Cablegate: Media Reaction; White House Delegation to Buenos Aires;

VZCZCXYZ0016
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #2116/01 2991535
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 261535Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9573
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FL//SCJ2//
RULGPUA/USCOMSOLANT

UNCLAS BUENOS AIRES 002116

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; WHITE HOUSE DELEGATION TO BUENOS AIRES;
BRIAN O'NEILL AT THE US TREASURY DEPARTMENT; IRAN; 10/26/07

1. SUMMARY STATEMENT

Major international stories today are focused on post-election
economic discussions between the U.S. and Argentina; implications of
Brian O'Neill replacing Nancy Lee at the US Treasury Department; and
increasing tension between the US and Iran.

2. OPINION PIECES AND EDITORIALS

- "A US mission will arrive in Buenos Aires after the Argentine
presidential elections"

Marcelo Bonelli, economic columnist of leading "Clarin," writes
(10/26) "The White House will be sending a secret mission to Buenos
Aires to assess the economic situation and start negotiations with
the president-elect...

"The goal is to open an informal dialogue with the elected
authorities and to clearly articulate the White House position on
relations between the US and the future administration. The trip is
aimed at normalizing an almost frozen relationship following the Mar
del Plata SOA.

"The date of the visit is before November 15, a decision based on
the conviction that First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will
win the presidency in the first round...

"... This mission will coincide with Argentina's intention to pay
off its Paris Club debt and reestablish talks with the IMF...

"Economy Minister Miguel Peirano, meanwhile, is quoted as having
told IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn last week that
paying Argentina's 6.6 billion dollar debt with the Paris Club in
one go 'is not a possibility.'"

- "Brian O'Neill will be the interlocutor between the US Treasury
and Argentina"

Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for
daily-of-record "La Nacion," comments (10/26) "The current
government and the government taking office in December will have to
deal with a new officer at the Treasury Department in the
complicated negotiations with the IMF and the Paris Club...

"The Treasury Department reported that banker Brian O'Neill will
replace Nancy Lee as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Latin America...

"... The position the U.S. takes on the IMF Board will be crucial
for the next Argentine Government to be able to get through the
hurdles of going to the Paris Club. It will also be very important
within the Club when it has to come to a consensus with the other
member-countries."

- Increasingly closer to an attack"

Hugo Alconada Mon, Washington-based correspondent for
daily-of-record "La Nacion," comments (10/26) "During this summer,
US President George W. Bush ordered his ambassador to Iraq, Ryan
Crocker, to convey a special message to Iranians... The message was
crystal clear - stop interfering in Iraq or you will face US
retaliation.

"According to the White House, Iran is responsible for most of the
Iraqi chaos. They foster the civil war between Shiites and Sunnis
and they should also be blamed for most of the US casualties in
Iraq. According to the US, Iranians teach insurgents how to
manufacture explosive devices based on the material they themselves
send across the border when they do not train them in their own
country...

"In this way, in the view of the Bush administration, the offensive
against Iran gradually changed from a non-proliferation-centered
speech... to another that is more focused on the typical
counterterrorism vision.

"(Secretary) Condoleezza Rice's staff has justified the package of
sanctions based on the fact that they will further Iran's
international isolation and they trust that the UN Security Council
will end up approving a more blunt third resolution, and that this
will finally twist Tehran's arm.

"... The increasing tension will allow the Iranian regime to reduce
the opposition and unify the domestic front to face the US threat."

To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our
classified website at:

http://www.state.sqov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires

WAYNE

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