CHILE MEDIA REPORT - NOVEMBER 12

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000999 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 12 Front Page News -------------- ¶1. Front page headlines focused on pension system loses (more than $25 billion) because of the international financial crisis; the strike of public employees who are demanding higher wages; and the ongoing scandal about individuals that tested positive for HIV but who had not been notified by the respective public hospitals. U.S.-Related News -------------- ¶2. Interview with Congressman Dan Burton entitled, "Barack Obama will make changes in the policy on Cuba": "Dan Burton has been one of the most influential and strongest anti-Castro members of the U.S. Congress. He and Senator Jesse Helms sponsored the famous Helms-Burton Law that tightened the embargo on Cuba. Burton was in Santiago this week with a congressional delegation and in this interview admits that it is possible that the Obama administration will end up lifting economic sanctions on Cuba (La Tercera, conservative, independent (circ. 101,000). ¶3. Minnesota FED Director Arthur Rolnick is calm with how markets are behaving and confident that the Obama administration has capable economic advisors to deal with the crisis (El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record (circ. 129,000). ¶4. Pedro Roffe, International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development principal IPR advisor, said that Chile has made significant progress on its IPR laws compared to other countries with similar levels of development. Chile "has modernized its framework and the latest legislative reforms are a reflection of this," he said. In this context, he said it is "unfair" for the United States to maintain Chile on its Priority Watch List. Roffe said that one element that concerns the United States and European countries alike, and which in his view is the most serious one, is the problem of how to protect data in clinical tests. He also believes the government should do more to balance the rights of the pharmaceutical laboratories that have patents (innovators) and producers of generic products (Diario Financiero, business and financial (circ. 30,000). Editorials: Barrack Obama -------------- ¶5. Eugenio Tironi column entitled, "America is Back": "Obama represents a deep change in the correlation of forces in U.S. society. Simply put, his victory marks the end of the 30-year 'Reagan era'.... Obama has proposed that common good is above individual interest and that this good cannot be achieved through selfishness and greed, but through compassion and solidarity.... He has said that the 'true root of the United States' lies in its ability and will to change. There is no doubt that with Obama the United is shinning again" (El Mercurio). ¶6. Attorney Alberto Etchegaray wrote: "My grandmother, French descendent...was not too happy with my decision to attend a U.S. university.... But I'm sure that with this new United States under Obama's leadership she would have forgiven me for not studying in Europe" (Diario Financiero). ¶7. Column by Cristina Bitar: "That someone whose roots are completely different from those of influencial groups can become the President of the most powerful country in the world makes me feel that society and the world is fair and just.... I don't know if Obama will be a better or worse president... but I do know that he is among those who can best represent the American Dream that I have always admired. On Tuesday night...I was happy and full of hope. I even cried from excitement, because I feel that I am living in a better world, one in which politics can become a service for others" (La Segunda, 11/10, conservative, afternoon daily, circ. 33,000). Environment -------------- ¶8. A study conducted by a group of international scientists confirms that pollution from Santiago and other large cities in Chile's central valley is transported to the Southeast Pacific, where the atmosphere is already showing high concentration of gases and chemicals (El Mercurio). Narcotics -------------- ¶9. The Carabineros police OS-9 dismantled a criminal organization that used legal shooting range facilities to sell weapons to narcotics trafficking organizations. The organization hired individuals with no criminal record who would declare to the police that their weapons had been stolen. The serial numbers were then erased and the weapons entered the black market (All dailies). SIMONS