PRESIDENT'S ORDER TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO DETENTION CENTER

UNCLAS MONTEVIDEO 000050


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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KPAO PHUM UY
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT'S ORDER TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO DETENTION CENTER


1. Summary: Uruguayan media of all political denominations and
types (radio, print media, and television) gave positive coverage to
President Obama's order closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
End Summary.


2. All Uruguayan dailies gave prominent coverage and positive
editorial comment to the executive order closing the Guantanamo
detention center. Every TV and radio station also covered the topic
through their subscriptions to CNN and Reuters Television.


3. Top-circulation conservative daily El Pais wrote in its front
page last week "Obama prohibits tortures and CIA prisons". El Pais
also included a wire story in its international section entitled
"Guantanamo's end was signed". Another conservative daily, El
Observador, featured a photo on its front page of the President
signing the executive order under the headline "Obama closed
Guantanamo in a stroke." El Observador also published two pages of
stories based on international wire service reporting on this issue,
accompanied by photos about the detention center. A third
conservative daily, Ultimas Noticias, carried President Obama's
photo on its front page under the headline "Guantanamo closes this
year." Ultimas Noticias devoted a full page of its international
coverage to the closing of the prison, writing "New era:
Guantanamo's end and prohibition against the interrogation and
treatment of terror detainees."


4. The leftist daily La Republica carried a headline entitled
"Obama prohibits torture and closes Guantanamo." La Republica also
carried a wire service story in its international section under the
headline "Barack Obama orders and end to Guantanamo Bay." Finally,
the ultra leftist daily "La Juventud" featured the closing of the
Guantanamo detention center on its front page.


5. Editorials. An El Observador editorial said "Obama's order
removes an affront that discredited the U.S. for many years." El
Observador added that "(the President's) decision follows the values
(he) promised in his first speech as U.S. President and as a part of
the moral and economic recovery of his country".

Matthewman