MEDIA REACTION - DEA

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001476

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA
STATE FOR INR/IAA, INL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM SNAR PINR KMDR CI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - DEA



1. On July 11, conservative, independent "La Tercera" (circ.
102,000) ran an editorial entitled "Narcotics Trafficking in Chile
and the DEA Offer." Block quotes follow.


2. "The DEA...has made a proposal to the highest-ranking Chilean
authorities for the creation of a new unit to stop the transit of
drugs through Chile's north.... The U.S. offer should...help those
responsible in Chile for this issue to realize the importance of the
problem.... The offer is an indication of the seriousness the U.S.
assigns to the growth of narcotics trafficking in Chile....The U.S.
is the world's greatest consumer of drugs and considers narcotics
trafficking a national security issue. Therefore, any information
regarding or suggestions from U.S. narcotics organizations cannot be
ignored and much less dismissed....


3. "The capability or credibility of local counter narcotics
entities is not in question here...and what should follow is the
establishment of the best possible cooperative mechanisms with the
DEA in all counter narcotics activities...with the greatest possible
transparency. This does not mean that a good relationship with the
agency does not already exist...but there is always room for
improvement, something which seems to have been happening in the
past years after the serious 1998 incident...when a U.S. agent
warned a Chilean shipping entrepreneur accused of narcotics
trafficking of his impending arrest so that the individual would
escape to Miami where he could be arrested.... But that is behind
us. Now is the time to find ways to improve the fight against
narcotics trafficking."

YAMAUCHI