CHILE MEDIA REPORT - MAY 11

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000452

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 - MAY 11

Leading Stories
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1. The National Scholastic Test (SIMCE) shows a significant gap
between private and public school students, which increases largely
during the sophomore year. Dailies also report that pharmacy chains
will have to stock 255 generic products, making them available to
the public at all times.

U.S.-Related News
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2. U.S. Ambassador Paul Simons said that the diplomacy Obama
administration diplomacy toward Latin America shows the willingness
of the United States to establish relationships "based on mutual
respect." Simons strongly rebuts the view that the region is not
one of Washington's priorities, stating that Vice President Joe
Biden's recent visit to Chile, President Obama's participation in
the Summit of the Americas and Obama's bilateral meetings with his
Brazilian, Mexican and Canadian counterparts, plus Secretary
Clinton's visit to Mexico, demonstrate otherwise. 3. "You cannot
measure the interest of the United States in the region based on the
number of front page articles in newspapers," said Simons. To make
his point, the Ambassador highlighted that in his first 100 days,
President Obama "has met with 44 foreign leaders, phoned 56, visited
eight countries, and participated in four international summits,
while Secretary Clinton has had 150 meetings with foreign leaders
and visited 18 countries." The Ambassador said this "intense agenda
shows the United States is willing to listen and to exert
leadership, but in consultation with all its associates."


4. Simons also talked about his recent trip to California with
Chilean Energy Minister Marcelo Tokman, noting the United States is
focusing on renewable energy, and to Texas, for the signature of an
agreement between the Texas National Guard and the Chilean Army for
natural disaster operations (Interview with El Mercurio,
conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, circ. 129,000,
5/11).


5. It is well known that Chilean Arturo Valenzuela is a strong
candidate for the office of Secretary for Hemispheric Affairs. But
former Assistant Secretary Otto Reich says Valenzuela has a strong
contender: Former U.S. Ambassador to Chile Craig Kelly (El
Mercurio, 5/10).


6. Chilean Army Commander-in-Chief Oscar Izurieta was in Texas for
the signature of a cooperation agreement between the Chilean Army
and the Texas National Guard in security and defense capabilities,
institutional social responsibility, and disaster response (La
Segunda, conservative, afternoon, circ. 33,000, 5/8).

Regional Affairs
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7. Foreign Affairs Minister Mariano Fernandez recently traveled to
Argentina and Brazil and met with his Cuban and Venezuelan
counterparts in Havana. Next week he will travel to Colombia
Fernandez said the objective is to show that Chile's foreign policy
priority is Latin America and regional integration (El Mercurio,
5/11).


8. The CEO of Chile's National Oil Company ENAP, Rodrigo Azocar,
said the company will focus on investing in Egypt and Ecuador, and
dismissed altogether investing in Venezuela (La Tercera,
conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 5/9).


9. Three Chilean architects have an original idea to resolve Peru's
border claim and Bolivia's maritime claims. They are proposing
building a tunnel along the Chile-Peru border. The tunnel would
begin in Bolivia and emerge past the Chilean coast on an artificial
island build with the dirt removed to build the tunnel. Bolivia
would have the control over the island, but the sea area to the
continent would be administered by the three countries (La Tercera,
5/9).

Cuba
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10. OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said his goal is for
Cuba to return to the Inter-American community. He said the United
States should lift the embargo immediately with no conditions, in
the belief that this action would help create democracy on the
island (El Mostrador, on line news agency, 5/11).

ICC
---

11. The Senate will discuss "with extreme urgency" the
Constitutional reform that would enable Chile to adhere to the
International Criminal Court (ICC) statutes (La Tercera, 5/11).

Human Trafficking
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12. Eight women from Paraguay were recruited via Internet by a
Chilean to work as prostitutes. He paid for their tickets and they
entered the country on a tourist visa. In their statements to the
police they said they were fully aware of the job they would be
performing (Las Ultimas Noticias, leading-circulation, popular,
circ., 140,000, 5/11).


13. Minister Jose Antonio Viera-Gallo presented a summary of
Chile's progress to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Some
council members criticized the excessive police force in some cases,
called for equal treatment of indigenous peoples and the need to
give women reproductive rights, among other topics (La Tercera,
5/9).

Local Politics
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14. Fundacion Paz Ciudadana is organizing the first presidential
debate on July 1, that will convoke Sebastian Pinera, Eduardo Frei,
Marco Enriquez-Ominami, Alejandro Navarro, Jorge Arrate, and Adolfo
Zalidvar (El Mercurio, 5/10).

Natural Disasters
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15. The Llaima and Chaiten volcanoes in southern Chile are on
yellow and red alert, respectively. The Llaima has continuous
seismic activity, showing changes in its crater, and the Chaiten's
dome continues to expand in width and height with a permanent column
of ashes (La Tercera, 5/9).

Human Influenza
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16. The AH1N1 flu is slowly appearing in all countries, and it is
just a matter of time before the first case appears in Chile, said
expert epidemiologist Fernando Oteiza (La Tercera, 5/9).
SIMONS