CHILE MEDIA REPORT - FEBRUARY 24

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000164 SIPDIS STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV ECON PREL SNAR EFIN CI SUBJECT: CHILE MEDIA REPORT - FEBRUARY 24 Leading Stories -------------- ¶1. Dailies highlighted an investigation in Uruguay that revealed an Argentine agent, Ivan Velazquez, had hacked into e-mails of at least eight Chilean government officials in 2007, including that of former Defense Minister Jaime Ravinet. The GOC has asked Uruguay for additional information. Another lead story reported on the collapse of the Chaiten volcano's dome, noting that about 40 inhabitants still refuse to leave the community. U.S.-Related News -------------- ¶2. D and S, the retail company recently bought by Wal-Mart, will launch an offer to sell the 1.7% shares that were not sold in the first offer, when the American retailer acquired the local company (El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, circ. 129,000, 2/24). ¶3. Communist Party President Guillermo Teillier: "What the world expects is for Obama to end the 50-year blockade against Cuba (La Tercera, 2/24). ¶4. Three Americans participating in The Patagonian Expedition Race got lost in the forest after taking a shortcut to the finishing line. They were rescued three days later. (Note: The regional press reports that the landscape blocked satellite communications. The three individuals followed the shoreline and after three days spotted a lighthouse. The thick forest forced them to swim to the lighthouse, from where they were able to send a distress signal. A Carabineros police helicopter rescued them (Las Ultimas Noticias, leading-circulation, popular, circ. 140,000, 2/24). Economy -------------- ¶5. Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs forecast that Chile's asset accumulation will enable it to be among the first economies in the region to begin a reactivation in 2009-2010. Merrill Lynch estimates economic growth of 1.6% this year and 3.6% for 2010 in Chile. Except for Brazil, the report noted, no other country in the region is expected to have similar growth (La Tercera, 2/24). ¶6. Chile's State Oil Company (ENAP) will severely reform its commercial and inventory policies to reverse the US$ 1 billion loss suffered in 2008. The company's board has yet to review all the proposals (El Mercurio, 2/24). Cuba -------------- ¶7. RN presidential candidate Sebastian Pinera has harshly questioned President Bachelet for not meeting with the dissidents during her visit to Cuba a few weeks ago. In this context, the press reports that Pinera traveled to Cuba in 1995. His trip was controversial at the time, because he met with Fidel Castro, but not with the dissidents. The Foreign Ministry clarified that Pinera's visit had been private, but the media at the time reported that he had business interests (La Tercera, 2/24). ¶8. The attempt of right-wing parties to gain politically from Bachelet's decision not to meet with the dissidents in her recent trip to Cuba backfired with an article published yesterday by La Nacion. The article reminded readers that the presidential candidate of the right, RN Sebastian Pinera, had traveled to Cuba in 1995, met with Fidel Castro, but did not meet with the dissidents (La Nacion, government-owned, editorially independent, circ. 4,200, 2/24). Iran -------------- ¶9. Editorial: "Iran: 30 years of Islamic Revolution" "The Iranian regime today... with its insistence on the physical elimination of Israel and a nuclear program that many countries observe with distrust, is still an unpredictable international actor and, therefore, hard to deal with in the diplomatic arena. The new U.S. administration's willingness to dialogue was not matched; Teheran has stated terms and sent signals that it will make this dialogue more difficult. The 1979 Islamic revolution... changed the world's geopolitical map.... Three decades later, the legacy of that process... continues to be a source of international friction and even crisis" (La Tercera, 2/24). SIMONS