VZCZCXYZ0011
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0632/01 0941837
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 041837Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7729
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000632 
 
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: MEDIA REACTION; HOUSE SPEAKER PELOSI'S TRIP TO SYRIA; 
US-ARGENTINE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP; US-LATIN AMERICAN TIES; 
04/04/07 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Today's local papers focus on the alleged irritation triggered in 
the White House by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria; a 
predicted overhaul in the US-Argentine bilateral relationship; and 
possible implications of the US-Brazilian bio-fuels deal on US-Latin 
American ties. Leading "Clarin's" Washington-based correspondent 
reports that former Army Major Guillermo Barreiro was arrested 
yesterday in Virginia. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES 
 
- "Bush is irritated over a Democratic delegation's trip to Syria" 
 
Leonardo Mindez, on special assignment in Washington DC for leading 
"Clarin," penned (04/04) "The dispute between US President George W. 
Bush and Capitol Hill, which is dominated by the Democratic 
opposition, is getting worse by the day. The White House's Head 
harshly criticized yesterday the trip made by House Speaker Nancy 
Pelosi to Syria... 
 
"According to Bush, 'We make it clear to high-ranking government 
officials, whether Republicans or Democrats, that traveling to Syria 
conveys a confusing message.' 
 
"The US President added that 'photo-opportunities or encounters with 
President (Bashar) Assad lead him to think that Syria is part of the 
international community when in fact it is a country harboring 
terrorists.' 
 
"...There was a new episode in the spat between the US President and 
Capitol Hill over the war in Iraq yesterday when Bush urged 
legislators to suspend their two-week spring break, put an end to 
their 'dangerous political dance' and immediately approve an 
additional 100-billion-dollar budget for war expenditures, which he 
requested about two months ago... 
 
"The White House asked Capitol Hill to authorize the expenditures 
without any condition whatsoever. And this is precisely the problem, 
because both the House and the Senate did approve both draft bills 
grantin funds, but conditioned them to a series of achievements 
that should occur in Iraq and set a troop withdrawal schedule that 
should take place sometime between March 31, 2008 (according to the 
Senate) and August 31, 2008 (according to the House)." 
 
- "Buenos Aires and Washington - a New Direction" 
 
Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, professor of International Relations at 
University of San Andres, opines (04/04) "In the event Buenos Aires 
and Washington decided to revisit their ties, they would do it for 
political rather than economic reasons. 
 
"... The Major Non NATO Ally (MNNA) status should be strictly 
assessed in order to understand its importance in the US foreign and 
defense policy and its extent for the country that is granted such a 
status... 
 
"First and foremost, not every country has the same importance for 
the US... Secondly, there is no parallel between being granted the 
MNNA status and receiving some kind of military equipment. Third, 
when assessing regional dynamics, one sees how the US strategic 
preferences work...  In the case of Argentina, the greatest military 
deployment in the UN framework was closely tied to the end of 
authoritarianism, the Armed Forces' overhaul, the importance granted 
to the human rights issue and a political willingness to more 
actively commit to the UN (purposes). Fifth, the tangible benefits 
coming out from the MNNA status are not noteworthy... 
 
"Bearing in mind all this and due to the frictions following the 
2005 IV Mar del Plata Summit, and Hugo Chavez's latest rally in 
Ferro, we should expect Washington and Buenos Aires to revisit the 
immediate future of the US-Argentine bilateral relationship. 
 
These days, the US is frustrated with most of the governments, 
whether near or far. Nevertheless, the Argentine case is one of the 
most complex ones. The prevailing annoyance in the US Department of 
State with the Kirchner administration is unlikely to impact 
economic issues. U/S Nicholas Burns may feel very frustrated, but he 
would hardly ask the US private sector to invest less in the country 
or creditors not to come to terms to collect what is owed to them. 
 
"... For its part, the Kirchner administration has not taken any 
important step against US investment, and nothing indicates that it 
is planning to nationalize US corporations or seize their assets. 
Neither Peronism nor Kirchner is socialist or anti-US. They are both 
pragmatic... 
 
 
 
"Therefore, the redefinition of the US-Argentine relationship, if it 
happens, will be political. In this regard, the MNNA status could 
be, as it was in the '90s, symbolically relevant. 
 
"Will Washington want to show its relative irritation with the 
current government by withdrawing the MNNA status it granted to 
it?... Will it use such a step to impact other Latin American 
countries as a sign that from now on the US will not accept any more 
hesitation in handling the Chavez phenomenon? 
 
"Or, just the opposite, will the Kirchner administration want to 
notify Washington that it is no longer interested in keeping such a 
status?.. 
 
"... If both the White House and the Argentine Government decide not 
to agitate the waters, we could be entering a special 'modus 
vivendi' between the US and Argentina - neither intimate nor minimal 
relations, but cautiously practical ones." 
 
- "The Road to Isolation" 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an op-ed page by Jorge Castro, 
head of the Strategic Planning Institute, who comments (04/04) "The 
critical statements made by the number three at the US Department of 
State, Nicholas Burns, about the Argentine Government's support for 
Hugo Chavez's anti-Bush rally... reflect the change in the US 
foreign policy on Latin America... 
 
"... Following the September 11 attacks, Latin America as a whole, 
and particularly South America, stopped being a strategic priority 
for Washington in its struggle against transnational terrorism. This 
favored Chavez's progress in the region. 
 
"... Washington is now revisiting its ties to South America and, for 
this purpose, it is rehearsing a new scheme based on a strategic 
deal with Brazil on bio-fuels in the framework of a 180-degree turn 
in its post September 11 foreign policy. This deal with Brazil is 
vital for the US national security because a good amount of the oil 
the US receives from abroad comes from unstable or hostile countries 
in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America (Venezuela). 
 
"... Obviously enough, the country (Argentina) has a gigantic 
potentiality in the development of bio-fuels... If, through a 
confrontational rhetoric, the country abstains from it, it will 
deepen its international irrelevance and isolation from the world... 
Burns' statements reveal that, following the November 6 elections, 
the US has again focused on South America, and this is why incidents 
that until recently would have passed unnoticed by the White House, 
are now politically relevant." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
WAYNE