Cablegate: Media Reaction Rio de Janeiro: Risk of Contagion (Chavez And

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DE RUEHRI #0422 3412058
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O 072057Z DEC 09
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0054
INFO RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR OIIP ETRD XM XR BR
SUBJECT: Media Reaction Rio de Janeiro: Risk of Contagion (Chavez and
Mercosul and Brazilian Foreign Policy)

Risk of contagion

Rio-based center-right daily O Globo writes: "Approved by a
commission in the Senate, due to strong pressure from Planalto [the
Brazilian presidency] and the actions of business lobbies, Brazil's
approval of Venezuela's entry to Mercosul could be voted on in the
coming days. (...) There are those in Brasilia who consider the
Chavist regime to be a democracy simply because it holds elections
and referendums. This is a mistake because democracy is more than
that: it allows freedom of speech and freedom of the press, legal
security and independent and solid republican institutions. None of
these exist in Venezuela. Other fallacious arguments try to pretend
that the increasing volume of Brazilian exports to Venezuela (...)
could become even bigger if Ch????vez receives a free pass to sit
among the current partners in the trade bloc. This could happen
independently of the results of the vote in the Senate. For this,
Venezuelan economy just needs to expand --which, by the way, will
be difficult, given the crisis of the Chavist economic model (...).
Mercosul needs to resume strategic commercial negotiations with the
European Union and begin them with other regions of the world,
including the U.S., with the advantage of not giving Ch????vez veto
power (...) The GOB, time and again, proposes to resume the Doha
round (...). Without Doha, there are just bilateral negotiations
and in them Ch????vez will act as an obstacle. (...) In case there
are
any doubts on the issue, one should analyze the dividends obtained
by Brazil in accepting the Chavist project of smuggling Zelaya back
to Honduras and converting the Brazilian Embassy into a bunker for
agitation and propaganda against the interim government of Roberto
Micheletti. Dividends, only negative ones, including for Lula
himself, who is a partner in a project that only aims to convert
Honduras into a Bolivarian possession. Alliances with Ch????vez are
contagious." (Dec 7, page 6)
HEARNE

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