Cablegate: Media Reaction Rio de Janeiro, Chavist Blackout

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OO RUEHRG
DE RUEHRI #0384 3222006
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 182005Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0022
INFO RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0018
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 0008
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO

UNCLAS RIO DE JANEIRO 000384

SIPDIS
STATE INR/R/MR
IIP/R/MR
WHA/PD
DEPT PASS USTR
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR OIIP ETRD XM XR BR
SUBJECT: Media Reaction Rio de Janeiro, Chavist Blackout

Chavist Blackout

Editorial: "There is increasingly more evidence that the
belligerent tone of Hugo Chavez towards Colombia has more to do
with his [personal] reasons than the ceding to the U.S. of seven
bases in Colombian territory by the Uribe Administration. Chavez
resorts to an external threat to downplay problems which have been
corroding the lasting popularity of the caudillo... Eight out of
ten Venezuelans rebuff the possibility of a military conflict with
Colombia, showing that Chavez's appeal to nationalism does not seem
to be working... In order to keep the nationalistic flame
lit,...the Bolivarian leader rejected Brazil's proposal to
establish a Venezuela-Colombia system to patrol the common border
of 2,000 kilometers...This is the divisive and belligerent Chavez
who wants a place for Venezuela in Mercosul. To Get it, he depends
only on the approval of the Brazilian and Paraguayan Senates. The
Paraguayan Foreign Minister, Hector Laconagta, summed it up: '
Chavez has a confrontational was of speaking, creating a climate
which is not very appropriate for regional integration.' Brazilian
senators must think about this." (Center-right, Rio de
Janeiro-based newspaper, O Globo, 11/18).
HEARNE

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