CHILE MEDIA REPORT - REACTION TO OAS RESOLUTION ON CUBA --

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000523

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 - REACTION TO OAS RESOLUTION ON CUBA --
JUNE 4

Leading Stories
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1. The OAS resolution on reincorporating Cuba received front-page
coverage. The media also reported on Chile's 369 cases of AH1N1.
Of the seven patients in serious condition, six are from Puerto
Montt, in Chile's far south. The Ministry of Health sent a team of
experts to determine why the virus is acting so aggressively in that
part of the country.

OAS-Cuba
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2. Headline: "Now it is up to Cuba"
La Nacion was the only daily to highlight that the United States
"was among the countries that voted for the resolution and that
warned that Cuba's full accession would depend on whether its regime
agreed to respect democratic principles and human rights" (La
Nacion, state-owned, but independent, 6/4).


3. The resolution was passed in spite of initial U.S. concerns, but
Secretary Clinton explained that the negotiation included adding a
clause that would not make Cuba's reentry automatic. Dan Restrepo,
responsible for Latin American Affairs at the National Security
Council, went further and said that this does not mean that the
White House will now address the embargo (La Nacion, 6/4).


4. Foreign Affairs Minister Mariano Fernandez said, "This is a
historic moment," noting that Chile did not vote in favor of the
1962 sanction. Fernandez praised Insulza's for his "ability to lead
all member nations to a consensus on an issue as complex as Cuba's
situation, especially the United States... and with a resolution
that on the one hand lifts the sanction, but on the other maintains
a strong commitment to OAS principles, especially those derived from
the Democratic Charter signed in 2001 (La Nacion 6/4).


5. Headline: "OAS eliminates resolution that expelled Cuba in 1962
-- Its reincorporation is not automatic."
Subheadline quotes Assistant Secretary Thomas Shannon: "This is not
to mean an automatic return. There is a process that must be
completed" (El Mercurio, conservative, influential
newspaper-of-record, circ. 129,000, 6/4).


6. Cuba applauded the resolution, but said it would not return to
the "sinister" organization. The opposition in Cuba believes the
regime will not ask to be reincorporated, because that would imply
"talking about democracy" (El Mercurio, 6/4).


7. Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Mariano Fernandez: "Today ends
this historic anachronism that stemmed from the Cold War" (El
Mercurio, 6/4).


8. Former Assistant Secretary Roger Noriega: "The OAS declared
(with the resolution) 11 million Cubans second class citizens ...
because their government that doesn't honor its agreement or respect
basic rights. Chileans should take note that Jose Miguel Insulza
made a solemn and public promise that he would make governments
abide by the Democratic Charter. (The resolution) means that a
dictator need not be elected to be in the OAS" (El Mercurio, 6/4).


9. Cuba's allies -- Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua -- were
pleased and said the resolution passed because Obama was in office
(El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, circ.
129,000, 6/4).


10. Headline: "OAS reaches agreement and lifts resolution that
expelled Cuba in 1962. Subheadline: The United States said that
rapprochement efforts with the island by the Obama administration
are "the most significant policy changes in the last 40 years" (La
Tercera, conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 6/4)


11. OAS Secretary General Insulza celebrated the resolution, but
also called to lift the embargo, because it "exacerbates spirits,
divides individuals, and hurts Cubans" (La Tercera, 6/4).


12. The resolution is evidence of a dichotomy in Latin America,
because countries such as Brazil, Uruguay and Chile -- which
represent the democratic left -- are reluctant to allow their policy
with regard to Cuba show their ideological change (La Tercera,
6/4).



13. Article by Alvaro Vargas Llosa: The resolution shows that the
United States was unable to garner enough support to stop the
pro-Cuban wave, Washington chose to avoid its own isolation, and the
non-populist left in the continent is still towed by the
Havana-Caracas axis (La Tercera, 6/4).


14. Human Rights Watch-Americas Director Jose Miguel Vivanco:
"What saves this process is that the resolution explicitly states
that Cuba's eventual reentry depends on whether it resolves to
respect the organization's principles ... which now it does not"
(La Nacion, 6/4).


15. Cuba was indifferent to the resolution. The reason is its
plans are along a different path. In April, Raul Castro said it
clearly, "The OAS must disappear." It's no accident that Cuban
officials are carrying in their briefcases a proposal called
"Organization for Latin American States," to replace the OAS. Its
main characteristic is one: It does not include the United States
(La Nacion, 6/4).
SIMONS