2011-03-04 WikiLeaks in today's media: Cablegate coverage

Aftenposten: QADHAFI SONS SQUABBLE OVER COCA COLA

"A lengthy standoff between the franchise-holder for Coca Cola-Libya, Ka´Mur Bottling Company-U.K., and two of Mu´ammar Qadhafi´s sons, Mu´tassim and Mohammed, appears to have stabilized in the wake of a compromise agreement. The problem became public on December 28, 2005 as security troops controlled by Colonel Qadhafi´s son Mu´tassim encamped at the Tripoli Coca-Cola plant, owned jointly by Ka´Mur Bottling Company and the Libyan Olympic Committee (LOC) through their joint venture, the Global Beverage Company (GBC). With the plant shut for more than three months, Colonel Qadhafi´s daughter Aisha may have intervened to broker a compromise, according to which LOC would--at an unspecified future date--sell its shares in GBC to the Libyan Social Security Fund. Mu´tassim´s men left the plant in late February, shortly after USLO sent a strongly-worded diplomatic note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressing concern over the legality of the plant shutdown and urging a swift resolution to the conflict. Coca Cola´s General Manager for Libya credits USLO support for helping keep the incident under control as Ka´Mur, GBC and Coca Cola worked their own channels."

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El País: El embajador norteamericano en México, noqueado por los papeles de Wikileaks (The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, knocked out by Wikileaks papers)

""¿Ya sabes que el presidente Calderón y el embajador Pascual ni siquiera se hablan?". El rumor corría desde hace semanas por los mentideros políticos y diplomáticos de la ciudad de México, pero ni en Los Pinos -la residencia oficial del presidente- ni en la Embajada de EE UU en México soltaban prenda sobre la supuesta ruptura de relaciones entre el presidente Felipe Calderón y el embajador Carlos Pascual. El desencuentro se inició a raíz de la publicación en EL PAÍS de los papeles del Departamento de Estado filtrados por Wikileaks . ("Do you know that President Calderon and Ambassador Pascual do not even talk each other?". The rumor ran for weeks through the political and diplomatic environments in Mexico City, but not in Los Pinos, the official residence of the president, or the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, where they have not mention the alleged break in relations between President Felipe Calderón and Ambassador Carlos Pascual. The clash was sparked by the publication in El País of the roles of the State Department leaked by Wikileaks.)"

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El País: La carrera política del hijo de Gadafi, arruinada por una jaima (The political career of the son of Gaddafi, ruined by a tent)

"Mutasim llegó a ser el hijo predilecto de Muamar el Gadafi, el hombre destinado a sucederle en Libia hasta que topó con la burocracia de Estados Unidos. Era "violento y sediento de sangre", según escribieron los diplomáticos estadounidenses en los cables filtrados por Wikileaks. Pero su padre lo nombró en 2008 Consejero Nacional de Seguridad y comenzó a promoverlo en el exterior. Mutasim se había formado militarmente en Rusia. A diferencia de su hermano Saif el Islam, él no se prodigaba en comparecencias públicas; los seis millones y medio de habitantes del país apenas lo conocían. Pero eso no le impedía luchar por su cuota de poder en Trípoli. No dudaba a la hora de encarcelar y amenazar de muerte a los amigos de su hermano Saif el Islam, su más directo rival en la sucesión. (Mutasim became the favorite son of Muammar Gaddafi, the man destined to succeed in Libya until it met with the U.S. bureaucracy. "Violent, bloodthirsty," according to American diplomats leaked by Wikileaks cables. But his father named him in 2008 National Security Advisor and began promoting him abroad. Mutasim was formed in Russia militarily. Unlike his brother Saif Islam, it is not lavished on public hearings, the six and a half million inhabitants of the country barely knew him. But that did not prevent him from fighting for their share of power in Tripoli. No doubt when imprisoning and threatening to kill the friends of his brother Saif Islam, his closest rival in the succession.)"

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La Jornada: Washington encargó a Valenzuela "presionar" a México para respaldar la política hacia Honduras (Washington instructed Valenzuela "to pressure" Mexico to support U.S. policy toward Honduras)

"El embajador de Estados Unidos, Carlos Pascual, se quejó a principios de diciembre de 2009 de que el gobierno de México era renuente a trasladar en declaraciones públicas firmes e inequívocas el apoyo que nos había manifestado en privado a nuestra política hacia Honduras. (U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual complained in early December 2009 that Mexico's government was reluctant to move in strong and unequivocal public statements by the support we had indicated privately to our policy toward Honduras.)"

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La Jornada: "Ayudaremos a retirar a los militares de las calles" ("We will help to remove the military from the streets")

"El gobierno de Barack Obama tenía planes para México en 2010: Ayudaremos al gobierno a consolidar las instituciones penales del poder civil y a retirar gradualmente a los militares de la vigilancia en las calles, una tarea para la cual no tienen ni atribuciones legales ni capacitación. Contaba, para lograr su objetivo, con un compromiso sin precedente por parte de la administración de Felipe Calderón. (Barack Obama's government had plans for Mexico in 2010: We will help the government to strengthen the penal institutions of the civil power and phase out the military for surveillance in the streets, a task for which they have no legal powers or training. The government had, to achieve its goal, an unprecedented commitment by the administration of Felipe Calderón.)"

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La Jornada: "Exija a Calderón respeto a derechos", recomendaron a Obama en 2009; ahora la situación se agrava ("Demand to Calderón respect for rights", advised Obama in 2009; now the situation is aggravated)

"Antes de que el presidente Barack Obama viajara a Guadalajara para asistir a la cumbre de jefes de Estado de Norteamérica el 9 y 10 de agosto de 2009, la embajada de Estados Unidos le aconsejó que exigiera a su homólogo Felipe Calderón un manejo más transparente ante las acusaciones de violación a los derechos humanos, especialmente en los tribunales del fuero militar. (Before the president Barack Obama traveled to Guadalajara to attend the Summit of Heads of State of America on 9th and 10th of August 2009, the U.S. embassy advised him to require his counterpart Felipe Calderon a more transparent management to the allegations of violation of human rights, particularly in the courts of military justice.)"

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(Image Credit: Dali Rău)