VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHBU #1449/01 2071951
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 261951Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8750
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT
UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 001449
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
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION; MIDDLE EAST; CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE
KIRCHNER'S TRIP TO SPAIN;07/26/07
1. SUMMARY STATEMENT
Leading international stories today include the "historic" summit
between Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and Egyptian and Jordan Foreign
Ministers; and implications of Argentine First Lady Cristina
Fernndez de Kirchner's trip to Spain.
2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS
- "Historic summit between Israel and the Arab League in Jerusalem"
Shlomo Slutzky, Tel Aviv-based correspondent for leading "Clarin,"
comments (07/26) "Yesterday, Egyptian and Jordan Foreign Ministers
held a crucial summit with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem. They
presented Olmert with a peace plan putting forward the creation of a
Palestinian State. The positive gestures made during the meeting
made Israeli President Shimon Peres say 'winds of peace are blowing
over the region' to summarize the situation.
"... Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries that have
signed peace accords with Israel.
"... The Saudi initiative, which was re-launched in March in Ryad,
is intended to put ties to Israel on a safe track as long as Israel
withdraws from the Arab territories that have been occupied since
June 1967, a Palestinian State is created with East-Jerusalem as a
capital city, and an 'egalitarian and agreed upon set of rules' is
established regarding Palestinian refugees.
"While Israel rejected the proposal initially submitted, it
recognizes that it contains positive elements...
"... Political observers opine that due to Olmert's current
difficult political situation..., he has nothing to lose by
implementing a peace plan that a couple of years ago Olmert himself
would have denounced as 'a betrayal.'"
- "On Cristina's histrionics"
James Neilson, contributor to liberal, English-language "Buenos
Aires Herald," writes (07/26) "... Cristina (Fernndez de
Kirchner)'s campaign is certainly innovative. Unlike presidential
candidates of a previous generation, she is not going to waste her
time rabble-rousing. Instead, she prefers to deliver carefully
scripted speeches that sound like community college lectures in
which she alludes to philosophers such as Hegel... It is her way of
telling voters she is a very learned lady...
"Equally peculiar is Cristina's decision to do most of her
campaigning abroad. While her husband has done his utmost to
persuade his compatriots that he despises most foreigner potentates,
especially those whose Spanish is not up to scratch, by treating
them as though they were obnoxious panhandlers, Cristina is more
than happy to be seen chatting up the kind of people whose names
regularly crop up in TV bulletins, newspapers or glossy magazines,
hence her successful efforts to persuade King Juan Carlos of Spain
and the beleaguered head of his government, Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero, to grant her an audience. Will that win her any extra
votes? It might. As well as clearly enjoying traveling the world in
style and getting photographed in the company of well-known
monarchs, politicians and writers, among them the viscerally
anti-Peronist centenarian Francisco Ayala, Cristina is trying to
convince the electorate that she would make a very respectable head
of state. Her approach could be interpreted as a rebuke to her
husband, but he seems to be rather proud that his wife manages to
feel at ease in situations in which he would be unable to hide his
discomfort."
- "Investment supported"
Conservative "La Prensa" (07/26) editorializes "The excellent
bilateral relationship between Argentina and Spain has been
confirmed by the visit of Senator Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner to
Spain, where she had a broad schedule of activities ranging from the
Royal House to the business and political sectors. Her trip was
crowned by her speech at the New Economic Forum, in which one of
businessmen's main impressions was that if she wins the presidency,
the senator could well inaugurate a less confrontational era with
businessmen... Cristina herself hinted that she wants to have a
cordial relationship with businessmen... Of course, no one mentioned
the thorny issue of utilities rates, although it is not a secret to
anyone that businessmen expect a decision on this subject...
"The positive relationship between Spain and Argentina has been
reflected in Spain's support for Argentine negotiations with
multinational lending agencies over the country's foreign debt as
well as in its negotiations with corporations filing lawsuits
against Argentina..., and in Spain putting the situation of
Argentine immigrants (to Spain) on a safe track.
"Everything indicates that the reinforcement of Argentina's
democracy will remain a priority for the Spanish government in the
aftermath of the October presidential elections."
To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our
classified website at:
http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires
WAYNE