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O 121139Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6406
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7496
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 7780
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: WESTERN HEMISPHERE: VISITS OF NICHOLAS 
BURNS AND GEORGE BUSH TO BRAZIL; SAO PAULO 
 
 
¶1. "There is No 'Free' Alliance" 
 
Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo's 
International Editor Claudia Antunes commented (2/12): "The failed 
occupation of Iraq led many international relations experts in the 
US to conclude that the Americans, different from the British and 
the French in the past, have no appetite for classic colonialism. 
Immediately after the occupation, a thesis was disseminated 
according to which a division of tasks would be necessary: the US 
would provide the force and its allies, led by the Europeans, would 
be responsible for the 'construction of states.' It is in this 
scenario that Under Secretary Nicholas Burns' recent statement in 
Sao Paulo, that Brazil must think about becoming a 'global security 
provider,' is inserted. Someone must perform 'humanitarian' tasks so 
that Washington can intervene in 'bankrupted states' - but such 
manpower is lacking.... Burns' discreet suggestion subtly included 
in Bush's 'positive agenda' for South America is a good reminder for 
those who believe in the feasibility of a total alignment with the 
US.... The US is unquestionably the world's largest economy and the 
only military power. But the brief 'unipolar moment' that followed 
the Cold War no longer exists.  The euphoria of global growth and 
economic interdependence may disguise reality, but what one can see 
is an accumulation of forces everywhere for a disturbed future.  It 
is hard to imagine alliances that are not tactical." 
 
¶2. "Ethanol Brings the US Closer To Brazil" 
 
Center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo 
remarked (2/11): "Under Secretary Nicholas Burns' visit to Brazil 
last week made clear that the US wants Brazil to become its 
privileged interlocutor in South America.  In this context, the 
Brazilian know-how in ethanol production is working as a bridge in 
the rapprochement between the Bush and Lula administrations.  In 
addition to its diplomatic importance, this alliance may represent 
an encouragement to the marketing of ethanol as a fuel at the very 
moment when the world is discussing alternatives to the use of oil. 
President Bush will visit Brazil in March to settle this strategic 
rapprochement with the Lula administration. He has already made 
clear in several speeches his intention of reducing the US 
dependence on oil." 
 
¶3. "Bush will Bring Investment" 
 
Economic columnist Alberto Tamer maintained in center-right national 
circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo (2/12): "Brazil has an 
immense possibility of opening a new market in the US. It is a so 
important an opportunity that Bush will visit Brazil mainly to 
negotiate agreements to bring investments to the Brazilian ethanol 
sector.... He wants to buy our ethanol as soon as possible. Not that 
he loves Brazil, but because for the first time in recent history 
the US needs our ethanol, our biomass, as much as we can produce. 
This is another consequence of the Iraqi war and the boom of oil 
prices.... Bush is not speaking alone.... Major investors such as 
George Soros and Bill Gates have entered the ethanol business, first 
in California and now in Brazil.... The Virgin Group has plans to 
invest USD 400 million and build ethanol plants in the US. And this 
is just the beginning.  The future for agribusiness and Brazil is 
near. We must know how to act and not make mistakes again, as we 
have always done - especially under this government obstinate in its 
anti-American ideology." 
McMullen