Cablegate: Interview with Us Ambassador to Buenos Aires Lino

VZCZCXYZ0009
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1535/01 1912033
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 102033Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5172
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001535

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 MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: INTERVIEW WITH US AMBASSADOR TO BUENOS AIRES LINO
GUTIERREZ; MIDDLE EAST; VENEZUELA'S ENTRY INTO MERCOSUR; CHINA;
NORTH KOREA; MEXICAN ELECTIONS; 07/10/06

1. SUMMARY STATEMENT

Daily-of-record "La Nacion" and leading "Clarin" conducted an
interview with US Ambassador Lino Gutirrez. Those interviews were
reported, thus far, by liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires
Herald," wire service agencies Agence France Presse and TELAM,
populist "Cronica," business-financial, center-right "Infobae," and
newspaper "La Calle," from Concepcion del Uruguay, Entre Rios.

Business-financial, center-right "InfoBae" reports on the PAS press
release about the two groups of youth, students and teachers, who
will travel to the US on training programs.

Other international stories include the situation in the Middle
East, the threat posed by North Korean missile tests, and the
outcome of Mexican elections.

2. OPINION PIECES AND KEY STORIES

- "'I do not agree with Kirchner that there is full democracy in
Venezuela"

Daniel Santoro and Natasha Niebieskikwiat, political columnists of
leading "Clarin," conducted an interview with US Ambassador to
Buenos Aires Lino Gutierrez (07/09) "He was asked to give his
opinion on Kirchner's statement that there is 'full democracy' in
Venezuela, Ambassador Gutierrez said 'I do not agree on that. We are
concerned about the fact that Chavez purchased 100,000 rifles,
formed a militia, and that the opposition and the media feel
harassed. We are also concerned about the fact that Chavez wants to
travel to North Korea and establish an alliance with Iran.

"Asked whether Argentina continues being a US strategic partner
similar to its previous role under the Menem administration,
Gutierrez answered 'Argentina continues to be a major non-NATO ally,
a very important partner in the region that has played a very
important role in helping the Haitian democracy.

"Gutierrez added 'The US-Argentine military relationship has not
changed. Argentina continues cooperating with the US. This was clear
during the Summit of the Americas, when Argentina facilitated the
entry of some 1,000 (US) troops that escorted US President Bush to
Mar del Plata. Regarding the entry of US troops, what we still need
is a legal accord to grant immunity to our troops, on which point
our lawyers are working... We hope military exercises can be
performed in this country again.

"On the FTAA, Ambassador Gutierrez said that only one country
(Venezuela) opposed the FTAA based on ideological reasons. But the
Mercosur countries said that only when the US farm subsidies' topic
is dealt with, will they be willing to tackle FTAA negotiations.'"

- "Roles"

Walter Curia, political columnist of leading "Clarin," writes
(07/09) "In June, Kirchner said in Madrid 'The US relationship with
the region is cold. We had to handle the bad moments on our own
because the US does not play the role it should play in the region.
We have to make progress on cooperating with the EU.' US priorities
in the region include legislation on US illegal immigrants, a top
issue in the US-Mexican agenda. The US concerns do not go beyond Evo
Morales, whom the US considers a product of Chavez.

"Kirchner's interpretation is right, but he overlooked one thing -
Europe agrees with Washington."

- "The US sways from mistrust and coldness to pragmatism"

Ana Baron, Washington-based correspondent for leading "Clarin,"
comments (07/09) "US Ambassador Lino Gutierrez arrived in Argentina
in 2003 when there were two Republican hawks in the US cabinet -
Roger Noriega, former Assistant Secretary for Hemispheric Affairs,
and Otto Reich, former special envoy for our region. There were many
doubts in Washington regarding Kirchner...

"From then on, the Argentine economy has had an amazing economic
recovery...

"When Gutierrez was named US ambassador, General Colin Powell
presided over the US State Department... The replacement of Powell
by Condoleezza Rice enormously changed the US Department of State's
relationship with the region. The hawks' ideological approach was
replaced by a more pragmatic one. And this prevented the
relationship with the region from derailing.

"... Furthermore, the prevailing pragmatic approach made possible

that Earl Anthony Wayne, a man who does not enjoy US Cubans'
sympathy, was named as Gutierrez' successor.

"Wayne will reportedly be confirmed this week. His big challenge
will be transforming the current formal relationship between the two
countries into a more substantial one. An Argentine diplomat told
'Clarin' that when the US Department of State has to make an
important decision related to the region, it 'consults with Brazil,
Chile and Mexico.'"

- "'We do not agree on everything with Kirchner'"

Jorge Elias, political analyst of daily-of-record "La Nacion," had
an interview with US Ambassador Lino Gutierrez (07/09) "Due to his
profession, US Ambassador Lino Gutierrez prefers to see the glass as
half-full. He said 'The US-Argentine bilateral relationship has been
strengthened. We have achieved a lot.' The other half of the glass,
the empty part, contains the points on which he disagrees with
Kirchner and he attempted not to exaggerate 'We do not agree on
everything with the Kirchner administration, but we must continue
holding talks.'

"For example, Venezuela's entry into Mercosur, as well as the
Kirchner administration's support for Venezuela's entry into the UN
Security Council, does not excite Washington.

"... The US and Argentina have signed important deals to fight
drug-trafficking... We have signed scientific deals... We have
strengthened trade and scientific relations. Today, 3.5 millions
Americans visit Argentina and there are 500 companies with
prevailing US capital, who are responsible for 200,000 jobs. Ties
between the two countries are stronger every passing day.'

"... 'Argentina has cooperated a lot with the US and the
international community on very important issues at the UN Security
Council.'"

- "Disproportionate force"

Liberal, English-language "Buenos Aires Herald" carries an opinion
piece by contributor Gwynne Dyer, who writes (07/10) "... Israel's
past offers enough parallels that its government should and probably
does understand that it has a choice: to ignore the extremists and
talk about some kind of peace deal with the mainstream - or to use
the extremists as an excuse not to talk to the mainstream either. It
has chosen the latter option, and the current, vastly
disproportionate Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip are the evidence
for it.

"... The first objective of the Israeli attacks is to destroy the
elected Palestinian government led by Hamas.

"As US President George W. Bush said, 'We support democracy, but
that doesn't mean that we have to support governments elected as a
result of democracy.'

"Olmert knows (even if Washington doesn't) that destroying the Hamas
government will not bring the 'moderates' back to power.

"It will just create a power vacuum in the occupied territories that
will be filled by all kinds of crazies with guns. Ideal
circumstances for carrying out Olmert's plans, wouldn't you say?"

- "I think it was the Fifth of July"

Martin Gambarotta, political columnist of liberal, English-language
"Buenos Aires Herald," writes (07/09) "... The politics of Latin
America has never been a picnic. President Nestor Kirchner was not
in a US park on the fourth munching a peanut-butter sandwich. He was
in Caracas welcoming oil-rich Venezuela into the Mercosur trade
bloc. School-children must now learn that Mercosur has five members:
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. And on the fifth
Kirchner was watching Russian-made jet fighters hurtling over his
head and that of his host: firebrand President Hugo Chavez, a
leftist who relishes bashing the US. President Evo Morales of
Bolivia, leader of a socialist party in his country, was also
there.

"... What was Kirchner doing in Caracas? He was doing this:
consolidating his strategic alliance with Venezuela. This might have
well made US President George Bush choke on a pretzel... Critics,
including Bush, accuse Chavez of being a 'cheque-book populist'
looking to manipulate the rest of Latin America."

"... Kirchner, on addressing the Venezuelan Parliament on Wednesday,
said to an ovation: 'I want to tell the world that here in Venezuela

there is a full democracy that fights for equality and justice'...
Republican stomachs in Washington must be churning. But a cynic
prying into Kirchner's calculating brain might tell them this:
Venezuela and Bolivia are sitting on the fuel reserves Argentina
needs to sustain its current economic growth."

- "A weaker Mercosur"

Centrist newspaper "Perfil" carries an opinion piece by Pedro Isern,
head of the Department of Economics and Rule of Law, at CADAL
(Centro para la Apertura y Desarrollo de America Latina), who writes
(07/09) "The Brazilian and Argentine governments maintain that there
is a political and a strategic reason to understand Venezuela's
entry into Mercosur: the first is to moderate Chavez. The second is
to possibly develop a regional energy matrix based on Venezuela's
abundant oil and gas reserves.

"However, these supposedly positive reasons or variables must be
countered by a negative variable - the institutional quality added
by Venezuela to a bloc, which is poor itself in terms of clear and
predictable game rules. To Mercosur's poor institutional
performance, a new member has been added with indicators worse than
Argentina, Brazil or Paraguay."

- "Regional silence vis-`-vis the (Venezuelan) proposal to form a
Mercosur Army"

Daniel Gallo, political columnist of daily-of-record "La Nacion,"
writes (07/09) "The Venezuelan president launched an idea to merge
the Mercosur armed forces. No president responded. Only Peruvian
President Alejandro Toledo termed the proposal as 'an absurd idea'
although his country is not part of the bloc.

"If the other leaders did not respond, it is because an alternative
as that proposed by Chavez is not considered viable.

"... There is little room for Chavez's initiative to become real.
His government seems to consider military power as a decisive
element in its international insertion.

"... Venezuelan armed forces are led by doctrines not wanted by
Argentina for its troops. The role of the military as a moral
reserve prevails in Venezuela, and Chavez fosters a view of the
world as divided in blocs in favor or against the US."

- "A new bipolar world"

Daily-of-record "La Nacion" carries an opinion piece by Carlos
Tramutola, head of the foreign trade department at Fundacion Grupo
Sophia, who writes (07/10)"When Hu Jintao left Washington, the US
started to wait.

"What seemed impossible then is happening now. The largest economic
power of the world needs China. Bush asked China to revalue its
currency, the Yuan, and to put Iran under control. Hu smiled and did
not respond to either request.

""No one in China doubts that China will disrupt US world leadership
in a few decades...

"... The 'dragon' is neutralizing its trade surplus by buying
dollars and accruing reserves, which is precisely the US debt.

"What would happen if China decided to exchange its dollars for
euros? Then, it could weaken the US currency. That is precisely the
source of the Asian giant's power."

- "North Korea threatens the US with a 'total war' without any
concession whatsoever"

Leading "Clarin" (07/10) reports "Four days after having challenged
the world with its missile tests..., North Korean leader Kim
Johng-il warned that he is willing to launch a 'total war without
any concession whatsoever' on Washington...

"Kim Jong-Il said that not even a minimal concession will be granted
to US imperialistic invaders, the enemy of all time.'"

- "North Korean threat, according to the glasses you wear"

Leading Clarin (07/08) carries an op-ed piece by international
analyst Oscar Raul Cardoso, who opines "... It would not be wise to
underestimate the scenario created by North Korean missile tests.
Pyongyang is reported to have accumulated enough war material to
manufacture at least two explosive devises...

"... Since May, when Washington accepted the possibility of a direct
and bilateral negotiation with Iran, the North Korean regime
insisted on being treated the same way. Among other reasons, Bush
has not agreed because it is hard for him to digest that he should
agree to a claim from another member of the questionable 'axis of
evil'...

"... Does it sound irrational to commit the Asian security and that
of the world? Yes, but there is margin for optimism. Based on the
negative propaganda we hear about Pyongyang, its regime has a
history of keeping a distance from craziness regarding international
security, and it has always negotiated after showing its teeth."

3. EDITORIALS

- "Mexico - the time to govern"

An editorial in daily-of-record "La Nacion" reads (07/08) "Mexicans
have just held the most controversial presidential election of their
history. According to the Federal Election Institute, the official
candidate, Felipe Calderon, from Partido Accion Nacional, has won by
less than 1% of total of votes, thereby defeating left-wing
candidate Andres Lopez Obrador.

"... The outcome of the recent Mexican election seems to mean
rejection of hyper-presidentialism, incarnated by Andres Lopez
Obrador's proposals. However, in other regards, Mexico is clearly
divided. This is why the time has come for its leaders to call for
calm and reconciliation in an attempt to approach positions on all
possible points."

- "Continued Mexican policy"

Leading "Clarin" editorializes (07/10) "Mexicans voted for a
continued policy, although the improvement in social conditions was
established on the political agenda.

"First and foremost, elections showed the PRI's continued distancing
from traditional politics...

"For the rest of Latin America, the outcome of Mexican elections is
practically indifferent. Mexican political parties' proposals were
focused on Mexican domestic issues and no candidate talked about a
change in the special US-Mexican relationship, incarnated in the
NAFTA.

"A continued economic and foreign policy, which Felipe Calderon will
surely advance, may contribute to certainty, a scarce element in the
generally complex Latin American scenario."

To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website
at:
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires

GUTIERREZ

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