VZCZCXYZ0020
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1300/01 3342039
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 302038Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0111
INFO RHMCSUU/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001300 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR, I/GWHA, WHA, WHA/PDA, WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC 
CDR USSOCOM FOR J-2 IAD/LAMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KPAO KMDR PREL
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: WEEK OF NOVEMBER 24-30; 11/30/09; BUENOS 
AIRES 
 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: WEEK OF NOVEMBER 24-30; 11/30/09; BUENOS 
AIRES 
 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY STATEMENT 
 
 
 
The most important international stories were related to: the 
outcome of the Honduran presidential election; expectations for the 
Copenhagen Climate Change Summit; and implications of Iranian 
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Brazil and Bolivia. 
 
 
 
¶2. HONDURAS 
 
 
 
-   "A triumph for the most conservative Republicans" 
 
 
 
Ana Baron, leading circulation "Clarin's" Washington-based 
correspondent, writes (11/30), "When President Barack Obama 
announced that he would acknowledge the outcome of the Honduran 
elections, he jeopardized all the expectations generated in the 
region when he took office. The prevailing optimism at the Summit 
of the Americas held in Trinidad and Tobago in April has fainted 
away. There is big skepticism. There is talk of a new 
'pre-emptive-blow' US doctrine. Why? What happened? 
 
 
 
"In the harsh confrontation created by the Honduran coup d'etat 
between the official party and the opposition in Washington, the 
most conservative sector of the Republican opposition won. They 
energetically and consistently work from the very beginning in 
favor of the coup. 
 
 
 
"The highest point of the confrontation was when Republican Senator 
Jim de Mint blocked the confirmation of the nomination of two 
candidates of Obama to become Assistant Secretary for Western 
Hemispheric Affairs and US Ambassador to Brazil (Arturo Valenzuela 
and Tom Shannon respectively). De Mint only lifted the blockade of 
said nominations after the State Department committed to officially 
acknowledge the Honduran elections. 
 
 
 
"In fact, many observers, whether Americans or Latin-Americans, 
perceive what happened in Honduras as a return to the past in which 
the US acted according to its own interests. Even if Zelaya is 
restored after the elections, the damage has already been made. The 
OAS is divided and multilateralism in the region is dying. 
Obviously enough, the newly elected Assistant Secretary for Western 
Hemispheric Affairs Arturo Valenzuela will attempt to revive hope, 
but his task will not be easy." 
 
 
 
-   "Pull ahead that someone will push you" 
 
 
 
Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an opinion piece by 
international editor Jorge Elias, who writes (11/29), "... Brazil 
got involved in the Middle East conflict, which is of most interest 
to the US. Obama does not appreciate the gesture or does not 
perceive the cost. Lula supposes his US counterpart will act in 
reciprocity... He makes patent the points of disagreement: he feels 
'slightly disappointed' with Obama. Brazil's abstention at the IAEA 
(International Agency on Atomic Energy) Board of Governors' 
condemnation of Iran is another sign of the malaise, just like 
Lula's decision (which is shared with several countries) not to 
acknowledge the outcome of Honduran elections. The US wants to 
begin from scratch with a new president. Another sign of the 
malaise is the mere enumeration of Brazil's points of disagreement 
with the USG on sensitive areas such as sending military to 
Colombia, climate change and the Doha Round trade liberalization. 
 
 
 
"Actually, both Lula and Obama respect dialogue and, just like 
 
 
Bush, they act in a pre-emptive way: Lula does it with Iran not to 
repeat the mistaken blockade against Cuba. Obama does it with 
Honduras not to repeat the mistaken wink to autocrats who end up 
being intolerable. No matter how hard one pulls ahead, one will 
always have to use the rear mirror to look behind." 
 
 
 
¶3. UN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE - COPENHAGEN 
 
 
 
-   "Obama will attend the Climate Change conference with a plan to 
lower pollution" 
 
 
 
Ana Baron, from leading "Clarin," writes (11/26), "On the eve of 
Thanksgiving Day, President Barack Obama  pledged a provisional 
target of reducing greenhouse gases about 17 percent (of 2005 
levels) by 2020 to 83% before 2050. 
 
 
 
"Truly enough, Obama does not know whether he will be able to meet 
his goal and this is why he will attend the Copenhagen Climate 
Change Summit and not its closing, which is when a final communique 
will be negotiated. However, the sole gesture of facilitating the 
establishment of a climate change international treaty is already a 
180-degree turn regarding Bush's policy. 
 
 
 
"Obama's goal of reducing GHG emissions by 17% by 2020 is far less 
ambitious than that of the EU (20-25%) or Japan (25%). 
Nevertheless, Obama's maneuvering margin is not too big. Until now, 
the US Congress has never managed to pass a law setting forth 
concrete climate change goals." 
 
 
 
¶4. AHMADINEJAD TO BRAZIL, BOLIVIA AND VENEZUELA 
 
 
 
- "Israel does not hide its disapproval" 
 
 
 
Sergio Dattilo, on special assignment in Jerusalem for 
business-financial "Ambito Financiero," writes (11/24), "Alex Ben 
Tzvi, Israel's FM Director for Latin America, voices the Israeli 
concern over the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to 
Brazil and his meeting with Brazilian President Lula da Silva: 'We 
are not trying to choose anybody's friends but whoever decides to 
receive Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Latin America should recall who this 
character is and what his regime did in the region. We are 
concerned over Iran's increasing presence in Latin America, 
particularly what it could do.' 
 
 
 
"Ben Tzvi adds that 'Ahmadinejad's visit is a symptom of a process 
that has developed for years in the hemisphere. And when we are 
asked what is bad about it, we recall them it is the Argentine 
Judiciary itself which held Iran liable for the 1992 and 1994 
attacks.' 
 
 
 
"Actually, not only did it raise concern in the Israeli Foreign 
Minister but all Israeli mass media have echoed the Iranian 
President's trip to Brazil." 
 
 
 
- "Evo and Ahmadinejad confirm strategic partnership" 
 
 
 
Pablo Stefanoni, on special assignment for leading "Clarin" in La 
Paz, writes (11/25), "After having obtained Brazil's support for 
peaceful nuclear development, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 
made a stop in Bolivia on his trip to Caracas. Evo Morales's 
gestures of support and affection for the controversial leader were 
abundant. 
 
 
"... Yesterday, in the framework of strengthening bi-national 
partnership between Iran and Bolivia, (Ahmadinejad) got interested 
in Bolivia's gigantic reserves of lithium, which are used to 
manufacture rechargeable batteries for computers, cell phones and 
cameras. Iran will cooperate with the Scientific Committee for the 
industrialization of lithium, which is located in the Uyunu salt 
deposit. The Uyunu salt deposit concentrates 50% of world reserves 
and it has already captured the attention of companies from France, 
Japan and South Korea (the largest purchaser of Bolivian mining 
exports). Iran's National Oil Company announced it would open its 
offices in Santa Cruz." 
 
 
 
-   "Mideast comes to LatAm" 
 
 
 
James Neilson, international columnist of liberal, English-language 
"Buenos Aires Herald," writes (11/27), "Thanks to Venezuela's 
belligerent president Hugo Chavez, Iran's holy warriors are in a 
position to establish a bridgehead in the Western Hemisphere that 
in the by no means improbable event of a big war in the Middle East 
would be sure to attract the attention of the US. That presumably 
is one reason why the US military is so interested in having access 
to bases in next-door Colombia, and why Chavez sporadically speaks 
of going to war. There is also the suspicion that the Brazilian 
governments chumminess towards Iran could lead to the proliferation 
of jihadi cells in Latin America's biggest country. 
 
 
 
"Argentina's leaders, still traumatized by the humiliating economic 
collapse of 2001 and 2002, have done their best to curry favor with 
Chavez and have resigned themselves to playing second fiddle to 
Brazil. But apart from her traditional sparring partner Great 
Britain, Iran is the only country Argentina is seriously at odds 
with. 
 
 
 
"If the Middle Eastern cauldron reaches boiling point, as it well 
could in the near future, Latin American countries will have to 
decide what they should best do. Like Venezuela's Chavez, Brazil's 
current leaders apparently imagine that it is in their interest to 
cuddle to Iran and treat her as a misunderstood victim of North 
American prejudice. Having been at the receiving end of the Islamic 
Republic's aggressive world agenda, Argentina cannot be expected to 
share their attitude so, hard as the Kirchners may try to stay 
close to Chavez and Lula, she may soon feel obliged to break with 
them and go her own way." 
 
 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our 
 
classified website at: 
 
  
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
 
 
 
MARTINEZ 
MARTINEZ