VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0016/01 0052204
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 052204Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6908
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000016 
 
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: NEWLY ELECTED SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI; US-LATIN 
AMERICAN TIES; MIDDLE EAST; US-ARGENTINE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP; 
DEATH OF HUSSEIN; IRANIAN PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD AND THE HOLOCAUST; 
01/05/07; BUENOS AIRES 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Today's key international stories include Democrats taking control 
of both the US House of Representatives and Senate for the first 
time in a dozen years; Rep. Nancy Pelosi's selection as the first 
woman House leader in US history; Pelosi's statements about 
revisiting ties between the US and Latin America; the US-Argentine 
bilateral relationship; and the ever-present tension in the Middle 
East. 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries one op-ed story on Saddam 
Hussein's execution and another on Iranian President Ahmadinejad's 
statements about the Holocaust. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES 
 
- "The most powerful woman in the United States asks to revisit 
US-Latin American ties" 
 
Mariano Zucchi, columnist of leading "Clarin," writes (01/05) "Nancy 
Pelosi became the first woman House leader in US history... Today, 
she is considered the most powerful woman in the country because 
apart from being the spokesperson and leader of the representatives 
who will contend with the Bush administration, she is second in the 
presidential succession line after VP Dick Cheney. 
 
"During an (e-mail) interview with 'Clarin,' she reiterated that 
resuming talks with Iran and Syria is necessary to stabilizing the 
Middle East, something that is rejected by US President Bush. She 
also asserted that Republicans overlooked ties with Latin America 
and voiced her support for free trade agreements with South American 
countries. 
 
"Asked what Democrats can do to reverse the deep anti-US feeling in 
the world raised by the war in Iraq, Pelosi answered 'The war in 
Iraq, the  unilateral approach to it and some operational aspects, 
particularly the abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib, have damaged the 
US image in the world. In order to repair this damage, we need to 
commit ourselves to a multilateral approach and international 
institutions.' 
 
"... Regarding the changes that Democrats could bring  into 
US-Latin American relations now that they are in control of Capitol 
Hill, Pelosi said 'We need to strengthen our ties with our Latin 
American neighbors. Efforts should also be focused on a strong 
bilateral commitment to economic development, democratic 
institutions, health care and education.'" 
 
- "A leader" 
 
Paula Lugones, international columnist of leading "Clarin," writes 
(01/05) "Neither Condoleezza Rice nor Hillary Clinton is today the 
most powerful woman in US politics but Nancy Pelosi. She is not only 
second  in the presidential succession line (after VP Dick Cheney) 
but also the 'face' of the opposition that will  put George W. Bush 
between the devil and the deep blue see during the last two years of 
his presidency. 
 
"She is also the one to instruct legislators to vote critical 
measures such as sending or withdrawing US troops to and from Iraq, 
or solving the situation of undocumented immigrants. Above all, she 
will be in charge of bargaining with and setting limits on a 
president that usually makes decisions (some of them wrong, as we 
all know) alone or supported by a small group of friends." 
 
- "Hoods and gallows" 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed piece by contributor 
Mex Urtizberea, who writes (01/05) "... The picture of a hooded 
group  hanging a man (even  a despicable dictator) in the name of 
the civilized world, with full consent of the international 
community and presented as  lawful action, has prompted no 
reflection in me but a deep feeling of shame for them. 
 
"... The method and the concept are shameful, as well as the hoods 
and the applause. 
 
"Both dictators just like the hanged man as well as the 
self-proclaimed owners of democracy (who end up using barbarism to 
fight barbarism) are shameful. 
 
"... If justice remains the action of hanging a man, then let us not 
fall under delusion- the world has made no progress at all." 
 
- "The return of fascism" 
 
 
 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed story by Bernardo 
Kliksberg, honorary professor at the National University of Buenos 
Aires, who says(01/05) "David Duke, the most well-known racist in 
the US, formerly a major teacher of the Ku Klux Klan, is back, as 
well as Roberto Faurisson, European racist leader, Wolfgang 
Frhlich, Austrian neo-Nazi leader, George Kadar, and Georges 
Thiel... Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rescued them from 
forgetfulness when he and other well-known fascists and neo-Nazis 
organized a seminar last December to show the world that the 
Holocaust was a myth. 
 
"... According to the most prominent historians of the Holocaust, 
this could not have been possible without the silence of  a big part 
of the world. In those countries where people rejected genocide such 
as Denmark and Bulgaria, a large number of Jewish lives were saved. 
It would be immoral if the (Ahmadinejad's) call to wipe out memories 
of the Holocaust and destroy Israel is supported once more by the 
silence of many. The time has come to make the voice of free men and 
women heard to bring back the memory while showing that new forms of 
racism and genocide will no longer escape unpunished" 
 
- "Argentina's domestic priority in foreign policy" 
 
Jorge Elias, political columnist of daily-of-record "La Nacion," 
comments (01/05) "... In 2003, Bush wanted to know whether Argentine 
President Nestor Kirchner was a leftist. Kirchner said 'I am a 
Peronist.' 
 
"In a little more than three years, Bush understood that (Kirchner's 
mention of) his Peronist affiliation had not been an overstatement 
of his ideology but a sign of pragmatism... 
 
"The Latin American left wing did not represent a problem for Bush. 
Populism was in fact a problem and by correlation, the impaired 
image of the US. In Bush's eyes, Kirchner was a pragmatic who 
definitely had on his desk (information on) the Central Bank 
reserves, the country's trade balance, its energy stock and the 
government revenues... 
 
"In Bolivia (where he, Chavez and Lula supported Evo Morales), 
Kirchner proved through his participation in the crises of the Mesa 
administration that he was to be reliable. 
 
"... On the brink of mid-term elections, Bush started the last two 
years of office without a Republican majority on Capitol Hill. As 
soon as his new Ambassador to Argentina, Earl Anthony Wayne, landed 
in Buenos Aires, he deployed a hectic agenda of meetings with 
ministers and government officals in order to recover ground." 
 
¶3. EDITORIALS 
 
- "Tension in the Middle East" 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" editorializes (01/05) "The situation in 
the Middle East continues raising great concern. On the one hand, 
Saddam Hussein's execution does not seem to have changed the fragile 
situation in Iraq, which is still merged into an extremely violent 
sectarian war between Shiites and Sunnites. And, on the other hand, 
in Lebanon, a crowd made up by Lebanese and Palestinian Shiites 
under the command of Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, 
seem to have successfully besieged PM Fouad Siniora's administration 
and demanded Siniora's resignation. Shiites are roughly only 
one-third of the Lebanese people and they are supported by Iran and 
Syria, which are, in turn, backed by Hezbollah. 
 
"However, Fouad Siniora, with the outright support of Saudi Arabia, 
the US and most of the people of his country, is not willing to 
resign or compromise. He wants the dispute to be solved on a 
negotiating table without any sort of foreign pressure. 
 
"... Furthermore, the complicated situation in Palestinian 
territories ... Amid deprivation, armed clashes between supporters 
of Fatah and Hamas have taken place... Now, this confrontation is 
seemingly over and Palestinians are heading for elections with no 
certain date. 
 
"Meanwhile, Iran is arming Hamas and Egypt with Israel's consensus, 
and delivers weapons to Fatah... Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, who has 
recently met with Abbas, has attempted to spur a peace process 
already stalled for months... 
 
"This situation reveals that the Middle East confrontation is today 
the most difficult and dangerous conflict to be solved by the 
international community. Far from finding a road to peace, events 
 
 
 
made clear that some related points of potential violence should be 
simultaneously tackled. 
 
"The weakened stance of the US resulting from its intervention in 
Iraq calls for firm action by the international community heading in 
every aspect towards peace while including the UN, where Korean Ban 
Ki-Moon has taken office as Secretary General." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
WAYNE