LUGO'S MEDIA STRATEGY - MARXIST, MUDDLED, OR

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000017

HAVANA PRIORITY

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/BSC MDASCHBACH, MDRUCKER, WHA/PDA CPETERSON,
JDICKSON, BKLEINER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2033
TAGS: PREL KPAO PHUM ECPS PGOV PA
SUBJECT: LUGO'S MEDIA STRATEGY - MARXIST, MUDDLED, OR
SIMPLY MESSAGE MANAGEMENT?

REF: ASUNCION 721

Classified By: CDA Michael Fitzpatrick for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

1.(C) SUMMARY: President Lugo opened Paraguay's First
National Communications Forum with reassuring words; "We
will not be proposing or debating any law to regulate the
media nor impose any code of media ethics." His
Communications Director likewise declared a "free press is
not negotiable.8 However, many media moguls remain uneasy
and skeptical about Lugo's program for the "development of a
national communications policy.8 All three leading dailies
ran critical articles and editorials, some linking Lugo's
policy to Venezuelan President Chavez and the influence of
his &Bolivarian8 socialist philosophy. Many in the
Paraguayan media establishment remember the media oppression
of the Stroessner dictatorship, when as recently as the 1980s
several leading papers and radio stations were simply
shuttered. Others remain more sanguine, believing Lugo has
neither the skill nor the resources to take on Paraguay's
powerful media enterprises - assuming he even wants to. END
SUMMARY.

Where Is He Going?
==================


2. (C) Discomfort with President Lugo's communications policy
is part of a larger debate taking place within Paraguay about
the new President's direction or lack-there-of. Just short
of five months into his administration, some are worried that
Lugo and his key advisers are too far to the left for
conservative Paraguay. Others, influenced by Paraguay's long
history of powerful top-down rulers, worry that Lugo's lax
management style is a sign of a government adrift. Lugo is a
hard man to read and his presidency, up to this point, is
hard to pigeon-hole. He publicly cozies up to Hugo Chavez,
praises Evo Morales, Salvador Allende, and Fidel Castro, and
endorses a Cuban-designed literacy program via Bolivia
(which, as it turns out, has been in Paraguay since 2004).
Yet he also professes admiration for Uruguay and Chile and
openly embraces U.S. assistance. His cabinet, while
including some radical leftists, also includes qualified
technocrats at important ministries such as Treasury, Health,
and Industry and Commerce. Is Lugo trying to use (and
perhaps stir up) peasant unrest to bring radical
socialist-type change to the country or merely trying to
address endemic and long-standing problems of inequality,
poverty, and corruption? Lugo says he is not copying any
model, be it Venezuela, Brazil, or Uruguay, but following his
own course. "There is no magic formula that we can import."
It appears that Lugo is trying to straddle the policy fence
to placate the disparate parties of his unruly coalition.
Increasingly, however, his government appears to be tacking
left.

Participatory Democracy?
========================


3. (U) The President kicked off the First National
Communications Forum (FNCF),December 4, by promising not to
propose any laws regulating the press. Lugo outlined his
communications policy as containing three levels - community,
the media, and government institutions. "We shall be
developing lines of actions with the community, mainly in the
areas of communication for development. From this level, we
hope to promote local initiatives that arouse participation
and stimulate sustainable actions. We have been training
advanced communications technicians for development from
regional universities. These people will combine their roles
as communicators with actions within the framework of
development at the service of government offices,
cooperatives, and non-governmental organizations."


4. (C) The Forum's host, Secretary of Information and
Communications for Development Augusto Dos Santos, worked as
Lugo,s Communications Director during his political
campaign. He is the former Director of Radio Caritas at the
Catholic University of Asuncion and former Director of Radio
Faith and Happiness Paraguay (former Bishop Lugo and Dos
Santos share a Catholic connection). Dos Santos complained
to Ambassador and PAO in October about a lack of resources
and talked about a national communications policy that was
"inclusive and pluralistic." He outlined plans to develop a
government newspaper, television station, and revitalize the

moribund and financially strapped National Paraguayan Radio
(RNP) system. Dos Santos would also like to centralize
government press relations and information management to
better coordinate the activities of the 35 GOP press offices
and make use of newer technologies such as blogs and chats
(possibly even with President Lugo). He wants to promote and
license community radio stations, and put public service
announcements on the air (for example about motor safety).
(NOTE: Dos Santos told us only 200 of the 800 or so community
radio stations in the countryside are licensed. END NOTE.)
Dos Santos has initiated a weekly Presidential press
conference and would like to implement recurring TV and radio
interviews with the President, some on RNP. In an article
published January 12 (La Nacion) Dos Santos stated
unequivocally; "We do not want to be like (Chavez,s) 'Alo
Presidente'. This information agency will not be
contaminated by any official propaganda." Clearly the
President and the Secretary are tying to centralize messages
and messaging. Is there more to it?


First National Communications Forum
===================================


5. (U) The FNCF, funded in part by the World Bank, was a
strange mix. The December 4-5 program included technical
sessions on digital TV standards (with a presentation from
Japan) and telecommunication policy legislation (from
Uruguay). There was a session on development of "community
radio" featuring Judith Vera, the new director of the
state-run National Paraguayan Radio (RNP) system. There were
also a number of speakers critical of the influence and power
of private media enterprises. (NOTE: This is also a line
Lugo has taken, noting correctly that media often pursue
their own interests and report news in a less than objective
manner. He has also expressed respect for the role of a free
press in democracy and credits the press in Paraguay with
exposing corruption. END NOTE.)

Venezuela's Television of the South - TeleSUR
=============================================


6. (U) Perhaps of most interest was a Forum entitled
"TeleSUR: a Latin American Proposal8 by TeleSUR,s
Venezuelan VP Milton Crespo. Even this was a fairly subdued
and technical presentation focused on the broad nature of
TeleSUR,s cultural, educational, and news programming with
not a mention of the man who foots the lion's share of the
bill, Hugo Chavez. Crespo presented TeleSUR (created in
2005) as a pan-Latin American terrestrial and satellite
television network with the goal of serving as a
counterweight to the &distorted view" of Latin American
reality presented by privately run networks such as CNN and
Univision. Crespo also boasted of TeleSUR's large footprint
encompassing most of Latin America, the U.S. and parts of
Europe (according to him). TeleSUR asserts that it is
intended to be an instrument toward the "construction of a
New Order of Communication that is vital to the development
of the peoples of the world8 ... the aim of which is the
"concretizing of the Bolivarian idea" through the integration
of Latin America. TeleSUR has been available in Paraguay
since 2007 via DirectTV satellite transmission in Asuncion
and via cable TV in some parts of rural Paraguay.

A Second Forum and Periodical Premiere
======================================


7. (U) As follow-on to the FNCF, Dos Santos hosted a second
conference (December 15)16) with a more left-leaning spin
entitled &Radio: Between Communication and Power.8 Like
the FNCF, this forum featured a number of speakers critical
of the influence and power of private media enterprises.
Carlos Mesa, a former President of Bolivia and journalist,
denounced investigative &journalists who often act as
summary judges and executioners... frequently with little
proof.8 Judith Vera, like President Lugo and Dos Santos
before her, promised that Lugo had no intention of regulating
the &work of the press.8


8. (U) On December 19, Dos Santos launched the premiere
edition of the free official government gazette, "Paraguay
Todos" (Paraguay for Everyone). (NOTE: Lugo's disparate
coalition has no official party newspaper nor uncritical
support in any of the national media. END NOTE.) With Lugo

on the cover surrounded by smiling children, Paraguay Todos
featured articles from most of the ministries trumpeting
accomplishments during the first 100 days of the Lugo
Administration. The paper highlighted investments in
infrastructure, security, new jobs, free medical care, and
land for 5,000 poor farmers. (NOTE: Dos Santos told PAO that
Paraguay Todos will not be distributed on any fixed schedule,
but plans are in place for several new issues in the coming
months, one on the indigenous population. END NOTE.) With an
initial print run of 15,000 in a country of 6.5 million
people, Paraguay Todos does not seem to be a threat to the
three major commercial dailies.

Competing Views
===============


9. (C) PAO talked with a number of important media figures
who attended the opening session of the FNCF. Venerable Aldo
Zuccolillo, owner of leading daily ABC Color and a victim of
Stroessner-era repression (ABC was shut down from 1984)1989)
reiterated the basic points of his editorial line. &This
forum is the first shot fired by Lugo in the war to implement
Chavez,s Bolivarian revolution in Paraguay. This is why
Lugo signed the controversial 'Letters of Intention' with
Chavez days after his inauguration (August 15, 2008) when
Chavez accompanied Lugo back to his home in San Pedro." ABC
Color journalist Roque Gonzalez Vera, the author of a
scathing serious of articles about the Chavez accords, echoed
his boss' concerns. (NOTE: One of those agreements
(published verbatim in ABC Color) calls for the Lugo
government to support the promotion of Chavez,s TeleSUR TV
network in Paraguay. The GOP agreed to provide TeleSUR
access to satellite frequency and promote the distribution of
TeleSUR on both over-the-air and cable TV systems. Venezuela
agreed to provide airtime to the GOP and allow Paraguay to
have a representative on the governing board (Reftel). END
NOTE).


10. (C) PAO also talked with Oscar Ayala, editor-in-chief of
left-leaning number two daily Ultima Hora, who was more
sanguine about the process. His take was that given Dos
Santos,s own background in media, he would not be promoting
any kind of press censorship. Others believe that Dos Santos
has neither the capability nor the resources to be a credible
threat to powerful Paraguayan media enterprises like
Zuccolillo,s ABC Color, Humberto Rubin,s Radio Nanduti, or
TV networks Sistema Nacional de Televisin (SNT) and
Telefuturo. (NOTE: Telefuturo and Ultima Hora are media
enterprises owned by wealthy businessman Antonio J. Vierci;
and ABC's Zuccolillo is one of Paraguay's wealthiest
individuals, with interests that run the gamut from ABC
Color, to shopping centers, private ports, real estate, and a
cell phone company. END NOTE.)


11. (C) PAO touched base with National Paraguayan Radio(RNP)
director Judith Vera, a former Catholic radio journalist, who
noted that RNP was barely functioning with old and outdated
plant and equipment. She says the Colorados (former ruling
party) cleaned out the place including most of the historic
musical record collection dating back to the 1930s. She
wants to revitalize RNP as both a source of official
government information and for educational and cultural
programming.

Zuccolillo Lays It On Again
============================


12. (C) A highly animated &Don Acero8 Zuccolillo talked
December 16 with the Ambassador, PAO and USAID Director in
her office about his fears of what &pure Marxist8 Lugo was
up to. According to Zuccolillo: &Lugo has tried to hide his
true face but the day after he was inaugurated, when he went
off for two days with Hugo Chavez he showed his true face.
Marxists know that the press is their most dangerous enemy
... and I see Lugo following the same plan the Sandinistas
used in Nicaragua (in the 1980s)... These community radio
stations they are promoting are very cheap to put in place
and were used quite effectively by the Colorado Party during
their time in power to promote the party and their candidates
... Lugo will use these community radio stations and the
national radio network in the same manner.8

COMMENT
=======



13. (C) President Lugo has been challenged in his first few
months by the fact that he presides over an unruly political
coalition of diverse parties and personalities. His
ministers frequently fail to coordinate policy, fight in
public, and deliver incoherent and often contradictory
messages. Yet, clearly the President wants more voices heard
and is more comfortable hearing voices from the left, in what
remains one of the most conservative and isolated countries
in the Americas. And clearly there are members of his
administration who would like to take Lugo's policy, both in
a general sense and, in particular, his media policy, further
to the left.


14. (C) It is also clear the entrenched media interests here,
like most of the power interests which traditionally have
"run" much of Paraguay are "closed shops" lacking genuine
competition. And they are not shy about trying to pull us
into a Cold War repeat if that's what it takes to raise the
alarm. On balance, however, we see Lugo's efforts as trying
to bring some coherence to his messages, messengers, and
communications mediums to combat the sometimes brutal beating
he has taken in the press. We do not yet see any evidence of
a larger and calibrated plan to muzzle the powerful and
partisan media enterprises in Paraguay, as Zuccolillo
asserts. But we will keep on the look-out. END COMMENT.

Please visit us at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/asuncion

FITZPATRICK