MEDIA REACTION - BACHELET VISIT TO CALIFORNIA

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000560 SIPDIS STATE FOR IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA STATE FOR INL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM KPAO PREL KMDR PGOV OVIP CI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - BACHELET VISIT TO CALIFORNIA ¶1. SUMMARY: Most Chilean dailies highlighted the warm personal interaction between the President and Governor Schwarzenneger. El Mercurio and La Tercera featured the Governor's praise, that Bachelet's life reads like a Hollywood movie script: She's a doctor, surgeon, pediatrician, first woman Defense Minister, and the first woman President in Chile. Together they visited the University of California, UC Davis, experimental vineyards and signed the California-Chile Partnership for the 21st Century cooperation agreement. Sidebars described the five signed cooperation agreements, which are intended to develop human capital and improve energy efficiency, agriculture, education and environmental protection. The media also reported on President Bachelet's comments to the California legislature, in which she emphasized that Chile is not looking for aid, but rather to form an alliance for growth and investment. The President invited Schwarzenneger to visit Chile and he agreed. End Summary. ¶2. El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record (circ. 129,000): "Schwarzenneger and Bachelet praise each other in California" ¶3. At the UC Davis campus, Governor Schwarzenneger and Bachelet signed the Chile California plan. The Governor praised Bachelet for speaking five languages, noting with humor that she could correct his English. Bachelet knew how to match the occasion. She concluded her remarks on the cooperation agreement with Terminator's most famous phrase, "Hasta la vista (baby)." ¶4. La Tercera, conservative, independent (circ. 101,000): Governor Schwarzenneger greeted President at California's Congressional building, where Bachelet addressed the plenary session. They both then met privately. In his office, a sword that the former actor used as "Conan" caught Bachelet's attention. He handed it to her and jokingly said, "It's to slice budgets." The Governor labeled Bachelet's life "extraordinary." "It reads like a move script. She is a physician, surgeon, pediatrician, the first woman Defense Minister and the first (woman) president.... She is brilliant," he said. The Governor also accepted Bachelet's invitation to visit Chile with a commercial delegation. "I will do so. It will be a good excuse to travel a little and to go on vacation," said the Governor. ¶5. Diario Financiero, business and financial (circ. 30,000, 6/13): "When you are the head of state, you must learn to live with the resources you have," was Governor Schwarzenneger's message to Bachelet. In her address to Congress, Bachelet emphasized that the goal of her visit was "not to ask for aid. We have come to form an alliance for growth," she said. "Chile has moved forth and our goals are much more ambitious," she underscored. Bachelet also spoke at a California Chamber of Commerce breakfast, where the local entrepreneurs' inquiries focused primarily on Chile's economy and her experience as a woman President. This daily placed the photograph of the Governor greeting Bachelet as "Photo of the week." ¶6. La Nacion, government-owned, editorially independent (circ. 4,200, 6/13) featured a two-page coverage of Bachelet's visit to Canada and California. One photo caption read, "She opposed repression against an old and corrupt regime and has distinguished herself with her accomplishments in the economy, environment, health and issues related to equity," said Schwarzenneger. ¶7. Las Ultimas Noticias, leading-circulation, popular (circ. 140,000 headlined: "Bachelator teases Scharzenneger and invites him to Chile: 'Hasta la vista.' "Schwarzenneger was extremely polite in his greeting of Bachelet and in the private meeting, where both exchanged presents. ¶8. La Cuarta, widely-read popular daily, highlighted the private meeting between Bachelet and Schwarzenneger, focusing on the enormous opportunities that Chile and California have to work together "as brothers." Both exchanged views on fuel efficiency plans, and visited the University of California-Davis campus to sign a cooperation agreement that allow Chileans to study at California universities. ¶9. La Segunda, conservative, afternoon daily (circ. 33,000, 6/12) ran the editorial, "The Opportunities California has to Offer." ¶10. "The California visit has a special meaning, because it will be the opportunity to launch an alliance with a state that by itself is one of the largest economies in the world.... California is truly in the forefront in the world in several areas that are key for Chile, from agronomy to new technologies and the rational use of energy." ¶11. La Segunda also ran an op-ed by Chilean Ambassador to the United States Mariano Fernandez entitled, "Bachelet-Schwarzenneger and the Partnership for the 21st Century" ¶12. "Chile wants to make a qualitative jump in its development so that it can reach the US$20,000 per capita income target ... in the near future. And California is the ideal partner to help accomplish this, because its universities and educational institutions are among the best in the world, its businesses are known for their innovation capability, and its government management has resulted in enormous environmental progress and an impressive reduction in the use of energy, while maintaining a satisfactory rates of social and economic growth rates. Chilean efforts are not a plea for help, but rather at making these ties more dynamic to become an active counterpart in all possible areas." WEITZENKORN