ASSESSORIA DE IMPRENSA DO GABINETE

Seleo Diria de Notcias Internacionais

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PARTICIPAO DO MINISTRO DE ESTADO NO CSNU
frica 21 (Angola) Brasil diz que Naes Unidas devem
procurar harmonizar posies para a Guin-Bissau
Da Redao, com Rdio ONU
Nova York - O ministro das Relaes Exteriores do Brasil, Antnio Patriota, disse que as
Naes Unidas devem fazer com que haja harmonia entre vrios atores para a soluo da
crise na Guin-Bissau.
A ONU apoia esforos para estabilizar o pas de lngua portuguesa, aps o golpe de estado
militar de 12 de Abril do ano passado. Entre as entidades envolvidas no processo esto a
Comunidade Econmica dos Estados da frica Ocidental, Cedeao, e a Comunidade dos
Pases de Lngua Portuguesa, Cplp.
As declaraes do chefe da diplomacia brasileira foram feitas numa entrevista exclusiva
Rdio ONU, em Nova Iorque, antes de participar no dilogo de alto nvel, no Conselho de
Segurana, sobre a proteo de civis em conflitos.
"H exemplos de boa coordenao mas tambm, s vezes, existem situaes em que ns
vemos uma certa cacofonia. No caso da Guin-Bissau, por exemplo, em que as mensagens
no se harmonizam suficientemente entre o que est dizendo a Comunidade dos Pases da
frica Ocidental e entre o que dizem outros atores importantes. O papel das Naes Unidas
deve ser o de fazer com que todos trabalhem em harmonia", referiu.
A comunidade internacional tem lanado repetidos apelos em prol do de um governo civil e
a restaurao da ordem constitucional no pas, que administrado por autoridades
interinas.
No seu relatrio mais recente sobre a situao do pas, o Secretrio-Geral da ONU, Ban Ki-
moon, apontou que a insegurana e a impunidade so ainda problemas graves na Guin-
Bissau.
O documento, lanado no incio deste ms aponta, entretanto, para medidas tomadas pelas
vrias partes com vista ao avano do processo de transio.
COREIA DO NORTE / TESTE NUCLEAR
The Washington Post (EUA) - Kerry tells world to act strongly
against NKorea, show Iran proliferation wont be tolerated
By Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The world must show its resolve in the face of North Koreas nuclear
provocations or risk emboldening Iran, which is under scrutiny over its uranium enrichment
program, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday.
Kerry said nations must agree on a "swift, clear, strong and credible response to
Pyongyangs third nuclear test and the authoritarian regimes "continued flaunting of its
obligations.
In defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the latest issued last month, North Korea
on Tuesday detonated a nuclear device at a remote underground site. It is seen as a key
step toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of
striking the United States.
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Iran, like North Korea, is also under stiff sanctions, and negotiations with the West over its
nuclear program have similarly stalled.
Iran maintains the program is peaceful, for generating energy and for medical research,
not for weapons. It said Wednesday that it has begun installing a new generation of
centrifuges that will allow it to vastly increase its pace of uranium enrichment in defiance of
U.N. calls to halt such activities.
There has been speculation that North Korea and Iran could be cooperating on missile and
nuclear development. Kerry did not draw such a connection but did say the cases were
linked because they both concerned nonproliferation.
"Its important for the world to have credibility with respect to our nonproliferation efforts,
Kerry told reporters after meeting Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh at the State
Department.
"Just as its impermissible for North Korea to pursue this kind of reckless effort, so we have
said its impermissible with respect to Iran. What our response is with respect to this will
have an impact on all other nonproliferation efforts.
The U.N. Security Council has issued three separate resolutions on North Korea, in
response to its nuclear and missile tests since 2006. The latest resolution, which tightened
sanctions, followed a December satellite launch that the U.S. says could serve to develop
the Norths ballistic missile capability.
The resolution warned of "significant action if Pyongyang conducted another rocket launch
or a nuclear test.
"If you are going to say things, they have to mean something. And to mean something you
have to be prepared to follow up, and thats exactly what we are prepared to do, Kerry
said.
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, speaking Wednesday at the Security
Council, called North Koreas nuclear test "a further blatant challenge to the global non-
proliferation regime.
She said it was vital for the international community to stand united and demonstrate "that
there are consequences of continued violations.
In Washington, President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe consulted
on a response and pledged to work together to seek action by the U.N. Security Council,
the White House said.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said North Koreas actions represent a clear threat to the
United States and undermines regional security. He vowed that the U.S. will take whatever
steps necessary to meet its commitment to South Korea, including continued military
exercises and increases in missile defense in the region.
Panetta said U.S. technical experts are still assessing available data to learn more about
the underground explosion. That difficult task could determine whether the device was
made with plutonium, of which North Korea has only limited supplies, or uranium, which
can be enriched to weapons-grade in more easily concealed facilities.
"It should be of great concern to the international community that they are continuing to
develop their capabilities to threaten the security, not only of South Korea, but of the rest
of the world, Panetta told a Pentagon news conference. "And for that reason, I think that
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we have to take steps to make very clear to them that that kind of behavior is
unacceptable.
The U.S. is fully prepared to deal with any contingency involving North Korea, Panetta said,
and will continue to deploy forces to that region.
In an emergency session Tuesday, the Security Council unanimously said the nuclear test
poses "a clear threat to international peace and security and pledged further action. It
remains to be seen, however, whether China, the Norths ally, will sign on to any new,
binding global sanctions.
Le Monde (Frana) Nuclaire nord-coren : Washington offre
son parapluie nuclaire Tokyo et Soul
Le Monde.fr avec AFP et Reuters
Aprs le troisime essai nuclaire nord-coren, Barack Obama a raffirm mercredi
l'engagement des Etats-Unis protger le Japon, y compris grce au "parapluie nuclaire"
amricain.
M. Obama et Shinzo Abe, attendu Washington d'ici la fin du mois, "ont voqu l'essai
nuclaire nord-coren et la rponse approprie qu'ils pourraient apporter cette violation
provocante de ses obligations internationales par la Core du Nord", indique un
communiqu de la Maison Blanche.
M. Obama "a raffirm que les Etats-Unis restaient inbranlables dans leur volont de
protger le Japon, y compris grce la dissuasion offerte par le parapluie nuclaire
amricain", ajoute le communiqu. MM. Obama et Abe ont aussi "promis de travailler
troitement pour trouver une rponse adquate au Conseil de scurit des Nations unies".
INQUITUDE EN CORE DU SUD
Selon un responsable du ministre japonais des affaires trangres, Shinzo Abe s'est
galement entretenu mercredi avec le prsident de la Core du Sud, Lee Myung-bak. Le
Japon et la Core du Sud sont deux des voisins les plus proches de la Core du Nord, et les
plus menacs par les vellits ventuelles du rgime de Pyongyang. La Core du Sud a
prsent, jeudi, un nouveau missile de croisire capable, selon elle, d'atteindre les bureaux
des dirigeants nord-corens.
Le secrtaire amricain la dfense, Leon Panetta, s'est entretenu avec son homologue
sud-coren, Kim Kwan-jin, d'"actions coordonnes immdiates" aprs l'essai nuclaire
nord-coren, a annonc mercredi le porte-parole du Pentagone, George Little. Lors de leur
entretien tlphonique, Leon Panetta a "ritr l'engagement amricain", y compris pour ce
qui concerne le parapluie nuclaire amricain, de "dfendre la Core du Sud contre une
agression", affirme M. Little dans un communiqu.
La Core du Sud et la Core du Nord sont toujours techniquement en guerre, seule une
trve ayant mis fin aux hostilits de la priode 1950-1953. L'essai nuclaire nord-coren
attise les tensions sur la pninsule corenne l'approche de l'investiture, prvue le 25
fvrier, de la nouvelle prsidente sud-corenne, Park Geun-hye.
Lors de son discours sur l'tat de l'Union mardi soir, le prsident Barack Obama a promis
une "action ferme" face aux "provocations" de la Core du Nord, qui avait men quelques
heures plus tt son troisime essai nuclaire. Le secrtaire d'Etat amricain, John Kerry, a
exhort, mercredi, la communaut internationale rpondre "avec force" au troisime
essai nuclaire nord-coren, dans le but galement d'envoyer un avertissement l'Iran et
son programme nuclaire controvers.
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Cet essai tait d'une puissance bien suprieure aux deux prcdents de 2006 et 2009, et a
provoqu un concert de condamnations et une vigoureuse raction des Nations unies.
Runi en urgence, le Conseil de scurit de l'ONU dont la prsidence tournante est
assure par la Core du Sud en fvrier a "fermement condamn" ce nouvel essai
nuclaire et annonc qu'il allait s'efforcer de prendre les "mesures appropries" par le biais
d'une nouvelle rsolution.
The Hindu (ndia) North Koreas new reality (Editorial)
Tuesdays nuclear test by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea may have been widely
anticipated but that has not made the tremors from its showmanship any less alarming.
The test poses a difficult strategic dilemma for both the United States - Enemy No.1 for
North Korea - and China, Pyongyangs strongest ally. Within the region, the fact that the
"miniaturised and lighter nuclear device just tested can easily be fitted on to a missile has
South Korea and Japan extremely nervous. If the nuclear test was the DPRKs way of
forcing a dialogue with the U.S. on its terms, the Obama Administrations main worry
would be about setting a precedent for other countries. Retaliation through sanctions,
though, seems to have run its course without any effect on North Koreas will or ability to
pursue its nuclear weapons programme. The test has also put China in a quandary. Always
protective of the North Korean regime, it has faced increasing world pressure to wean
Pyongyang from the nuclear path, but has been unable to do so. After all its efforts to put
a lid on the damaging A.Q. Khan proliferation scandal, Pakistan too finds itself in the
spotlight again with experts wondering if the latest North Korean device used enriched
uranium rather than plutonium.
What the North Korean nomenklatura, especially its military elite, hopes to achieve from
the latest test is not clear but one conclusion is inescapable: the regime sees nuclear
weapons as the key to its political survival and has firmly and irrevocably turned its back
on the chimera of a denuclearised peninsula. This means that a key assumption of the Six
Party Talks process needs re-evaluation. Dialogue and diplomacy are still essential but the
goal must now focus, realistically, on managing Pyongyangs nuclear status and ensuring
that the Kim Jong-un regime abides by global non-proliferation norms rather than on
seeking ways for it to give up its weapons. Of course, the immediate fallout of the latest
test is that both Japan and South Korea will now be looking for the protection of an
enhanced American `nuclear umbrella including missile defence. Call it a more active `pivot
to Asia, this would be, as an Obama Administration official told the New York Times after
the Unha-3 test, "indistinguishable from the kind of things that China views as a
containment strategy. The little nuclear genies in North Korea and Pakistan that China
helped conjure up over the years will both end up as major strategic liabilities for Beijing.
There is little the Chinese can do now to prevent an even more robust American military
presence in the East Asian region.
OMC
Les Echos (Frana) - Pourquoi je suis candidat la succession
de Pascal Lamy lOMC (Entrevista)
Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo Ambassadeur du Brsil lOMC
Il est de relancer la capacit de ngociation de lOrganisation. A moins de trouver une
solution au cycle de dveloppement de Doha lanc en 2001 mais toujours bloqu, lun des
trois piliers sur lesquels repose lOMC restera en panne.
Le foss qui existait, en 2008, entre les pays membres tait norme, mais il ne concerne
quun nombre limit de sujets de friction. Nous ne pouvons pas revenir la table des
ngociations dans le mme tat desprit quen 2008. Nous devons avoir de nouvelles
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perspectives, tre cratifs. Nous avons aussi besoin de confiance. Cette confiance qui
nexiste plus depuis 2008.
Dans les faits, nous avons mis la charrue avant les bufs, dessin les contours de laccord
auquel nous voulions parvenir sans se proccuper dabord de savoir sil pourrait passer au
niveau national. Aujourdhui, nous sommes dans un nouvel tat desprit. Les effets de la
crise conomique que nous connaissons sont mieux assimils par tout le monde. Si chacun,
y compris le directeur gnral, retrouve confiance, nous pourrons parvenir un accord. Sur
de nouvelles bases, avec dautres moyens.
Nous devons absolument obtenir des rsultats Bali. Pour deux raisons. La premire, cest
que cela restaurera la crdibilit de lOMC. montrera que le systme peut voluer.
Deuximement, cela donnera aux membres plus de confiance, indiquera que nous pouvons
discuter de manire productive. Ce sera un bon signal pour le cycle de Doha.
Ce serait une avance significative. Nous pouvons y parvenir. Mais nous devons rester
prudents. Lenvironnement de ngociation Genve est trs sensible et le moindre dtail,
le moindre grain de sable pourrait faire drailler les choses.
Cest un problme que les pays membres devront regarder de prs. Il existe au sein de
lOMC un groupe de travail qui discute de ces questions pour voir justement si lOMC a un
mot dire au niveau international sur les taux de change. Mais cela ne pourrait concerner
que le ct commercial et non pas financier ou politique.
Propos recueillis par
RICHARD HIAULT
Reuters (Reino Unido) U.S. must be more reasonable at Doha
table: Mexico WTO candidate
By Simon Gardner
Global trade talks are in crisis and private companies in the United States urgently need to
pressure their government back to the negotiating table, Mexico's candidate to head the
World Trade Organization said on Wednesday.
Herminio Blanco, a former Mexican trade minister who led negotiations to create the North
American Free Trade Agreement, insists it is vital to revive the stalled Doha round of trade
talks.
"At this point in time the Doha round is in crisis," Blanco told Reuters in an interview ahead
of a world tour to lobby for his candidacy. "The private sectors have to tell the
governments it is fundamental to solve these negotiations."
"One of the first targets has to be the United States. The private sector of the United
States has to tell the government: You have to move in Geneva ... you have to be more
reasonable in your positions, you have to get to the table and you have to negotiate."
Countries have tried unsuccessfully for over a decade to conclude the Doha round of world
trade talks, which was supposed to open up new markets in agriculture, manufacturing and
services, and help the world's poorest countries.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy declared an "impasse" in 2011.
A host of free trade agreements, Asia-Pacific free trade talks and a push by the United
States and the European Union to start negotiating a vast transatlantic free trade pact by
June underscore the need for new rules that address evolving obstacles to trade, he said.
6
A deal between the United States and EU would be the most ambitious since the WTO was
founded in 1995 and highlights impatience at failure to agree to global tariff cuts.
Blanco is one of nine candidates bidding to replace Lamy, and many trade diplomats think
the job should go to Latin America, the Caribbean or Africa.
Brazil - Latin America's largest economy and seen as a bridge between rich and
developing nations thanks to its BRICS grouping with Russia, India, China and South Africa
- has nominated Roberto Azevedo, an experienced negotiator who represented Brazil at
the WTO.
However, Brazil upset some WTO members by hiking duties on dozens of imported
products from cars to glass and iron pipes to fend off competition from the likes of China.
Costa Rica also has a candidate.
FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS
If chosen to lead the WTO, Blanco said he would seek ways to ensure such free trade
initiatives were wrapped into the global trade organization. He says it is the International
Monetary Fund's job to grapple with "currency war" tensions, not the WTO's.
Key issues include the elimination of subsidies for agricultural exports that hurt smaller
countries, decreasing tariffs on industrial products and introducing new rules to govern the
way disputes are solved at the WTO.
Blanco believes the Doha talks ran aground over tariffs for industrial products, saying that
typically negotiators are given instructions to stop progress across the board if they come
up against one big sticking point.
"If you look at most of the chapters of the Doha round, and you see in those chapters that
nothing is moving, it is not because there is a major problem in each one of them," he
said.
"It's because there's a problem in one, and potentially it's the negotiation of industrial
tariffs that has brought this reaction around all of the other topics."
Blanco touts his credentials as an experienced trade negotiator, as well as the fact that he
has worked in both government and the private sector.
As a consultant, he gave Mexico's government advice as it negotiated participation in the
Trans Pacific Partnership last year, even though the initiative is deliberately circumventing
the WTO. He sees no conflict of interest.
"We were just helping the Mexican government to be a member of these negotiations.
Mexico was being left out of this negotiation, and we thought it was fundamental to be
there, because our main partner, the U.S., is part of it," he said.
"This was for the good of the country and very importantly, the private sector has to be
there," he added. "If the WTO was moving, obviously that energy would be spent on
negotiating in Geneva."
(Reporting by Simon Gardner; Editing by Eric Beech)
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RENNCIA DO PAPA BENTO XVI
Ansa Latina (Itlia) Ross!"" busca deshielo con Vaticano
BRASILIA (ANSA) - La presidenta brasilea Dil#a Ross!"", cuya relacin con el Vaticano
es vista como distante, considera que la sucesin de Benedicto XVI puede contribuir al
deshielo con el Vaticano e instruy a un ministro, que fue seminarista, para que dialogue
con la cpula catlica.
La Jornada Mundial de la Juventud, que se realizar en Rio de Janeiro, puede contribuir a la
reaproximacin. "Despus de dos das de silencio sobre la renuncia de Benedicto XVI el
gobierno enviar hoy al ministro Gilberto Carvalho" a un encuentro con "representantes del
Vaticano en Brasilia" escribi hoy el diario Folha de Sao Paulo.
Gilberto Carvalho fue seminarista, se desempea como secretario general de la Presidencia
y Ross!"" ya le confiado otras misiones ante la Conferencia Nacional de Obispos de
Brasil, que este mircoles lanzaba su campaa anual de la Fraternidad.
En 2007 Carvalho, que era funcionario del ex presidente Luiz Lula da Silva, fue uno de los
representantes del gobierno en la organizacin de la visita de Benedicto XVI a Sao Paulo y
luego particip en las conversaciones previas de una visita del ex mandatario al Vaticano.
Las relaciones entre Brasil y la Santa Sede son "delicadas y difciles" dijeron fuentes
religiosas al diario O Globo, y han contaminado la agenda entre el Palacio del Planalto y la
Conferencia Nacional de Obispos.
Fuentes cercanas a Ross!"" dejaron trascender que ella confa en una "reaproximacin" y
sta podr construirse a lo largo de las prximas semanas cuando tengan lugar los
concilibulos previos a la eleccin del prximo Papa, donde hay al menos 3 cardenales
brasileos ponderados como "papables", public Folha de Sao Paulo el martes.
Reuters (Reino Unido) Ministro nega frieza em relao do
Brasil com Vaticano
O ministro Gilberto Carvalho, da Secretaria Geral da Presidncia, afirmou nesta quarta-
feira que as relaes entre o governo brasileiro e o Vaticano so "as melhores possveis" e
minimizou o fato de a presidente Dil#a Ross!"" no ter se manifestado em relao
renncia do papa Bento 16, na segunda-feira.
"No vamos criar problema onde eles no existem... Com a Igreja Catlica no existe
problema", disse Carvalho, reiterando que a posio do governo sobre o tema de
"respeito muito grande".
A falta de uma manifestao oficial da presidente chegou a ser vista como um sinal de que
ela ainda guardava mgoas de Bento 16 em relao campanha eleitoral de 2010
Presidncia, quando o papa orientou os bispos que se empenhassem contra o voto em
candidatos favorveis ao aborto --Dil#a chegou a ser acusada por setores religiosos no
Brasil de ser favorvel legalizao, o que ela negou.
"Houve um episdio na eleio que consideramos superado... No vejo nenhum clima de
frieza", disse Carvalho, que foi seminarista e ligado aos setores da Igreja Catlica que
ajudaram a fundar o PT.
"Ns no podemos ver acontecimentos a partir de falas, acho que as atitudes so mais
importantes", acrescentou, depois de citar convnios e a estreita relao do governo com a
Igreja Catlica, inclusive a celebrao religiosa realizada na ltima semana a pedido de
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Dil#a em homenagem aos mortos no incndio em uma boate de Santa Maria, interior do
Rio Grande do Sul.
"No h nenhum problema nas nossas relaes, pelo contrrio, as nossas relaes com a
Santa S tm sido as melhores possveis... Com a chegada do novo papa, esperamos
retomar essas negociaes", disse Carvalho.
Ele citou a importncia da realizao para o governo, da Jornada Mundial da Juventude, no
Rio de Janeiro, em julho, que pode reunir at 3 milhes de jovens.
"Esta jornada tem sido vista pelo governo como um momento muito importante para o
pas", disse. "Um momento privilegiado para toda a juventude brasileira", acrescentou.
A CNBB lanou nesta quarta-feira a Campanha da Fraternidade, cujo tema "Fraternidade
e Juventude" e pretende atrair e mobilizar jovens para participarem da Jornada Mundial da
Juventude.
O papa Bento 16 surpreendeu a Igreja a anunciar, na segunda-feira, sua renncia ao
posto, que fica vago a partir do dia 28 de fevereiro. A previso que na segunda metade
de maro os bispos se renam no Vaticano para realizar a escolha do novo pontfice.
(Reportagem de Ana Flor)
Clarn (Argentina) Los brasileos pasan al frente y reclaman
ser tenidos en cuenta
EL VATICANO. CORRESPONSAL
Hasta que llegue el "Habemus Papam, todo ser mxima incertidumbre en la anomala de
un fin de reinado con el Papa vivo. En los ltimos dos das, en el mercado de las hiptesis
acerca de los candidatos sobresale el creciente protagonismo de los cardenales brasileos.
Al arzobispo de San Pablo, cardenal Odilio Scherer, de 63 aos, una buena edad hoy para
ser Papa porque hace falta una mano enrgica que barra con las incrustaciones de las
facciones en lucha en la Curia Romana, ya lo llaman en Roma "el Papa brasileo.
Hay un dejo de irona pero un fondo de sustancia. El brasileo lleg y mand a parar. No
Scherer sino el presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal del mayor pas catlico del mundo,
una de las principales potencias mundiales emergentes. El cardenal Raymundo Damasceno
lanz oficialmente la candidatura de uno de los nueve purpurados nacionales, lo que son
como una advertencia. En el Cnclave, Brasil y sus aspiraciones debern ser tenidas muy
en cuenta.
Damasceno dijo que "un cardenal de mi pas puede ser elegido pero sera presuntuoso
presentar un candidato de antemano. La prensa brasilea lo identific en Odilio Scherer.
Damasceno habl en nombre de Amrica Latina, "donde vive 44% de los catlicos del
mundo.
De hecho pidi el apoyo de los otros 18 cardenales latinoamericanos a la elevacin de
Scherer al trono.
El arzobispo de San Pablo figura desde el lunes, cuando Benedetto XVI anunci su
renuncia, como el principal papable de la Amrica Latina. No hay que olvidar que en julio
tendr lugar en Ro de Janeiro la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud, de la cual se espera que
participen cuatro millones de jvenes. A Ro deba viajar el cardenal Ratzinger, pero sus
mdicos le haban desaconsejado que hiciera el viaje.
Ayer, el "Papa brasileo mostr una obligada modestia y asegur que "no es esencial que
el nuevo pontfice sea ms joven o provenga de la Amrica Latina. Dijo que lo que deba
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mostrar era su capacidad para guiar a la Iglesia "en medio de fuertes desafos como "el de
la posmodernidad, que corresponde "a una cultura sin valores referenciales slidos y a
una subjetividad que lleva a un relativismo total.
Una declaracin ms bien interesada, hacia un Cnclave en el que 80% de los 117
miembros fue nombrado por el papa renunciante y que est dominado por ideas
conservadoras. Scherer conduce una arquidicesis de cinco millones de fieles en un pas
con 123 millones de catlicos. Hay otro brasileo importante. El cardenal Joo Braz de
Aviz, "ministro del Papa de la congregacin de institutos de vida consagrada, conoce bien
la Curia Romana y no es un conservador. Braz de Avis corri los velos y afirm que
"existen divergencias serias entre los cardenales que elegirn al Papa. "Las cosas no son
serenas pero no hay maldad, aadi. "Algunos cardenales quieren el dilogo, otros dan
ms importancia a la autoridad.
A su vez, el ex "ministro del Papa en la congregacin del clero, el cardenal brasileo
Claudio Hummes, que defendi el fin del celibato y fue obligado a cambiar pblicamente de
opinin por Benedicto XVI, dijo que "yo espero que el Papa sea un hombre ms joven, Y le
dio una visible mano a Scherer. "En torno a los 65 aos, precis.
ORIENTE M$DIO E NORTE DA %&RICA
The New York Times (EUA) - Kerry Says Trip Will Focus on
Finding Syria Solution
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that he planned to use
his first foreign trip to advance new ideas about how to persuade President Bashar al-Assad
of Syria to yield power and agree to a political transition.
Mr. Kerrys itinerary has not been formally announced, but he is expected to go to Europe
and the Middle East later this month.
Though the United States has sought to encourage a negotiated handover of authority to a
transitional government, Mr. Assads determination to cling to power has proved to be a
major, and so far insurmountable, impediment.
"I believe there are additional things that can be done to change his current perception,
Mr. Kerry said. "My goal is to see us change his calculation.
Mr. Kerry did not say what ideas he had in mind. But he stressed the importance of trying
to find common ground with the Russians, whose cooperation the Americans have long
sought in trying to convince Mr. Assad that he is isolated internationally.
Russia has publicly insisted that Mr. Assads departure from power should not be a
precondition for negotiations between the rebels and the government. Russia has also
continued to ship arms to the Assad government and provide financial support, American
officials say.
Mr. Kerrys comments followed a meeting at the State Department with Jordans foreign
minister, Nasser Judeh, who made similar comments about the need to narrow differences
between Syrian rebels, who have demanded that Mr. Assad give up before a political
transition is worked out, and the Syrian presidents supporters.
"The positions are far apart, one requiring immediate departure, one saying that
discussions will not take place if that is the precondition, Mr. Judeh said. "So I think you
10
have to go down the middle and try to bridge the two positions together. And I think weve
seen some initiatives in that regard.
King Abdullah of Jordan is planning to visit Russia soon to discuss Middle East issues,
including Syria. And Mr. Kerry indicated that he planned to follow up those discussions.
Mr. Kerrys comment on Syria came a day after Mr. Obama said little about the Syria crisis
in his State of the Union address. In that speech, Mr. Obama said he would keep pressure
on the Syrian government and support the Syrian opposition politically. But he did not
voice confidence, as he had in his 2012 address, that Mr. Assad would soon be forced to
relinquish power.
Mr. Obama rebuffed a proposal last year by the heads of the C.I.A., State Department and
Pentagon that the United States vet and arm a cadre of Syrian rebels. And there has been
no indication that the White House is actively reconsidering that plan.
Mr. Kerry lowered expectations for the trip Mr. Obama is planning to Israel next month,
saying that the president would begin by listening to Israeli and Arab leaders and would
not be bringing a major new proposal.
"The president is not prepared, at this point in time, to do more than to listen to the
parties, which is why he has announced hes going to go to Israel, Mr. Kerry said. "I think
we start out by listening and get a sense of what the current state of possibilities are and
then begin to make some choices.
BBC (Reino Unido) UN Syria team resumes field visits near
Damascus
A member of the UN special envoy's team has carried out the first field visit to Syria for
several months.
Lakhdar Brahimi's deputy Mokhtar Lamani held talks with the head of the rebel
Revolutionary Military Council to the north of Damascus, a UN official said.
He also met civilian and Christian leaders in the town of Yabroud, with all expressing
support for a recent opposition peace initiative.
Damascus has seen heavy recent fighting but rebels have made no breakthrough.
Moaz al-Khatib, head of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition
Forces, offered earlier this month to hold direct talks with Vice-President Farouq al-Sharaa.
However, he gave two conditions - the release of the 160,000 people he said were being
held in prisons and intelligence facilities, and the resumption of the issuing of new
passports by Syrian embassies.
On Monday, the government responded to the offer for the first time.
The Minister for National Reconciliation, Ali Haidar, told the Guardian newspaper that he
was "willing to meet Mr Khatib in any foreign city where I can go in order to discuss
preparations for a national dialogue".
Opposition and rebel groups have long insisted that they will not begin dialogue with the
government until President Bashar al-Assad agrees to stand down.
11
The messages of support for Mr Khatib's initiative, offered by leaders in Qalamoun, near
Damascus, and in Yabroud, may be seen as a positive sign by Mr Lamani.
The UN spokesperson said the Canadian diplomat's visit was the first of a series that he
planned to carry out in the coming weeks.
Since taking up his post in September, Mr Lamani has played an important role in
negotiating local ceasefires, particularly at the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, reports
the BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus.
The UN field visit is seen as a step forward in the promotion of dialogue between both sides
and shows that Mr Brahimi's team can play a role in mediation, our correspondent adds.
Later on Wednesday, the new US Secretary of State, John Kerry, reiterated the Obama
administration's position that any political solution to the conflict in Syria had to include Mr
Assad giving up power.
Mr Kerry said he was looking into ways to convince the president to change his
"calculation" and accept "the inevitability" of his departure. There were "additional things"
that could be done to get there, he added.
The Guardian (Reino Unido) Bahrain: it's time to act
Ali Alaswad
It is two years on Thursday since thousands of Bahrainis, young and old, male and female,
Sunni and Shia, took to the now demolished Pearl Square in the capital, Manama, to
demand democracy. They were inspired by the Arab spring, but had decades of their own
struggle behind them. This might be the moment to end the stereotype that the Gulf knows
only dictatorship.
It's true that our goal has not yet been achieved. But our uprising is neither a failure, nor
was it crushed under the weight of tanks brought over the border from Saudi Arabia. Last
week, as part of a series of protests to mark the second anniversary, thousands took to the
streets under the banner of "no U-turn".
That message is clearly understood by the authorities. They agreed, finally, to engage with
the opposition in a national dialogue that began this week. It's in stark contrast to the
usual response we have been given thus far: killings, repression, sackings, violence and
more. But those human rights violations have remained, and there is no guarantee that
this dialogue will bring about reform.
Opposition groups known as societies, since political parties are not strictly legal
entered into this dialogue in the hope that it would end the stalemate. It is our duty to
make the effort to find a peaceful solution, but a political negotiation that has a website, a
logo, social media accounts and all sorts of PR-friendly features will undoubtedly be of
concern to those who want it to be serious. We have raised questions that have yet to be
clearly answered about the process of the dialogue, but the government's position remains
baffling.
It has said its role is to be a moderator between the political societies, and that it will
implement any agreed consensus. This is no different to the parliament we engaged with
between 2006 and 2011, which turned out to be ineffective in creating any change, or even
holding the government to account.
This attitude that Bahrain's problems exist primarily between its own people is an
attempt to deflect responsibility away from the government and to play up the false idea
12
that this conflict is sectarian. The fact that half the opposition delegates who attended the
first dialogue session were Sunnis shoots this argument to pieces.
The elitist attitude of a government that can absolve itself of responsibility for a crisis of its
making goes to the very heart of the people's demands. Bahrain needs an elected
government that reflects the popular will. A government of the people, rather than one that
sees itself as being above the people and chooses to implement or ignore whatever it
deems appropriate.
The difficulty lies in a ruling family that is split between two very different visions for the
future. One section understands that Bahrain cannot move forward without the consent of
the people. The other believes that crushing the people is the right strategy. Hence this
strange half dialogue, in which no one is really sure, even in government, what is actually
going on.
For dialogue to be a success, the government needs to realise the system it presides over
is fundamentally flawed and work with the opposition to create a series of reforms that will
see a united and democratic Bahrain.
We need a political system that agrees that 42 years is an absurd period of time for one
prime minister to stay in power; and that a biased judiciary which can give life sentences
to peaceful opposition leaders while failing to prosecute a single high-ranking figure for
torture, needs reform. Economically, we must move away from reliance on oil and create a
sustainable and diversified economy; and, socially, we need to end the sectarian
discrimination that keeps Shias out of mainstream society.
In November 2011 we pinned our hopes on the Bahrain Independent Commission of
Inquiry (BICI), when it outlined the violations committed by our regime. The king accepted
its recommendations in full, and it had the potential to usher in a new era but in the end
the authorities used it as an excuse to delay finding a solution.
The international community was quick to laud the BICI, without waiting to see if any of its
recommendations would ever be implemented. Now even the chief commissioner of that
inquiry agrees implementation has not been good enough.
The same mistake cannot happen again. Yes, it is a good thing that dialogue is back on the
agenda and the potential for progress is there but without international pressure it will
be nothing more than a PR exercise.
It will be very hard for the people of Bahrain to buy into two years of constant sacrifices
with no reward. The government needs to engage directly with the opposition, and the
international community needs to see this as one last chance to avoid a real catastrophe in
Bahrain, one that we fear it may never recover from. Now is the time to act.
IR
The Associated Press (EUA) UN Official: No Deal on Resuming
Iran Nuke Probe
VIENNA (AP) - Senior officials of the U.N. atomic agency have returned from Tehran
without a hoped-for deal that would have led to the resumption of a probe into allegations
that Iran worked secretly on nuclear arms.
Herman Naeckerts, who headed the International Atomic Energy Agency team, says
"remaining differences" between the two sides mean that "we ... could not finalize" the
agreement on how such an investigation should be conducted. He declined to say whether
there was progress.
13
Iran denies it ever worked on nuclear arms and says all of its atomic activities are peaceful.
The talks began more than a year ago but have foundered on modalities.
The IAEA wants the probe to be open ended, something Tehran strenuously opposes.
The Washington Post (EUA) - Kerry drafting new proposals to
persuade Syrias Assad to step down
By Anne Gearan
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Wednesday that he is drafting diplomatic proposals to
persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power, but he warned that it may be
too late to prevent a violent collapse in a nation where nearly 70,000 have died and
hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes.
Kerry did not detail any potential offers or arguments to Assad, whom he knew well before
the Syrian civil war began nearly two years ago. He hinted that his first trip will be to the
Middle East, saying he wants to talk with allies about ways to ease Assad out.
"My goal is to see us change his calculation. My goal is to see us have a negotiated
outcome and minimize the violence, Kerry said after a meeting with Jordanian Foreign
Minister Nasser Judeh.
Kerry acknowledged the difficulty of a peaceful transition. "Im not going to stand here and
tell you thats automatic or easily achievable, he said. "There are a lot of forces that have
been unleashed here over the course of the last months.
The cautious remarks were another sign that the Obama administration is scaling back its
ambitions for Syria while expressing support for the shaky political opposition coalition it
helped to establish late last year. A year after declaring that Assads days were numbered,
U.S. officials no longer put any estimate on how long the Syrian dictator might remain in
power.
The United States and key Arab and European partners have ruled out military intervention
on behalf of the Syrian rebels who have fought the regime to what is basically a standstill.
President Obama mentioned Syria only briefly in Tuesdays State of the Union address,
lowering expectations he had set in the same speech a year before, when he predicted that
Assad would soon be swept away by the tide of change in the Mideast.
"We will keep the pressure on a Syrian regime that has murdered its own people and
support opposition leaders that respect the rights of every Syrian, Obama said Tuesday.
Kerry praised Syrian opposition efforts to negotiate with the Assad regime as courageous,
and other U.S. officials said a negotiated deal to give the president asylum outside the
country is possible. Assad has rejected previous entreaties, and Russia, considered the best
hope to broker a deal with him and provide asylum, has refused to do either.
"We need to address the question of President Assads calculation currently, Kerry said. "I
believe there are additional things that can be done to change his current perception. . . .
Ive got a good sense of what I think we might propose.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Kerry would not make any personal
entreaties to Assad.
14
U.S. and Arab assessments of Assads staying power have shifted, reflecting his resistance
to rebel military successes, international sanctions and a steady drip of government
defections.
"Assad may think that he can ride this out. We dont think thats right. The Syrian
opposition is making steady gains, Nuland said, adding that other countries engaged in
trying to end the war agree that Assad is "living in his own fantasy world about his staying
power.
Assad may have good reason to think he can outlast the rebels. He retains a powerful,
loyal core within the military and receives weapons and diplomatic protection from Russia
and Iran.
Judeh, the Jordanian foreign minister, said: "Nobody can put a timeline. I think people who
have done that in the past have proven that they cant. . . . I think we put all that aside,
and we say that theres a conviction all around that it is a political solution that needs to
kick in.
Reuters (Reino Unido) Iran denies shipping arms to Islamist
militants in Somalia
By Louis Charbonneau
Iran has denied allegations that it has been supplying Islamist militants in Somalia with
weapons, describing the charges as "absurd fabrications," according to a letter obtained by
Reuters on Thursday.
As the United States pushes for an end to the U.N. arms embargo on Somalia, U.N.
monitors following Somalia sanctions are warning that Islamist militants in the Horn of
Africa nation are receiving weapons from distribution networks linked to Yemen and Iran,
diplomats told Reuters.
According to the latest findings by the U.N. Security Council's monitoring group, which
tracks compliance with U.N. sanctions on Somalia and Eritrea, most illicit arms are coming
into northern Somalia - that is, the autonomous Puntland and Somaliland regions - after
which they are moved farther south into strongholds of Islamist al Shabaab militants.
"The allegations of arm transfers from Iran to Somalia are absurd fabrications and have no
basis or validity," Iran's U.N. mission wrote to the U.N. Security Council in a letter obtained
by Reuters. "Thus it is categorically rejected by the Government of the Islamic Republic of
Iran."
"It is unfortunate that the Monitoring Group has, in an obvious irresponsible manner, put
such unfounded allegations and strange fabrications in its report, without first bothering
itself to communicate them to my Government," Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad
Khazaee wrote to the council.
"It is further regrettable that the content of the report is leaked to the media for
propaganda purposes," he wrote. "This malicious campaign, which is done in the name of
the United Nations, endangers the credibility of the Security Council along with that of the
United Nations."
SOMALI NETWORKS
The monitoring team's concerns about Iranian and Yemeni links to arms supplies for al
Shabaab militants come as Yemen is asking Tehran to stop backing armed groups on
15
Yemeni soil. Last month the Yemeni coast guard and the U.S. Navy seized a consignment
of missiles and rockets the Sanaa government says were sent by Iran.
According to the monitoring group, the supply chains in Yemen that provide al Shabaab
with arms are largely Somali networks, council diplomats said on condition of anonymity.
Yemen is just across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia's northern coast, making it easy to
move all kinds of goods - legal and illegal - from the Middle East into Somaliland and
Puntland.
Iran's U.N. mission also wrote to the council regarding the allegations about the ship
containing arms bound for Yemen. It denied responsibility for those weapons.
"It has been further claimed that the items seized on board ... the ship were produced in
Iran," Khazaee wrote in a separate letter to the council. "Even if some of these items were
made in Iran, this does not provide any evidence that Iran was involved in the shipment of
arms to Yemen."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said the 15-nation council should consider lifting
the arms embargo to help rebuild Somalia's security forces and consolidate military gains
against the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants.
It is a position that has the strong backing of the United States, which is pushing for an
end to the 21-year-old U.N. arms embargo. The Security Council imposed it in 1992 to cut
the flow of arms to feuding warlords, who a year earlier had ousted dictator Mohamed Siad
Barre and plunged Somalia into civil war.
France and Britain oppose lifting the arms embargo for the government, U.N. diplomats
say, and would prefer a more gradual easing of the restrictions on arms sales to Somalia's
government. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; editing by Patrick Graham)
AR'ENTINA ( IR
La Nacin (Argentina) Admiti Timerman que los iranes
pueden no declarar
Por Gustavo Ybarra | LA NACION

El canciller Hctor Timerman tuvo ayer una trabajosa tarea para defender ante tres
comisiones del Senado el acuerdo firmado con Irn por el atentado a la sede de la AMIA .
Durante su exposicin dijo que gracias al memorndum la justicia argentina "tendr a su
disposicin a los acusados para indagarlos", un modo de refutar lo que haba dicho
anteayer el vocero de la cancillera iran, Ramin Mehmanparast, cuando calific de
"totalmente incorrecta" esa posibilidad. Sin embargo, Timerman debi admitir tambin que
los imputados podrn "abstenerse de declarar" , un reconocimiento implcito de que el
principal objetivo argentino en el acuerdo con Irn podra no ser logrado.
El canciller sorprendi al aceptar, adems, que la Argentina haba firmado un tratado con
un interlocutor poco fiable. "En ningn lugar dice que nosotros confiamos en Irn", afirm
ante una pregunta del senador Samuel Cabanchik (Probafe-Capital). El ministro fue ms
all: "Confianza? Ninguna; ac se trata de cumplir la ley".
Adems, lanz un desafo que indign a varios senadores: dijo que "los que se oponen [al
acuerdo] van a conseguir que la causa siga parada".
16
Timerman debi enfrentar durante casi seis horas los fuertes embates y crticas de casi
todo el arco opositor, que rechaz el memorndum por considerarlo una "garanta de
impunidad" para los iranes imputados por el atentado y denunci que con su ratificacin
por ley el Poder Ejecutivo consagrar "una claudicacin de la jurisdiccin" judicial
argentina. "Estamos poniendo de rodillas el pas ante Irn", le descerraj el radical Gerardo
Morales (Jujuy).
A pesar de la amplia disidencia que provoca el acuerdo en la oposicin, y de los duros
trminos de rechazo que utilizaron en la misma sesin la AMIA, la DAIA y organizaciones
de familiares de las vctimas del ataque perpetrado en 1994, el kirchnerismo avanz con la
firma del dictamen, que ser llevado al recinto el jueves prximo.
La presidenta Cristina Kirchner, que ayer encabez un acto en Chubut, no hizo en su
discurso ninguna referencia al tema.
"No hemos escuchado ningn argumento que nos plantee que esto es inconveniente para
la marcha de la causa judicial", afirm el jefe de la bancada oficialista, Miguel Pichetto (Ro
Negro), al cerrar el debate del plenario de las comisiones de Relaciones Exteriores, de
Justicia y Asuntos Penales y de Asuntos Constitucionales.
El duelo poltico que enfrent Timerman tuvo momentos polmicos y cargados de tensin,
como cuando Laura Ginsberg, de Apemia, la Agrupacin por el Esclarecimiento de la
Masacre de la AMIA, irrumpi en el Saln Azul de la Cmara alta e interrumpi las
deliberaciones para reclamarle a los gritos al presidente de la Comisin de Relaciones
Exteriores, Daniel Filmus (FPV-Capital), que le permitiera hablar.
Tambin hubo varios cruces de chicanas entre el canciller y los legisladores. "Est bien que
pregunte cuando no sabe", le dijo en un momento Timerman al jujeo Morales, molesto
porque ste lo haba acusado de "mentirles en la cara" a los senadores al mencionar como
acordadas cuestiones que, a su entender, no figuran en el entendimiento.
"Desde cuando la liebre corre al perro", le espet, en tanto, Mario Cimadevilla (UCR-
Chubut), cansado de que el canciller respondiera con preguntas a sus preguntas.
Si el ministro esperaba con su exposicin convencer a otros senadores, no tuvo mucho
xito, ni siquiera cuando asegur a viva voz que "no hay clusulas secretas ni intereses
espurios" detrs del acuerdo. De hecho, el porteo Cabanchik, aliado crtico del
kirchnerismo en los ltimos tiempos, no firm el dictamen tras manifestar sus dudas sobre
el impacto que el entendimiento tendr sobre la causa judicial.
"Nosotros somos vctimas y celebramos un acuerdo con el sospechoso de victimario",
alert. "Esto constituye una cuenta demasiado fuerte para Argentina, mientras que no se
sabe bien de cunto es para Irn", agreg el legislador.
El debate arranc con una exposicin que Timerman ley durante 40 minutos y en los que
se preocup por destacar que se aplicarn las reglas procesales argentinas que permitirn
al juez y al fiscal de la causa AMIA, Rodolfo Canicoba Corral y Alberto Nisman,
respectivamente, tomarles declaracin indagatoria a los iranes acusados. Adems, destac
que con este acuerdo se lograr reactivar una causa que lleva "ms de seis aos
paralizada".
"Irn ahora acepta la competencia de los jueces argentinos en la causa AMIA, despus de
haberla negado durante muchos aos", seal. "Por primera vez en 19 aos hemos logrado
que los imputados enfrenten a la justicia argentina", aadi. Para Timerman, esto "es una
muestra de cmo Tehern cambi" de postura.
17
Sin embargo, la oposicin rechaz estas afirmaciones. As, el radical Ernesto Sanz
(Mendoza) destac que "en ningn lado del acuerdo dice que el juez de la causa va a tener
la direccin del proceso". "El acuerdo nunca menciona el Cdigo Procesal argentino", se
sum el peronista disidente Adolfo Rodrguez Sa (San Luis).
Otro motivo de crtica fue la negativa del kirchnerismo a aceptar la presencia de Canicoba
Corral y Nisman en el Senado, mocin planteada por el jefe del bloque UCR, Jos Cano
(Tucumn), y rechazada por Pichetto.
"Ser porque tanto el juez como el fiscal no comparten las aseveraciones de carcter
tcnico jurdico que manifiesta el canciller", se pregunt de manera retrica Sanz.
Por ltimo, la peronista disidente Liliana Negre de Alonso plante su duda sobre si era
necesario firmar un acuerdo con un pas que "niega el Holocausto y dice que debe
desaparecer el Estado de Israel".
En el nico momento en el que habl con humildad, Timerman, de profesin de fe juda,
respondi: "No es ningn placer sentarme a negociar con negadores del Holocausto, pero
alguien lo tena que hacer". Relat entonces cmo durante mucho tiempo viaj con
frecuencia a Zurich para avanzar en el acuerdo, confirmando de ese modo lo que haba
dicho el da anterior el canciller iran, Ali Akbar Salehi.
El kirchnerismo planea aprobarlo el prximo mircoles en el recinto del Senado y una
semana despus en la Cmara de Diputados, aunque all deber esforzarse para reunir el
qurum.
CRTICAS DEL CONGRESO JUDO
El Congreso Mundial Judo pidi a los legisladores argentinos, a travs de un comunicado
oficial, rechazar el acuerdo firmado por el gobierno de Cristina Kirchner con su par de Irn.
El documento, suscripto por el presidente de la organizacin, Ronald Lauder, y el titular del
captulo latinoamericano de la entidad, Jack Terpins, fue tambin una respuesta a la
declaracin del vocero iran, Ramin Mehmanparast, en el sentido de que era "totalmente
incorrecto" que funcionarios de su pas debieran declarar en los interrogatorios previstos en
el acuerdo.
"Al no consentir el interrogatorio de todos los sospechosos, Tehern una vez ms deja en
claro que no est interesado en avanzar en la causa de la justicia, sino slo en pervertirla."
Piden entonces al gobierno argentino y al Congreso no ratificar el acuerdo, porque de ese
modo le estarn dando a Irn "una inmensa victoria en sus relaciones pblicas".
El comunicado dice que el entendimiento logrado con Irn "socava los esfuerzos de la
justicia argentina y de Interpol, cuyas investigaciones haban establecido claramente que
los funcionarios iranes conspiraron al planificar el peor atentado terrorista llevado a cabo
alguna vez en una nacin de Sudamrica".
Tambin seala que el memorando tratado ayer en el Senado "es una afrenta a la Justicia.
El gobierno iran no puede ser considerado un interlocutor neutral en este asunto porque
sus lderes estn involucrados en actividades terroristas".
18
The Wall Street Journal (EUA) - Argentine Probe Into Blast Draws
Fire From Iran, Jews
By SHANE ROMIG
Argentines in July commemorated victims of a 1994 bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish
organization.
BUENOS AIRES-Argentine lawmakers advanced a plan to form a "Truth Commission" with
Iran that would probe the deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos
Aires.
But the measure approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday and
touted by the two governments as a step forward in the stalled probe is drawing fire both
from Jewish groups, who call it a fruitless endeavor unlikely to result in justice, and even
from Iran, which objects to aspects of the investigation.
No one has been convicted of carrying out the bombing of the AMIA Argentine Israeli
Mutual Aid Association in 1994, which left 85 dead and over 300 injured. The attack came
just two years after the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, in which 29 were
killed and 242 injured. The Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility for the
embassy attack.
Argentine prosecutors accuse Iran of masterminding the AMIA bombing. In 2007, Interpol
issued a notice to arrest five Iranians accused by Argentina of involvement, including
current defense minister Ahmad Vahidi. The Iranian government has denied any
involvement.
The commission plan will go to the Senate floor for debate next week, where quick
approval is expected because President Cristina Kirchner's Peronist Party has a majority in
Congress.
The commission "is a step forward to unstick an investigation that has been paralyzed for
19 years," Mrs. Kirchner said in a speech this week. "I want to avoid pain for the families
and the national shame" of earlier failed probes.
The plan calls for "impartial commissioners"-from neither Argentina nor Iran-to question
Iranian suspects in Tehran and produce a report with recommendations for both
governments. Buenos Aires said it also allows an Argentine prosecutor to pose questions to
the Iranian suspects for the first time.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast rejected any interrogation
of the Iranian suspects by Argentine justice officials, according to Iran's state-run Fars
news agency. It wasn't clear whether he meant Tehran rejected any interviews at all with
the accused.
"One party to the agreement has a completely contradictory understanding of the other,"
Sen. Ernesto Sanz of the opposition Civil Radical Union Party said.
The commission's work, touted recently by Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as laying
the groundwork for improved ties with Argentina, is separate from a probe being led by
Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman. He says the bombing was carried out by Hezbollah,
with Tehran's backing.
The commission plans come amid increasingly close economic ties between Iran and
Argentina. Argentina's exports to Iran surged from $319 million in 2007 to $1.1 billion in
19
2011 and reached almost $700 million during the first nine months of 2012, just as
Argentina began to face a hard-currency squeeze and imposed foreign exchange controls
to contain dollar outflows.
Argentina is home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America and the unsolved
crime has haunted a string of the country's leaders. Mrs. Kirchner took up the cause when
she succeeded her husband in 2007.Some of them criticized the commission's plans.
AMIA President Guillermo Borger told the Senate the commission is a barrier to achieving
justice and casts doubt on Mr. Nisman's probe.
Israeli officials were also quick to condemn the planned commission and summoned the
Argentine ambassador in Tel Aviv to explain. That provoked a swift and angry reaction
from Argentina, which said the bombing didn't involve a single Israeli citizen and the
commission was none of their business.
But Olga Degtiar, who lost her 21-year old son in the AMIA attack and heads a group of
victim's relatives, backed the commission, telling Argentine legislators, 'I've heard only
criticism, but not one proposal for how to advance the investigation. I only want the truth.
it's the only thing that will give us peace."
The first investigation into the AMIA bombing focused on the person who sold a van later
loaded with explosive fertilizer, and 20 officers from the Buenos Aires province police force
were arrested. However, the prosecution collapsed after Federal judge Juan Jos Galeano
was removed from the case in 2004 amid allegations of bribing a witness. All the accused
were acquitted.
International law experts say it wasn't clear Argentina would be able to do with any new
evidence, or if the commission would have true independence and the ability to follow leads
and subpoena other witnesses.
Truth commissions are usually a mechanism for a nation to deal with a pattern of violence,
not a single incident, said Naomi Roht-Arriaza, professor at the University of California
Hastings College of the Law.
"It's a lifeline, a diplomatic victory for Iran," said Mark Jones, Director of the Political
Science department at Rice University. "It's very unlikely that Iran is going to provide a
smoking gun."
AM$RICA LATINA E CARIBE
El Pas (Espanha) Las ambiciones presidenciales del lder
socialista inquietan a Dil#a Ross!""
JUAN ARIAS Ro de Janeiro
El presidente del Partido Socialista de Brasil y gobernador de Pernambuco, Eduardo
Campos, de 48 aos, ha anunciado sus ambiciones presidenciales y ser candidato a las
elecciones del 2014 en pugna con la presidenta Dil#a Ross!"", del Partido de los
Trabajadores, que aspira a la reeleccin. El partido de Campos, que ha crecido
polticamente en estos ltimos aos y est unido internamente, est an en el Gobierno
Ross!"" con dos ministerios, pero ya aparece como crtico con el actual proyecto
econmico del Gobierno y presentar un programa alternativo.
Tanto Dil#a como el expresidente Lula da Silva, de quien Campos ha sido siempre amigo
personal y fiel colaborador en los gobiernos del PT (fue ministro de Ciencia y Tecnologa),
estn haciendo todo por convencer a Campos de que permanezca en el Gobierno. Lula
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lleg a decir que si Campos aceptase en 2014 la vicepresidencia de la Repblica con
Dil#a, en 2018, cuando Dil#a ya no pueda representarse de nuevo, el PT podra desistir
de presentar a un candidato propio para apoyar la a Campos, que tendra entonces 53
aos.
Todo menos el peligro de que se pueda presentar el ao que viene, cuando la economa no
est en su mejor momento, el Gobierno no consigue frenar la inflacin que amenaza con
superar el 6% y el PIB est en sus mnimos de los ltimos aos.
Sin embargo, Campos, segn anunciaba este mircoles el diario O Globo, confirmar en
estos das al expresidente Lula que su partido ha tomado ya la decisin y que l ser
candidato a las presidenciales el ao prximo. Si para ello fuera necesario dejar el
Gobierno y los dos ministerios que ocupa, el PSB lo har.
El PSB ha pasado en los ltimos aos de tener 30 diputados en 16 Estados, 4 senadores y
6 gobernadores. En las elecciones municipales del ao pasado el nmero de alcaldes
conquistados por el PSB creci un 40%, hasta los 433 alcaldes.
Es un partido unido, en el mbito de la socialdemocracia y Campos ha sido un lder siempre
respetado por su trabajo tanto en el Ejecutivo como en el Legislativo. Fue el que gan la
batalla en el Congreso para la legalizacin a favor del uso de las clulas madre. Campos es
adems amigo y compaero de batallas electorales del senador Aecio Neves, que muy
probablemente ser el candidato del Partido Social Demcrata de Brasil (PSDB) de
Henrique Cardoso.
Se especula con que ambos recorrern el pas juntos y tambin con la posibilidad de que,
en una hipottica segunda vuelta en las presidenciales, PSB y PSDB unieran sus votos. Ese
es el miedo de Dil#a y Lula.
Por su parte, la ecologista Marina Silva presentar estos das su nuevo partido y sera
tambin candidata a las presidenciales. En el 2010, cuando se present con el Partido
verde (PV) obtuvo ms de 20 millones de votos y oblig a Dil#a a disputar una segunda
vuelta.
El Pas (Espanha) Venezuela inicia una guerra contra la
economa `negra tras la devaluacin
EWALD SCHARFENBERG Caracas
Que una depreciacin masiva del 32% de una moneda se haga efectiva al inicio de la
Cuaresma, tiempo de penitencia, resulta una imagen adecuada para el impacto que
debera tener en la economa. As pareci ayer, mircoles de ceniza, cuando se public en
la Gaceta Oficial de Venezuela el convenio cambiario por el cual el bolvar, la divisa local,
pasa de una paridad oficial de 4,30 bolvares por dlar a 6,30.
En un pas que desde hace dos meses no tiene otro testimonio de vida del presidente Hugo
Chvez ms que una firma dudosa, la situacin econmica ahora se presenta como el
enfrentamiento entre los mandatos del mercado y la fe voluntarista de su Gobierno.
Los venezolanos conocen las secuelas de una devaluacin: han vivido cinco en los ltimos
diez aos, sin contar otros programas de ajuste desde hace tres dcadas. Por ello no
sorprende que entre el viernes, cuando el Gobierno anunci la devaluacin, y el martes,
ltimo da de Carnaval, verdaderos tumultos abarrotaran las tiendas de bienes de
importacin, especialmente electrodomsticos, para arrasar con sus inventarios a precios
viejos. Muchos tambin hicieron uso anticipado del cupo anual que el Gobierno asigna para
compras por Internet, unos 400 dlares por persona, o adquirieron billetes areos.
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La vspera de la entrada en vigor del nuevo tipo de cambio, el ministro de Industria,
Ricardo Menndez, declar a la principal televisin del Estado que movilizaciones como
esas se activaron bajo "una premisa falsa, la de que el ajuste cambiario alimentar las
presiones inflacionarias. Ayer lo respald el presidente del Banco Central, Nelson Merentes,
quien asegur que "al corto tiempo no debera haber ese efecto [inflacionista], porque "no
todo lo que se consume est dolarizado, como es el caso de alimentos que se producen en
el pas.
Las autoridades venezolanas previeron en sus recientes medidas que las solicitudes de
divisas que estuvieran todava en trmite para la importacin de ciertos bienes de primera
necesidad se salden al tipo de cambio anterior. Eso asegurara dlares baratos para
algunos comercializadores y manufactureros, entre ellos, el propio Gobierno, uno de los
mayores importadores del pas.
Pero la previsin no parece contar con la cotizacin del dlar en el mercado negro. Con la
economa venezolana sometida desde 2003 a un estricto rgimen de control de cambios
estatal, los precios al pblico suelen estar marcados por la paridad negra. Se calcula que
entre el 15% y el 20% de la demanda anual de divisas se satisface en ese mercado
paralelo, al que acuden personas y sobre todo empresas que no pueden esperar por los
cuellos de botella del organismo que asigna las divisas o cuyas demandas no se
corresponden a los criterios -polticos- para la asignacin.
An despus de la devaluacin, la tasa de cambio oficial representa algo menos de un
tercio del precio del dlar en la calle, que repunt tras las medidas del Gobierno. Para
contener esos efectos, el ministro Menndez anticip una mayor fiscalizacin de las
empresas favorecidas con dlares oficiales "para evitar que incurran en especulacin.
Ayer, la oficina del Estado para la proteccin del consumidor anunci el cierre por 72 horas
de la mayor cadena de tiendas por departamentos del pas, Beco, por "un ilcito que tiene
que ver con la usura.
Mientras suenan los tambores de la guerra contra la especulacin, los expertos hacen notar
que no son nuevas las armas en el arsenal del Gobierno. Desde hace tiempo el Ejecutivo
cuenta con leyes ad hoc para determinar precios de ciertos bienes, supervisar los costos de
produccin, sancionar a los minoristas y hasta para prohibir, con pena de crcel, la simple
mencin del dlar negro. Pero a fines de enero se acumulaba una tasa de inflacin de
22,2% anual, la ms alta del hemisferio. La inflacin y la escasez de productos, junto a la
inseguridad, son lo que ms preocupa a los ciudadanos de un pas que vende alrededor de
100.000 millones de dlares al ao en petrleo.
La Nacin (Argentina) En Ecuador, nada parece daar el aura
de invencibilidad de Correa
Por Maria Paula Markous | LA NACION

QUITO.- Es una pelea entre un tigre suelto y un burro amarrado. En la prensa ecuatoriana
y en las calles de Quito -donde ayer an se respiraba el ltimo aire del Carnaval-, la
sensacin es la misma: la victoria del presidente Rafael Correa en las elecciones del
domingo est cantada.
Con una intencin de voto de entre 48 y 60%, segn las ltimas encuestas, es difcil que
alguno de los siete candidatos rivales logre hacerle frente al mandatario en una segunda
vuelta. El que ms se acerca es el aspirante de derecha y ex banquero Guillermo Lasso,
que tiene entre 9 y 20% de los votos.
La campaa est dormida, dicen aqu. Aunque faltan tres das para las elecciones , Quito
recin se despert del feriado del Carnaval. En los portales de las iglesias del centro
histrico todava se ve el picadillo (papel picado) y los restos de las bombas (bombitas de
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agua). Muchos de los que se fueron a la costa por el feriado volvieron slo ayer por la
maana. Les esperan unos comicios que aqu todos tildan de aburridos.
Es que a la falta de sorpresa se le suman otros factores, como una oposicin dividida con
aire derrotista. Tanto que parece haberse credo el pegadizo jingle "Ya tenemos presidente,
tenemos a Rafael" , que ide el partido de Correa, Alianza Pas.
Los analistas consultados por LA NACION coinciden en que fue una campaa chata y poco
confrontativa. "Parecera que la estrategia de los opositores fue: Correa es un candidato
bien posicionado, tiene una alta aceptacin, sus polticas sociales generan amplio apoyo.
Tengamos cuidado en la manera en que nos enfrentamos a l. Esto, sin duda, benefici al
presidente", dijo Farith Simon, analista de la Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
La popularidad de Correa se sustenta en un liderazgo fuerte, que para muchos es
autoritarismo, pero, para otros, garanta de estabilidad. El presidente logr su apoyo
gracias a una fuerte inversin estatal y a un amplio programa de polticas sociales, que
pudo concretar por la bonanza petrolera que vive Ecuador. El aumento hace un mes de 35
a 50 dlares del subsidio a los hogares ms pobres, llamado bono de desarrollo humano,
es su ltimo caballito de batalla.
Aunque en los ltimos meses el gobierno de Correa se vio envuelto en varios casos de
corrupcin y el presidente es criticado por su estilo combativo contra los medios de
comunicacin, nada parece daar su aura de invencible. "No hay quien le gane. Es un lder
fuerte que se enfrenta contra candidatos que no tienen corrida", opin Milton Jimnez, un
chofer de 58 aos, que enseguida aclar: "Y eso que no soy corresta, eh? Voy por Lasso
porque no es prepotente".
Rosario de Sols, una empleada de 65 aos, s es correista al igual que toda su familia. "Si
la gente vota por otro candidato, el pas se cae. El presidente es fuerte e hizo mucho por el
pueblo", opin, convencida.
A una contienda chata se le suman tambin las nuevas reglas del Consejo Nacional
Electoral (CNE), que limitaron las propagandas de campaa en los medios, censuraron
spots televisivos y restringieron el presupuesto de financiacin de los partidos. "Eso
benefici a Correa, que pudo usar sin restricciones el aparato de propaganda estatal para
difundir su revolucin ciudadana -aunque estaba prohibido- y limit la visibilidad del
resto de los candidatos", sostuvo la analista Alexandra Vela.
Frente al tsunami corresta, la oposicin pone sus fichas en los votos de los legisladores.
Adems de presidente, los 11,6 millones de votantes ecuatorianos tambin eligen 137
miembros de la Asamblea Nacional y cinco del Parlamento Andino, un rgano asesor que
integran Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia y Per.
El objetivo de la oposicin es que Correa no arrase en la Asamblea y obtenga la mayora
absoluta, lo que le dara un poder casi total para profundizar su "revolucin ciudadana".
Los ms optimistas esperan que se repita la situacin del referndum del 7 de mayo de
2011, cuando se anunci una victoria oficialista por ms de 20 puntos, que luego termin
en un triunfo ajustado del presidente.
Para evitar la segunda vuelta electoral -prevista para el 7 de abril-, Correa necesita el 50%
de los votos vlidos o el 40% y una diferencia de por lo menos 10 puntos sobre el
segundo.
Adems de Lasso, Correa competir contra el ex presidente Lucio Gutirrez, el antiguo
aliado de Alianza Pas Alberto Acosta, el magnate bananero lvaro Noboa y otros tres
candidatos. Aunque todos luchan para que Ecuador no vote "todito el 35" (la boleta de
23
Alianza Pas), parecen hacerse los distrados con el jingle "Ya tenemos presidente, tenemos
a Rafael".
El Pas (Espanha) Siete soldados mueren en enfrentamientos
con las FARC al sur de Colombia
ELIZABETH REYES L. Bogot
En el que sera uno de los golpes ms duros para el Ejrcito de Colombia desde que
comenzaron los dilogos de paz con las FARC en Cuba, este mircoles perdieron la vida
siete soldados en enfrentamientos con guerrilleros del frente 15 Jos Ignacio Mora del
Bloque Sur de las FARC, considerado uno de los ms fuertes en lo militar y tambin en lo
econmico por sus nexos con el narcotrfico.
Segn informaron fuentes militares, desde hace tres das cerca de 150 guerrilleros
buscaban tomar San Antonio de Getucha, una pequea poblacin del municipio de Miln,
en el departamento de Caquet, ubicado en la Amazona colombiana, por lo que el Ejrcito
envi a un grupo de sus hombres para repeler el ataque. Los siete soldados, que
pertenecan al Batalln de Infantera de Selva No. 35 "Hroes del Guepi, murieron en un
intercambio de disparos. Cinco ms resultaron heridos y son atendidos en el hospital de
Florencia, capital de Caquet, a 80 kilmetros de Miln.
El Ejrcito ha dicho que los combates continan con el apoyo de la Fuerza Area y que
segn informaciones de inteligencia, el Bloque Sur estara evacuando un nmero
indeterminado de subversivos muertos y heridos.
Por dcadas, Caquet ha sido bastin de las FARC donde est presente el Bloque Sur de
esa guerrilla. Este departamento, al sur del pas, fue el epicentro de la zona de despeje en
1998, en donde se escenificaron las pasadas conversaciones de paz con el Gobierno
conservador de Andrs Pastrana Arango. El principal jefe del Bloque Sur fue Ral Reyes,
asesinado en un operativo de las Fuerzas Militares colombianas en territorio ecuatoriano el
1 de marzo de 2008, lo que desat una crisis diplomtica con el Ejecutivo de Rafael Correa.
Reyes fue reemplazado por Joaqun Gmez, del que analistas del conflicto han dicho no
estara participando en el proceso de paz en La Habana, algo que ha desmentido el nmero
uno de esa guerrilla, Rodrigo Londoo Echeverri, alias `Timochenko.
La ofensiva militar de las FARC se ha intensificado desde que termin la tregua de dos
meses el pasado 20 de enero. En la noche del lunes, mientras las autoridades de socorro y
los habitantes de un barrio de Miraflores, en el departamento de Guaviare, atendan un
incendio, guerrilleros del frente primero de las FARC habran lanzado una granada matando
al polica Diego Pinzn Sandoval y a un nio indgena de diez aos. Tambin resultaron
heridas 25 personas.
El ministro de Defensa, Juan Carlos Pinzn, calific este atentado terrorista como "un
crimen de guerra diablico y demencial, ya que las FARC habran provocado el incendio
como seuelo para atraer a la Polica y el Ejrcito.
Los combates entre las Fuerzas Militares y las FARC continan en diferentes departamentos
del territorio nacional, mientras en una zona delimitada del Cauca, tambin al sur, hay cese
de las operaciones militares para que este jueves se cumpla la primera fase de la liberacin
de los policas Cristian Camilo Yate y Vctor Alfonso Gonzlez, quienes estn en poder de
las FARC desde el 26 de enero. Un tercer uniformado, el soldado Josu Meneses, sera
entregado el sbado.
Humberto de la Calle, jefe de los negociadores del Gobierno, quien est en Colombia
mientras se reanudan las conversaciones en La Habana el 18 de febrero, afirm que "el
propsito de los dilogos no es validar la accin de la guerrilla, sino auscultar si esa
24
oportunidad que ahora visualizamos en medio de muchas dificultades puede concretarse.
Para De la Calle, en este nuevo intento por alcanzar la paz hay una "oportunidad real y
verdadera para poner fin al conflicto armado en Colombia a travs del dilogo.
El Pas (Espanha) Centroamrica, un embudo de violencia
PABLO DE LLANO Mxico
"La despenalizacin se tiene que tomar en cuenta, dijo el presidente de Guatemala, Otto
Prez Molina, a principios de 2012. Hace un ao que el exgeneral abri al mximo nivel el
debate en Centroamrica sobre la posibilidad de regular el trfico y el consumo de drogas
para quitarle el negocio al crimen organizado y debilitar as una fuerza motriz de la
violencia en la regin. Hoy, el debate se ha enfriado. La postura de Prez Molina se ha
reducido a un sonsonete de la poltica global -"la droga crece y siguen llegando las
armas, record en enero en el foro de Davos- y cada pas lucha por su cuenta contra sus
idiosincrasias criminales.
La medida ms relevante de 2012 la tom El Salvador con un pacto entre las maras (las
pandillas callejeras) auspiciado por el Estado. En este pas de seis millones de habitantes
se calcula que hay 50.000 pandilleros sueltos y 10.000 encarcelados. Su poder homicida,
enlazado a un negocio que mezcla trfico de drogas, trfico de personas y extorsin, haba
disparado la tasa de homicidios: en 2011, la tasa de asesinatos era de 69 por cada
100.000 salvadoreos. Las maras bajaron el pistn a cambio de una poltica penitenciaria
ms suave para sus capos encarcelados y en un ao El Salvador ha pasado de 14 a 5
homicidios diarios. El pacto ha rebajado el nmero de muertos, pero tambin ha
despertado una pregunta de fondo: tan dbil estaba el Estado como para tener que
negociar con el crimen?
En opinin de los expertos, la fragilidad institucional es el quid del problema
centroamericano, y su paradigma es Honduras, el pas ms violento del mundo en 2011
con 92 asesinatos por cada 100.000 habitantes, segn datos de la ONU. "Es una sociedad
tremendamente desigual en la que el Estado no se ha hecho valer sobre los intereses de
las oligarquas, dice el socilogo mexicano Rubn Aguilar. En diciembre, la ONG
Transparencia Internacional situ a Honduras como el pas ms corrupto de Centroamrica.
El Gobierno de Estados Unidos lo ha calificado como el "aeropuerto de la mafia. Ocho de
cada 10 aviones que salen de Colombia o de Venezuela cargados de cocana aterrizan en
pistas clandestinas de su costa caribea, en zonas como La Mosquitia o La Ceiba, donde
arrestaron en 2012 a un lder de la banda criminal colombiana de Los Urabeos. Cuando
fue detenido, Alexander Montoya suga, El Flaco, estaba paseando tranquilamente a su
perro.
En la costa hondurea se descargan los aviones y se cargan los vehculos que llevan la
cocana por tierra hasta la frontera de Guatemala con Mxico, penltima parada antes de
Estados Unidos, un pas que en 2009, segn datos de la ONU, consumi 27.000 millones
de euros en coca. A veces, los vuelos llegan directos a esa frontera, una franja selvtica de
900 kilmetros de largo y con unos 300 pasos clandestinos.
Guatemala es el segundo pas que ms inquieta a los analistas. En 2010 el Pentgono
consider que haba riesgo de que se convirtiese en un narco-Estado. Es el tercer pas
centroamericano con ms homicidios (39 por cada 100.000 habitantes en 2011), pero
segn datos oficiales el ao pasado la tasa baj un 23%, lo que sumara tres aos seguidos
de descenso. De acuerdo con Joaqun Villalobos, exguerrillero salvadoreo, hoy consultor
de conflictos, Guatemala y Honduras comparten un problema de "prdida de soberana
territorial del Estado. El politlogo mexicano Alejandro Hope aporta un dato que refleja la
anemia guatemalteca de poder pblico: se calcula que por cada polica o militar, en este
pas hay cinco agentes de seguridad privada.
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Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador forman el Tringulo Norte de Centroamrica, la zona
de la regin ms inestable y a la que ms afecta el crimen organizado. Nicaragua, ms al
sur, dej atrs en los noventa una guerra civil, como Guatemala y El Salvador, pero ha
salido ms entera de aquella crisis. Hope, Aguilar y Villalobos coinciden en que la polica y
los comits civiles de seguridad formados por la revolucin sandinista tienen una solidez
que impide que la delincuencia domine el territorio como en sus pases vecinos. Con todo,
Nicaragua tambin tiene un espacio de costa caribea con poca presencia estatal por el
que los narcos cuelan sus cargamentos, y no es inmune a las mafias. Segn Roberto
Orozco, experto nicaragense en seguridad, su Poder Judicial es corrupto y hay redes de
narcotrfico locales en desarrollo. Los dos pases ms al sur, Costa Rica y Panam, no son
territorios estratgicos para el trfico de droga y tienen las instituciones ms estables de la
regin.
El embudo de violencia que se ha creado en la zona norte se debe en parte, segn la ONU,
al refuerzo de las polticas de seguridad en Mxico durante el mandato de Felipe Caldern.
"Su xito en la lucha contra el narcotrfico se ha convertido en un problema para los
dems, dice el espaol Amado de Andrs, representante de la agencia antidroga de la
ONU para Centroamrica y el Caribe. La batalla de Caldern contra el narco, que en seis
aos ha causado al menos 60.000 muertos y 20.000 desaparecidos, supuso un control
mayor de los puertos martimos por donde entraba la cocana y de los vuelos que
aterrizaban directamente en este pas, de modo que los carteles de la droga, segn De
Andrs, empezaron a operar en Centroamrica; esto ha implicado en la zona una lucha por
el control territorial y ha espoleado lo que Aguilar define como la "violencia endmica,
histrica y con multitud de factores, que padece la regin.
El ao 2013 comienza con los indicadores de homicidio altos, pero a la baja en el Tringulo
Norte, y sin el revuelo de 2012 en torno al debate de la regulacin de la droga. Los males,
sin embargo, siguen latentes, y a excepcin de la controvertida tregua firmada por El
Salvador con las pandillas no ha habido cambios estratgicos globales que hagan pensar
que Centroamrica est superando el problema. Villalobos advierte de que no estamos ante
Estados fallidos como Hait o como Somalia, pero s ante pases en los que la economa
formal "convive cada vez ms a gusto con la economa criminal, una relacin que, segn
el exguerrillero, podra fraguar an en un conflicto de ms calado.
Con informacin de Carlos Salinas (Nicaragua y Honduras), Juan Jos Dalton (El Salvador),
Jos Elas (uatemala) y Jos !elnde" (Costa #ica y $anam%)&
El Deber (Bolvia) Gobierno prepara actos para recordar la
invasin chilena

El gobierno prepara un acto pblico en plaza Murillo, para recordar la invasin chilena a
puertos bolivianos un 14 de febrero hace 134 aos, se prev que en la oportunidad emita
un mensaje a la nacin.
En conferencia de prensa, el vicepresidente lvaro Garca Linera anunci que las
exportaciones comerciales se "re-direccionarn por puertos peruanos ante la negativa de
Chile de permitir al pas una salida soberana al Ocano Pacfico. Se tiene previsto la
inauguracin del corredor biocenico Brasil, Bolivia, Per, sujeto a la agenda de la
presidenta brasilea, Dil#a Ross!"".
"El presidente Evo va estar en un acto de denuncia de esta cruenta invasin, va haber un
acto en plaza murillo si no me equivoco a las 8 de la maana, estn todos invitados y el
presidente por supuesto que va a emitir unas palabras referidas al momento, inform
Garca.
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ABC Color (Paraguai) Argentina no reconoce nuevos cnsules
El canciller Jos Fernndez Estigarribia revel que el Gobierno argentino demora en
reconocer a nuevos cnsules generales de Paraguay en el vecino pas. Dijo que Buenos
Aires slo dio un reconocimiento temporal que no se adeca a lo establecido a las normas
de la Convencin de Viena de Derecho Consular.
En declaraciones en la Cancillera nacional, el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores seal que
existen dificultades en reconocimiento de nuevos cnsules generales en la Argentina,
donde residen una gran comunidad paraguaya. En el vecino pas existen 10 Consulados
Generales.
Fernndez Estigarribia dijo que el gobierno de Cristina viuda de Kirchner solo ha dado
reconocimiento temporal a los cnsules.
"Son nombramientos normales que el Gobierno argentino demora o an no han respondido
y nos ha mandado una nota con condicionamientos que son inaceptables para nosotros,
dijo. Explic que el reconocimiento debe adecuarse a normas de la Convencin de Viena de
Derecho Consular. Consultado cul es el consulado con problemas con su jefe de misin, el
canciller inform que, entre otros, es Resistencia, que el ao pasado qued vacante tras la
destitucin de Claudelino Cristaldo, quien fue detenido por la polica argentina con una
carga de cigarrillos presuntamente de contrabando.
A propsito, el diputado del PLRA Vctor Ros visit este martes ltimo al canciller para
pedir la asignacin de cnsules en Formosa, Corrientes y Resistencia. Manifest que los
habitantes del eembuc piden que sea nombrado cnsul un oriundo de la zona, pero
Relaciones Exteriores alega impedimentos legales establecidos en la Ley 1335 del Servicio
Diplomtico y Consular. Coincidentemente, Ros es pilarense. Asegur que en el nordeste
argentino, como Corrientes, existen numerosos estudiantes paraguayos que necesitan
acompaamiento consular.
%&RICA
Angola Press (Angola) Timor-Leste quer mais cooperao com
CPLP e mais investimento dos seus membros

Dli - O chefe da diplomacia timorense, Jos Lus Guterres, disse hoje que Timor-Leste quer
mais cooperao com a Comunidade dos Pases de Lngua Portuguesa (CPLP) e mais
investimento econmico dos seus Estados-membros no pas.

Jos Luis Guterres falava antes da visita do secretrio-executivo da CPLP, o embaixador
moambicano Murade Murargy, que sbado chega a Timor-Leste, onde ficar uma semana.

"Esta visita para dar mais impulso cooperao e presena da CPLP em Timor-Leste",
afirmou o ministro dos Negcios Estrangeiros timorense.

Segundo Jos Lus Guterres, a visita vai servir tambm para assinar o acordo de concesso
do terreno para a construo da representao da CPLP em Dli, que ser financiada pelo
Governo timorense.

"Tambm vai ser uma oportunidade para o secretariado da CPLP e o Governo de Timor-
Leste analisarem as reas de cooperao que devemos explorar mais, para que as relaes
que temos sejam tambm estendidas ao sector econmico", disse, salientando que gostava
de ver mais investimento dos pases da CPLP em Timor-Leste.

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O secretrio-executivo da CPLP vai estar em Timor-Leste entre sbado e o dia 23 de
Fevereiro e ser a sua primeira visita oficial a um Estado-membro desde que assumiu o
cargo, em Setembro.

Durante a sua estada em Dli, Murade Murargy vai reunir-se com membros do Governo e
do parlamento nacional e com o Presidente da Repblica.

Em Julho, em Moambique, na ltima cimeira de chefes de Estado e de Governo da CPLP,
Timor-Leste formalizou a inteno de assumir a presidncia rotativa da organizao, o que
dever acontecer em Julho de 2014.

A CPLP composta por Angola, Brasil, Cabo Verde, Guin-Bissau, Portugal, Moambique,
Timor-Leste e So Tom e Prncipe.

Os nicos pases da CPLP com embaixadas em Timor-Leste so Portugal e o Brasil.
ESTADOS UNIDOS ) EUROPA
The New York Times (EUA) - Obama Bid for Europe Trade Pact
Stirs Hope on Both Sides (Capa)
By NICHOLAS KULISH and JACKIE CALMES
BERLIN - President Obamas call for a free-trade agreement between the United States
and the European Union has unleashed a wave of optimism on both sides that a
breakthrough can be achieved that would lift trans-Atlantic fortunes, not just economically
but politically.
Experts cited tough economic times on both sides of the Atlantic and a perceived need
among European leaders for a cause to unify their frayed union as major reasons that an
agreement might be reached now, where past efforts have failed. But an even greater
consideration, they said, was the growing economic might of China.
"There will be an agreement in the end, said Claudia Schmucker, head of the globalization
and world economy program at the German Council on Foreign Relations. "This will be the
first time in 20 years where something can happen.
Proponents hope that a comprehensive trade agreement will not only raise economic
growth, but also lower prices for European and American consumers and give new impetus
to a relationship that has lacked forward momentum almost since the end of the cold war.
Talks could begin in late May or early June.
Negotiations are not expected to be easy, with entrenched interests, especially in protected
sectors of the agriculture industry, fighting to maintain their subsidies and preferences.
European consumers have rejected the kinds of genetically modified crops that are
commonplace in the United States but are known across the Atlantic as Frankenfoods.
Nevertheless, Mr. Obamas announcement was applauded by leading politicians and
business groups in Europe, especially here in Germany, and so far the news has not
provoked the instant union opposition in the United States that free-trade talks with
underdeveloped, low-wage countries do.
Trade experts agreed that several new factors had converged to make an agreement more
likely. The economic stagnation on both sides of the Atlantic has heightened the awareness
that a prod to growth is needed. In a Democratic administration, free-trade agreements
are much easier to reach with higher-wage, unionized countries like those in Europe that
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do not spook trade unions. And the cross-pollination between American and European
companies, as in the auto sector, also is expected to blunt opposition from labor groups.
But China may present the single most compelling factor. There is an increasing awareness
that to deal with the challenge of Chinas rapidly growing economy, Europe and the United
States will have to learn to cooperate better.
"In every trade negotiation that I know of between Europe and the U.S., China is on their
minds in terms of how can we use trade negotiations to better compete, said Jeffrey J.
Schott, a senior fellow working on international trade policy at the Peterson Institute for
International Economics in Washington.
While trade deals often take years to negotiate, a senior Obama administration official said
that a pact is possible in as little as 18 months - before the terms of the current European
commissioners end. Even so, trade experts with experience from previous rounds say they
are acutely aware of how often negotiations begin with optimism and grand plans and end
with intractable fights between vested interests.
Karel De Gucht, the European Unions trade commissioner, said completing a trade pact
could take two years. In an interview, he said that a deal "will have a worldwide impact.
The talks were "about our place, and by our place I mean the United States and Europe,
within a decade on the world economic scene, Mr. De Gucht said.
Mr. Obama devoted a single sentence to the topic in his State of the Union address, but
that was what proponents of a trade deal had been hoping for. His statement set the stage
for talks to remove tariff barriers and regulatory hurdles between the United States and the
European Union, which are already each others largest trading partners.
In his speech on Tuesday, Mr. Obama called the initiative the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership, but the idea is an old one, much discussed during the Clinton
administration under the name Tafta, something like a sequel to the Nafta deal.
Mr. Obamas reference to talks about a possible free-trade pact with the European Union
was a late addition to his State of the Union address, according to a senior administration
official, because a working group of the United States and the European Union had sent
recommendations to Washington only on Tuesday that the two sides were close enough on
various issues to pursue talks toward a comprehensive free-trade agreement, rather than a
more limited one.
That high-level working group has spent most of a year discussing whether the talks would
cover just tariff issues, or also regulatory questions on environmental, pharmaceutical and
automobile industry issues. The administration official, who declined to be identified, said
the Europeans, being eager "for anything that looks like a growth strategy, seemed "to be
ready to take on some of the more difficult issues like agriculture.
There had been some frustration among supporters of a deal that more progress was not
being made. "Weve had 20 years of failure on these trans-Atlantic initiatives, Mr. Schott
said, adding, "Before they signed on the dotted line they wanted to make sure there
werent any potholes that would trip them up.
Tariffs on goods traveling between the United States and Europe are low, averaging about
3 percent, but proponents say that the savings from eliminating duties would still be
significant because the volume of trade is so enormous. Trade in goods between Europe
and the United States totaled $646 billion last year, according to United States government
figures.
29
On Tuesday, two powerful American senators on the committee that would consider any
draft trade agreement before it could get a Senate vote, warned that any deal must open
Europe to American farm products.
Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and
Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the highest-ranking Republican on the committee, wrote that a
trade deal presented an "enticing opportunity in a letter to Ron Kirk, the United States
trade representative. European leaders, including Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain
and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, have been pushing for a trade deal as a low-
cost way of stimulating their struggling economies. The United States Chamber of
Commerce and large companies like General Electric have also lobbied for an agreement.
Potentially more important than abolishing tariffs, but also much more complicated, would
be a deal that harmonized regulations on products like food, cars, toys and
pharmaceuticals. Automobile manufacturers would like to see agreement on safety and
emissions standards for cars, reducing or eliminating the need to build different versions
for the American and European markets.
Matthias Wissmann, head of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, said that
harmonizing safety features would save several hundred dollars per automobile. Mr. De
Gucht, who is expected to lead the talks on the European side, said that a deal could
provide vital leverage over emerging powerhouses like China.
Nicholas Kulish reported from Berlin, and Jackie Calmes from Washington. James Kanter
contributed reporting from Brussels, Jack Ewing from Frankfurt, and Brian Knowlton from
Washington.
Financial Times (Reino Unido) - EU sets ambitious US trade pact
deadline (Capa)
By Joshua Chaffin in Brussels and James Politi in Washington
The EU and the US on Wednesday vowed to complete talks on a new trade agreement
within two years, as the two trading powers outlined an ambitious timeline for a project
that boasts huge commercial potential but is also rife with complications.
The idea for a transatlantic trade pact, touted by US president Barack Obama during his
State of the Union address on Tuesday night, has been discussed for decades . But US and
European politicians are now desperate to present voters with tangible plans to revive
growth and create jobs, while forging a united front in the face of competition from China
and other emerging markets.
Jos Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, described an agreement uniting two
trading partners which account for nearly half of world economic output as "a game-
changer.
"Together, we will form the largest trade zone in the world ... It is a boost to our
economies that does not cost a cent of taxpayer money, Mr Barroso said.
Michael Froman, who advises Mr Obama on international economic policy, added: "This
could both dramatically increase jobs and growth in the US as well as in Europe, further
integrate our economies and help set global rules that could help strengthen the
multilateral trading system.
30
Karel De Gucht, the EU trade commissioner, noted that any technical and legal standard
adopted by the EU and US could become a global benchmark. "That is of foremost
importance for our industries, he said.
The two-year time-line set out by Mr De Gucht and endorsed by the US coincides with
the end of the current European Commissions term. If the trade deal is not completed by
2015, its prospects could be uncertain under a new EU leadership team.
Any agreement would also have to be approved by the EUs 27 member states, the
European parliament and the US Congress.
Washington has been reluctant to launch talks if they are unlikely come to fruition, wasting
administrative resources and political capital. "We have said if we want to go down this
road we want to get there on one tank of gas, Mr Froman said. "We dont want to spend
ten years negotiating what are well-known issues and not reach a result.
Securing a meaningful EU-US deal will be difficult. Tariffs are already low and the two sides
have vowed to eliminate those that remain, meaning that the talks will focus on non-tariff
barriers and regulatory standards.
Washington and Brussels have already waged epic battles over everything from aircraft
subsidies to chlorine-rinsed chicken and hormone-treated beef. While EU and US officials
have been trying to iron out some of their differences in advance of the talks, substantial
differences remain.
Mr De Gucht acknowledged that there was "no low-hanging fruit, but emphasised the
potential benefits for both sides: "We are focused on the future. This is not a negotiation
that has as a prime aim to find ... a solution for chlorine chicken. What we want to do is
make an internal market between the US and the EU.
Previous transatlantic trade initiatives have largely disappointed. Hugo Paemen, a former
EU ambassador to Washington, noted that the US might invest more effort in boosting
trade links with Asia. In his address on Tuesday night, Mr Obama touted a separate project
known as the trans-Pacific partnership before he mentioned the EU-US deal. "Clearly, the
motivation on the European side is bigger than on the American side, Mr Paemen said.
Les Echos (Frana) Renouveau commercial
Par Jean-Marc Vittori
LEurope et lAmrique vont donc ngocier un accord commercial. Le prsident amricain,
Barack Obama, la dit hier, le prsident de la Commission europenne, Jos Manuel
Barroso, la confirm dans la foule et le Premier ministre britannique, David Cameron,
avait mis ces ngociations en haut de la liste des priorits du G8 quil prside cette anne.
Cette annonce est la fois un geste, un symbole, une preuve et un souci.
Le geste concerne la politique intrieure des Etats-Unis. Mme si Barack Obama a justifi
ce projet en expliquant quun accord permettrait de crer des emplois bien pays aux
Etats-Unis, il rjouit surtout les chefs dentreprise qui rclamaient cette ouverture depuis
longtemps des chefs dentreprise qui vont devoir payer un salaire minimum plus lev. Et
au Congrs, la perspective sduit plus les rpublicains que les dmocrates.
Le symbole porte sur un rchauffement des relations entre les Etats-Unis et lEurope. Les
Amricains sont les plus ambitieux, parlant dun partenariat transatlantique sur le
commerce et linvestissement l o les Europens voquent un simple accord de libre-
change. Ils esquissent aussi un front du monde occidental qui pourrait avoir un jour
prendre des mesures communes lgard, ou lencontre, de la Chine.
31
La preuve touche la gouvernance mondiale. Un accord commercial entre les deux
premires puissances conomiques balaierait lespoir dun aboutissement du round de
ngociations entam par lOMC Doha il y a plus dune dcennie. Il marquerait la
puissance du bilatral au dtriment du multilatral.
Le souci, enfin, va tracasser Paris. Car le principal enjeu des ngociations sera vite
lagriculture et la France devra trouver ici des allis, ce quelle a eu bien du mal faire ces
derniers temps.
El Pas (Espanha) El presidente ms europeo
ANTONIO CAO Washington
La apertura de un proceso de negociacin para estrechar lazos comerciales y, como
consecuencia, de todo tipo- con la Unin Europea confirma algunas de las sospechas que la
derecha tena sobre Barack Obama y algunas de las cualidades que sus seguidores en el
extranjero ms apreciaban: es el presidente ms europeo que ha tenido nunca Estados
Unidos.
Obama no tiene races europeas ni ha hecho parte de su formacin en Europa. No habla
francs ni se le conoce mayor curiosidad intelectual por Europa a lo largo de su trayectoria
acadmica. Sus orgenes lo conectan ms bien con el mundo en desarrollo, con Asia, donde
vivi en su adolescencia, con el Pacfico, donde naci y creci, y con frica, de donde
procede su padre y donde cada norteamericano de su raza escarba en busca de identidad.
Pero su estilo, dubitativo, reflexivo, profundo, algo atormentado, recuerda al de los viejos
polticos europeos. Y, sobre todo, su gestin en la Casa Blanca ha permitido la
reconciliacin entre este pas y el continente con el que comparte sus valores ms
esenciales. Cuando Obama lleg a la presidencia, estaban de moda las freedom fries, en
sustitucin de las french fries. Cuando Obama lleg a la presidencia, muchos europeos
consideraban a EE UU un mayor peligro para la paz mundial que Al Qaeda.
Los ms exigentes en la izquierda europea siguen sospechando de las intenciones ntimas
del presidente norteamericano y ponen Guantnamo y los drones por delante de cualquier
logro. Pero Obama sigue siendo un lder popular en Europa y Europa merece respeto y
atencin en el Despacho Oval, donde el ao pasado se dedicaron muchas horas a los
problemas del euro.
El anuncio de negociaciones para un tratado de libre comercio, al margen de la utilidad
evidente que puede tener para la economa norteamericana, es la ltima prueba del
reconocimiento a Europa. Ms an, es un regalo para Europa en el momento en que sta
ms lo necesita.
Si algo ha ocurrido en Europa en los ltimos aos ms grave que la crisis econmica, ha
sido su imparable descenso hacia la irrelevancia. EE UU extenda su presencia comercial y
militar en el Pacfico, China se confirmaba como gran potencia, India y Brasil ascendan,
todo ante la mirada acomplejada de Europa, que no saba como responder.
Este tratado, junto a sus potenciales ventajas econmicas, enva el mensaje de que Europa
an cuenta para Estados Unidos. Cuenta, por supuesto, porque hay dos millones y medio
de puestos de trabajo en este pas vinculados al comercio con Europa y porque una
revitalizacin de la economa europea redundara en la compra de ms productos Made in
USA. Pero cuenta tambin porque, sin Europa, EE UU est an muy solo en un mundo muy
hostil. Con todas sus diferencias, nadie comprende mejor a EE UU que los europeos. Se ha
demostrado hace muy poco, cuando un presidente francs y socialista lanzaba en Mali una
operacin que se corresponde literalmente con lo que Washington quisiera que Europa
hiciera con ms frecuencia.
32
Con Obama en la Casa Blanca, este es el momento ideal de ratificar esa alianza
indispensable y proyectarla a las prximas dcadas.
Financial Times (Reino Unido) - The future is free trade
It is good news that the United States and the European Union have confirmed that they
are going to start formal talks about a new free-trade agreement. That President Obama
announced the move in his State of the Union address reflects a profound personal
evolution on the issue. As a presidential candidate in 2008, he was a populist critic of free
trade. But today, as he struggles to revive a sluggish economy while also cutting the US
deficit, he is a convert to its potential to open up markets and generate jobs. Recent
assertions that the Obama administration wants Britain to stay in the EU presumably to
push the case for economic liberalisation suddenly make a lot of sense.
If the talks prove successful then they might validate David Cameron's strategy towards
the EU. Critics say that his constant demands for reform threaten to isolate Britain. But his
toughness also has the potential to compel Europe to liberalise in a way that benefits the
entire EU and makes the case for Britain staying in. Trade between the EU and the US is
worth an estimated 393 billion annually and removing tariffs is predicted to generate an
extra 115 billion within five years for both sides. Although much of the talk is about the
rise of China, America and Europe still generate over half of global economic output. If they
can strengthen their market position by working together rather than against each other,
Mr Cameron's argument against EU protectionism will be demonstrated to be both
economically and politically savvy.
Optimism must be cautious. The last round of world trade talks broke down when
agreement could not be reached on agricultural import rules, and agriculture is likely to
cause trouble in these discussions, too. But it is encouraging to see the US and the EU
understand that, in principle, free trade is a vital motor of growth.
EUROPA
El Pas (Espanha) Las economas de Alemania y Francia se
contraen en el ltimo trimestre de 2012
AGENCIAS Berln / Pars
La dos mayores economas de Europa, Alemania y Francia, sufrieron cadas del PIB en el
ltimo trimestre del ao, lo que indica que la recesin en la zona euro se agrava y pone en
duda la recuperacin esperada en los primeros tres meses de 2013.
El PIB de Alemania, que hasta ahora haba sido capaz de mantener un tenue crecimiento
pese a la entrada de la zona euro en recesin, se contrajo un 0,6%, segn los datos de la
oficina estadstica germana, su peor registro desde 2009, en pleno apogeo de la crisis
financiera. La crisis de la zona del euro y la debilidad de la coyuntura mundial fueron las
causas principales del retroceso de la economa alemana, que en 2012 creci pese a todo
un 0,7%. La cada del 0,3% del PIB francs tambin es peor de lo previsto y, para todo el
ao, el crecimiento resulta nulo.
Lo ms preocupante para Berln es que la cada del PIB se debe principalmente al mal
comportamiento de las exportaciones, el motor de su economa. "En el ltimo trimestre de
2012, la exportacin de bienes ha retrocedido significativamente ms que la importacin",
ha explicado en un comunicado la oficina estadstica alemana (Destatis), cuyo clculo
provisional para ese trimestre publicado en enero apuntaba a una cada del 0,5%.
Mientras el compromiso del Banco Central Europeo (BCE) para hacer lo que sea con tal de
salvar el euro ha enfriado ligeramente la crisis de deuda de la zona euro, lo cierto es que
33
hasta las economas ms fuertes del rea estn atrapadas por una enfermedad econmica
que podra frustrar los intentos de los pases por recortar sus dficits pblicos.
La oficina estadstica europea tiene previsto publicar esta maana a las 11.00 el dato del
PIB para toda la zona euro. Las previsiones apuntan a una cada del 0,4% en el ltimo
trimestre. Los analistas advierten que puede volver a contraerse en el primer trimestre de
2013.
En Francia, en el tercer trimestre de 2012, el incremento del PIB fue del 0,1%, el nico que
acab en positivo de todo el ao. En el ltimo trimestre de 2012 se produjo una bajada del
1% de la inversin, tanto la privada (1,2%) como pblica (0,9%), resultado de las polticas
de ajuste del Ejecutivo, y de los particulares (0,8%). Tambin bajaron las exportaciones
(un 0,6%), una tendencia negativa que no fue compensada por el incremento del 0,2% del
consumo interno.
El Gobierno francs reconoci este mircoles por primera vez que no cumplir el objetivo
de dficit que se haba marcado para este ao, ya que la estimacin inicial se realiz
teniendo en cuenta unos datos de crecimiento demasiado optimistas.
Francia se haba marcado una reduccin del dficit del 3% para 2013, pero el primer
ministro, Jean Marc Ayrult, ha advertido este mircoles en una entrevista a France 3 que el
dato final no ser "exactamente" el contemplado en las previsiones del Gobierno.
"El crecimiento de Francia, de Europa y de todo el mundo es ms dbil que el previsto", ha
justificado el jefe de Gobierno, que aun as confa en que el pas alcance en 2017 el
objetivo de dficit cero que se ha marcado el presidente Franois Hollande. "Lo que cuenta
es la trayectoria", ha apostillado.
Les Echos (Frana) Le dsenchantement europen (Opinio)
Par Alain Duhamel
Franois Hollande a eu doublement raison. Dam son discours de Strasbourg devant le
Parlement europen, le chef de l'Etat, partisan notoire de la construction europenne,
s'alarmait de constater que les logiques nationales l'emportent de plus en plus sur la
logique communautaire et que les peuples se dtournent sans cesse davantage de l'idal
europen. Ce qui s'est pass la semaine dernire au Conseil europen de Bruxelles en a
t malheureusement l'exacte vrification. Il s'agissait d'adopter le budget europen pour
les six annes 2014 - 2020. On a vu cette occasion se dchaner comme rarement les
gosmes nationaux et dcliner misrablement tout idal de solidarit, a fortiori d'ambition
commune. Le dbat budgtaire est toujours le rvlateur le plus sincre, voire le plus cru
de l'engagement europen des gouvernements nationaux.
A cette aune, le Conseil europen de fvrier 2013 restera comme un rideau dchir :
derrire le piteux compromis arrach, l'Europe s'enlise et menace de se dfaire
Le grand vainqueur de ce sommet s'appelle en effet David Cameron. Le Premier ministre
de Sa Gracieuse Majest tait arriv Bruxelles avec deux objectifs prioritaires : la
prservation de son chque et la diminution de l'enveloppe budgtaire globale. Sur les
deux points, il a obtenu satisfaction. Le rabais britannique est sanctuaris et, pour la
premire fois, le budget europen global, dj tique, diminue pour ne plus reprsenter
que 1% tout rond du produit europen brut. Rien ne peut mieux illustrer le dclin de l'ide
europenne. David Cameron menace de quitter l'Europe si le Royaume-Uni n'obtient pas
un statut sur mesure, avec tous les droits et aucune obligation. Cette prtention
stupfiante aurait d l'isoler. C'est le contraire qui s'est pass. Les Pays-Bas, la Sude et le
Danemark l'ont ouvertement soutenu, Angela Merkel l'a obliquement appuy. La France, au
lieu de faire front, de s'arc-bouter et de refuser ce chantage impudent, a fait profil bas et
s'est contente, la grande dception des pays d'Europe du Sud, de dfendre bec et
34
ongles ses propres intrts immdiats. La presse britannique triomphe, la presse italienne
et espagnole prend le deuil et la presse franaise s'en moque.
L'euroscepticisme vient de marquer un nouveau point. L'Europe des Vingt-sept prend le
chemin de la simple zone de libre-change rve depuis toujours par Londres. Le
Royaume-Uni conjugue plus que jamais la meilleure diplomatie du monde et l'esprit le
moins europen de l'hmisphre Nord.
On dira que la France a su dfendre son pr carr. Mais justement, elle n'a su faire que
cela. Pour le reste, elle s'est incline sans gloire. Certes, dans la ralit, la prcieuse
Politique agricole commune (PAC), la sainte protectrice de la France, est prserve. L'aide
alimentaire aux plus dmunis que David Cameron et Angela Merkel voulaient supprimer
totalement est rduite mais maintenue. Les fonds de cohsion financeront bien certaines
grandes infrastructures auxquelles tient Paris, comme le fameux tunnel entre la France et
l'Italie. La politique dfensive franaise a tenu. En revanche, ses ambitions, ses
esprances, ses projets sont jets la cave.
O est la politique de croissance commune, si urgente? Nulle part. O est la politique de
change pour l'euro, prvue par les traits sous la responsabilit des gouvernements? Aux
abonns absents. O est l'impt europen qui permettrait une relance commune?
Ostracis, tout comme la possibilit, pourtant parfaitement raliste, d'emprunts europens
pour financer les projets prioritaires de recherche-dveloppement. La dimension nationale
de la politique europenne rsiste, la dimension europenne des politiques nationales
s'effondre.
Pire: le couple franco-allemand, coeur, cerveau et colonne vertbrale de l'Europe,
brinquebale misrablement. Des deux cts, on agite des trompe-l'oeil. L'Allemagne
propose avec insistance une intgration politique plus pousse afin de mieux pouvoir
rcuser avec bonne conscience toute politique substantielle de relance et d'investissement.
La France plaide inlassablement pour une politique de relance mais reste obstinment
muette ds qu'il s'agit d'intgration politique. L'alliance se vide de son contenu.
Dans ces conditions, rien d'tonnant si les peuples se dtournent du seul grand projet
d'origine franaise labor depuis la guerre. Pas de politique trangre, pas de politique de
dfense, pas de politique sociale, pas de politique de change ou d'investissement.
Face la crise, Valry Giscard d'Estaing et Helmut Schmidt, Franois Mitterrand et Helmut
Kohl faisaient avancer l'Europe. Franois Hollande et Angela Merkel la laissent pitine, et
bientt trbuche.
Financial Times (Reino Unido) - Turkey and Europe (Editorial)
Both sides would benefit from reviving accession talks
If Frances decision to start dismantling roadblocks to Turkeys membership of the EU,
erected by Nicolas Sarkozy before he lost the presidency to Franois Hollande, is genuine,
it is an overdue step towards sanity in managing a vital European relationship.
There are still huge hurdles, especially the poisonous politics swirling around the divided
island of Cyprus, which could well bar the door to the Turks. But whether Turkey eventually
joins the EU is less important than that it finishes its transformation into a vibrant
democracy, dynamic economy and admired regional power.
The paralysis in the accession talks, now in their seventh year, has shut down a formidable
engine of renewal and reform. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkeys prime minister, hints at
abandoning the European quest. President Abdullah Gul, whom he will probably replace
next year, believes Ankara must stay on the EU path to complete its modernisation. The
35
enthusiasm of Turkish voters for Europe which tracks Mr Erdogans volatile moods is
fast evaporating.
This is a chance for the EU to revitalise relations with a country in which Islam and
democracy cohabit, at a time when it is fumbling with upheavals on its Mediterranean and
Muslim periphery.
For all its recent China-style economic growth rates, Turkey too should realise the extent to
which its dynamism depends on advancing integration with the EU. Turkeys trade has
diversified impressively but three-quarters of its foreign direct investment still comes from
the EU. More than 14,000 European companies are in Turkey and, unlike most of the
countrys partners, they transfer technology. These companies, about half from Germany
and France the two big member states hostile to Ankaras accession sharpen their
competitive edge with Turkish engineering skills: Renault has its most productive factory in
Bursa.
There are three ways to re-engage Turkey. As talks resume, the EU should remove visa
requirements for Turkish businessmen, start reinviting Turkish leaders to summits, and
involve Turkeys defence establishment in EU foreign and security policy.
The debate about a multi-tier Europe triggered by the eurozone crisis (as well as noises-off
in Britain) should involve Turkish leaders, who think they can more easily slot their country
into an outer ring of the EU. It would also be a shame to waste Cypruss financial crisis. Is
there no leverage there to inject some reason into the wrangle about the islands future?
The Hindu (ndia) Hollande arrives; to hold talks on major
deals
DPA
India and France were due on Thursday to hold talks on major deals involving sales of
fighter jets and nuclear reactors on the opening day of President Francois Hollandes visit
to the South Asian nation.
Mr. Hollande, accompanied by five ministers including Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and
60 business leaders, was slated to hold the main talks with the Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh in New Delhi.
Topping Mr. Hollandes agenda is the sale of 126 Rafale jets to the Indian Air Force in a
deal estimated at over 10 billion dollars by the Indian media. Manufactured by Dassault
Aviation, the combat jet was shortlisted by India last year but the negotiations are yet to
be concluded.
New Delhi and Paris were also to discuss a pact for supplying six reactors for the Jaitapur
nuclear plant in the western state of Maharashtra. Although both deals were to be
discussed, they would not be inked during Mr. Hollandes visit, Indian and French officials
said.
"With upgradation of the relationship to strategic partnership in 1998, the India-France
relationship has become multifaceted and symbiotic in areas such as defence, civil nuclear
energy, space and counter terrorism, Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Both countries were reportedly expected to sign a slew of pacts on research and
development, transport, education and culture but this was not officially confirmed.
36
India and France would also look at enhancing their commercial ties and boost trade from
12 billion dollars in 2011. Mr. Hollande was due to conclude his two-day visit Friday with a
trip to the financial hub of Mumbai where he was to participate in a business summit.
%SIA
China Daily (China) US immigration reform a challenge for
China (Opinio)
By Chen Weihua
The proposed immigration reform, which has sparked a heated debate across the United
States, has not only raised hopes for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, it has
also thrilled Chinese students now studying in American colleges and universities.
According to the proposals put forward by some Democrat and Republican senators as well
as President Barack Obama, the US will offer more work visas and green cards to high-
level professionals and foreign students with advanced degrees, especially STEM students,
that is, those in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Washington has been tightening its immigration policy since the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center, making it more difficult for foreign professionals and
students to find jobs and live in the US. But the policy has been criticized by many and
described by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as "national suicide".
In his inaugural speech for his second term as US president, Obama said: "Our journey is
not complete ... until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce
rather than expelled from our country." While Republicans and Democrats are still divided
on several aspects of immigration reform, it seems that loosening restrictions on
professionals and STEM students are among the less controversial. If such restrictions are
lifted, it would pose a huge challenge for China, which has been making great efforts to
attract and retain talent.
According to the Open Door report of US-based Institute of International Education,
194,029 Chinese students were studying in the US in 2011-12, up 23 percent from the
previous academic year and the highest from one country for the third year in a row. Of
those, 45.6 percent were graduate students.
According to a Congressional Research Service report issued in November, the 29,490
Chinese students pursuing doctoral degrees in STEM in 2009 represented 35 percent of all
foreign students doing PhD in the US. They were followed by students from India (19
percent) and South Korea (9 percent). In fact, Chinese doctoral students accounted for
almost half of all foreign nationals in mathematics and physical sciences.
Does that mean an immigration reform in the US, granting more H1B work visas or lawful
permanent resident quota, will result in fewer Chinese graduates, especially STEM
graduates, returning home? Will that undermine the numerous talent programs started by
the central and local governments over the past few years? And will that also undermine
the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) blueprint that aims to build China into an innovative
society?
Immigration reform in the US may be welcome. But then China has to work even harder to
attract and retain talent to staff its universities and research and development centers, and
help move the economy up the value chain.
37
China has to scrutinize whether its wide range of government programs to attract and
retain talent has been effective, or some government officials have used the programs as a
symbolic gesture to just enhance their profile and achievements on paper.
China also should examine why many local governments fail to provide talents the right
environment and fully utilize their skills despite promising an attractive package of high
salaries, housing and other benefits. The right environment for such talents includes the
rule of law, a free academic atmosphere and probably dual citizenship, which is a hot topic
of discussion among many professionals.
The tendency of Chinese officials to seek quick results and immediate returns, too, has
deterred many Chinese talents from returning home. Will we tolerate failures like the one
in Silicon Valley, where some years ago I listened to entrepreneurs talking about their
success stories even after many disasters?
The impending US immigration reform compels China to reflect, and to reflect now, on its
talent policy.
Reuters (Reino Unido) - Japan Defense Chief: Could Have Pre-
emptive Strike Ability in Future
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has the right to develop the ability to make a pre-emptive strike
against an imminent attack given a changing security environment although it has no plan
to do so now, the defense minister said on Thursday, days after North Korea conducted a
third nuclear test.
Any sign that Japan was moving to develop such a capability in response to North Korea's
nuclear program could upset neighbors China and South Korea, which have reacted
strongly in the past to suggestions it might do so.
"When an intention to attack Japan is evident, the threat is imminent, and there are no
other options, Japan is allowed under the law to carry out strikes against enemy targets,"
Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told Reuters in an interview.
"Given Japan's political environment and the peace-oriented diplomacy it has observed,
this is not the time to make preparations (for building such capability).
"But we need to carefully observe the changing security environment in the region."
North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from the
United States, Japan, Europe and the North's only major ally, China.
Onodera said Japan needed to strengthen its ballistic missile defense in view of the North
Korean threat.
"Japan, the United States and South Korea managed to respond well to North Korea's
missile launch on December 12. But North Korea is expected to boost various capabilities
further. We need to improve corresponding capabilities as well."
But he declined to say whether it was more urgent than ever to lift a self-imposed ban on
exercising the right of collective self-defense, or coming to the aid of an ally under attack.
Exercising that right is now prohibited under a long-standing interpretation of Japan's
pacifist constitution but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made clear he wants to lift the ban
and a panel of advisers has begun discussing the topic.
38
URGING CHINA
Onodera called on China to join the United States, Japan and other countries in tightening
sanctions against North Korea, noting that Pyongyang had gone ahead with the test on
Monday in defiance of Beijing's urging not to.
"I think China is the one that is most concerned about the development ... From now on, it
is necessary for us, including China, to seek effective steps, effective economic measures
(against North Korea)."
Onodera urged China to work with Japan to set up hotline and other communications
channels between Tokyo and Beijing to prevent any accidental clash over disputed East
China Sea islets, while reiterating that the islands belonged to Japan.
Sino-Japanese ties cooled sharply after Japan's government in September nationalized
three of the disputed islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
The island row has escalated to the point where both sides have scrambled fighter jets
while patrol ships shadow each other, raising worries that an unintended collision or other
incident could lead to a broader clash.
"There already is a preliminary agreement between Japan and China to set up a maritime
communication mechanism," Onodera said.
"The mechanism would include annual meetings, specialists' meetings, hotlines between
high-ranking people, and direct communications between ships and planes in the field. I
would like to have final agreement reached as soon as possible."
Onodera said last week a Chinese frigate had locked its targeting radar on a Japanese
destroyer on January 30 - a step that usually precedes the firing of weapons - but China
insisted that its vessel used only ordinary surveillance radar.
He said in the interview that Japan has data to back up its assertion, but was cautious
about disclosing the information.
"We have irrefutable data. But (disclosure) would also reveal our various capabilities. We
would like to discuss (possible disclosure) within the government, while watching China's
future steps."
(Editing by Linda Sieg and Robert Birsel)
Reuters (Reino Unido) Versions Differ in Malaysia, Philippines
Border Standoff
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian security forces have surrounded about 100 armed
men believed to be from a breakaway rebel faction in the southern Philippines, Malaysian
police and a government official said on Thursday, but a Philippine official said they were
unarmed Filipinos who had been promised land.
The standoff in Malaysia's eastern Sabah state on Borneo island threatened to stir tension
between the Southeast Asian neighbors whose ties have been periodically frayed by
security and migration problems caused by a porous sea border.
"Our firepower is more than enough to arrest them but the government has chosen to
negotiate with them so they leave peacefully to return to the south of the Philippines,"
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, on a visit to Sabah ahead of national elections, was
quoted as saying by state-run Bernama news agency.
39
Malaysian police said in a statement the situation was under control, but did not say
whether the men had agreed with a request to surrender.
A high-ranking Malaysian government source with direct knowledge of the situation told
Reuters the gunmen were suspected to be from a faction unhappy with the Philippines'
recent peace deal with the main Muslim rebel group.
Raul Hernandez, a spokesman for the Philippine Foreign Ministry, said his government was
trying to get information about the incident and was in touch with Malaysian officials.
A senior Philippine military official said navy boats and an aircraft had been sent to the
border area. He dismissed the Malaysian account of the group, saying they were unarmed
Filipinos who had been promised land in Sabah.
He said a meeting over the land claim had attracted a large crowd and drawn the attention
of Malaysian authorities.
"We know that these people arrived there five days ago and most of them are from nearby
islands," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
"Some of them were already residents in Sabah for a long time and they normally cross the
border without any problem."
Another Philippine military officer said the men were followers of the heirs of the Sultan of
Sulu - an island group off the southern Philippines - who had been invited to Sabah by a
Malaysian opposition politician to discuss land issues.
Malaysia pays a token amount to the Sultanate each year for the "rental" of Sabah state -
an arrangement that stretches back to British colonial times.
The number of illegal Muslim immigrants from the impoverished southern Philippines has
surged in recent decades, stirring social tension with indigenous Christian inhabitants in
Sabah.
The Philippine government signed a landmark peace deal with Muslim rebels late last year
to end a 40-year conflict in the south, but some factions have voiced opposition.
In 2000, a group of militants from the southern Philippines kidnapped 21 tourists from the
Sabah diving resort of Sipadan. In 1985, 11 people were killed when gunmen believed to
be from the southern Philippines entered Lahad Datu in Sabah, shooting at random before
robbing a bank.
(Reporting By Siva Sithraputhran and Niluksi Koswanage in Kuala Lumpur; Manuel Mogato
in Manila; Editing by Stuart Grudgings and Nick Macfie)
TEMAS ECON*MICOS+ &INANCEIROS E COMERCIAIS
Jornal de Angola (Angola) Avies Tucano na Fora Area
O chefe do Estado-Maior das Foras Armadas Angolanas (FAA), Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda,
garantiu que o processo de reequipamento e modernizao j est em curso e confirma a
compra, ao Brasil, de avies militares Super Tucano para apetrechar a Fora Area
Nacional.
40
Em declaraes Rdio Nacional de Angola, o general Sachipengo Nunda disse que a
aquisio dos avies parte de um longo processo que incluiu a formao tcnica do
pessoal que vai garantir a manuteno.
Ao contrrio do que noticiou o Jornal de Angola na sua edio de segunda-feira, 11 de
Fevereiro, o chefe do Estado-Maior General no revelou o nmero de aparelhos adquiridos
nem o tipo de armamento a ser equipado nos novos avies.
O general Sachipengo Nunda afirmou que os avies adquiridos podem ser utilizados para a
proteco das fronteiras nacionais, no combate imigrao ilegal, um fenmeno que est a
preocupar as autoridades angolanas.
Clarn (Argentina) Entidades financieras, en alerta por un
posible default tcnico
Por TOMS CANOSA
Los fondos de inversin y los bancos internacionales siguen de cerca la situacin econmica
de Argentina y el pas volvi a ser motivo de conversacin en el mundillo financiero. Un
informe que difundi ayer el Instituto de Finanzas Internacionales (IIF) sostiene que hay
cuatro variables que preocupan: el desenlace con los holdouts y la posibilidad de que se
entre en default tcnico, la implementacin de nuevas medidas proteccionistas tanto en el
comercio como en el control de la salida de capitales, un incremento del financiamiento del
Banco Central al Tesoro y ms sanciones por parte del FMI por la situacin de las
estadsticas nacionales.
"Estamos todos muy pendientes del fallo de la Corte de Apelaciones (de Nueva York) y la
percepcin que existe es que Argentina va a reconocer el fallo slo si es favorable,
manifest el economista de Goldman Sachs, Alberto Ramos, en dilogo con Clarn. "No
podemos ignorar que despus de la audiencia del 27 de febrero, la administracin pueda
comprar ms tiempo a travs de otros recursos legales, agreg el ltimo informe que
elabor Barclays. En el Ministerio de Economa ya trabajan en las dos cartas que tienen en
la mano en caso de obtener un fallo desfavorable para evitar que el pas entre en default.
Una alternativa es apelar ante la Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos y la otra es que el fallo
de la Cmara de Apelaciones sea revisado por los 13 que integran la Corte y no slo por
tres.
Las proyecciones macroeconmicas que realizan en el exterior no resultan demasiado
auspiciosas para Argentina. El IIF estim que por, segundo ao consecutivo, el pas va a
crecer menos que el promedio de Amrica Latina: el PBI trepar este ao 2,7%, mientras
que en la regin lo har 3,6%. Barclays tambin estim que el alza del Producto en el pas
ser menor a en Amrica Latina, aunque en este caso la diferencia sera de una dcima
(3,2% en Argentina contra 3,3% en la regin). Para la entidad financiera, Per, Chile y
Colombia seran las naciones que ms creceran en 2013.
La inflacin tambin sera, segn los ojos extranjeros, uno de los grandes problemas de la
economa local. El IIF estim que el costo de vida trepar 27,7%, mientras que el alza de
los precios en la regin ser del 9,1%. "Esperamos que el Gobierno contine financiando la
poltica monetaria expansiva con recursos del Banco Central, manifest la institucin. En
Brasil la inflacin sera del 6,3% y en Ecuador, de 4,8%.
Las proyecciones del pas son favorables en cuanto a la cuenta corriente. Tendra en 2013
un resultado de US$ 2 mil millones y sera una de las 3 naciones de la regin que no
cerrara en rojo.
41
Clarn (Argentina) Gran Bretaa tambin votar en contra del
pas en el Banco Mundial
POR ANA BARON
El gobierno britnico anunci el martes pasado que haba ordenado a sus representantes
en el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo y en el Banco Mundial que voten en contra de los
prstamos para la Argentina.
De esa manera, Gran Bretaa se uni a EE.UU.
que viene votando oficialmente en contra de nuestro pas en esos organismos
internacionales desde el 2011 y a otros pases como Espaa que lo han venido haciendo
desde el ao pasado sin anuncios pblicos.
La secretaria de Estado para el desarrollo internacional britnica, Justine Greening explic
que su gobierno haba decidido votar en contra de los prstamos para la Argentina por tres
razones, "el no cumplimiento de los fallos establecidos por el Centro de Arbitraje disputas
de inversiones (CIADI), el no aceptar la revisin econmica regular del FMI del Artculo IV
desde el 2006 y la reciente mocin de censura del FMI, la primera de este tipo, como
resultado de haberse negado a solucionar la transgresin de la obligacin de presentar
estadsticas bajo el Articulo VIII de la Carta orgnica del FMI, socavando seriamente
nuestra habilidad para evaluar adecuadamente prstamos futuros de los bancos
multilaterales de desarrollo.
El gobierno britnico sent su posicin con respecto a este tema en la respuesta que
Greening dio por escrito a una pregunta de la diputada conservadora Rebecca Harris sobre
la poltica britnica con respecto al apoyo financiero a la Argentina en los organismos
multilaterales.
"Gran Bretaa debe asegurarse que los pocos recursos de los Bancos de desarrollo sean
utilizados de manera eficiente para promover el desarrollo y el crecimiento. Debido a las
recientes acciones del gobierno argentino ya no tengo confianza en que ms inversin en
Argentina sea consistente con esos objetivos, dijo Greening dejando en claro que quedan
excluidos de su decisin los prestamos destinados a aliviar a la pobreza en Argentina.
"Esta posicin ser mantenida bajo revisin, sujeta a futuras acciones del Gobierno
Argentino y su cumplimiento con las obligaciones internacionales, concluy Greening, No
es la primera vez que el Parlamento britnico discute la posibilidad de votar en contra de
los prestamos para la Argentina. El 12 de junio del 2012, un grupo de 35 diputados bajo el
liderazgo del conservador Andrew Rosindell, presentaron una mocin para que el
representante britnico en el Banco Mundial se oponga a los prestamos para nuestro pas
debido "a los repetidos ataques de Argentina contra Gran Bretaa y el derecho que tiene
los isleos de las Falklands (como llaman a las Islas Malvinas en Londres) a seguir siendo
britnicos.
Como en el BID, los prestamos para Argentina siempre son aprobados con los votos
latinoamericanos, la decisin britnica anunciada el martes tendr un impacto mayor en el
Banco Mundial donde hace seis meses que nuestro pas no tiene un Country Partnership
Strategy, CPS. Es decir, un plan de prestamos. Sin este plan, que normalmente incluye
proyectos tanto de infraestructura como sociales para los prximos cuatro aos y
representa un total de 4.000 millones de dlares, Argentina no puede acceder a nuevos
crditos.
Segn trascendi, podran seguir los mismos pasos de Gran Bretaa y EE.UU; Espaa,
Francia, Alemania y Canad.
42
Reuters (Reino Unido) Egypt PM Expects IMF Visit This Month
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said on Thursday he expected an
International Monetary Fund team to visit this month for talks on a loan agreement seen as
vital to supporting the country's economy.
Asked when the IMF mission would return to resume stalled talks on the $4.8 billion (3
billion pounds) loan, Kandil said: "Within this month, God willing."
Egypt concluded an initial agreement for the loan in November but in December postponed
ratification because of political unrest.
The Egyptian government has repeatedly said the IMF delegation would return soon to
finalise a deal.
Kandil said in an interview broadcast late on Wednesday that the government had finished
revising a programme of economic reforms seen as vital to securing the loan.
Many economists believe the government could postpone ratification of an IMF deal until
parliamentary elections expected to get under way in April or May to delay austerity
measures that could hit the popularity of the ruling Islamists.
The IMF accord is seen as vital to propping up the state's battered finances. Ratification
would also unlock billions of dollars of further aid from foreign states, economists say.
Ratings agency Moody's cited uncertainty about the government's ability to secure the loan
as one reason for cutting Egypt's credit rating on Tuesday.
"What we need desperately, even more than financing is for the streets to calm down and
for some patience and hard work from the citizens," Kandil said.
(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by John Stonestreet)
China Daily (China) US sanctions disrupt international trade
order
(Xinhua)
The United States' sanctions on Chinese enterprises have harmed international trade order,
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Wednesday.
Shen Danyang, an MOC spokesman, said that China strongly opposes sanctions that have
been imposed on Chinese military firms and individuals based on US domestic regulations
and without any evidence for them.
Unilateral moves of this kind have happened more than once, not only harming Chinese
enterprises, but disturbing international trade order, Shen said.
The Chinese government demands that the US corrects its wrongdoing and create a sound
environment for healthy economic ties, he added.
The announcement came after a similar one on Monday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
that asked the US to lift sanctions on Chinese enterprises and individuals, including a
leading Chinese military defense company.
Poly Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of the state-owned China Poly Group Corporation,
voiced its opposition on Monday immediately after the sanctions were announced.
43
It rejected accusations that the company has been involved in business related to banned
weapons with countries or regions that are under United Nations Security Council
sanctions.
SE'URANA ALIMENTAR
ABC Color (Paraguai) Brasil , con riesgo "insignificante de EEB
Brasil espera recuperar las exportaciones de carne tras un visto bueno de la Organizacin
Mundial de la Salud Animal (OIE) , que mantuvo al pas en el nivel de "riesgo
insignificante de la encefalopata espongiforme bovina (EEB) o vaca loca, segn el
ministerio de Agricultura en un comunicado divulgado en la prensa y reportado desde
Brasilia por la agencia AFP.
Explica que el comit cientfico de la OIE decidi que el caso de una vaca fallecida en 2010
en el sur de Brasil, confirmado en diciembre pasado, "no coloca en riesgo la salud animal
o de los consumidores, expresa el ministerio.
"La decisin del comit cientfico de la OIE debe facilitar la retirada de los embargos de
algunos pases contra la importacin de carne de Brasil, seala el comunicado oficial.
Doce pases suspendieron total o parcialmente sus importaciones de carne bovina brasilea
desde diciembre.
Japn, China, Sudfrica, Arabia Saudita, Corea del Sur, Taiwn, Per, Bielorrusia y Qatar
suspendieron las importaciones, mientras Lbano, Jordania y Chile aplicaron restricciones a
algunos productos, inform recientemente el ministerio. El Gobierno de Brasil defendi
que el caso confirmado en diciembre pasado de un animal fallecido en 2010 en el que fue
detectado el agente causante de la vaca loca (encefalopata espongiforme bovina, EEB) fue
una "versin atpica de la enfermedad que no representa riesgo a la salud. Segn el
Gobierno, la vaca no manifest la enfermedad ni muri por esa causa. En 2012, Brasil
obtuvo ingresos rcord de US$ 5.770 millones por envos de carne bovina.
Reuters (Reino Unido) Escndalo da carne de cavalo na UE
pode levar a testes mais rigorosos
Por Charlie Zhu e Adrian Croft
A Comisso Europeia props um aumento nos testes de DNA de produtos base de carnes
para avaliar a escala do escndalo envolvendo carne de cavalo sendo vendida como carne
bovina que chocou a populao e levantou suspeitas quanto segurana da cadeia
alimentar no continente.
"Os testes sero no DNA dos produtos de carne em todos os pases-membros", disse o
comissrio para Sade da Unio Europeia, Tonio Borg, a reprteres depois de reunio
ministerial em Bruxelas para discutir o assunto.
O plano inicial de um ms de testes deve incluir reas onde a carne de cavalo manuseada
para checar se resduos de remdios utilizados em cavalos potencialmente danosos sade
entraram na cadeia alimentar, disse Borg, com os primeiros resultados esperados para
meados de abril.
O escndalo irrompeu quando testes realizados na Irlanda revelaram que a carne
encontrada em produtos rotulados como sendo de carne bovina eram, na verdade, 100 por
cento de cavalo.
44
Operadores em ao menos 8 pases europeus j foram envolvidos no caso at o momento,
levantando temores de uma fraude em toda a Europa.
Autoridades disseram que nenhum risco sade pblica nos produtos alimentares foram
identificados neste estgio, mas que testes para remdios equinos na carne esto sendo
realizados.
"Isso est impactando a integridade da cadeia alimentar, que realmente significativa para
muitos pases. Agora que ns sabemos que isso um problema europeu, precisamos de
uma soluo europeia", disse o ministro da Agricultura da Irlanda, Simon Coveney, antes
do encontro.
O comissrio europeu disse que a comisso poder acelerar possveis mudanas nas regras
de rotulagem que forariam companhias a identificar o pas de origem nos produtos de
carne processada.
Atualmente, esta regra s vale para carne bovina in natura, e isso deve se estender para
cordeiro fresco, carne suna e de frango a partir de dezembro de 2014.
Mas autoridades da UE alertaram em privado que a complexidade das cadeiras tornaria
quase impossvel implementar tal prtica.
Testes de rotina da Autoridade de Segurana Alimentar da Irlanda, em 15 de janeiro,
encontraram carne de cavalo em hambrgueres congelados de carne bovina produzidos
por empresas na Irlanda e Gr-Bretanha e vendidos em redes de supermercados, incluindo
a Tesco, maior varejista britnica.
(Reportagem adicional de Barbara Lewis, em Bruxelas; de Maria Golovnina e Victoria
Bryan, em Londres; e de Alexandra Hudson, em Berlim)
ENER'IA
The Wall Street Journal (EUA) - Mexico Moves on Energy in
Economic Reset
In Interview, Pemex Chief Says Overhaul to Broadly Cut Costs
By DAVID LUHNOW and LAURENCE ILIFF
MEXICO CITY-For decades, Mexico's energy policy has largely boiled down to exporting oil
for cash to fund state spending. Now the new government is negotiating with rival political
parties to curb that practice and instead use state monopoly Petrleos Mexicanos to a
different end: cheaper energy, said Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the 38-year-old chief said the administration
of President Enrique Pea Nieto was striving to overhaul tax and energy laws this year that
Mr. Lozoya said would result in cheaper energy for consumers and companies that could
drive a more competitive economy.
Now, the Mexican government relies on Pemex, one of the world's biggest oil firms, for
35% of government spending, leaving the company with little left over to invest in areas
like natural gas. Private companies, meanwhile, are largely barred from investing thanks to
Mexico's nationalistic energy laws.
The result is an energy-rich country where companies often pay higher prices for energy
than elsewhere. Mexico has large reserves of natural gas, for instance. But since Pemex
45
doesn't invest enough in gas, the country imports gas from the U.S.-raising costs to
Mexican firms as they try to compete with global players like China.
"Energy ought to be looked at on a competitive basis and not as a foreign-exchange
generator," Mr. Lozoya said, pointing to a prospective investment boost in industries
ranging from gas to petrochemicals to fertilizers.
Complicating matters, Mexico's oil output has slipped to 2.55 million barrels a day from a
peak of 3.4 million in 2004, as easy oil in the Gulf is replaced by more difficult reserves of
deep-water oil and heavy oil onshore. To boost production, the company will need more
money, technology and know-how.
Changing Mexico's energy laws is widely seen as an important test for a country that
captured the imagination of investors for linking its economy in a free-trade deal with the
U.S. in the mid-1990s, but which saw its star dim to other emerging markets like China
and Brazil in recent years.
For Mexico, beset by drug violence the past few years, such a move would send a powerful
signal to investors, likely driving billions in foreign investment, economists say.
"This is all about regaining the reform momentum, and you don't see that that often in
emerging markets today. Taking on those taboos, and those changes, it would re-establish
the Mexican narrative as a reformer and be very positive," said Gray Newman, chief
economist for Latin America at Morgan Stanley .
Change won't be easy. The oil nationalization in 1938, by Mr. Pea Nieto's own Institutional
Revolutionary Party, is seen as a key event in Mexican identity. Some leftist lawmakers,
Mexican contractors and even some foreign oil-service firms that work with Pemex on a fee
basis might see change as a threat, analysts say.
The freshly appointed Mr. Lozoya, the youngest ever Pemex chief and who is seen as close
to the president, was careful not to discuss specifics about proposed changes to energy
laws in the Tuesday interview, saying it was up to Mexico's political parties. But he did
point out that political parties here from left to right had already come together in recent
months on topics like education and labor reform.
"Obviously, our challenge is we need to deliver on the pending reforms and governing
responsibly over the next years, but I do see this as a very good opportunity for Mexico to
retake a path of higher productivity and higher economic growth," he said.
Mexico's conservative opposition, the National Action Party, largely favors a broader
opening of the energy business to private investment, while the leftist Party of the
Democratic Revolution has proposed a more limited opening for areas like refining.
Mr. Newman believes Mr. Pea Nieto may well deliver a broad-ranging reform. "I don't
think the prospects for reform have been this strong in Mexico in over 20 years," Mr.
Newman said.
The son of a former energy minister, Mr. Lozoya has had a tough start as head of Mexico's
largest company, which had 2011 sales of $111 billion. An explosion at a Pemex office
building at the company's Mexico City headquarters last month killed 37 workers. The
company said the blast was caused by a buildup of methane in the building's cellar, but
doesn't yet know what caused the gas to accumulate.
The investigation, led by the country's attorney general's office, will take a few more
weeks, Mr. Lozoya said. "We are in mourning, but we're standing and looking forward, and
46
working on our modernization plans," said the executive, who is the grandson of a
revolutionary general and politician.
He pointed to the shale-gas revolution in the U.S., along with deep-water and heavy oil, as
examples of how Mexico can benefit from new technologies that boost energy output, lower
prices and create jobs.
Mexico may hold the world's fourth-biggest reserves of shale gas, according to the U.S.
government. But Pemex has drilled only a few wells and not produced any gas. "Mexico
ought to be producing more of its own gas, and eventually exporting it," Mr. Lozoya, a
lawyer and economist who got his master's degree in public policy at Harvard said. "Clearly
the geology that you have in some parts of the U.S. extends into Mexican territory. So it's
a matter of just investing and getting it done."
Mr. Lozoya also envisions Pemex acting as a lever of development for the economy,
spurring the development of a stronger oil service sector and promote new industries like
ethanol.
"It is important we support medium-size companies, together with programs from national
development banks, so they can access credit and be suppliers to Pemex, and make sure
over the next few years that we develop a strong oil-servicing industry in Mexico that can
grow and be regionally competitive," he said, speaking in English.
The government is considering slowly replacing additives like MTBE in gasoline with
ethanol, he said. Pemex would act as the buyer and gatekeeper to the industry, Mr. Lozoya
said.
Last year, Pemex had to abandon its second tender for ethanol to be used as a gasoline
additive because the offers made were above the price the oil company was prepared to
pay. Mr. Lozoya said Pemex would be prepared to pay "above average prices" to firms.
"Pemex may end up paying a little bit more, but it would have a positive impact on the
environment and on jobs domestically, so it would be worth it," he said. "I foresee and I
hope that in a couple of years we'll have a much stronger energy sector with many more
medium-size companies present in it; and that Pemex becomes a much stronger
development lever of the country."
-Juan Montes contributed to this article.
OUTROS TEMAS
Le Monde (Frana) Barbarie ordinaire Santa Catarina
Par Nicolas Bourcier (Lettre d'Amrique du Sud)
C'tait son trajet habituel, une route sans histoire entre la maison de sa petite amie et celle
de ses parents. Assis au fond du bus, Eron de Melo, 19 ans, est le seul passager cette
heure tardive de la nuit. Presque une habitude. Encore deux stations avant d'arriver chez
lui, dans son quartier des Ingleses (les Anglais) situ au nord de Florianopolis, capitale
insulaire de l'Etat de Santa Catarina, dans le sud du Brsil.
Soudain, il prend peur. Un homme arm monte l'avant et menace le conducteur. Il lui
ordonne de descendre avant de mettre le feu au poste de conduite. Eron bondit vers la
porte arrire. Elle reste bloque. Il dcide de s'chapper en franchissant le rideau de
flammes.
Eron est devenu, le 31 janvier, la premire victime d'une vague de violences d'une rare
intensit, dirige contre les autobus publics, les vhicules et difices policiers de cette
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rgion de 6,2 millions d'habitants frlant le plein-emploi, traditionnellement classe comme
une des plus sres du pays. Grivement bless, le jeune homme a t soign dans un
hpital voisin. Ses jours ne sont plus en danger, mais il refuse de s'exprimer par crainte de
reprsailles.
En moins de deux semaines, la police militaire (PM) a recens 91 attaques dans prs de 28
villes de l'Etat, soulevant de srieux doutes sur la capacit des autorits mettre un terme
cette flambe grande chelle. Alors que le pays tout entier a les yeux tourns vers les
douces et folles clbrations du Carnaval qui se termine cette semaine, les attaques
incendiaires n'ont cess d'augmenter.
Dj en novembre 2012, 68 attaques avaient t enregistres dans l'Etat de Santa
Catarina. Quelque 54 personnes avaient t interpelles, dont 20 adolescents. Trois
hommes avaient pri lors de confrontations avec la police.
Au dbut de la crise, les autorits de l'Etat avaient attribu ces attaques ce qu'ils
appelaient l'"effet fantastique", "une imitation, une copie" des vnements violents
survenus durant les mois prcdents Sao Paulo. Une piqre de rappel, en quelque sorte,
de cette guerre sourde que se livrent la PM et le Premier commando de la capitale (PCC), le
gang le plus organis de la mgapole pauliste. Reprsailles contre exactions. Excutions
contre descentes policires. Une confrontation qui s'est solde en 2012 par la mort de plus
de 300 civils et plus de 100 policiers.
Ici, Santa Catarina, les attaques ont trs vite t attribues au Primeiro Grupo
Catarinense (PGC), une faction criminelle ne, comme le PCC, dans les prisons et qui
contrle aujourd'hui une grande partie du trafic de drogue de la rgion. Comme le prcise
l'hebdomadaire Carta Capital, elles auraient galement t dclenches en raction des
cas de tortures contre des dtenus du centre carcral Sao Pedro de Alcntara. Selon des
proches des victimes, l'assassinat de la femme du directeur de la prison aurait t
l'origine des svices commis par des gardiens.
Ces derniers jours, la vague d'attaques s'est propage aprs l'apparition d'images vido
provenant du circuit interne de surveillance de la prison de Joinville. Elles datent du 18
janvier. Dans un extrait, diffus sur le site du Jornal de Santa Catarina, on voit une grande
salle ferme dans laquelle une vingtaine de gardes arms de fusils tirent des balles en
caoutchouc sur un groupe compact de plus d'une soixantaine de prisonniers nus, accroupis,
les mains sur la nuque, la tte cale sur les genoux.
Le document, difficilement soutenable, a t rendu accessible quelques jours aprs une
visite surprise, le 21 janvier, de Joo Carlos Buch, juge administratif du systme carcral
Joinville. A la demande des familles, il obtient l'autorisation de s'entretenir avec plus d'une
centaine de prisonniers. Ceux-ci lui font part des brutalits, exhibant hmatomes et
blessures. Le mme jour, le magistrat demande et obtient sa grande surprise les
enregistrements des camras de la prison. Une enqute policire est lance. "Cet pisode
lamentable a t un des lments dclencheurs de cette nouvelle vague de violences", a-t-
il soulign.
De son ct, Raimundo Colombo, le gouverneur de Santa Teresa, vient d'annoncer qu'il
allait transfrer une vingtaine de dtenus de "haute dangerosit" dans diffrentes prisons
fdrales. Mettant en avant les arrestations rcentes de trafiquants qui auraient t
galement l'origine, selon lui, de cette flambe de violence, Raimundo Colombo a
toutefois assur que les responsables des actes de torture seront punis. Des procdures
judiciaires l'encontre de certains gardes de Sao Pedro de Alcntara seraient en cours. Et
d'ajouter que 14 fonctionnaires de Joinville avaient d'ores et dj t carts.
Pas sr que cela calmera les esprits. D'aprs Bruno Renato Teixeira, mdiateur rattach au
secrtariat des droits de l'homme Brasilia, aucune des promesses annonces par les
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autorits en novembre et visant amliorer les conditions de dtention ainsi qu' punir les
agents tortionnaires n'a t tenue. Pire, les violences commises par les gardiens auraient
renforc le poids du PGC. Par peur de reprsailles, certains prisonniers auraient cherch
protection auprs de l'organisation criminelle. A Santa Catarina, la surpopulation carcrale
atteint 70 %. L'Etat est un de ceux qui enregistrent le plus grand nombre de plaintes pour
mauvais traitements.
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