MEDIA REACTION; SARKOZY AND 1968; PEACE IN ULSTER; ILLEGAL

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000912 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; SARKOZY AND 1968; PEACE IN ULSTER; ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION TO THE US; 05/10/07 ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Local papers lead with French President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy's views on the cultural and social heritage of 1968; a new Democratic Party's draft bill on illegal immigration; and a Catholic-Protestant coalition taking power in Northern Ireland. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS - "A world still at war over 1968" James Neilson, contributor to liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald," writes (05/10) "Towards the end of his successful election campaign, Nicolas Sarkozy identified his number one enemy - the legacy of May 1968. By that he meant the cultural and social effects of the student riots that shook France, leading to the fall of General Charles de Gaulle's government, and reverberating throughout the Western World, including Argentina, where they still influence the way many people think... "In Sarkozy's view, the students and the intellectuals who celebrated their allegedly revolutionary exploits, ushered in an age of moral relativism in which nobody could be considered better than anyone else, contempt for authority of any kind became the norm as did the notion that the criminal and the feckless were victims of society... "... Their 'politically correct' heirs... rule the roost these days... "Why, then, did Sarkozy win last Sunday's elections with a comfortable margin? Because most Frenchmen are fed up with the self-righteous preaching of a prosperous cultural elite, the 'caviar left,' that has detached itself from what for many people is the real world. They are tired of being told that it is fascist to take pride in their country's past achievements, that all the many problems that have been caused by a truly massive influx of immigrants from what to them are alien cultures and profess an aggressively alien religion are due to home-grown racism, that those who are preyed upon by criminals in some way deserve their fate because it is society's fault that criminality exists. Whether or not France's current economic travails can be attributed to the long cultural dominance of the 'caviar left' is an open question, but Sarkozy struck a chord when he suggested that the moral relativism it espouses undermined the work ethic and promoted an absurdly exaggerated sense of entitlement." - "A Democratic initiative aimed at regulating the status of illegal immigrants" Ana Baron, leading "Clarin's" Washington-based correspondent, penned (05/10) "After the recent police brutality with Latin immigrant demonstrators in Los Angeles, Democrats launched yesterday an initiative that is aimed at regulating the status of millions of undocumented (immigrants). "The issue is urgent - if the (Congressional) debate of the draft bill is postponed, the new immigration legislation will unlikely be passed until after the 2008 presidential elections... "... As a matter of fact, the (Democratic) draft bill has many common elements with the reform draft defended by US President George W. Bush, although (the Democratic) initiative makes it easy for undocumented immigrants to obtain their US citizenry in a different way... "Meanwhile, the US Pentagon has planned to build a center in Guantanamo for the expected Cuban illegal immigrants who will attempt to enter the US after the death of President Fidel Castro." - "Peace gets stronger in Ulster" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" editorializes (05/10) "A coalition made up by Protestants and Catholics has just taken power in Northern Ireland. This is one more step toward building a more effective and lasting peace. Two former enemies have become the new PM and Vice PM of a joint administration... "... The 3,500 dead of the '70s have been left behind. Their sacrifice imposes a commitment on everyone to a reconciliation process... "The two former rivals took over yesterday in a ceremony in which they were escorted by the two most important drafters of peace - UK PM Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart, Bertie Ahern... "We should also acknowledge the US full commitment to the peace process, both under former President Bill Clinton and by current President George W. Bush. "What happened in Northern Ireland, which is worth celebrating, confirms that peace is always attainable, even when armed clashes are of religious nature... "Now, a process has started that will have to demolish everything that has separated the Ulster inhabitants, while a common future is built. For this purpose, everyone will have to leave aside the mistrust and rancor engendered by fratricide violence for decades." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires WAYNE