CHILE MEDIA REPORT - JUNE 1

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000514 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 - JUNE 1 Leading Stories -------------- ¶1. Chilean health authorities have confirmed 276 cases of AH1N1. Given the spread of the disease, the authorities are no longer screening at the airport and have instructed that now all cases of influenza as should be treated as if it were AH1N1. U.S.-Related News -------------- ¶2. Chilean Army Commander-in-Chief Oscar Izurieta attended the VIII Asia Pacific Security Summit in Singapore, where he and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates discussed security policy development (La Tercera, conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 5/31). ¶3. Former Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Castaneda said the solution to decreasing narcotics trafficking lies in lowering the collateral damage associated to this activity and attacking drug use as a health problem, not a crime. Castaneda recalled that the United States has been saying it will lower its domestic demand for drugs for at least 40 years, but has been unable to do so. "And will never do so," he adds. Castaneda rebutted reports that 90 percent of weapons that enter Mexico come from the United States. He explained that 90 percent of "traceable weapons" come from the U.S., and that only 18% of the total amount of weapons found in Mexico arrived from the United States (La Tercera, conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 5/30). ¶3. OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza wants the organization to revoke Cuba's suspension. To his end he is trying to merge the proposals submitted by the United States, Nicaragua, and Honduras, and wants further negotiations with the United States; He met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week(La Tercera, 5/31). ¶4. U.S. company, Geoglobal Energy (GGE),has requested private concessions to explore geothermal energy in Chile. Its goal is to invest USD 1.5 billion to develop 500MW (Diario Financiero, business and financial, circ. 30,000, 6/1). IPR --- ¶5. The Patent Cooperation Treaty will come into effect tomorrow, which means Chile has finally complied with Chile-U.S. Free Trade Agreement provisions on this matter (Diario Financiero, 6/1). Bachelet's Tour of France and El Salvador -------------- ¶6. Presidents Bachelet and Nicolas Sarkozy met in Paris. Among the issues discussed was the need to increase cooperation in countries such as El Salvador, Paraguay, and Haiti. Sarkozy also expressed his desire to visit Chile before the end of his term (El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, circ. 129,000, 5/30). ¶7. In 2008, Bachelet received Mauricio Funes in La Moneda. Funes was then the presidential candidate of El Salvador's FMLN and today will be sworn-in as President. Funes has not forgotten Bachelet's gesture and scheduled a meeting with the Chilean president for this evening. Both countries have a commercial agreement since 2002 and share a strong commitment to social cohesion, respect for human rights, and regional integration (La Nacion, government-owned, editorially independent, circ. 4,200, June 1). Chile-North Korea -------------- ¶8. The Chilean embassy in Seoul issued a statement whereby President Bachelet rejects North Korea's nuclear test. "Chile reiterates its hope for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and for progress in the Six Party talks, which have stalled, because North Korea refuses to rejoin them," says the statement (La Segunda, 5/29): Chile and Military Acquisitions -------------- ¶9. In her visit to the EADS facilities in Toulouse, Bachelet was unpleasantly surprised. As an example of good business relations, EADS CEO Francois Auque commented on the on-going process for the purchase of military aircraft and helicopters, the latter armed with Exocet missiles. In the afternoon, and after consulting with the respective defense branches in Chile, Defense Minister Francisco Vidal confirmed both operations, but denied the intent to buy Exocet missiles now or in the future (La Tercera, 5/30-5/31). The FARC and Mapuche Organizations -------------- ¶10. Chile's Public Ministry has found evidence of ties between the FARC and Mapuche organizations. In an e-mail dated 2006, former FARC leader Raul Reyes approved military training for a group of Mapuche leaders. The e-mail is one of many documents sent by Colombia to assist the Chilean Public Ministry's investigation (La Tercera, 5/31). Venezuela -------------- ¶11. Weekly round-up column on Venezuela: "The international community has chosen . . . to act with indifference with regard to Venezuela's political events . . . The arguments are that doing the opposite only favors Chavez... and that isolation can only make his government increasingly radical, but everything indicates that this international strategy has failed" (Mercurio, 6/1). SIMONS