MEDIA REACTION; IRAQ; CRISTINA KIRCHNER'S TRIP TO MEXICO;

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000797 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; IRAQ; CRISTINA KIRCHNER'S TRIP TO MEXICO; VERMONT ASKING FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF US PRESIDENT BUSH AND VP CHENEY; 2007 INDEX OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM; 04/23/07; BUENOS AIRES ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Weekend international stories include the war in Iraq; Argentine First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's upcoming trip to Mexico; the State of Vermont asking for the impeachment of US President Bush and VP Cheney; and the 2007 Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS - "Sad, solitary end final" Jorge Elias, international columnist of daily-of-record "La Nacion," wrote (04/22) "... If Americans should abandon their oil addiction, as Bush said in his State-of-the Union address, what is the purpose of conquering a country (Iraq) that, according to IHS consulting corporation, is reportedly the second largest oil reservoir in the world (instead of Iran) after Saudi Arabia. It would not make sense. "Following the downfall of Saddam, Iraq turned from an authoritarian State into a anarchic country. It went from one extreme to the other without any transition whatsoever. Ever since the invasion, it has always been far from democracy and freedom, harassed as it was by the confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis and, on top of everything, by the action of its own version of Al Qaeda, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi... "... They are waging a civil war (in Iraq),although Bush refuses to acknowledge it... If the USG concluded that Iraq is waging a civil war, public opinion would not hesitate to wonder... what the hell American buddies are doing there. "... The war that the most powerful army in the world could have swiftly won turned into a civil war that no army on earth can win. In the history of international conflicts, there have been only a few times such a powerful country invested so much in war to obtain so little." - "Cristina arrives in Mexico with the purpose of approaching the US through its partner" Diego Genoud, columnist of centrist "Perfil" newspaper, writes (04/22) "Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will arrive today in Mexico to take one more step in her busy world agenda... In Mexico, representatives of the two governments will start working on what they have called a strategic alliance... �0A; "This will be the fourth country the senator visits this year... "In addition to the election campaign, Cristina's meeting with Felipe Calderon has two purposes for the Kirchner administration. An Argentine Governmental source summarized it in this way for 'Perfil' - 'Mexico will contribute balance. Economically speaking, if we increase our bilateral trade, our dependence on Brazil gets smaller. And politically speaking, it allows us to distance ourselves from Chavez and get closer to the US though its main ally.'" - "For the first time in history, the US asks for Bush's impeachment" Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading "Clarin," comments (04/23) "... Ever since yesterday, Vermont will become the first US state that dares formally to ask for the impeachment of US President George W. Bush and VP Dick Cheney. "A non binding resolution of great symbolic nature was approved 16 to 9... "The Vermont resolution sets a precedent for all the countries in which similar resolutions are being debated, such as California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico and the State of Washington. It also reinforces the action of several organizations like 'Impeach Bush,' which already has 850,000 members... "Important jurists and academics... have also supported the pro-impeach Bush movement. "Among the arguments mentioned to legally justify these kinds of resolutions are: the manipulation of information to justify the war in Iraq; Bush's order to monitor international calls, which goes against the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution...; illegal detentions in Guantanamo...; torture and power abuse... "According to a Newsweek opinion survey, 51 percent of Americans support impeachment against George W. Bush while only 44 percent are against it." - "Economic freedom and development" An editorial in daily-of-record "La Nacion" reads (04/23) "The Heritage Foundation center of studies has made public its 2007 Index of Economic Freedom for 157 countries. "... Argentina is in the 95th position with only 57 points. Its major weak point lies on corruption, price controls and lack of respect for the property right. This is related to the confiscation of bank deposits, compulsory pesification and strong write-offs in the country's default public securities. "The work performed by the Index of Economic Freedom reveals what is known, although disregarded or rebutted by political discourse. Successful countries are those who most honor economic freedom... The worst social standards are seen in the countries that most restrict economic freedom..., such as the two Germanys until 1989 and the two Koreas until today. "Argentina has gone through profound and recurring crises. There is a prevailing belief today that its latest crisis was the consequence of the neo-liberal economic policy implemented in the '90s... However, international evidence shows this is a fallacy. A thorough analysis of what happened in our country unveils that the crisis occurred by defect and not excess of economic freedom parameters and that it was particularly due to public debt accumulation, which led to default and the destruction of all possible economic structure." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE