MEDIA REACTION; IPR; CLIMATE CHANGE; ARGENTINE-BRAZILIAN

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000821

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; IPR; CLIMATE CHANGE; ARGENTINE-BRAZILIAN
TIES; 04/26/07; BUENOS AIRES


1. SUMMARY STATEMENT

Today's most important international stories include the celebration
of Intellectual Property Day and the need to fight piracy; climate
change and the USG; and prospects of Argentine-Brazilian ties.


2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS

- "Climate change gets religion"

James Neilson, contributor to liberal, English-language "Buenos
Aires Herald," writes (04/26) "... Is it true that climate change is
of our own making, that, as a BBC announcer keeps saying, we have
'become a force of nature'?

"Not for the first time, climate variations and the fears they
inspire have given rise to something akin to a religious cult. The
belief that we can influence the weather by performing the
appropriate rituals runs deep. Equally appealing is the belief that
if anything nasty happens, it must be due to someone's sinful
behavior, especially when that someone can be identified as none
other than George W. Bush whose refusal to sign the Kyoto protocol
made him loathed by many right-thinking people long before he
decided to rid the world of Saddam Hussein.

"As Bush's US is by far the biggest industrialized country, it
produces more greenhouse gases than any other and so, along with its
president, can be blamed for floods in Bangladesh and, with a bit of
ingenuity, in Argentina as well. Will people be just as indignant
with China when its production of greenhouse gases overtakes that of
the US, as will happen very soon? If they are, they will accuse
China of ruining the planet by selling out to capitalism."

- "Prospects"

Marcelo Cantelmi, international editor of leading "Clarin," penned
(04/26) "The notion that there is an inevitable common fate to be
shared by Argentina and Brazil, the two largest South American
economies, is not simple rhetoric... Even with its difficulties,
Brazil not only quadruples Argentine GDP but it is also the gateway
to the entire region. According to a noteworthy estimate by Goldman
Sachs and the Deutsche Bank, which was disseminated by Foreign
Affairs, during the next decade the total annual GDP for Brazil,
Russia, India and China together (the famous BRIC) will be similar
to the combined GDP of US, Japan, Germany, the UK and Italy. By
2025, (Brazil and Argentina's) GDP will double that of the G7. These
remarkable figures reveal a new tendency for countries on the
periphery, including our country. It is a prospect calling for a
broad, ambitious and, above all, urgent vision..."

- "Intellectual property versus piracy"

Daily-of-record "La Nacion" editorializes (04/26) "Today is IPR
World Day, which was created by the UN with the purpose of
acknowledging and rewarding the authors' creativity as well as their
contribution to improving society.

"... Due to progress made in computer science, a cyberspace with no
rules and lower costs in information technology, cultural piracy has
become an increasing problem in industrialized and developing
countries alike, with serious repercussion for cultural activities,
creativity and economic development. As a matter of fact, in those
countries in which piracy has greater impact, the cultural product
diminishes and subsequently, there is cultural impoverishment. Of
course, this is in addition to the implicit fraudulent tax evasion.

"... Measures to protect intellectual property and, in consequence,
to struggle against piracy should be aimed at overhauling and
improving legislation, respecting current legislation and promoting
public information campaigns on the serious cultural and economic
consequences of piracy."

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

WAYNE