MEDIA REACTION - BRAZIL'S FX-2 BID

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000536 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 - BRAZIL'S FX-2 BID "Conspiracies and Lies" Op-ed in liberal Folha de S. Paulo (9-10) by Janio de Freitas says: "The purchase of heavy armaments [by Brazil] is looking like a scandal, with so many secret conspiracies, chaotic strategic planning, fantastic and arbitrary volume of money and indebtedness, in addition to lies used as arguments....[The statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Brazil] is something very embarrassing for the Brazilian government. Will Lula's government acknowledge now to the U.S. that it doesn't trust Washington's geopolitics, as evidenced by the military bias towards Europe?....It is already clear that all the transaction was set in advance to do the deal with French manufacturers........" "Role of Foolish" Op-ed in liberal Folha de S. Paulo (9-10) by Eliane Catanhede notes: "....there is much more than vain philosophy, technical issues and even prices behind Brazil's preference for the French planes - or for the French. But they did not need to upset the apple cart. They only had to follow the normal channels, let Brazil's Air Force conclude its work, pressure for better prices and announce the choice for France with professionalism and countenance in order to give an air of seriousness to the country and avoid juridical review in the future. " WHITE