VZCZCXYZ0006
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1608/01 2281532
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161532Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8937
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001608 
 
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; VENEZUELAN-ARGENTINE TIES; 08/15/07 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Today's international leading stories are related to the current 
status of the Argentine-Venezuelan relationship in the aftermath of 
the suitcase-scandal and its impact on Cristina Kirchner's chances 
to win the Argentine presidency. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS 
 
- "Chvez and the 'Boli(varian)-oligarchy'" 
 
Leading "Clarin's" general editor, Ricardo Kirschbaum, writes 
(08/15) "Hugo Chvez is one of the central issues of the (Argentine) 
election campaign, either the result of unusual characteristics the 
opposition likes to exploit in the Venezuelan President, such as his 
authoritarianism or attempts to exercise regional hegemony or to 
certain political eccentricities... 
 
"Chvez is not a product that the Venezuelan political parties can 
disregard. Furthermore, Chvez is an outcome of Venezuela's 
broken-down political system... Chavism made up for the shortfalls 
and miseries of Venezuelan politics itself. 
 
"... There is an ideological issue in the debate... and Chvez fuels 
the fire to increase the controversy - he knows he is supported by 
large popular segments of his country and his provocative game 
largely surpasses all limits. Both his alliance with Iran and Cuba 
and his open trade relationship with the US reveal that he is an 
old-fashioned Napoleonic leader. 
 
"There is a term that has been created to feature those who are 
favored by Chvez's policies. It is the 'Boli(varian)-oligarchy'... 
- the new wealthy sector that is fed by 'Bolivarian Socialism.' Many 
of them depend on the very rich state oil company." 
 
- "Fracas with Caracas?" 
 
 
An editorial in liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald" 
reads (08/15) "Venezuela's Hugo Chvez is famous for constantly 
demonizing the US while supplying a crucial eighth of its oil needs 
- could the Nstor Kirchner administration be entering into a 
similarly two-faced relationship with Venezuela, criticizing Chvez 
for not offering an explanation or even apology for the 
dollar-filled suitcase... which has become an electoral 
embarrassment while at the same time eagerly accepting Venezuela as 
a debt bond purchaser...? If the electoral embarrassment is 
survived, it could become a crucial defining feature of a future 
Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner presidency whether Venezuela serves a 
scapegoat function or whether the estrangement is more genuine. 
 
"Regardless of the ultimate future of ties with Venezuela or the 
justice of solely blaming Chvez for the undeclared 800,000 dollars 
aboard an aircraft chartered by an Argentine state agency, a hard 
line with Venezuela certainly presents a chance to convert crisis 
into opportunity. Mrs. Kirchner can hardly preen herself as a 
champion of institutional quality... while deepening ties with a 
country governed by a paratrooper where the institutional mechanisms 
are so weak that there is no curiosity about almost a million 
dollars being undeclared. Quite apart from being a distraction from 
the government's share in the corruption, Venezuela-bashing might 
well prove a profitable electoral strategy, attracting many votes 
among the crucial middle class. Almost the only votes at risk would 
be the pro-Chvez pickets..., but such groups have always been 
important for their nuisance value rather than their votes... 
 
"But the potential should not be merely electoral - this should be a 
golden opportunity for the presidential candidate to convert into 
reality her slogan - 'The change is only just beginning.' And 
towards that end the withdrawal of the first judge in the case under 
the pressure of the Customs head is hardly the best start." 
 
- "The diplomacy of suitcases" 
 
Business-financial "El Cronista" carries an opinion piece by 
political analyst Julio Burdman, who writes (08/15) "... The 
suitcase-diplomacy phenomenon, also known as 'dollar diplomacy,' is 
typical of those countries which need to purchase international 
reputation and acceptance... 
 
"... The problem of the Venezuela of Chavez is not diplomatic 
acknowledgement but reputation. It needs friends. It is a country 
ruled by a hegemonic, authoritarian and militarist government, which 
makes it vulnerable to international isolation. While its president 
was popularly elected, the status of democracy in Venezuela could 
well jeopardize its belonging to Mercosur, the OAS and every other 
international forum having a democratic clause, as well as deserve 
criticism from its Latin American counterparts. All this could not 
only impair its foreign policy opportunities but basically its 
domestic legitimacy, which is ruled by the law of oil-politics. 
 
"This framework and the Bolivarian's ambitions of international 
leadership led Chvez to project 2007 public expenditure and 
investment abroad for almost 50 billion dollars." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
WAYNE