VZCZCXYZ0009
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #0688 1721316
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 211316Z JUN 06
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5292
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 6391
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 7201
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2492

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000688 
 
SIPDIS 
 
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 ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: US-EU SUMMIT IN VIENNA; NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR 
PROGRAM, MISSILE TEST; SAO PAULO 
 
 
¶1. "Summit Defrosts US-EU relations, But Only Between Governments" 
 
Center-right o Estado de S. Paulo Paris correspondent Giles Lapouge 
opined (6/21): "Irritation between the US and Europe seems to be 
diminishing. They are now far away from the bad feelings that in 
2003, at the beginning of the war in Iraq, strained the relations on 
both sides of the Atlantic.  Today in Vienna, the US-EU Summit is 
expected to seal this pacification of transatlantic relations.... We 
can only congratulate this return to wisdom. But if we look at the 
people, we have to accept the fact that George W. Bush's noisy 
appearance in the diplomatic scene following 2001, and especially in 
2003, continues to cause damage.... What most contributed to the 
degradation of the US image abroad is very well known: the war in 
Iraq.... For the Europeans, peace today is threatened more by the US 
than by the 'delinquent nations' Washington condemned to 
ignominy.... Certainly the Vienna Summit will help the desirable 
transatlantic rapprochement. But now topics such as the war in Iraq, 
torture of prisoners and Guantanamo will have to be included in 
meetings between Europeans and Americans, regardless of how 
good-mannered and hypocritical diplomats can be." 
 
¶2. "Korean Test" 
 
Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo 
editorialized (6/21): "North Korea's intentions have always been 
inscrutable.  It is hard to know if it really wants to test its new 
Taepodong-2 missile, which can theoretically carry an atomic warhead 
to Hawaii or Alaska, or if the launching preparations detected by US 
spying satellites are just another one in the series of dictator Kim 
Jong's nuclear bluffs. In the most benign hypothesis, Pyongyang is 
staging a ballistic test to remind the world that it is also an 
'atomic threat' and try to obtain advantages like the package of 
incentives the great powers offered to Iran in exchange for the 
suspension of its nuclear program.... It is possible however, that 
Kim Jong is willing to overestimate even more his condition of 
'threat.' He could effectively launch the Taepodong-2, and then the 
game would become much more dangerous. If North Korea is capable of 
demonstrating that it possesses long range missile technology, then 
the balance of forces in the region will change. From Russia to 
Australia, and including US territorial areas, everyone would be the 
target of a paranoiac nation that alleges to possess nuclear 
warheads." 
McMullen