MEDIA REACTION O GLOBO, THE GREEN REVOLUTION IN IRAN

UNCLAS RIO DE JANEIRO 000147 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 XM XR BR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION O GLOBO, THE GREEN REVOLUTION IN IRAN Article Title: "More Pressure" On June 18, 2009, center-right national daily O Globo writes, "In the month of June, twenty years ago, the image of the man in the white shirt in Beijing who blocked the tank's path in Tiananmen Square, became a symbol of the massacre of those who fought for democracy in China. Today in Iran, after five days of massive protests by what could be called "the green revolution" (the color of Islam, also the campaign color of the defeated opposition candidate),the ayatollahs' regime has done everything it can to impede the internal and external transmission of reports, photos, images, and any other type of information concerning the largest protest since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. [All of these efforts have been] in vain. The moderate forces that struggle to reform the regime and support Mir-Houssein Moussavi make use of what New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman calls the "virtual mosque": social networks, blogs, Twitter, and other modern means that serve as a meeting place for planning, informing, and mobilizing party members, bypassing the growing restrictions on liberty-all examples of how new technology challenges authoritarian regimes. The manifestations are spreading throughout the country. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic who endorsed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory, made an about-face and called far a partial recount of the votes-a move whose effectiveness is doubtful. The suspicion of fraud is reinforced by the unusual speed with which Ahmadinejad was declared the winner and by the fact that Moussavi and other opposition candidates lost-by wide margins-in their own home provinces according to official estimates. The forces unlocked by the rejection of the election results created a conflict within the theocratic power nucleus of Iran. Important fissures are revealing themselves among the clerics: Moussavi has the support of heavy-weights like Ayatollah Rafsanjani, former President of the Republic and the leader of the Assembly of Experts, the only government body with the power to choose the Supreme Leader. The government is trying to avoid a large, bloody confrontation with the protestors, even though many of them have already been killed. It is possible to think that the movement will lead to a relaxing of the regime and an opening for the West- even if not right away." MARTINEZ