MEDIA REACTION - VENEZUELA'S UNSC CANDIDACY

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001732 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO PGOV VE CI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - VENEZUELA'S UNSC CANDIDACY On August 11, conservative, afternoon daily "La Segunda" (circ 31,834) ran a column by former Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Ignacio Walker entitled, "Chavez and the United Nations." Block quote follows: "Does it help our national interests to support a country that will spend two years on the Security Council ...that denounces imperialism (the United States) and has allies such as Byelorussia, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea? Will Venezuela create a more complex and divided environment worldwide than the one we already have?.... Based on the answer to these questions and concerns, most European countries, almost all of Central America, Mexico, and Australia, among others, have already announced they will not vote for Venezuela. And although for Chile this is a no-win situation, even if it chooses to abstain, the above questions are inevitable when it comes time to make a decision on how to vote." KELLY