VZCZCXYZ0017
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #0785 2671301
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 241301Z SEP 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7496
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 8610
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 8341
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2909

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000785 
 
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:  Western Hemisphere: Venezuela, Chvez's 
regional influence; Sao Paulo 
 
 
¶1. "Difficult Dialogue With Chvez's Venezuela" 
 
Business-oriented Valor Econtmico (9/24) editorialized: "Presidents 
Hugo Chvez and Lula da Silva resumed in Manaus embraces and 
friendly public declarations following a tense separation period 
that began in May when the Venezuelan accused the Brazilian Senate 
of parroting the U.S. Congress. They spoke about integration and 
joint projects, but the lack of smiles between them was not the only 
indication that Chvez's tone is still above of what it is expected 
from a strategic South American partner. There is today a clear 
climate of mistrust between the two governments. It becomes evident 
when Chvez says that he will create a Bank of the South in Caracas 
without discussing the issue with the GOB; or when he declares that 
the delay in joint project negotiations between state-owned oil 
companies Petrobras and PDVSA is 'shameful'.... Chvez is not happy 
with the Lula administration's moderate behavior and market-oriented 
inclination, and this is one of the reasons for the Venezuelan to 
accuse once again Mercosul of being an 'old commercial mechanism' 
that does not serve South American integration. While Chvez may 
have a relevant role in Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay as a 
petrodollars provider, his influence in Brazil does not go beyond 
the enchantment he causes among certain leftist circles and the 
major interest of the business sector looking for good profit 
opportunities in Venezuela.... The problem for Lula is how to deal 
with a neighbor whose Bolivarian socialist project may seriously 
conflict with the South American model of integration dreamed of in 
Brasilia.... The same way that it would not be right to permit that 
Chvez's Bolivarian project dictate the course of bilateral 
relations, it is not wise to ignore Venezuela as a response to its 
president's inflammable rhetoric." 
 
¶2. "Losing Patience With Chvez" 
 
Center-right national circulation daily O Estado de S. Paulo 
remarked (9/22): "Why is it that in all the pictures in the 
Brazilian media showing the Lula-Chvez meeting in Manaus the 
Brazilian president looks like he is experiencing a bad moment 
beside his almost always inconvenient interlocutor?.... According to 
rumors in Brasilia, Lula is losing his patience with the Venezuelan 
autocrat, who, incidentally, is a boring person.... The energy 
cooperation between Brazil and Venezuela has been so full of 
misunderstandings that the Manaus meeting was called exactly to 
discuss the current relationship between the two nations.... The 
Colombian question is another issue that may create further friction 
with Chvez - if Lula does the right thing. Brazil should not have 
accepted to host negotiations between Chvez, the Colombian 
government and the FARC narco-guerrilla.... The announced Brazilian 
initiative is a dangerous imprudence because it has the potential of 
creating unexpected and unnecessary problems." 
White