CHILE MEDIA REPORT - NOVEMBER 18

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001015 SIPDIS STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV OPRC PREL PGOV SNAR CI SUBJECT: CHILE MEDIA REPORT - NOVEMBER 18 Front Page News -------------- ¶1. The Association of Public Employees (ANEFE) rejected the government's salary adjustment and extended the strike for another day; The Minister of Public Works suspended six ministry officials in the VI Region for alleged bribery. U.S. Related News -------------- ¶2. Representatives from U.S., Spanish, Canadian, and Danish companies, among others, will attend the Fruit and Vegetable International Investment Forum to discuss new business opportunities in connection to a number of emerging varieties of fruits (Diario Financiero, business and financial daily, circ. 30,000). ¶3. Wikipedia creator Jimmy Walker will be in Santiago tomorrow to speak at Universidad Mayor and the Digital Communications Observatory (El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, circ. 129,000). ¶4. Alvaro Vargas Llosa, director of the U.S Center for Global Prosperity, will speak on the financial crisis and its effect in the region in a seminar organized by the Union of Latin America Parties to mark a new anniversary on Friday (La Tercera, conservative, independent, circ. 101,000). ¶5. Chile bought the supertanker Andrew J. Higgins from the United States to replace the Araucano tanker. The Higgins can carry both oil and ammunition (La Cuarta, popular daily, circ. 142,000). ¶6. U.S. actor Edward J. Olmos was fined at the Santiago international airport for not declaring apples and oranges he was carrying in his luggage. Olmos is in Chile to attend the Via del Mar International Film Festival that opened yesterday (El Mercurio). ¶7. U.S. policy expert Carol Hardy-Fanta said that Hillary Clinton's defeat shows "that it's almost impossible to elect a woman President in the United States." She adds that Obama's style of leadership is similar to Bachelet's in "its warmth and assertiveness." Hardy-Fanta will soon visit Chile to speak at the University of Chile's Gender Studies Center on Women and Leadership in Public Affairs (La Tercera Women's Magazine, 11/12). ¶8. The Arauco conglomerate closed the Patagual sawmill, which produced 6,000 cubic meters of lumber a month for the U.S market. This is the fourth sawmill the conglomerate has been forced to close in the area of BioBio (El Mercurio). Narcotics -------------- ¶9. A money laundering and counternarcotics investigation that began in 2005, concluded yesterday with the arrest of Patricio Zepeda, owner of money exchange office Zesal. The police raided Zepeda's offices and confiscated goods. The investigation shows that Zepeda laundered an average of $1billion pesos a year from international narcotics operations. Trucks smuggled marihuana and cocaine to Chile from Argentina through the Paso Los Libertadores in the Vth Region and then collected the money in Zesal offices in Santiago. In some cases Zesal employees traveled to Argentina to delivered the payment in dollars (La Tercera). Local -------------- ¶10. The Association of Public Employees (ANEFE) rejected the 9% gradual salary increase offered by the government and extended the strike for another day. Union leaders called for a march in Valparaiso, where they hope to meet with congressmen. The ANEFE is demanding a 14.5% wage increase. The strike is affecting municipalities, health services, the Civil Registrar's Office --which is not registering deaths --, and international crossings due to the absence of animal and plant health inspectors. Public schools might have to extend the end of the school year for another week (La Segunda, conservative, afternoon, circ. 33,000). Human Rights -------------- ¶11. The medical examination ordered by Judge Victor Montiglio concluded that General Sergio Arellano-Stark suffers from senile dementia, prompting the judge to suspend the six-year prison sentence pending on the general. Arellano- Stark was head of a military delegation known as "The Death Caravan," which was responsible for the death of a number of military regime opponents in 1973. This was the same medical prognosis used to prevent General Pinochet from facing charges in the same case (La Segunda). SIMONS