MEDIA REACTION: AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA, GOVERNANCE; GLOBAL

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000237 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 XM XR XF BR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA, GOVERNANCE; GLOBAL ECONOMY: FINANCIAL MARKET CRISIS; WESTERN HEMISPHERE: CHAVEZ'S POLICIES; SAO PAULO "Banks still trapped in bad bonds" Main editorial in business oriented Valor Econtmico (4-22) states: "....banks are gaining time with the massive billion dollars in government aid. Fundamentally, though, nothing relevant has changed since the beginning of the rescue operation that started in October....The situation of financial institutions, vital in this crisis, has not improved almost anything." "The single-party curse" Editorial in liberal Folha de S. Paulo (4-22) notes: "In this election [South Africa], an interesting development is taking place. A dissident from Mandela's party, called Congress of the People (Cope),has begun to break the monopoly of the African National Congress (ANC) as the representative of a country with 79% of black people in its population. Pools do not give Cope more than 15% of vote intentions....but undoubtedly a force able to oxygenate democracy in South Africa arises - and who knows, it might be able to liberate it in the future from the curse of the single-party government." "Chavez's heavy hand" Main editorial in center-right O Estado de S. Paulo (4-22) says: ""....Nowadays, in Venezuela, almost all radio and television stations are directly or indirectly under the control of the government, with only a few newspapers still resisting the pressure.....Chavez controls the three branches of Government and suffocates the opposition using his arbitrary powers. This is the regime that is seeking entry into Mercosul, an association of countries that....only accepts democratic regimes." WHITE