VZCZCXYZ0010
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1319/01 1911608
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101608Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8607
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001319 
 
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
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION; RICE-BUSH ON U.S.-LATAM RELATIONS; BUENOS 
AIRES 07/10/07 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Key stories carry Secretary Rice's declarations on U.S. relations 
with the hemisphere, in the framework of the White House Conference 
of the Americas, in which she highlights the ties with Brazil and 
Chile as 'extraordinarily good' while those with Argentina are 
'different but equally good.' 
 
¶2. KEY STORIES AND OPINION PIECES 
 
- "U.S. Admits Better Relations with Chile and Brazil than Those 
with Argentina" 
 
Leonardo Mindez, leading "Clarin" Washington-based stringer, says 
(07/10/07) "Venezuelan President Chavez is the 'Nemesis' and his 
criticism 'doesn't worry us.' Mexico, Chile and Brazil are friends 
with whom we have 'extraordinarily good ties.' Argentina is one step 
below: 'relations are different, but equally good.' This is roughly 
the present status of U.S.-Latam relations, according to the 
description made yesterday by Secretary Rice. 
 
"At a press conference, Rice remembered her country was 'the one 
that most supported Argentina during hard times,' suggesting, with 
concealed grudge, certain ungratefulness from the Kirchner 
administration. 
 
"Rice's words confirmed what several officials have been silently 
admitting of late, and other former officials and analysts openly 
explain: the clear division between those governments in the 
hemisphere which the White House considers reliable; those which 
belong to an alarming axis (Chavez, Evo, Correa and Ortega), and 
Argentina, in a delicate balance between both groups. With Chile, 
the U.S. maintains preferential trade agreements and, in the case of 
Brazil, the White House has always considered it the subcontinent's 
leading country. 
 
"Everyone knows that between George Bush and Nestor Kirchner there 
never was -- and seems there won't ever be -- a good relationship. 
But even so, what people here value is cooperation between the two 
countries on sensitive issues to Washington, such as the fight 
against terrorism and progress in the AMIA case. In Rice's words, 
the U.S. and Argentina 'haven't always greed (on issues)' but now 
maintain 'a good relationship.' 
 
"It was an unusual day, on which Rice and Bush himself referred to 
Latin America. They didn't show any new cards, but the way things 
were staged clearly indicates Washington's concern for the 
ideological U-turn which took place in the region in recent years. 
 
".... While Rice assured the U.S. 'has a positive agenda' for Latin 
America 'that has little to do with their concern over Chavez' 
criticism', Bush also referred to that 'positive agenda' at the 
opening of the White House Conference on the curious topic 
'Advancing Social Justice in the Americas'... The entire event, in 
fact, seemed to conceal with new words the only regional policy the 
Bush administration has been consistently developing from the start: 
the promotion of free trade agreements (but without changing farm 
subsidies.) 
 
"....The most honest declarations (came from) U/S Karen Hughes... 
She said that when Bush offered her the position, he had asked her 
for Latam to be one of 'her priorities'. And this is what 
yesterday's pompous event was all about: sheer public diplomacy." 
 
- "U.S. Criticizes the GoA" 
 
Hugo Alconada Mon, daily-of-record "La Nacion" Washington-based 
correspondent, writes (07/10) "In her declarations to La Nacion, 
Rice said 'I hope that while Argentina looks to the future, it will 
protect free market principles that produce growth in the rest of 
the region.' Without mentioning the GOA, but in what appears to be 
an unequivocal reference, she also urges the country to avoid 'short 
term solutions for long term problems,' because, sooner or later, 
these problems 'always return to torture.' 
 
"Rice pointed out that Argentina 'must pay attention to the real 
means for moving forward', such as 'free markets, free trade, open 
economies and the creation of jobs based on the economy's real 
performance,' which is far away from State intervention. 'If there 
was something we learned at a global level, it is that growth from 
the private and not the public sector is the true engine of economic 
development,' she assured yesterday (in the context of the White 
House Conference on the Americas, inaugurated by President Bush.) 
 
"Rice said the U.S. has 'excellent' relations with Mexico, Brazil, 
Uruguay and Chile; bad or null relations with Venezuela or Cuba, and 
certain 'differences' with Argentina, a country she praised for its 
 
debt swap and the political stability achieved after the downfall at 
the end of 2001 and beginning of 2002. But she also expressed her 
complaint. The country, she says, seems to have forgotten how much 
the U.S. helped it during that crisis. 
 
"Kind and cautious, however, Rice avoided mentioning Kirchner.... 
 
"Her message for the Argentine people is that 'you have a friend in 
the U.S., like we have proven over and over again.... 
 
"And on Venezuela, she underscored the U.S. has 'a positive agenda 
for Latin America, which has little to do with Chavez' criticism. 
It's a positive agenda... that has to do with democratic stability, 
health and education." 
 
- "Words and Facts" 
 
Pablo Biffi, leading "Clarin" international columnist, opines 
(07/10) "In politics, words are only words. What counts, at the time 
of understanding relations and reactions, are facts; and, to a 
certain extent, these explain the lack of positive support the U.S. 
and its government have in the region. What have undermined the U.S. 
image in Latin America are its attempts to impose FTAA or trade 
agreements that aren't too favorable for local producers (such as 
the FTA's in Colombia and Peru). Additionally, it's also a foreign 
policy that's too aggressive, which exceeds the region, and which 
has led the U.S. to the quagmire of Iraq, the Middle East and 
Afghanistan." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
WAYNE