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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #0369 1231722
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 031722Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6860
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7992
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 8026
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2774 UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000369 
 
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:          
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: WESTERN HEMISPHERE: LEFTIST LEANINGS IN 
LATIN AMERICA; SAO PAULO 
 
 
"On The Warpath" 
 
Political columnist Eliane Cantanhede opined in liberal, largest 
national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo (5/3): "Hugo Chvez and 
Evo Morales use oil and gas as weapons, while Lula attacks with 
ethanol.... Commander Fidel has already positioned himself in 
support of Chvez's army by trying to disarm biofuels under the 
pretext that they will reduce crops everywhere and increase hunger 
worldwide. It is likely that another support will also come from 
Ecuador, where President Rafael Correa was just inaugurated, but has 
not joined any of the parties involved. Like Fidel, Commander Bush 
has already preventively positioned himself, but against Chvez and 
Morales, and pro Lula and biofuels. Brazil and the US are united in 
this war. And it is likely that [Uruguay's] Tabar Vzquez, despite 
the trend of alliances among left wings, will try to be at least 
neutral. He is not expected to align with Chvez and Morales against 
Lula and Bush.  After all, Uruguay depends on beef to survive, and 
this means selling the product to the US.... Amidst all this, there 
is a president with a very peculiar behavior: Nestor Kirchner, of 
Argentina. He does not want to get involved in oil vs. biofuel 
wars.... He often provokes Lula and signs agreements with Chvez. 
Not for ideology, but pragmatically. It is strange, but Lula is the 
anti-Chvez leader, and for this reason the agreements with Morales 
regarding the price of Petrobras oil refineries must be carefully 
analyzed. At the end of the day, war is war and Brazil does not need 
to win much, but cannot afford to lose." 
McMullen