Santiago Nov. 10 Media Report

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001076 SIPDIS STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL SNAR EFIN CI SUBJECT: Santiago Nov. 10 Media Report Lead Story: Presidential Debate ¶1. Television station Channel 13 aired its presidential debate last night. Unlike previous ones, this debate allowed the candidates to challenge each other and to respond. This brought to the forefront the most sensitive issues in this campaign. ¶2. Sebastian Pinera asked Eduardo Frei how was it that during his presidency (1994-2000) he had pardoned the "biggest narcotics ring lord ever arrested in the country." Pinera also questioned Marco Enriquez-Ominami for supporting Hugo Chavez and the Cuban regime. ¶3. Leftist coalition candidate Jorge Arrate made it a point to clearly state his ideological differences with his opponents, and when inquired about foreign policy, defended Fidel Castro and his communist regime. He said he admired Castro for "resisting 51 years of U.S. harassment and blockade." Arrate also criticized Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for allowing the United States to use its military bases. ¶4. Eduardo Frei was also criticized for attempts during his presidency to bring General Pinochet back from his arrest in London and about his relationship with former Presidents Alberto Fujimori (Peru) and Carlos Menem (Argentina). Frei questioned Pinera over the sanction applied by stock market regulatory authorities in Chile for not refraining as a board member from buying commercial airline LanChile shares immediately after the board discussed the company's good financial standing. ¶5. Independent Marco Enriquez-Ominami faced questions about his support for Venezuelan Hugo Chavez and for past remarks with regard to the Chilean nationality and Pope John Paul II. ¶6. Political analysts said that although there is no research to show that presidential debates affect how people vote in Chile, last night's debate could be different because of the expected tight outcome for this election (Conservative, independent La Tercera, 11/9). ¶7. Pointed accusations and aggressiveness marked last night's presidential debate. Pinera brought to the forefront Eduardo Frei's decision to pardon an important narcotics dealer during his presidency and Frei questioned Pinera's participation in politics to profit personally (El Mercurio, 11/10). ¶8. Hugo Chavez and the former president of the Spanish government Jose Maria Aznar were mentioned in last night's debate. Pinera said that the "worst governments in the region were Chavez in Venezuela and Castro in Cuba," adding that Enriquez-Ominami seems to "have a preference for both of them." Ominami responded, "But you have Aznar as an advisor and he is a man who brought the cruelest war to Spain --Iraq--and lied to his people about the (terrorist) attack in Madrid's metro" (El Mercurio, 11/10 ). Local Politics ¶9. The chairman of the Chile's stock regulatory entity SVS, Guillermo Larrain, informed the committee in the Chamber of Deputies investigating the sale of LanChile shares in 2006, that the Banco de Chile's stock office responsible for the sale has a recording of the conversation in which Sebastian Pinera personally gave the instruction to buy shares. The tape would contradict Pinera's argument that an automated computer system made the transactino. The SVS fined Pinera for not abstaining from buying the shares (Government-owned, La Nacion, 11/10). Economy ¶10. According to the Santiago Chamber of Commerce, Chile had a total US$ 2.2 billion direct investment abroad in the third quarter of 2009. This is 320% more compared to the same period in 2008 (La Naci????n, 11/10). SIMONS