CHILE MEDIA REPORT - APRIL 16

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SUBJECT: CHILE MEDIA REPORT - APRIL 16

Leading Stories
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1. An elder woman died from bacteria a few days after the Health
Ministry warned of an outbreak in Santiago. Dailies also reported
on yet another corruption scandal involving Investigations Police
(PDI); former PDI official denounced the presence of official cars
outside a well-known and expensive cabaret and who used them.

U.S.-Related News
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2. President Obama's op-ed, "Choosing a Better Future for the
Americas" received prominent display. Highlighted quote: "We must
chose the future over the past, because we know that the future
holds enormous opportunities if we work together" (El Mercurio,
member of the "Grupo de Diarios de America," GDA, 4/16).


3. There will be no Obama-Bachelet bilateral at the Summit of the
Americas. However, given the enormous number of requests for such
meetings, the U.S. President has chosen to meet with UNASUR members
as a group on Saturday, chaired by President Bachelet, and then
separately with Central America and Caribbean leaders (El Mercurio,
4/16).


4. President Bachelet said President Obama's upcoming meeting with
UNASUR leaders at the SOA is important "beyond the results," because
it's a unique opportunity to "listen and discuss" and is the first
encounter of the U.S. administration with Latin America. Bachelet
stressed the expectation among all countries about the kind of
relationship that the United States should establish with the
region, especially with regard to decreasing poverty, generation
jobs, and creating more opportunities (La Nacion, government-owned,
editorially independent, circ. 4,200, 4/16).


5. Editorial on the lifting of travel and remittance restrictions
to Havana, entitled, "Obama's Pragmatism Toward Cuba": "In the first
bilingual (press) conference ever in the White House, the National
Security Council's principal advisor for Latin America announced the
lifting of travel and remittance restrictions to Cuba.... The
announcement is yet more proof of the style that President Obama has
introduced to U.S. foreign policy.... But most importantly, it
shows a revision in strategy to condition the relationship of the
United States with the Castro regime, which until now has depended
on showing progress in democratization and human rights. The
announcement... does not foreshadow the end of the economic
embargo... but there is no doubt that President Obama is acting with
pragmatism and realism, two elements that were missing in the
administration of his predecessor and are necessary to launch a new
phase in Inter-American relations."


6. ARCIS University professor Rafael Berastegui argues that despite
President Obama's good will, there won't be major changes in the
relationship between the United States and Latin America, primarily
because of the enormous challenges that the U.S. president faces in
Iran, Afghanistan-Pakistan and the global crisis. "Obama will
express his hope to generate closer ties with Latin America, but
that's as far as he will go. These promising gestures and the
goodwill can only turn into concrete deeds if the United States
resolves its priority problems, and Latin America is not one of
them," said the professor. (La Nacion, 4/16).


7. President Obama has developed a policy of symbols and gestures
toward the Hispanic world and is now acting with concrete actions by
arriving at the SOA with the President of Mexico, coordinating a
meeting with President Bachelet in the White House, and lifting
restrictions against Cuba. Latin America is watching how the United
States will relate to the region, but it also wants to see specific
proposals to help the region face the economic crisis and global
warming (La Nacion, 4/16).

Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Meeting
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8. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Affairs Minister
Mariano Fernandez met yesterday in Washington. Both officials
talked about the California-Chile program, a possible alternative
energy agreement and the visit of a large U.S. delegation to the
Americas Competitiveness Forum in Santiago in September. The
discussion, however, focused primarily on Cuba. Fernandez told the
Secretary that Chile viewed the decision to lift travel and
remittance restrictions to Havana as "a positive development." He
also reiterated that Chile "has always" objected to the embargo.
Fernandez said that no date had been set for an Obama-Bachelet
bilateral, noting that his information request was "in response to
the invitation personally made" by President Obama (El Mercurio,
4/16).


9. Foreign Minister Fernandez and Secretary Clinton discussed the
Summit of the Americas (SOA) agenda, which will be marked by the
financial crisis and Cuba's reentry to the OAS. Both also talked
about President Obama's meeting next Saturday with UNASUR leaders.
Fernandez said that a Bachelet-Obama bilateral meeting would take
place "as soon as we can coordinate the agendas of the two
presidents" (La Tercera, conservative, independent, circ. 101,000,
4/16).


10. Chile welcomes the shift in U.S. policy toward Latin America
since Obama took office, said Foreign Minister Fernandez yesterday
after meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Fernandez
said the meeting helped explain "the direction" of those changes.
Secretary Clinton said, "We have plans to further and strengthen
(bilateral) relations in the years to come" (Diario Financiero,
business and financial, circ. 30,000, 4/16).

OECD Accession
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11. Interview with Nicola Bonucci of the Organization for Economic
Development and Cooperation's (OECD) legislative office. Asked
about Chile's joining the organization, Bonucci noted, "Chile has
done its homework." However, he admitted that the organization
believes that Chile "will need more time" to work on environmental
issues and other measures. He noted he had seen the draft
legislation addressing bank secrecy, which he commended (Mercurio,
4/16).
SIMONS