VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #0226/01 0542052
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 232050Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0616
INFO RHMCSUU/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 000226 
 
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 AR IR BR FK
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRAN, FALKLANDS, OAS, U.S.-LATIN AMERICAN 
POLICY; 2/23/10; BUENOS AIRES 
 
SUMMARY 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶1.   Regional issues were the dominating theme on 2/23, including 
Brazil-Iran relations, the Falkland Islands, the OAS, and an 
introspective look at Latin American politics.  One opinion article 
criticized Brazil for rolling out the "red carpet" for Iran, while 
another highlighted differences between Britain's current rhetoric 
regarding the Falkland Islands and its policy in the 1960s 
regarding Diego Garcia.  Reporting from the Grupo Rio summit in 
Mexico, La Nacion's correspondent quoted U.S. Ambassador Shannon 
and Assistant Secretary Valenzuela downplaying concerns about 
replacing the OAS.  Additionally, Latin America's resurgence of 
past politics of coups, disasters, and neo-liberalism was the topic 
of another opinion article, which also criticized U.S. policies in 
Honduras and Haiti.  End summary. 
 
 
 
WHY IS BRAZIL COURTING IRAN? 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2.   Brazil's friendship with the "ever more isolated" Iran "leaves 
perplexed" the international community, according to an opinion 
article by Miami Herald's Andres Oppenheimer picked up by 
second-largest daily La Nacion.  Oppenheimer questions Brazil's 
motives for rolling out "the red carpet" in Brasilia for Iranian 
President Ahmadinejad and "risking its reputation as a good 
international citizen."  Stating that Brazil has "grandiose dreams 
and diplomatic fantasies," Oppenheimer comments that Brazil's 
economic success and its grouping with China and India "has gone to 
[Brazilian President] Lula's head," and there would be no better 
performance for Brazil currently other than "performing a role in 
the greatest international conflict." 
 
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1 236196 
 
 
 
BRITISH INCONSISTENCY IN FALKLAND ISLANDS 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.   Britain's claim of "self-determination" by the residents of 
the Falkland Islands is not consistent with British history, opines 
Lucio Garcia del Solar, former Argentine Ambassador to the UN.  His 
opinion article in La Nacion recounts the British handover to the 
U.S. of control of Diego Garcia in 1967, along with the American 
demand that the island be "fully vacated" of its residents.  This 
led to Britain displacing around 400 families and moving them to 
neighboring countries, where they currently live "uprooted and with 
scarce resources."  Garcia del Solar ponders why Britain "dedicates 
several million pounds" to defend the Falklands, but yet left Diego 
Garcia "cleared of its original inhabitants." 
 
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1 236128 
 
 
 
U.S. LATIN AMERICAN POLICY 
 
-------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4.   La Nacion's Cancun correspondent quoted U.S. Ambassador to 
Brazil Tom Shannon and Assistant Secretary of State Arturo 
Valenzuela commenting on the Grupo Rio's desire to create a new 
Latin American organization without the U.S. or Canada, and its 
impact on the current OAS.  While Brazilian President Lula created 
the idea to "equilibrate the weight of the U.S. in the region," the 
article quotes Shannon believing that the new organization will not 
be an "OAS B" and instead, "reflect a moment of deepening dialog 
and integration."  Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary Valenzuela was 
quoted saying that this new organization "will not be a problem for 
the U.S." and he does not believe "many countries wish" to replace 
the OAS. 
 
http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1 236285 
 
 
¶5.   In an opinion article in right-leaning Buenos Aires Economico, 
Ricardo Forster laments about the lack of political cohesiveness in 
Latin America, including a political cartoon showing South America 
reflected in a broken mirror.  Forster opined that man-made 
tragedies, such as coups like the one in Honduras, bring Latin 
America to "ghosts of the past," that have been "activated with 
complicity" by the U.S.  Additionally, Forster also implicitly 
criticizes the U.S. actions in Haiti, claiming that events like the 
1/12 earthquake bring along "exploitation by the powerful," whose 
"altruism" acts as a "shameless veil...hiding its responsibilities 
in the country's destruction." 
 
http://www.elargentino.com/nota-79026-El-es 
 -pe-jo-la-ti-noa-me-ri-ca-no.html 
 
 
 
 
 
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website 
at: 
 
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires 
MARTINEZ