostile countries
in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America (Venezuela).

"... Obviously enough, the country (Argentina) has a gigantic
potentiality in the development of bio-fuels... If, through a
confrontational rhetoric, the country abstains from it, it will
deepen its international irrelevance and isolation from the world...
Burns' statements reveal that, following the November 6 elections,
the US has again focused on South America, and this is why incidents
that until recently would have passed unnoticed by the White House,
are now politically relevant."

To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our
classified website at:
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires

WAYNE