Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SANTIAGO313
2009-04-02 20:08:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Santiago
Cable title:
CHILE MEDIA REPORT - APRIL 2
how-toVZCZCXYZ0001 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHSG #0313/01 0922008 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 022008Z APR 09 FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4737 INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3899 RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 2351 RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 1398 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0809 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 2009 RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 6102 RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 4331 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 2278 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000313
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 - APRIL 2
Leading Stories
---------------
UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000313
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 - APRIL 2
Leading Stories
--------------
1. Chile tied 0-0 with Uruguay yesterday in a qualifying match for
the 2010 World Soccer Cup. Dailies continue to report extensively
on the status of the collusion investigation of pharmacy chains that
allegedly hiked prices beginning in 2005.
U.S.-Related News
--------------
2. Editorial: "The G-20 countries will have to shatter the low
expectations there are regarding the conference and take serious
steps to start coming out of the crisis" (Diario Financiero,
business and financial, circ. 30,000, 4/2).
3. Editorial: "Both Europe and Americans... have been working over
the past days to polish their differences and find a common
ground.... But in this search for consensus, it's possible that the
decisions made in London will not be as solid as the world expects
and that the meeting will not be very effective in the end" (La
Tercera, conservative, independent (circ. 101,000, 4/2).
4. In a conference on IPR and law enforcement in Iquique, Customs
Deputy Director for Supervision, Mario Arrue, said that of the
US$371 million pirated products confiscated, 24% are from Iquique,
which is a duty-free zone and a center for exports to several points
of Latin America. The Deputy Director of the National Prosecutor's
Office's Crime Bureau, Catalina Navarro, underscored the judicial
process to prosecute piracy is too long and complicated and
sentences are very low (La Estrella de Iquique, 4/1).
Narcotics Trafficking
--------------
5. At a regional INTERPOL conference in Vina del Mar, the entity's
Secretary General Ronald Noble said Chile is not a passage for
narcotics. Noble's remarks contradict the information revealed last
year by the head of the DEA (in Chile) David Horan, who said that
drug mafias have increased the use of Chilean ports to smuggle
narcotics to North America and Europe. UDI Senator Jaime Orpis, who
works on the narcotics issue, also rejected Nobles words. "The
judicial investigations and the (recent) seizure of a ton of
ephedrine prove Chile is a (narcotics) passage point," he said.
6. INTERPOL Secretary General Noble acknowledged the threat that
new narcotics organizations might establish ties with terrorist
organizations, especially Al Qaeda, and urged nations to increase
their sharing of information. He said that 150 million people move
through the region every year, but that only 50 million passports
are checked. In addition, the U.N. International Oversight
Council's 2008 report said that 60% of all cocaine smuggled out of
Peru had gone through the borders of Ecuador, Chile, and Brazil. A
recent operation shows that 787 kilos of pure cocaine smuggled into
Mexico had left a Chilean port; in February, six individuals were
arrested in connection to a cocaine smuggling operation, presumably
testing a new route. (El Mercurio, 4/2).
7. The symbols found on the bricks of drugs confiscated over the
past years show that at least eight different Colombian
organizations are using Chile to smuggle narcotics (El Mercurio,
4/2).
Bachelet in Russia
--------------
8. President Bachelet arrived in Russia to meet with President
Mdvedev and Prime Minister Putin. Her trip is an effort to set
Chile as a bridge between Russia and Latin America, as Moscow is
strengthening its ties to the region. Bachelet will focus on
furthering commercial and political areas, and downplay any
ideological component (La Nacion, government-owned, editorially
independent, circ. 4,200, 4/2).
Bachelet's Popularity Still Rising
--------------
9. La Tercera poll shows a 12-point increase in the approval rating
of President Bachelet, rising to 61%. Support for the government
also increased and is now at 53%. The poll was conducted after the
government handed out a 40,000-peso bonus to low-income families to
help them face the economic crisis (La Tercera, conservative,
independent, circ. 101,000, 4/2).
SIMONS
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 - APRIL 2
Leading Stories
--------------
1. Chile tied 0-0 with Uruguay yesterday in a qualifying match for
the 2010 World Soccer Cup. Dailies continue to report extensively
on the status of the collusion investigation of pharmacy chains that
allegedly hiked prices beginning in 2005.
U.S.-Related News
--------------
2. Editorial: "The G-20 countries will have to shatter the low
expectations there are regarding the conference and take serious
steps to start coming out of the crisis" (Diario Financiero,
business and financial, circ. 30,000, 4/2).
3. Editorial: "Both Europe and Americans... have been working over
the past days to polish their differences and find a common
ground.... But in this search for consensus, it's possible that the
decisions made in London will not be as solid as the world expects
and that the meeting will not be very effective in the end" (La
Tercera, conservative, independent (circ. 101,000, 4/2).
4. In a conference on IPR and law enforcement in Iquique, Customs
Deputy Director for Supervision, Mario Arrue, said that of the
US$371 million pirated products confiscated, 24% are from Iquique,
which is a duty-free zone and a center for exports to several points
of Latin America. The Deputy Director of the National Prosecutor's
Office's Crime Bureau, Catalina Navarro, underscored the judicial
process to prosecute piracy is too long and complicated and
sentences are very low (La Estrella de Iquique, 4/1).
Narcotics Trafficking
--------------
5. At a regional INTERPOL conference in Vina del Mar, the entity's
Secretary General Ronald Noble said Chile is not a passage for
narcotics. Noble's remarks contradict the information revealed last
year by the head of the DEA (in Chile) David Horan, who said that
drug mafias have increased the use of Chilean ports to smuggle
narcotics to North America and Europe. UDI Senator Jaime Orpis, who
works on the narcotics issue, also rejected Nobles words. "The
judicial investigations and the (recent) seizure of a ton of
ephedrine prove Chile is a (narcotics) passage point," he said.
6. INTERPOL Secretary General Noble acknowledged the threat that
new narcotics organizations might establish ties with terrorist
organizations, especially Al Qaeda, and urged nations to increase
their sharing of information. He said that 150 million people move
through the region every year, but that only 50 million passports
are checked. In addition, the U.N. International Oversight
Council's 2008 report said that 60% of all cocaine smuggled out of
Peru had gone through the borders of Ecuador, Chile, and Brazil. A
recent operation shows that 787 kilos of pure cocaine smuggled into
Mexico had left a Chilean port; in February, six individuals were
arrested in connection to a cocaine smuggling operation, presumably
testing a new route. (El Mercurio, 4/2).
7. The symbols found on the bricks of drugs confiscated over the
past years show that at least eight different Colombian
organizations are using Chile to smuggle narcotics (El Mercurio,
4/2).
Bachelet in Russia
--------------
8. President Bachelet arrived in Russia to meet with President
Mdvedev and Prime Minister Putin. Her trip is an effort to set
Chile as a bridge between Russia and Latin America, as Moscow is
strengthening its ties to the region. Bachelet will focus on
furthering commercial and political areas, and downplay any
ideological component (La Nacion, government-owned, editorially
independent, circ. 4,200, 4/2).
Bachelet's Popularity Still Rising
--------------
9. La Tercera poll shows a 12-point increase in the approval rating
of President Bachelet, rising to 61%. Support for the government
also increased and is now at 53%. The poll was conducted after the
government handed out a 40,000-peso bonus to low-income families to
help them face the economic crisis (La Tercera, conservative,
independent, circ. 101,000, 4/2).
SIMONS