VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1679/01 2091751
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281751Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5379
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001679 
 
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: WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST; ROME CONFERENCE; USJ ROLE IN LATIN 
AMERICA; NORTHERN KOREA; US-BRAZILIAN ENCOUNTER ON FARM SUBSIDIES; 
STATUS OF AMBASSADOR WAYNE'S NOMINATION AS US AMBASSADOR TO 
ARGENTINA; 07/27/06 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Today's international leading stories include the status of the war 
in the Middle East; the outcome of the Rome Conference; the US 
reconsidering its role in Latin America; the threat posed by North 
Korea; the upcoming encounter between US and Brazilian authorities 
on farm subsidies; and the status of former A/S Wayne's nomination 
as US Ambassador to Argentina. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES 
 
- "A war with more doubts than certainties" 
 
Marcelo Cantelmi, international editor of leading "Clarin" on 
special assignment in Jerusalem, writes (07/27) "Both from a 
political and a military viewpoint, the war that has just begun has 
accumulated a mountain of doubts. In just two weeks, the bombing 
that has turned Lebanon into pieces does not seem to have had a 
conclusive impact on Hezbollah, which continues punishing Northern 
Israel. 
 
"Therefore, and even though Israel only targeted Hezbollah, only the 
ruins of Lebanon remain... 
 
"There is a big debate in Israel on whether the decision to attack 
and the invasion, which is now focused on South Lebanon, was right. 
PM Olmert decided to attack right after he knew that the guerrillas 
had trapped two soldiers on a bordering post. 
 
"... The Haaretz newspaper made public former Defense Minister Moshe 
Arens' statement that the military campaign is mismanaged and that 
it will only strengthen guerrillas. He summarized 'This will be a 
disaster for Israel.'" 
 
- "The Rome Conference did not come to terms on a cease fire" 
 
Julio Algaaraz, Rome-based correspondent for leading "Clarin," 
writes (07/27) "As expected, the international conference on 
Lebanon, which gathered in Rome yesterday for more than three hours, 
was neither a success nor a failure. It only issued a 
seven-paragraph statement, but not the unattainable, magic formula 
of an immediate cease fire. 
 
"The foreign ministers of the fifteen countries gathered under US 
and Italian sponsorship, approved asking for an 'urgent' truce, 
called for a conference to raise donations to help a destroyed 
Lebanon, open humanitarian channels and call for a meeting under the 
UN umbrella in order to create an international military force that 
will separate contenders on the border between Lebanon and Israel. 
 
"An immediate ceasefire is today a utopia because Israeli troops and 
Hezbollah's Shiite guerrillas are fighting just a few kilometers 
away from the border,  in Lebanon. Hezbollah, which is supported by 
Syria and Iran, will only accept an immediate ceasefire in exchange 
for prisoners. Israel, which is supported by the US, demands an 
immediate release of the two captured soldiers and Hezbollah's 
disarmament and withdrawal toward the North so that it cannot attack 
again." 
 
- "The US discusses what its regional role will be in the aftermath 
of the Cordoba summit" 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion's" Washington-based correspondent, Hugo 
Alconada Mon, writes (07/27) "The Mercosur summit, which was held in 
Cordoba last week, has opened a debate among the experts that are 
closely following Latin America's political evolution about who were 
the winners and losers... 
 
"Left-wingers used the Summit to object to US President George W. 
Bush. Right-wingers used it to criticize Presidents Nestor Kirchner, 
Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. While the Republican administration 
remained silent, it took the summit to verify 'who is who' in the 
agitated South American politics. 
 
"According to the former US Assistant Secretary for Latin America, 
Otto Reich, the most important thing was 'the absence of an outcome' 
of the meeting in a 'negative' framework for the (Argentine) 
Government. 
 
"Reich told 'La Nacion' that 'the Argentine Government did not save 
face.' 'The negative impact is for Kirchner, who let Chavez and 
Castro turn a session that should have been a serious one into a 
personal show, to the extreme that international media did not even 
report the event.' 
 
 
 
"Reich's conclusions are quite different from those of the analysts 
from the Council of Hemispheric Affairs, a left-wing organization. 
They believe that the Summit will be remembered as 'the moment of 
truth for Bush's presidency' regarding Latin America, because it 
made sure that the region got 'emancipated' from Washington and that 
Mercosur is today 'a more mature alliance.' 
 
"Moises Naim, editor of prestigious magazine 'Foreign Policy,' also 
criticized (US President) Bush's foreign policy. But, most 
importantly, he believes that Bush should change his strategy toward 
Latin America. 
 
"The White House and the US Department of State opted for tactical 
silence... A Republican administration source said that 'It was a 
political rather than economic summit, and some tensions were 
perceived inside the bloc.'" 
 
- "Farm subsidies - the US and Brazil will hold a 'meeting of 
reflection'" 
 
Business-financial "Ambito Financiero" reports (07/27) "Brazilian 
Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and USTR Susan Schwab will hold a 
'meeting of reflection' on Saturday after the suspension of global 
trade negotiations. 
 
"According to Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo, Brazilian Director of the 
Economic Department at the Foreign Relations Meeting, the meeting, 
which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, will not be a 'negotiation'. 
'We will not be negotiating anything. This will be a meeting of 
reflection.' 
 
"... In some statements published by Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, 
Amorim said the meeting with USTR Schwab has been 'an unequivocal 
demonstration of involvement, and the wish to further discussions' 
that are intended to reach an agreement at the WTO... I trust US 
President George W. Bush's wish and political interest in reaching 
an agreement.'" 
 
- "More delays in appointing a new US Ambassador" 
 
Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading "Clarin," 
comments (07/27) "With time ticking down, the US Department of State 
has made moves for the US Senate to approve Earl Anthony Wayne's 
nomination as the new US Ambassador to Argentina before its recess, 
but there has been no news until last night. 
 
"A diplomat who knows Wayne well told 'Clarin' 'We think his 
nomination will be confirmed but we do not know whether they will 
have time before the recess.' According to the diplomat, US 
Department of State officials were negotiating with Senator for 
Nevada John Ensign to have him lift the obstacles he placed on Mr. 
Wayne's nomination. Time is running out because if he does not do it 
before Friday, Wayne's confirmation will be postponed until 
September, October or indefinitely. 
 
"If Wayne's nomination is not approved before Friday, (US President) 
Bush could appoint him during the Congressional recess, just like he 
did in the case of Otto Reich... 
 
"However, it seems unlikely that he'll do it with Wayne for a couple 
of reasons. The ones who objected to his nomination are not 
Democrats but senators who are representing the interests of the 
Cuban-American community, to which Bush partly owes his election 
success in a controversial triumph in Florida... 
 
"Secondly, the legislation allowing this kind of appointment during 
Congressional recesses was established only in cases of vacancies at 
key posts like, for instance, the (US) Embassy in the former Soviet 
Union. As time went by, the White House has used this legislation to 
appoint candidates who were rejected by the US Congress, but these 
kinds of nominations are badly seen by public opinion. 
 
"Everything indicates that if Wayne's nomination is not confirmed by 
the US Senate before the recess and it is indefinitely postponed, 
his number two, Mike Matera, will be in charge of the US Embassy in 
Buenos Aires for a long time after the departure of Lino 
Gutierrez." 
 
¶3. EDITORIALS 
 
- "North Korea vs. the world" 
 
An editorial in daily-of-record "La Nacion" reads (07/27) "North 
Korea's authoritarian regime, which is led by Kim Jong Il, is hard 
to define according to international criteria. It is an autocratic 
 
 
 
and impenetrable government that agitates the ghost of 'dangerous 
foreign enemies' to maintain its people submerged in nationalism... 
In this way, the North Korean regime has managed to confront the 
rest of the world, and this situation does not seem to shock it. 
 
"North Korea wants to 'handle its own destiny' without any contact 
whatsoever with the rest of the world... 
 
"Today, North Korea is the most dangerous proliferator of WMD in the 
world... To this threat, North Korea has added that of missiles... 
 
"It is not surprising that the UN Security Council has issued 
Resolution 1695, which condemns North Korea's missile tests... 
 
"Meanwhile, North Korea has only taken 45 minutes to fully reject 
said resolution and maintain a firm and allegedly imperturbable 
attitude in defiance of the rest of the world." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
MATERA