VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1080/01 2711824
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281824Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4405
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001080 
 
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: ARGENTINA AT THE G20 SUMMIT; US-ARGENTINE 
TIES; IRANIAN REACTION TO ARGENTINE DEMAND ON THE AMIA ATTACK; 
BRAZIL'S LEADING ROLE IN THE HONDURAN CRISIS; 09/28/09; BUENOS 
AIRES 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
Weekend international opinion pieces are mostly related to 
Argentina's bid  to position itself for a return to international 
capital markets; the status of the US-Argentine bilateral 
relationship; Iranian President Ahmadinejad's blunt rejection of 
Argentine President Kirchner's demand to extradite those Iranian 
citizens involved in the criminal assault against the AMIA; and 
Brazil's leading role in the Honduran crisis. 
 
¶2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS 
 
- "Argentina signs G20 statement and agrees to IMF controls" 
 
Leading "Clarin's" columnist Walter Curia, on special assignment in 
Pittsburg, writes (09/26), "In an unexpected turn, Argentina 
committed yesterday to letting the IMF regularly assess the status 
of its economy so that it is in line with the commitments undertaken 
at the G20 Summit... 
 
"According to the statement, the Finance Ministers of the Group will 
make progress on a 'mutual consultation' procedure to evaluate the 
'collective impact' of their economic policies on world economy. 
 
"The Government has opposed any kind of IMF audit ever since it 
cancelled the country's debt to the multilateral lending agency in 
¶2005. The rejection of a regular audit of its economy as per IMF 
Article Four is against Argentina's financial needs and hinders the 
country's negotiations to pay back its debt to the Paris Club and 
holdouts (bondholders who refused to participate in the 2005 
restructuring of the defaulted debt). 
 
"A high-ranking source in the Argentine Government who was consulted 
by 'Clarin' admitted that Argentina agreed to the IMF review... but 
'this will not change the direction of our economic policy.' 
 
"However, the commitment could have an unexpected implication for 
Argentina, whose statistics are truly vulnerable. 
 
"In two recent IMF reports on world economic prospects, the IMF 
accepted the (Argentine) Government's inflation rate, although it 
included a paragraph with a warning that it differs from private 
estimates. 
 
"During the President's tour, the Government warned once again that 
Argentina will not accept conditions on its foreign financial 
front." 
 
- "A country that sways between rage and error" 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion's" political analyst Joaquin Morales Sola 
opines (09/27), "The Argentine diplomacy's efforts to underline the 
protocol meetings between Obama and Cristina (Kirchner) in the 
context of multilateral meetings only underscore the importance of a 
missing event. The Argentine President is the only Latin American 
president who is a G20 member who has never held a private meeting 
with Obama. The other three presidents (those of Canada, Brazil and 
Mexico) were received during their official visits in Washington, 
interested as Americans are in reaching a common hemispheric 
position. 
 
"A high-ranking member of Obama's staff, who is crucial in Latin 
American affairs, said, 'You believe that you acted against a US 
president but we believe you acted against the US.' He was talking 
about what the Kirchners did during the Mar del Plata Summit in 
front of Bush... 
 
"The same USG officer asked Argentina not to repeat the Mar del 
Plata experience during the Trinidad and Tobago Summit, the first 
one in the Obama era... Anyway, Cristina Kirchner lectured for 45 
minutes at the Trinidad and Tobago Summit about the alleged virtues 
of the Mar del Plata Summit in front of Obama. It was music to 
Chavez' ears, who was there, as well as disappointing to Obama, who 
was also there. 
 
"Why, then, Cristina is desperate to have a good relationship with 
Obama if she is not willing to undo what her husband did? She would 
not even need to make an automatic alliance with the US. Obama's 
Washington does not want her to do so. As a matter of fact, Lula 
calls Obama once a month at least, and the Brazilian president is 
not obedient with Washington or its interests, but he is reliable in 
whatever really matters." 
 
- "Iran does not cede to the Argentine demand" 
 
 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" front-pages an opinion piece by its New 
York-based correspondent, Alberto Armendariz, who writes (09/26), 
"Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad bluntly rejected Argentine 
President Cristina Kirchner's request to submit to the Argentine 
justice the Iranian citizens suspected of being involved in the 
criminal attack against the AMIA Jewish community center in 1994: 'I 
would recommend that the Argentine Government think of the interests 
of the whole Argentine people rather than pursuing the interests of 
a Zionist minority in Argentina.' 
 
"... His blunt attitude was in obvious contrast to his own remarks 
during a brief meeting with Hispanic mass media in this city just a 
few hours before, during which he assured he wants to strengthen 
Tehran's ties to the region... 
 
"... Ahmadinejad also clarified that he does not intend to have 
military cooperation with Venezuela and took the occasion to 
criticize the planned US military presence in Colombia: 'Some 
imperialistic behaviors are against the change they say they want. 
The development of military bases does not help the peoples. 
Militarism does not benefit humanity. What it badly needs is greater 
cooperation to eradicate poverty in Latin America and other places 
of the world.' 
 
"Questioned about his controversial enriched uranium program, for 
which he was imposed sanctions by the UN Security Council (which 
fears it could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons), Ahmadinejad 
reiterated it only has peaceful and civil purposes. 
 
"... After the controversy sparked by his past comments putting in 
doubt the Jewish Holocaust, this time Ahmadinejad avoided referring 
to the topic and he deviated his response to Israel's killings of 
Palestinian civilians - 'We are against any killings of any kind of 
people.'" 
 
- "Brazil's leading role in Honduras" 
 
Leading "Clarin" carries an op-ed piece by political analyst Jorge 
Castro, who opines (09/27), "Brazil's decision to offer its embassy 
in Tegucigalpa to ousted President Manuel Zelaya to use on his 
return is obviously a major event (as important as the return of the 
Honduran president), which changes one of Itamaraty's fundamental 
policies of the last 100 years. 
 
"... Itamaraty's foreign policy priority is to regain international 
importance and, therefore, it deploys a strategy of indirect 
rapprochement to the world power system (the US/G7)... The premise 
on which such foreign policy was based was that there was a 
substantial fracture between Northern and Southern Latin America. 
This is why it promoted the creation of UNASUR. 
 
"Now, Brazil has become a crucial player in the main crisis of 
Northern Latin America, which takes place in Honduras. It does not 
act in a shared or multilateral way but individually as a major 
power. 
 
"This is an historic piece of news. Today, Brazil represents the 
international community in a crisis that gets more serious and 
polarized and that is escalating." 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
classified website at: 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
MARTINEZ