MEDIA REACTION: UN CALL FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT; HONDURAS;

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001078 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 SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: UN CALL FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT; HONDURAS; US-ARGENTINE TIES; 09/25/09; BUENOS AIRES ¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT Today's most important international opinion pieces are focused on the UN call for nuclear disarmament; the implications of Zelaya's return to Honduras; and the status of the US-Argentine bilateral relationship. ¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS - "UN makes an historic call for disarmament" Silvia Pisani, daily-of-record "La Nacion's" Washington-based correspondent, writes (09/25),"The U.N. Security Council, at an historic summit meeting chaired by U.S. President Barack Obama (it is the first time a US President has chaired the meeting), unanimously approved a resolution yesterday calling on nuclear weapons states to scrap their nuclear arsenals. "US President Barack Obama pointed out, 'The historic resolution we have just adopted highlights our common commitment to making progress towards the goal of a world without nuclear weapons'... "... The only non permanent member that was not represented by its top leader was Libya, which was not surprising at all after Colonel Muammar Khadafy's diatribe against the Council... "... President Obama avoided mentioning the prevailing tension with the governments of Pyongyang and Tehran. "The ones who did refer specifically to the threat posed by North Korea and Iran were French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UK PM Gordon Brown, who suggested that the UN Security Council should impose on them tougher sanctions than in previous years. "After several back and forth moves, on October 1, Iran, the US, Russia, China and the European countries will sit at the same table to hold negotiations on this issue, although Western diplomats have little expectations that Iranians will change their position." - "Zelaya's irresponsible return" Daily-of-record "La Nacion" editorializes (09/25),"Regardless of any ousted president's right to return to his country, Manuel Zelaya did not measure the consequences of his decision or perhaps he thought that his mere presence in Honduras was going to defeat de facto President Roberto Micheletti... Zelaya's unexpected arrival at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa is not only a domestic problem but also a challenge to the international community now that the UN General Assembly is meeting. �0A; "At the UNGA, most Latin American presidents pleaded in favor of Zelaya's restoration to power... "However, Zelaya's sudden return to the capital city of Honduras has turned it into an explosive trouble spot... "... What calls the attention in this process... was the lack of preparation after Zelaya's two previous failed attempts to return to the country... The OAS delegation should have been sent before Zelaya's return, not after it in order to avoid chaos and casualties in Tegucigalpa. "... During these months, both the Honduran authorities and the businessmen and military have reached a sort of agreement aimed at confronting the economic sanctions the US and the EU have threatened to impose on them, in order to keep Zelaya at bay. This attitude, which could perhaps become a passport to the country's diplomatic isolation at the OAS and other fora, should not only be construed as the typical attitude of a group of coup mongers. They fear that the country could resemble Venezuela, where freedoms are increasingly restricted... "Zelaya's arrival at a foreign embassy implies lack of responsibility. One cannot expect caution from some presidents, although we should expect something better from other presidents than having supported the compulsory return of a president who was ousted by the military of his country. They should have avoided an unnecessary incitation to violence, which could bring irreparable consequences to the region." - "Cristina at the UN - closer than ever to the US" Marcelo Falak, columnist of business-financial "Ambito Financiero" writes (09/25),"Let's review some of President Cristina Kirchner's remarks (at the UNGA). "On the one hand, she cautiously criticized Iran due to the country's refusal to extradite some terrorist suspects involved in the AMIA attack but also due to the Iranian president's disgusting denial of the Holocaust... "On the other hand, she ordered the Argentine delegation to leave the place when the Iranian President addressed the UNGA... "On some other issues, President CFK made another wink to Obama when she recalled that Argentina and the US are the only two countries of the hemisphere (sic) that have been targets of international terrorism. Counter-terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering, as well as illegal immigration, are the main points of the US Department of State's policy on the hemisphere... "In another wink, CFK supported Obama's policy on the Middle East... She praised Obama's idea that Israel should live safely within its own borders as well as his goal of creating an independent Palestinian State... "... Between such a praise and Chavez's 'Who are you, Obama' there is an ocean of difference... "... One can perceive (that the Argentine Government) is making a clear attempt of rapprochement to the US. Whether it will meet its goal or not will largely depend on what the Argentine Government does with Argentina's domestic issues." To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires MARTINEZ