VZCZCXYZ0075
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0956/01 1172048
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 272048Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4327
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000956 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC, 
WHA/EPSC 
CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO OPRC KMDR PREL MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION IRANIAN LEADER'S THREAT TO THE 
US US ESPIONAGE OPERATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA US CIVIC- 
MILITARY TIES US-URUGUAYAN FTA MERCOSUR AND CHAVEZ 
ANNE KRUEGER LEAVING IMF CURRENT STATUS OF THE US 
ECONOMY US IMMIGRATION POLICY 04/27/06 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Today's most important international stories include 
Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei's serious war threat to the 
US; the US reinforcing its espionage operations in 
Latin America; the implications of the complaints by 
several US military retirees against US Defense 
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld; a US-Uruguayan FTA; ties 
 
SIPDIS 
between Mercosur and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez; 
the war in Iraq; Anne Krueger reportedly leaving her 
position at the IMF; the current status of the US 
economy and its worldwide impact; and the US 
immigration policy. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES 
 
- "Iranian leader launches serious war threat to the 
US" 
 
Business-financial "Ambito Financiero" (04/27) reports 
"Just a few hours away from the expiration date of the 
UN Security Council's ultimatum imposed on Iran for 
the suspension of its uranium enrichment program, the 
supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned 
yesterday that a potential US attack against Iran will 
unleash a response all over the world that would be 
twice as violent. 
 
"In reference to possible terrorist acts, Khamenei 
said 'Let Americans know that in the event of a 
possible invasion of Iran, their interests all over 
the world will be damaged wherever possible. The 
Iranian people will respond to any attack.'" 
 
- "The US reinforces its espionage operations in Latin 
America" 
 
Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for 
daily-of-record "La Nacion," writes (04/27) 
"Determined to prevent attacks like the September 11 
attacks and to correct the big intelligence mistakes 
that led to the war in Iraq, President George W. Bush 
ordered an increase in the number of spies to be 
deployed to Latin America in the framework of a global 
surveillance strategy. 
 
"Spies should contribute information on groups, 
leaders or territories that represent a threat to the 
US in the region. 
 
"According to official reports, the main topics of 
concern are: President Hugo Chavez, the Triple Border, 
Cuba, ties between the FARC and drug trafficking, and 
the porous land border with Mexico. 
 
"The presidential order is carried out by the first US 
Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, 
who oversees the 16 US intelligence agencies, with a 
budget of 40 billion dollars per year. 
 
"... In the post-September 11 world, Washington's 
military and intelligence interest in Latin America is 
focused on getting to know from inside the clandestine 
networks that Al Qaeda or other similar organization 
could be using to enter the US and launch another 
attack... 
 
"Argentina has been praised by the US Department of 
State for the checks on containers that arrive at the 
Buenos Aires port, but, according to Lieutenant 
Colonel Philip Abbot, an expert in Latin America at 
the US Army, the risk posed by the Triple Border 'is 
not a myth.'" 
 
- "Washington acknowledges it spies on the hemisphere 
at Cold War levels" 
 
Left-of-center "Pagina 12" reports (04/27) "According 
to US Director of National Intelligence John 
Negroponte, Washington is again focusing on its 
backyard. During the last few years, the US has 
'strengthened' its espionage operations in Latin 
America at a level that can only be compared with that 
of the Cold War. 
 
 
 
 
 
"This was ordered by the Bush administration 
particularly after the September 11 attacks based on 
the importance the 'war on terrorism' has for the Bush 
administration. 
 
"According to Negroponte, US agencies are focusing on 
what they call 'Human Intelligence,' which consists of 
recruiting spies among the citizens of countries under 
surveillance and increasing the US staff (intelligence 
agents, diplomats, anti-drug agents, FBI, etc.) in the 
place." 
 
- "A coup in the US?" 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed piece by 
Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, professor of International 
Relations at Universidad de San Andres, who writes 
(04/27) "Without any question marks and as the main 
story of its April issue, US magazine Harpers called 
on four experts in military issues to discuss in the 
framework of headline 'American Coup d'Etat: Military 
Thinkers Discuss the Unthinkable.' 
 
"The very sensitive civil-military balance has been 
altered for years... 
 
"Whether it is due to growing military autonomy vis-- 
vis civilians or a push by some civilians to favor a 
greater military role in public affairs, the truth is 
that ever since the September 11 attacks, we have 
noticed a gradual militarization of US international 
policies with unpredictable national consequences. 
 
"... The military's request for US Defense Secretary 
Donald Rumsfeld's resignation is a disturbing fact. 
While it is not a coup, it is a warning for US 
democracy. The vehement public statements made by four 
former army generals and two former Marine generals 
(who represent 75% of the entire military body) show 
the undeniable presence of the military in the public 
debate... and their disgraceful malaise with the 
political handling of military affairs. 
 
"Their words not only targeted the US Defense 
Secretary but implied frontal and unaccustomed 
 
SIPDIS 
criticism of the president now that the country is in 
war... Whatever the evolution of this case and the 
immediate future of the deplorable Bush administration 
will be, the weakening of the US civil power is 
noteworthy and disturbing. And this is not good either 
for them or for the world." 
 
- "Tabare winks again on the idea of an FTA with the 
US" 
 
Mariano Perez de Eulate, columnist of leading 
"Clarin," comments (04/27) "Uruguayan President Tabare 
Vazquez made a conclusive gesture toward the US, which 
takes on particular importance due to the conflict 
between Uruguay and Argentina over the pulp mills in 
Fray Bentos... During a visit in Mexico, where Vazquez 
was received by his counterpart Vicente Fox, Tabare 
asserted that he is willing to reach an FTA with the 
US, an issue that fractured the Mar del Plata Summit 
of the Americas. 
 
"Vazquez's position strongly impacted Uruguayan 
political circles because on May 4 he will meet with 
US President George W. Bush. Many believe that the 
seeds of a bilateral trade deal could emerge from that 
meeting." 
 
- "Chavez deepens disagreement at Mercosur, which does 
not react" 
 
Joaquin Morales Sola, political columnist of daily-of- 
record "La Nacion," writes (04/27) "Mercosur no longer 
is what it used to be... Now, it has entered a 
political crisis that is difficult to resolve. It 
showed a pathetic image - there were two Mercosur 
meetings with different protagonists in only one week. 
 
"... An important presence of discord is that of 
 
 
 
 
Chavez, who seems to vent disagreement. A different 
Chavez has been snaking in Latin America lately. The 
leader of two or three years ago, more cautious and 
humble in the international scenario, grew in the 
region with the impetus of the price of the oil 
barrel. 
 
"Neither Brazil nor Argentina welcomed his radiant 
presence in the short Mercosur meeting in Asuncion of 
Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez, Paraguayan 
President Duarte Frutos and Bolivian President 
Morales. 
 
"... Brazil is bothered because it perceives that 
Chavez has started to object to its regional 
leadership and is also a destructive element in Latin 
America... Neither Brazil nor Argentina wants a 
confrontation with Washington and, furthermore, they 
have committed themselves with the US to 'containing' 
Chavez. One thing is clear these days. No one can 
contain Chavez. 
 
"... Re Argentina, in return for his financial 
protection, Chavez will ask Kirchner to follow him on 
his pro-Iranian whim by voting at the UN so that 
Venezuela obtains a temporary chair at the UN Security 
Council, which the US opposes." 
 
- "The 'Bolivarian axis' has its FTA" 
 
Pablo Stefanoni, on special assignment in La Paz for 
left-of-center "Pagina 12," comments (04/27) "While 
the Andean Community of Nations meeting in Lima was 
ending in failure, Evo Morales announced that next 
weekend documents will be signed in Havana to 
incorporate Bolivia into the Bolivarian Alternative 
for the Americas, which was signed by Cuba and 
Venezuela one year ago, and these documents will lay 
the groundwork for an upcoming Free Trade Deal of the 
Peoples, which is being promoted by the Bolivian 
president. 
 
"For now, signatories are the three countries most 
fervently rejecting the FTA with the US because they 
believe it is 'annexationist' and 'neo-liberal,' but 
Bolivian official sources are enthusiastic about 
joining Peru... and Ecuador to the hemispheric 'anti- 
neo-liberal' crusade." 
 
- "About how to undo a country" 
 
Left-of-center "Pagina 12" carries an opinion piece by 
Uruguayan writer Juan Gelman, who writes (04/27) "It 
was clear from the very beginning - the US goal in 
Iraq was to divide it into regions, divide the people 
according to different religious sects, and organize 
inter-ethnic violence in order to justify a long 
occupation of the country and guarantee the 
exploitation of its energy wealth. 
 
"The focus of the occupation of Iraq is the 
organization of violence, and intelligence services 
are the mastermind of it. And they are Yankees, of 
course. 
 
"As a former CIA agent told 'The Washington Post,' 
those services 'are the heart and soul of a new 
country.'" 
 
- "Blue skies ahead?" 
 
James Neilson, contributor to liberal, English- 
language "Buenos Aires Herald," writes (04/27) "... A 
cloud on the horizon hangs over the US: rightly or 
wrongly, skeptics say that unless its inhabitants save 
a great deal more the superpower is about to suffer a 
huge financial crisis that will halt the great 
international boom in its tracks not just because so 
much depend on the spendthrift ways of the North 
American consumer but also because panic-stricken 
congressmen would react by putting up protectionist 
barriers. 
 
"They also suspect that if pushed too far the Chinese 
 
 
 
 
could decide to dump the innumerable USG bonds they 
have collected over the years even though they too 
would lose big as a result. Such bleak predictions 
have been made for years without much happening, but 
that does not mean that the US can continue to defy 
the laws of economic gravity for ever." 
 
- "Krueger, 'the IMF's iron lady' will leave her 
position" 
 
Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for 
daily-of-record "La Nacion," writes (04/27) "According 
to an IMF communiqu, Anne Krueger, 'the iron lady' of 
international finance, the economist whose comments 
and demands enraged, shocked and intimidated Argentine 
authorities over the last five years, will leave her 
position at the IMF in August. 
 
"... According to two IMF officials, the name of her 
successor is a riddle, although versions on supposed 
candidates already include the names of two Americans 
- former number two at the US Treasury Department, 
John Taylor..., and current number two at the US 
Department of State, Robert Zoellick, former USTR." 
 
¶3. EDITORIALS 
 
- "The US immigration problem" 
 
An editorial in daily-of-record "La Nacion" reads 
(04/27) "The treatment of the immigration problem in 
the US... threatens to become a problem without 
apparent solution, and it is one of the topics of the 
November election campaign. 
 
"... The US Congress is currently debating an overall 
reform of the country's immigration system. It is 
trapped in a dilemma- it does not know whether it 
should allow the 12 million illegal immigrants to stay 
under a legal status or expel them, as the most 
extreme sectors propose, with its unwanted effect on 
the economy. 
 
"... We hope the resolution adopted by the US vis-- 
vis this sensitive issue is not guided by xenophobia 
but by the same reasons that made this country seen as 
the cradle of freedom and respect for civil rights." 
 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
GUTIERREZ