Santiago Dec. 22 Media Report

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001246 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 Dec. 22 Media Report Lead Story ¶1. The results o the National College Admissions Tests confirm once again the gap that exists between private and public schools (Conservative, afternoon La Tercera, 12/22). U.S.-Related News ¶2. Forensic expert Laura Borgel, owner of the Servitox laboratory, explained how it was that the US Army pathology laboratory assisted in the investigation of the death of former president Frei. Borgel says that in May 2007, US Army scientist Jose Centeno attended a conference on toxicology and chemical safety in Chile. In the context of that conference, Centeno met with Justice Alejandro Madrid and Borgel. Borgel says that Centeno concurred with her that it was "necessary to study heavy metals" and offered to cooperate, but with Borgel's direct participation. The test to detect heavy metals was done in July 2007, in addition to a DNA test, said Borgel (Conservative, influential El Mercurio, 12/22). ¶3. In January 2005, Justice Madrid asked Borgel to look for Sarin gas in the Frei case. But Borgel said that Frei's clinical record did not reflect the use of this gas and that she then began looking for mustard gas and thallium. She concluded that the samples contained traces of both. She handed her report to Justice Madrid in December 2008 (El Mercurio, 12/22). ¶4. Borgel explains that she decided to conduct additional tests on her own. She personally took samples to the US Army pathology and toxicology laboratory for tests. She did the same with Canada's Public Health Laboratory and two others in Europe. She claims that they all confirmed her results that the samples contained thallium and upholds her theory that Frei was injected thallium. A laboratory in Sweden, however, did not reach the same conclusion. (El Mercurio, 12/22). ¶5. Asked if the US Army laboratory would confirm her results, Borgel said it would not because it had worked with samples she had submitted. Borgel insists that although she had "overseen" the lab's work, the tests constitute an "independent" study. She said the lab "did not draw conclusions because they are chemists and not toxicologists." In 2005, however, the US laboratory conducted an independent investigation of Frei's body tissues and concluded that "there were no traces of biological agents or toxic chemicals" in the former president's body (El Mercurio, 12/22). Chile - Regional Affairs ¶6. In his annual revision of Chile's foreign policy, Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez labeled relations with Peru "normal." He admitted, however, that Chile "cannot be very creative" in its approach to Peru, because of the suit Lima has filed with The Hague. Fernandez also talked about Honduras and said the election in that country "is not enough to say that democracy has been consolidated or restored." He also highlighted the progress in relations with Argentina and the state of relation with Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, and Paraguay. He especially underscored ties with Bolivia. "We are fully satisfied with the work we are doing," said Fernandez (Government-owned La Nacion, 12/22). OAS ¶7. Foreign Minister Fernandez said that the change of government in Chile should not hurt OAS Jose Miguel Insulza's chances for reelection as secretary general of the organization. The OAS has not yet established a date for the election, but Chile is hoping that it will take place before the new government of Chile takes office. The United States and Venezuela are among the countries that would prefer to postpone the election until other candidates emerge, if they do. Insulza has now 12 of the 17 votes needed to be elected (La Tercera, 12/22). IPR ¶8. The Chamber of Deputies approved a provision that sets a system to judicially denounce IPR violations on the Internet. The chamber, excluded, did not pass the provisions that set a system that would grant a court authority to remove content that violates IPR from the Internet. Attorney Rodrigo Velasco says this puts Chile in a situation of non-compliance with regard to the Chile-U.S. FTA (Diario Financiero , 12/22). SIMONS