COTONOU REPORTS ON THE PLACEMENT OF STATE AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 COTONOU 000810 PARIS FOR ARS (DWINTON) DEPARTMENT FOR AF/PD (ANYASO, TITUS, LISENBY),AF/W (ACOOK) SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIRC OIIP KDEM KPAO KISL PINR ML SUBJECT: COTONOU REPORTS ON THE PLACEMENT OF STATE AND MISSION-PRODUCED MATERIALS COTONOU 00000810 001.2 OF 005 PAS Cotonou reports the following placements of State Department material and articles on Mission-hosted activities and U.S. centered articles in the government-owned newspaper, La Nation, and various independent newspapers: Print November 4: An article in the independent daily L'Informateur on the November 4 presidential election in the United States titled "L'Amerique aussi." (America too). The articles indicated that Barack Obama and his collister Joe Biden are so popular that if they were not declared winners of the November 4 presidential election in the United States, people would come to the streets to protest. November 6: An article in the independent daily Le Matinal on the U.S. Presidential election titled "Un Black a la Maison Blanche: les Beninois saluent l'election de Barack Obama." (A Black man in the White House: Beninese salute Barack Obama's election). November 7: The following articles were published: An article in the independent daily La Nouvelle Tribune, based on the U.S. State Department transcripts entitled "Presidentielle Americaine: le discours de victoire de Barack Obama." (U.S. presidential election: Barack Obama's victory speech). An article in La Nouvelle tribune on MCA-Benin project titled "Signature de protocoles d'accords de partenariat avec MCA-Benin: pour une meilleure securisation fonciere a Tchaourou et a Parakou." (Signature of protocol partnership agreements with MCA-Benin, regarding the achievement of land security in Tchaourou and Parakou.) An article in La Nouvelle Tribune on President Barack Obama's transition team titled "Etats-Unis: les hommes de Barack Obama." (United Stated: the men of Barack Obama). An article in the independent daily L'Autre Quotidien on the outcome of the presidential election in the United States titled "Election Presidentielle aux Etats-Unis: I have a dream ... Et le reve devient realite." (Presidential election in the United States: I have a dream ... and the dream comes true). An article in the independent daily L'Informateur on the formation of President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet titled "Etats-Unis: les hommes de Barack Obama." (United States: the men of Barack Obama). An article in the independent daily L'Informateur titled "Bush et Obama auront lundi leur premier face-a-face de presidents sortant et elu." (On Monday, Bush and Obama will hold their first meeting as the outgoing and the in-coming presidents). An article in the independent daily Le Matin based on the State Department transcripts entitled "Etats-Unis: le discours de victoire de Barack Obama." (United States: Barack Obama's victory speech). An article in Le Matin on President-elect Barack Obama's security titled "Etats-Unis: l'un des prochains dfis d'Obama sera sa propre securite." (United States: one of Obama's first challenges will be his personal security). An article in the independent daily L'Aurore on President-elect Barack Obama first government entitled "Obama commence a mettre en place l'equipe qui va diriger les Etats-Unis." (Obama has begun to form the government that will rule the United States). An article in L'Aurore, titled "Obama, le premier President high-tech a la Maison Blanche." (Obama, the first high-tech President at the White House). An article in L'Aurore, titled " Rahm Emanuel accepte le poste de Secrtaire general de la Maison Blache, selon des sources a Washington. " (According to government sources, Rahm Emanuel accepts the position of Chief of Staff of the White House). An article in L'Aurore on the peace talks in the Middle-East titled "Rice pessimiste sur un accord au Proche-Orien." (Rice pessimistic about an agreement on the Middle-East). An article in the independent daily Le Challenge, based on State Department transcripts entitled "Discours de victoire de Barack Obama." (Barack Obama's victory speech). The newspaper published the entirety of the speech. November 10: The following articles were published in the independent daily Le Matin : COTONOU 00000810 002.3 OF 005 An article on Barack Obama's tenure titled " Barack Obama: un president attendu sur tous les fronts. " (Barack Obama : a president expected to perform in all spheres of development). An article based on President Bush'speech on the election titled "Texte integral de l'allocution du President Bush sur l'elecion presidentielle." (the entirety of President ush statement on the presidential election). full page article based on Michelle Obama's biogrphy titled "Qui est Michelle Obama? Portrait de a nouvelle First Lady." (Who is Michelle Obama: prtrait of the new First Lady.) An article in the independent daily La Nouvelle Tribune titled "De la longue marche de Martin Luther King a une victoire historique de Barack Obama." (From Martin Luther King's long march to Barack Obama's historical victory). An article in the independent daiy L'Informateur on the post-election conference held at the American Cultural Center titled "Election presidentielle aux Etats-Unis: la victoire de Barack Obama celebre a travers une conference de presse au Centre Culturel Americain." (Presidential Election in the United States: Barack Obama's victory celebrated with a press conference held at the American Cultural Center). An article in the independent daily Le Telegramme on Barack Obama's victory titled "Apres l'historique election de Barack Obama, Le Congres Panafricain pour l'Emergence de la Jeunesse Africaine reaffirme son soutien au nouveau President des Etats-Unis. " (Following Barack Obama's historic victory, the Panafrican Congress for the Emergence of the African Youth reaffirms its support to the new president of the United States). November 11: The following articles were published: An article in the independent daily Le Matin on the first meeting between President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama titled "Etats-Unis: Obama va mettre pour la premiere fois les pieds dans le bureau oval." (United States: Obama will set foot for the first time in the oval office). Two articles in the independent daily L'Autre Quotidien on President-elect Barack Obama and the first lady titled "Barack Obama envisage de revenir sur des decisions de George Bush," (Barack Obama is considering on changing some of President Bush's decisions),and "Etats-Unis: Michele Obama, une premiere Dame, Maman-en-Chef." (United States: Michele Obama, a First Lady, Mummy-in-Chief). An article in the government-owned La Nation on MCA-Benin's signing of partnership agreement for the achievement of land security titled "Projet Acces au foncier de MCA-Benin: Kalale et Nikki dans la barque de la securite fonciere." (MCA-Benin's access to land projet: Kalale and Nikki sign a partnership agreement). November 12: The following articles were published: An article in the independent daily L'Informateur on the first meeting between President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama titled "Etats-Unis: entrevue constructive entre Bush et Obama a la Maison Blanche." United States: Constructive meeting between Bush and Obama at the White House). An article in the independent daily L'Option Infos on the first meeting between President Bush and Presient-elect Barack Obama titled "Etats-Unis: Bush-Obama: premier tete-a-tete." (United States: Bush-Obama: first tete-a-tete). An article in the independent daily Le Matin on the transition between the outgoing president and the President-elect titled "Etats-Unis: l'equipe Obama travaille, Bush s'accroche a ses prerogatives." (United States: the Obama team is at work; Bush holds on to his prerogatives). An article in the independent daily L'Autre Quotidien on one of President-elect Barack Obama's campaign promises titled "Etats-Unis: Barack Obama souhaite la fermeture de Guantanamo." (United States: Barack Obama wishes to close down Guantanamo). November 13: The following articles were published: An article in Le Matin and la Nouvelle Tribune on the Mission-hosted workshop on national security strategy titled "Lutte contre l'inscurit au Benin: les Etats-Unis et le CESA (Centre d'Etudes Strategiques de l'Afrique)renforcent les officiers." (Fight against insecurity in Benin : the United States and the Center for Strategic Studies empower the security officers). COTONOU 00000810 003.2 OF 005 An article in the independent daily L'Autre Quotidien on Barack Obama's election titled "Election de Barack Obama: les petits Barack et Obama se bousculent dans les maternites." (Barack Obama's election: babies named Barack and Obama are crowding the maternity wards). An article in the independent daily Fraternite on MCA-Benin's Access to Land project titled " Vers une securisation du foncier a Parakou: Le MCA-Benin et la municipalite de Parakou signent un accord de partenariat. " (Securing access to land in Parakou: MCA-Benin and the municipality of Parakou sign a partnership agreement). An article in the government-controlled la Nation on the U.S. presidential election titled "Etats-Unis: Sarah Palin regle ses comptes et prepare son avenir." (United States: Sarah Palin is dealing with the post-election period and preparing her future endeavors). An article in L'Informateur reprinted the entirety of the State-Department op-ed on Gender-based violence titled "Campagne "16 jours" d'activisme contre la violence faite aux femmes." (16 day-campaign against gender-based violence). November 14: An article in L'Autre Quotidien on the Mission-hosted workshop on security strategy titled "Securite nationale: le Benin appelle a developer une strategie adaptee aux nouveaux dangers." (National Security: Benin is urged to develop a strategy suited to the new dangers). November 18: The following articles were published: An article in Le Matin on a Mission-initiated activity within the framework of the celebration of the International Education Week (IEW) titled "Campus d'Abomey-Calavi: l'Ambassade des Etats-Unis offre des livres a la Faculte des Arts et Sciences Humaines, Flash." (University Campus of Abomey-Calavi: the U.S. Embassy offers books to the Faculty of Arts and the Humanities). An article in La Nouvelle Tribune on the IEW celebration titled "Cooperation USA-Benin: la Semaine Internationale de l'Education demarre." (US-Benin cooperation: launching of the IEW). November 20: The following articles were published: An article in L'Informateur on the latest Al-Qaoda message titled "Etats-Unis/Terrorisme: Selon Al-Qaoda, Obama est un esclave noir au service des Blancs. " (United States and terrorism : according to Al-Qaoda, Obama is a black slave serving the Whites). Two articles in La Nouvelle Tribune on the formation of President-elect Barack Obama's government titled "Eric Holder, premier africain-americain, Ministre de la Justice". (Eric Holder, first African-American appointed to the position of Minister of Justice),and "Etats-Unis: la faim guette bon nombre d'enfants." (United States: many children are threatened by hunger). An article in the independent daily Le Matinal on the Mission-hosted conference on gender-based violence titled "Conference sur les violences faites aux femmes: amener les acteurs sociaux a prendre conscience du probleme." (Conference on gender-based violence: sensitize the social activists on the importance of the problem). An article in the independent daily Infos-Plus on the formation of President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet titled "USA: Obama met en place son equipe." (United States: Obama is appointing the members of his government). Two articles in the L'Autre Quotidien on the financial crisis and the formation of President-elect Barack Obama's government titled "Etats-Unis: la Reserve Federale (Fed) envisage une possible recession en 2009," (United States: the Federal Reserve suspects a possible recession in 2009) and "Etats-Unis: le cabinet d'Obama se dessine." (United States, Obama's cabinet is taking shape). An article in Le Matin on President-elect Barack Obama's popularity titled "France: un village de 900 ames inaugure sa place Barack Obama." (France: a village of 900 inhabitants inaugurates a Barack Obama Square). November 21: The following articles were published: An article in La Nouvelle Tribune on the activities to mark the International Education Week titled "Harcelement sexuel au Benin: la Mission Diplomatique Americaine s'en preoccupe." (Sexual Harrasment in Benin: the U.S. Diplomatic Mission is concerned about the issue and taking the necessary steps to stop it). COTONOU 00000810 004.2 OF 005 An article in the government-controlled La Nation on a World Bank 2009 report titled " Rapport de la Banque Mondiale sur le developpement dans le monde 2009: baser la croissance en Afrique sur la cartographie de la geographie economique. " (2009 World Bank report on global development : base economic growth in Africa on the cartography of economic geography). An article in the independent daily L'Aurore on the recent visit to the port of Cotonou by a US Coast Guards delegation titled "Visite de la Garde Ctte americaine au Port de Cotonou: la delegation a constate le renforcement de la securite." (U.S. Coast Guard delegation visit to the port of Cotonou: the delegation noticed the strengthening of security measures) and a second article in the same newspaper on the formation of Obama's cabinet titled "USA: Obama devoile peu a peu son equipe et ses priorites." (Little by little, Obama is making his priorities and the names of his cabinet members known to the public). November 25: The following articles were published: An article in the independent daily Le Telegramme on the formation of Barack Obama's government titled "Etats-Unis: Barack Obama presente son equipe economique." (United States: Barack Obama presents his economic team). A front-page article in the government-controlled La Nation on the recently signed bilateral agreements between the United States and the government of Benin titled "Signature d'amendements aux accords entre l'USAID et le Benin: 14 milliards FCFA de plus pour l'education et la sant." (Signing of amendments to the agreements between USAID and Benin: 14 billions FCFA more for the sectors of Education and Health). An article in L'Autre Quotidien reprints the entirety of the Mission-produced press release on the signing of amendments to the bilateral agreements between USAID and Benin. November 26: The following articles were published: An article in the independent daily newspapers L'Evenement Precis and Le Matin, based on the signing of bilateral agreements between USAID and Benin. An article in the independent daily L'Aurore on the signing of bilateral agreements between USAID and Benin, and another article in the same newspaper on the U.S. efforts to resolve the financial crisis titled "Etats-Unis: Barack Obama prt a passer le budget au peigne fin." (United States: Barack Obama is ready to scrutinize the budget of the United States). A full page article in L'Autre Quotidien, based on the Washington Daily File article 105 of 25 November entitled "La violence au Foyer est un probleme universel: les Etats-Unis et leurs partenaires s'y attaquent de concert." (Violence in the home is a universal problem: the United States and its partners are working closely together to deal with the problem). An article in the independent daily Le Challenge on the national 16-day-campaign against gender-based violence led by the EMPOWER project and some local NGOs such as Care International and Rifonga Benin entitled "Violences faites aux femmes au Benin: une quinzaine de plaidoyers pour reduire le fleau." (Gender-based violence in Benin: a week-long campaign to deal with the scourge). An article in La Nation on the financial crisis entitled "USA: quand l'economie se degrade, le dollar remonte." United Sates: when the economy deteriorates, the dollar goes up). November 27: The following articles were published: An article in Le Matinal on the 16-day campaign on gender-based violence entitled "Violences a l'egard des femmes: le projet Empower au chevet des femmes d'Abomey." (violences against women: the EMPOWER project assists the women of Abomey). An article in La Nouvelle Tribune based on the Mission-produced press release about the November 24 signing of bilateral agreements between USAID and Benin, and another article in the same newspaper on the formation of President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet titled "Robert Gates resterait Secretaire a la Defense d'Obama." (Robert Gates will remain Secretary of the Defense in the Obama administration). An article in Le Telegramme on the issue of importing cement from the United States titled "Dossier ciment americain: la Ministre Christine Oinsavi met en demeure les cadres de son ministere." (Importing cement from the United States: the Minister of commerce COTONOU 00000810 005.2 OF 005 warns government officials in her Ministry). November 28: The following articles were published: An article in L'Autre Quotidien on the state of US-Iraqi relations titled "Irak: adoption de l'accord prevoyant le retrait des troupes americaines a la fin 2011." (Iraq: Signing of the agreement on the withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of 2011). An article in Le Challenge reprints the entirety of the US Department message on World Aids Day, 2008. An article in La Nouvelle Tribune on the 16-day campaign on Gender-based violence titled "Lutte contre les violences faites aux femmes: Wildaf/Benin engage dans l'action." (Fight against gender-based violence: Wildaf/Benin committed to action),and an article on the signing of U.S.-Iraq agreement on the withdrawal of US troops. An article in Le Matinal on the 16-day campaign against gender based violence titled "Quinzaine contre les violences faites aux femmes: Wildaf-Benin et L'Unfpa unis pour un meme combat." (Two-week campaign against gender-based violence: Wildaf-Benin and Unfpa united towards the same goal). Electronic media: During the period of this report, the state-owned ORTB (radio and TV) and several privately-owned radio and TV stations broadcast lengthy reports on Mission-hosted activities, in French and all major local languages. The electronic media was also highly interested in the recently held presidential election in the United States, as they broadcast news segments about the electoral process practically on a daily basis. In partnership with WorldNet, LC2 (first private TV station in Benin) continued to broadcast the "Crossroad Caf" series. In partnership with VOA, Golfe FM (the most prominent Cotonou-based private radio station) regularly aired VOA news in English and French, from Monday through Friday. VOA news in French on Golfe FM is broadcast every morning (Monday through Friday),beginning at 7:30, while the news in English is scheduled from Monday through Friday, beginning at 17:30. Brown