CHILE MEDIA REPORT - DECEMBER 12

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001092 SIPDIS STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV ECON PREL SNAR EFIN CI SUBJECT: CHILE MEDIA REPORT - DECEMBER 12 Lead Stories -------------- ¶1. Headlines report that the Ministry of Health has been unable to notify 512 public hospital patients who tested positive for HIV. Dailies continued to highlight the suit filed by the Economic Prosecutor against the three largest pharmaceutical chains for conspiring to overcharge consumers. Local -------------- ¶2. The President of the PPD, Pepe Auth, said there is ample support in the party to rebuild a PS-PPD axis. This alliance would allow both parties to proclaim OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza as their presidential candidate to run in the Concertacion's primary. Meanwhile, PRSD Jose Antonio Gomez met with Insulza and confirmed his intention to also run in the primary. The DC bloc, led by Gutenberg Martinez, will proclaim Eduardo Frei for the primary (El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, circ. 129,000, 12/12). ¶3. The PS is pressing Insulza to announce his candidacy soon, but he has warned that before making that decision the PS and the PPD must strike a deal to present just one candidate (La Tercera, conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 12/12). ¶4. President Bachelet appointed attorney Patricio Rosende as the new Interior Ministry Under Secretary. Rosende was Director of the Political and Institutional Relations Bureau of the Ministry Secretary General to the Presidency. Politicians from both the Concertacion and the opposition underscored Rosende's negotiating skills (El Mercurio, 12/12). ¶5. The PPD was not happy with Rosende's appointment. The reason is that although the new Under Secretary belongs to the party, he does not have strong ties to its leadership. The view is that his appointment is a gesture from Bachelet to punish the party for a series of "disciplinary" issues. For example, the PPD voted in Congress against the Executive's salary adjustment, which forced Bachelet to increase the adjustment to a two-digit figure, and it voted against the Education Law (La Tercera, 12/12). Chile - Other Countries -------------- ¶6. The United Nations appointed Chilean General Ricardo Toro as the Deputy Force Commander of the multilateral organization's stabilization mission in Haiti, where Chile has a contingent of 514 soldiers and police officers. This appointment is in recognition of Chile's role in the process to bring stability to Haiti (La Nacion, government-owned, editorially independent, circ 4,200, 12/12). ¶7. Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley inaugurated the U.N. Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, which supports the peace process in the Middle East: "Chile supports the right of the Israeli and Palestinian people to create their own free and sovereign states, as established in the 1947 General Assembly. But we regret that this resolution has only been partially fulfilled... and that in spite of the time that has elapsed, the creation of an independent Palestinian state is still an unreachable objective. It is also time for the people of Israel to be able to live in peace without the threat of destruction" (La Nacion, 12/12). ¶8. The government is closely observing the latest events in Cuba, because Bachelet will be traveling to Havana in February. Plans for the Chilean President's visit could encounter complications if some type of incident, such as those that took place in December, occurs during her visit. "Informative Bridge," a website directed by a Chilean journalist in the United States, reports that on December 8, Cuban authorities cracked down on human rights activists to prevent the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration (La Segunda, conservative, afternoon, circ. 33,000, 12/11). SIMONS