CHILEANS PERCEIVE THEIR BEST ALLY AS - DRUM ROLL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTIAGO 000131

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2016
TAGS: PREL CI
SUBJECT: CHILEANS PERCEIVE THEIR BEST ALLY AS - DRUM ROLL
PLEASE - THE U.S.

Classified By: Ambassador Craig Kelly for reasons 1.5 (b and d).

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Summary
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1. (U) In a telephone poll taken by the influential "La
Tercera" newspaper January 17-18, 2007, the U.S. was named by
38% percent of contestants as Chile's "principal ally," far
and away ahead of Brazil (14%),Chile's traditionally
perceived regional best friend. Ninety-five percent
described U.S.-Chile bilateral relations as "good or
average," trailing Mexico and Brazil. Moreover, the U.S. was
tied with Argentina - again behind only Brazil and Mexico -
as the nation for whom Chileans had the most "simpatia
(affection)." The polling was done after the well-publicized
announcement that Chile was being placed on the USTR's
Priority Watch List. The results suggest Chileans are not
swayed easily by appeals to regional solidarity, and are most
interested in pragmatic outcomes. End summary.

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Friends and Enemies
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2. (U) "La Tercera's" poll, published January 21, was of 600
adults, living in urban areas, and has a four percent margin
of error. The favorable perception of the U.S. as an ally
was not mirrored when Chileans were asked about individual
leaders, with President Bush one of only three leaders with a
negative rating in "trustworthiness" (along with Venezuela's
Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales). Lula de Silva of
Brazil was considered Chile's best friend, behind only Felipe
Calderon of Mexico as most trustworthy (Calderon was second
in the "best friend" category). Morales was tabbed by 67% of
Chileans to be the nation's "worst enemy," followed by Chavez
(46%).


3. (SBU) Bolivia as a nation was also seen as Chile's worst
enemy (53%) followed by Peru (18%) and Venezuela (13%). No
other country was in double digits. Bolivia's ranking is
likely the result of recent statements by Morales on the
"access to the sea" issue, anathema to the vast majority of
Chileans, Peru's due to historical distrust between
neighbors, and Venezuela's because of Chavez personally,
whose bluster and inclination towards troublemaking does not
sit well with Chileans. Argentina, Chile's other neighbor,
was seen as both friend (10%) and enemy (6%),a dichotomy
reflected as well in how President Kirchner was seen: friend
(21%) and enemy (25%).

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Pragmatic Beats Chumminess
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4.(C) Comment: The polling was carried out 10 days after the
announcement that Chile was being placed on USTR's Priority
Watch List for continuing violations of its IPR
responsibilities, a step much commented on in the media, but
which seems to have been shrugged off by Chileans as not
impacting our bilateral relationship. The same day as it
released its poll, "La Tercera" also published an interview
with Juan Gabriel Valdes, the former head of MINUSTAH (and a
former FM under Eduardo Frei),in which he laments that Chile
seemed to be drifting away from regional solidarity, with its
focus instead on developing stronger economic ties with the
world at large, particularly Asia, a policy that could leave
it "isolated." The "La Tercera" results indicate Chileans
disagree with Valdes and are pleased with the general
direction of Chile's foreign policy. That includes having
the U.S. as a strong partner, in a relationship which can
withstand the occasional bump in the road. As importantly,
the high negatives for Morales and Chavez indicate that their
populist politics have little resonance with Chileans, who
favor the pragmatic approaches followed as well by Brazil and
Mexico. End comment.
KELLY