VZCZCXYZ0013
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1038/01 1281946
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081946Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4442
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001038 
 
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 US-URUGUAYAN FTA THE PRE- 
EMPTIVE WAR CONCEPT US MILITARY AND CIVILIANS LATIN 
AMERICAN GAS SUPPLY 05/05/06 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Today's local papers lead with the meeting held 
between US President George W. Bush and Uruguayan 
President Tabare Vazquez; Argentine and Brazilian 
presidents' promise to respect "potentially explosive" 
Bolivia's nationalization of its natural gas sector; 
the Argentine announcement it lodged a claim against 
Uruguay before the International Court of Justice in 
The Hague protesting at the construction of two paper 
pulp mills; and Kadima leader Ehud Olmert taking 
office as Israel's PM with his new coalition 
government. Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an 
editorial criticizing Bolivian President Morales' 
decision to nationalize hydrocarbons. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES 
 
- "Tabare meets with Bush, but the US-Uruguayan FTA is 
delayed" 
 
Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading 
"Clarin," writes (05/05) "Uruguayan President Tabare 
Vazquez met yesterday with George W. Bush but there 
was no announcement of a bilateral FTA. Instead, the 
possibility of signing it in October in Montevideo was 
mentioned. 
 
"During the meeting..., Tabare referred to (Uruguay's) 
conflict with Argentina over the pulp mills. Bush 
listened to his arguments but remained absolutely 
neutral. 
 
"The two presidents agreed to deepen the trade 
relationship between both countries and negotiate 
market access. 
 
"... After his meeting with Bush, Tabare said 'We do 
not renounce Mercosur, but we want a greater and 
better Mercosur.' However, he added that 'In the 
framework of Mercosur, Uruguay will defend its right 
to reach bilateral trade deals with other countries 
and regions,' and that both Brazil and Argentina 
should understand that 'As it is, Mercosur is useless 
for small countries.'" 
 
- "Bush and Vazquez agree on an increase in bilateral 
trade" 
 
Nelson Fernandez, on special assignment in Washington 
for daily-of-record "La Nacion," writes (05/05) 
"Yesterday, Uruguay managed that the US open a door to 
a bilateral trade negotiation, the content of which 
will be defined in committees that will start working 
in the following days and that could well end up in an 
FTA... 
 
"The end of negotiations is not sure yet. Uruguay 
would be satisfied with an FTA enabling to lower 
barriers on the sale of Uruguayan meat, dairy 
products, textiles, software and alternative energy. 
However, the purpose of (Uruguayan) Economy Minister 
Danilo Astori's new trade strategy is to reach an FTA 
with the US as a previous step to a series of similar 
deals to be reached with Arab and Asian countries." 
 
- "Russell, Churchill and pre-emptive war" 
 
Carlos Escude, head of the International Studies 
Center, CEMA University, writes (05/05) "The prospect 
that a theocratic and fundamentalist regime... 
purchasing nuclear armament refers us to the debates 
that took place between 1945 and 1949, when Americans 
had the nuclear monopoly. While that monopoly no 
longer exists, there prevails an oligopoly made up by 
the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, 
plus three nuclear countries, which (in contrast to 
Iran) never signed the Non Proliferation Treaty. 
 
"By that time (1945-49), the people were more aware 
than today about the possibility of an end-of-the- 
world war if WMD proliferated, and some prominent men 
promoted the idea of a pre-emptive war 'by using 
nuclear monopoly in order to maintain nuclear 
monopoly.'" 
 
 
- "Chavez has the key to the US" 
 
Sergio Serrichio, economic and political columnist of 
business-financial "El Cronista," comments (05/05) "It 
is easy for Hugo Chavez to criticize those seeking 
greater trade access to the US, because Venezuela 
already has it. For this, he did not need to negotiate 
anything with Washington... Even under Chavez, 70% of 
Venezuelan oil exports go to the US... 
 
"... For any country, an FTA with the US is not a 
panacea and it certainly has its costs - namely, 
strict trading costs plus the paraphernalia of 
homologation rules and legislative amendments that 
Washington seeks to impose on its potential partners. 
 
"It is easier to attempt to improve market access 
without reaching an FTA, something of which Uruguay 
abused perhaps due to its historic Mercosur partners' 
rebuff." 
 
- "US military and civilians" 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed piece by 
Albino Gomez, diplomat, writer and journalist, who 
writes (05/05) "For the first time since the beginning 
of the war in Iraq, a group of retired US military 
decided to break a strong tradition of silence and 
asked for the resignation of US Defense Secretary 
Donald Rumsfeld... 
 
"... The subordination of the military power to 
civilian authorities has never been a problem in the 
US and this is the case still today in spite of the 
criticism from some retired generals and their request 
for the US Defense Secretary's resignation... 
 
"... However, the possibility of another serious 
conflict in the area, that with Iran (which could be 
much more dangerous than the one with Iraq) could 
spark a dramatic change not only in the US but all 
over the world." 
 
¶3. EDITORIALS 
 
- "Bolivia on the wrong road" 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" editorializes (05/05) "The 
nationalization of hydrocarbons decided by Bolivian 
President Evo Morales has to be understood as a 
sovereign measure that was taken by a legitimate 
government but also as an extreme step with a deep 
ideological burden, which represents a return to 
statism and a retreat vis--vis the prevailing 
international economic development and integration 
model. 
 
"... Contrary to what occurred with previous 
nationalizations in Bolivia, when natural resources 
were in the hands of US companies, this time, the most 
affected companies in Bolivia are from Brazil and 
Spain. 
 
"... Bolivia needs to find a balanced road to put an 
end to its historic and unfair social inequity, and 
the best way to do it should be to welcome investment 
that may contribute to its development." 
 
- "Power to the people" 
 
An editorial in liberal, English-language "Buenos 
Aires Herald" reads (05/05) "This newspaper has often 
criticized Aldo Ferrer's 'live off our own' philosophy 
of economic nationalism but this approach may well 
turn out to be a necessity amid the current shambles 
of regional policy. It is still too early to comment 
on the results of the latest regional initiatives... 
but it is not too early to say that imagining these 
events will magically solve all problems is an 
illusion and that this country should start preparing 
now to go it alone within the region, especially on 
the energy front. 
 
"The need to resolve energy bottlenecks (compounded by 
the rising price of nationalized Bolivian gas) is all 
the more acute since this government has fallen so 
 
 
much in love with runaway growth that it is not doing 
anything towards a slowdown - the lowest minimum 
growth forecasts for 2006... now stand at seven or 
eight percent. 
 
"... More realistic pricing and restriction of demand 
are important first steps but the essence of any 
energy distribution policy is having energy to 
distribute. Argentina's oil and gas production has 
been declining steadily over the past three years 
while Brazil... has vowed not to invest a penny more, 
resorting to international courts against Bolivia just 
like Argentina against Uruguay. Any future energy 
policy thus needs not only to regulate demand but also 
to offer far more definite proposals as to how to 
improve supply." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
GUTIERREZ