MEDIA REACTION - WESTERN HEMISPHERE: VENEZUELA, CHAVEZ'S

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000488 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 - WESTERN HEMISPHERE: VENEZUELA, CHAVEZ'S POLICIES; BOLIVIA, MORALES-CHAVEZ, AUTONOMY; COLOMBIA, FARC, U.S. BASES, RELATIONS WITH VENEZUELA AND ECUADOR, SAO PAULO August 11, 2009 Title- As a mediator, Brazil tries to attenuate Unasul Editorial in business oriented Valor Econtmico (8-11) states: "....At the Unasul meeting Brazil transformed what seemed to be, once more, a direct alignment with Bolivarian counterparts, in a charitable role of peace maker and mediator.....Aid and cooperation between all countries affected by the corruptive and deleterious effect of drug trafficking should be deepened and improved. Brazilian diplomacy should not have doubts about this and should be sharper with those who seem not to see a problem in drug trafficking, like Chavez...." Title- All on Obama's shoulders Op-ed in liberal Folha de S.Paulo (8-11) by Eliane Catanhede says: "All the anger and attacks that would be [normally] targeted at Colombia and Alvaro Uribe ended up converging on demands against the U.S. and President Barack Obama....that's what happened at the Unasul - Union of South American Nations - meeting yesterday in Quito, Ecuador....Chavez started a line of complaints against Washington saying one or two things in favor of Uribe.....Unasul was created to integrate, but what we see is really the opposite: few times in the modern age South America has been so split as it is now." WHITE