VZCZCXYZ0014
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1868/01 2611719
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 181719Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9273
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001868 
 
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; NORTHERN ROCK CASE; STRUGGLE AGAINST DRUGS; 
CORRUPTION; 09/18/07 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Leading international stories today include the political and 
economic implications of the Northern Rock case; a USG report on 
drug trafficking; and the threat posed by corruption to democracy 
and capitalism. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS 
 
- "Signs of a gloomy future for world economics" 
 
Oscar Ral Cardoso, international analyst of leading "Clarn," 
comments (09/18) "... The Bank of England's rescue operation for 
Northern Rock, which was aimed at stemming the liquidity crisis, 
revealed a problem whose nexus was the US real estate loan market. 
Until the moment nervous holders of savings accounts started forming 
lines at Northern Rock branches in England, the belief had existed 
that the problem belonged to the US and not to Europe. This fiction 
of insularity is something globalization does not accept, as has 
been seen. 
 
"... Not even a powerful and hegemonic economy as that of the US can 
only be analyzed within its own borders. Other powerful forces in 
different parts of the world can affect it and if one does not take 
these into account, any analysis will prove wrong. 
 
"There are all kinds of signs. It is apparent that the 'bubble' game 
Americans have played during recent years with their real estate 
sector was possible because of the State's inability or 
unwillingness to regulate it, thereby allowing all kinds of alchemy 
with mortgage credits. This is another simple truth that many do not 
want to accept. 
 
"US Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., warned yesterday from 
Paris that new financial controls should not be fostered. He said: 
'We should not overreact to current problems,' although he had to 
admit that those difficulties 'will be with us for a long time.' 
 
"Something that has changed is that now USG officials and economists 
do not insist that there is no financial crisis at all and that, at 
most, there could be a soft landing for the real estate sector. The 
naove speech has been left behind." 
 
- "US criticism of the anti-drug struggle" 
 
Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for 
daily-of-record "La Nacisn," writes (09/18) "After a few weeks of 
relative calm, the US yesterday opened another potential front of 
public confrontation with Hugo Chvez by including Venezuela (for 
three years in a row) in the group of countries that has 'clearly 
failed' in the fighting drugs. 
 
"The list is part of the yearly report the Bush administration must 
send to Congress on challenges and accomplishments in the fight 
against drugs all over the world. Nevertheless, Venezuela was 
explicitly mentioned among the nations with the least progress along 
with other countries like Afghanistan and Burma. 
 
"... The Bush administration states that Caracas refused to sign a 
'letter of understanding' to improve anti-drug cooperation, while 
Bolivia 'is on its way' to eradicating 5,600 hectares of coca this 
year, although it needs 'to improve' its achievements in the fight 
against drugs... 
 
"Christy McCampbell, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International 
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, said: 'The US strongly 
encourages Bolivia to prioritize the reduction or removal of 
excessive coca crops.' 
 
"The USG official also asked Bolivia... to reinforce its drug 
control strategy, pass 'modern' legislation against money laundering 
and terrorist financing, as well as improve its assets confiscation 
programs. 
 
"McCampbell termed the controversial Plan Colombia an 'absolute 
success,' with which 'the US cooperation has much to do...' 
 
"Ecuador was also criticized due to the 'drastic increase' in the 
amount of cocaine found on 'Ecuadoran ships' heading for the US, the 
principal world consumer of illegal drugs. In contrast, the report 
praises Mexico's anti-drug efforts, with which the US is negotiating 
a cooperation program." 
 
- "The more corruption, the more lack of security" 
 
Leading "Clarn" carries an op-ed piece by Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, 
professor of International Relations at Universidad San Andrs, who 
 
opines (09/18) "During the Cold War there was a tacit relationship 
between corruption and security... There was a usual assumption that 
corruption was functional because through it one could guarantee the 
power of some deeply anti-Communist actors... 
 
"The tolerance of the West in general and of the US in particular 
towards authoritarian regimes in 'peripheral' countries, as well as 
some development of multilateral commitments to fighting corruption 
proved how East-West logic influenced all social, economic, 
political and military issues of the time. If the US motto was then 
'better dead than red', the global motto could be summarized as 
'better some corruption than any change at all.' 
 
"The post-Cold War opened a window of opportunity for a substantial 
re-assessment of corruption... However, concrete progress in the 
North as well as in the South has been meager. 
 
"In this regard, it would be positive to reopen a debate on 
corruption by expressly linking it to the security issue, not 
traditional state security, the effects of which were so deplorable 
for ordinary people, but to human security. 
 
"This implies an approach to security focused on individuals, on the 
protection of their rights and liberties, and on a more dignified 
life for regular people, and on reducing the vulnerabilities of 
human groups... 
 
"... The time has come to seriously rethink the corruption issue in 
Argentina. For this purpose, it is important to deeply change... the 
approach to the issue, which could contribute to its politicization 
in the best sense... 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
KELLY