Cablegate: Media Reaction: Africa: Libya, Bulgarian Nurses

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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #1280 3541239
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201239Z DEC 06 ZDK
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6183
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7272
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 7666
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2659

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 001280

SIPDIS

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: AFRICA: LIBYA, BULGARIAN NURSES
CONDEMNATION; WESTERN HEMISPHERE: MERCOSUL, CHAVEZ INFLUENCE; SAO
PAULO

1. "Two Hypotheses For Qaddafi's Obstinacy"

Center-right O Estado de S. Paulo's Paris correspondent Giles
Lapouge opined (12/20): "All experts reject that the five defendants
have committed such a monstrous crime.... We believe that the
accusation that they have inoculated the AIDS virus in the children
is false. How then to explain Colonel Qaddafi's obstinacy in
persecuting those six people? There are two hypotheses. The first
is that the Libyan population, persuaded that the six defendants
have really committed the crime, has exerted so much pressure that
Qaddafi has been unable to oppose the popular desire for revenge.
The second hypothesis is that Qaddafi is using this case to obtain
financial or political advantages from Western nations. The five
nurses and the doctor would then be mere bargaining chips with which
Qaddafi would consolidate his position on the international
scene.... One should not forget that Qaddafi's cynicism is
bottomless.... He was recently removed from the list of Washington's
'devilish' leaders, but his past justifies the most repugnant
hypotheses."

2. "Mercosul's Implosion"

The lead editorial in center-right O Estado de S. Paulo (12/20)
maintained: "Mercosul's funeral will be much more vivacious with the
participation of Bolivian Evo Morales, a follower of Hugo Chvez,
who admitted that he joined the bloc to implode it. The Mercosul
partners will soon be able to burn previous treaties and sign a new
regional pact, of Bolivarian inspiration and opposed to any trade
agreement with the rich world's major markets.... Neither of the two
inclusions [Venezuela and Bolivia] helps to achieve Mercosul's
original goals.... The FTAA idea is already past, as President Lula
recently observed with a triumphant tone.... The new partners are
the guarantee of the bloc's implosion, unless one believes that it
will survive with the format Chvez wants to impose on it."

Wolfe

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