MEDIA REACTION: WESTERN HEMISPHERE: VISITS OF NICHOLAS

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000107 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD DEPT PASS USTR USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: WESTERN HEMISPHERE: VISITS OF NICHOLAS BURNS AND GEORGE BUSH TO BRAZIL; SAO PAULO ¶1. "There is No 'Free' Alliance" Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo's International Editor Claudia Antunes commented (2/12): "The failed occupation of Iraq led many international relations experts in the US to conclude that the Americans, different from the British and the French in the past, have no appetite for classic colonialism. Immediately after the occupation, a thesis was disseminated according to which a division of tasks would be necessary: the US would provide the force and its allies, led by the Europeans, would be responsible for the 'construction of states.' It is in this scenario that Under Secretary Nicholas Burns' recent statement in Sao Paulo, that Brazil must think about becoming a 'global security provider,' is inserted. Someone must perform 'humanitarian' tasks so that Washington can intervene in 'bankrupted states' - but such manpower is lacking.... Burns' discreet suggestion subtly included in Bush's 'positive agenda' for South America is a good reminder for those who believe in the feasibility of a total alignment with the US.... The US is unquestionably the world's largest economy and the only military power. But the brief 'unipolar moment' that followed the Cold War no longer exists. The euphoria of global growth and economic interdependence may disguise reality, but what one can see is an accumulation of forces everywhere for a disturbed future. It is hard to imagine alliances that are not tactical." ¶2. "Ethanol Brings the US Closer To Brazil" Center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo remarked (2/11): "Under Secretary Nicholas Burns' visit to Brazil last week made clear that the US wants Brazil to become its privileged interlocutor in South America. In this context, the Brazilian know-how in ethanol production is working as a bridge in the rapprochement between the Bush and Lula administrations. In addition to its diplomatic importance, this alliance may represent an encouragement to the marketing of ethanol as a fuel at the very moment when the world is discussing alternatives to the use of oil. President Bush will visit Brazil in March to settle this strategic rapprochement with the Lula administration. He has already made clear in several speeches his intention of reducing the US dependence on oil." ¶3. "Bush will Bring Investment" Economic columnist Alberto Tamer maintained in center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo (2/12): "Brazil has an immense possibility of opening a new market in the US. It is a so important an opportunity that Bush will visit Brazil mainly to negotiate agreements to bring investments to the Brazilian ethanol sector.... He wants to buy our ethanol as soon as possible. Not that he loves Brazil, but because for the first time in recent history the US needs our ethanol, our biomass, as much as we can produce. This is another consequence of the Iraqi war and the boom of oil prices.... Bush is not speaking alone.... Major investors such as George Soros and Bill Gates have entered the ethanol business, first in California and now in Brazil.... The Virgin Group has plans to invest USD 400 million and build ethanol plants in the US. And this is just the beginning. The future for agribusiness and Brazil is near. We must know how to act and not make mistakes again, as we have always done - especially under this government obstinate in its anti-American ideology." McMullen