INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Media Reaction: Western Hemisphere: Venezuela, Chavez'

Published: Tue 10 Jun 2008 11:03 AM
VZCZCXYZ0011
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHSO #0291 1621103
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101103Z JUN 08 ZDK
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8282
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 9413
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 8748
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 3108
UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000291
SIPDIS
STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD
DEPT PASS USTR
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: WESTERN HEMISPHERE: VENEZUELA, CHAVEZ'
REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE
Chavez's change in course
Editorial in liberal Folha de S.Paulo (6/10) says: "[Hugo] Chavez's
change in relation to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(Farc) was so great that it surprised everyone.... He defended that
the group should free all hostages and that Latin America has not
place for guerillas any more.... But the president's move is better
understood through Venezuela's internal politics.... A victory in
[the] November [election] is seen as crucial for Chavez's plans to
reintroduce, in 2010, a proposal to amend the Constitution in order
to allow him to seek reelection indefinitely.... Even if for the
wrong reasons it is good that he distances himself from the Farc.
Equally - it is important to note that since the government's defeat
in the December referendum which frustrated the president's attempt
to obtain superpowers, politics has started to return to
Venezuela."
White
View as: DESKTOP | MOBILE © Scoop Media