Media Report December 31 December

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001268 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: Media Report December 31 December Lead Story ¶1. The presidents of political parties PPD (Parties for Democracy) and PRSD (Radical Social Democratic Party) -both prominent members in the Concertacion government coalition-resigned their posts, triggering a controversy and division within the coalition. U.S.-Terrorist Threat ¶2. Editorial: "Obama and the Security Problem" "The failed terrorist attempt by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has cast doubt on the security mechanisms in the United States... Beyond showing the breadth and diversity of the risks derived from Islamic fundamentalism, and the long and difficult road to overcome this -in addition to the cultural change and the new political and social conditions that this would entail-the episode poses difficulties on President Obama's security policy, specifically, regarding air travel, the closing of Guantanamo, and processing those accused of terrorism. And it casts new doubts on the extensiveness of this phenomenon over other territories." (Conservative, afternoon daily La Segunda 12/30) Former President Frei's Death ¶3. After reviewing 28 volumes and 9 hours of deliberations, the Supreme Court's second Room voted against the appeals filed by four of the six individuals charged in the homicide of former President Eduardo Frei Montalva. The Court noted that the procedures underway comply with the Penal Code Procedures' requirements, therefore, the existence of a probe is justified and there valid presumptions the defendants may have been involved as author, accomplice, or concealing party. The Court assessed that the order of arrest "is not arbitrary or illegal as noted by the habeas corpus appeals." (Conservative, newspaper-of-record El Mercurio, 12/31) ¶4. In spite of the comprehensive analysis by the Supreme Court judges in yesterday's resolutions they, again, did not answer several questions still pending in Judge Alejandro Madrid's verdict: who was the material author; the specific roles of the individuals who have been charged; and whether this could not have been a homicide. (Conservative, independent, La Tercera 12/31) SIMONS