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