VZCZCXYZ0021
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #0089 0361446
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 051446Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6362
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7452
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 7758
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2701

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000089 
 
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: MIDEAST: IRAN; GLOBAL ECONOMY: IPCC REPORT; 
SAO PAULO 
 
 
¶1. "Bush Helps Ahmadinejad" 
 
Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo's 
Washington correspondent Sergio Davila commented (2/5): "The Iranian 
medium class imposed a political defeat on President Mahmoud 
Ahmdinejad in recent elections because he failed to fulfill his 
promise of economic recovery.  The base of that radical president, 
who is trying to gain popularity domestically and relevance overseas 
with nuclear bravado, has been gradually corroded.... Like the 
Americans, the Iranians also love their children. Left alone, they 
will know how to change the course of their nation from the inside. 
Threatened by a foreign policy, they will unite - even around 
Ahmadinejad.  This is what George W. Bush is doing with his rhetoric 
of escalation and actions." 
 
¶2. "Era Of Uncertainty" 
 
Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo (2/4) 
editorialized: "There is no rational doubt about what is going on. 
It is no longer debatable whether the burning  of fossil fuels and 
other human activities are or are not the main causes for the 
phenomenon [global warming]. The IPCC report states that there is 90 
percent certainty about that.... The document says that the world 
climate system warming is 'unequivocal'.... Those who prefer to turn 
their eyes to the 10 percent of uncertainty scrupulously noted by 
the IPCC scientists will be committing a mistake if they make it a 
pretext to ignore the problem.  The climate change has come to stay, 
and the emphatic sign implicit in the report must be seen as a 
landmark: the cost of inaction will much probably be greater than 
that of action.... With the US's reticence in adopting the Kyoto 
Protocol, the document has become an almost worthless agreement.  An 
international effort must now concentrate in the treaty's second 
period. It is necessary that the new goals to be assumed by the 
international community reflect the seriousness of the IPCC 
confirmations and projections." 
 
¶3. "Too Hot" 
 
Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo's 
Newsroom Secretary Vinicius Torres Freire opined (2/4): "The climate 
crisis is indeed a tragedy.... Which group, class or nation with 
power and influence is really concerned with this fact?  One has to 
take into consideration a topic that interests the global power: 
trade.  For years, means have been negotiated to eliminate the 
protection that rich nations give to two percent of their 
populations, the portion that lives from agriculture, barring the 
products of billions of poor farmers around the world.... What's 
next?  A UN climate agency to be undermined by the US? Will the US 
give up gorging itself with beef, gasoline, steel and plastic...? 
Will China give any importance to those who want to prevent it from 
ascending hundreds of millions to the medium class massively 
consuming natural resources?.... In Darfur, thousands of starving 
refugees have been systematically massacred by militias supported by 
the Sudanese government. Somalia, was invaded by Ethiopia, with the 
US support on behalf of the 'war on terrorism.' American top guns 
killed dozens of Muslim Somalis. Almost no one cares or complains 
about violation of international laws.... The climate is hot as 
always for 70 percent of humanity.  If the air conditioning is 
turned on, it will be to refresh only the habitual minority." 
 
McMullen