VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #0371 1241028
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 041028Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6861
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7994
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 8027
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2775

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000371 
 
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: EUROPE: FRANCE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION; SAO 
PAULO 
 
 
"Post-Gaullist France Will Be More Rational" 
 
Center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo's Paris 
correspondent Giles Lapouge commented (5/4): "Ten days after 
Sunday's election, Jacques Chirac will depart after 12 years as 
France's president. France will then initiate a new chapter in its 
history.  Who will be responsible for leading the nation to that 
unknown scenario?  Wednesday's debate between obstinate rightist 
Nicolas Sarkozy and leftist Madonna Sgolhne Royal did not clarify 
it.... Both entered politics after Charles de Gaulle's death, and 
there will be a turning point in this regard.... France is expected 
to enter the post-Gaullism era [whoever the winner will be]. A new 
generation, a new memory and a new future! The relation with the US 
will be more tranquil. Relations with Africa, Israel and the Arab 
nations are also expected to change. So far these relations were 
poisoned by the Gaullist idea of France's grandeur, of its almost 
divine mission in history. Both the socialist and the rightist will 
create a diplomacy that is expected to be more rational, more 
realistic, less rigid and less inspired by the anti-Americanism 
sentiment with which De Gaulle contaminated all his successors 
(expect for Giscard d'Estaing)." 
McMullen