CHILE MEDIA REPORT -- JUNE 11

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000547 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 11 Leading Stories -------------- ¶1. Chile is on the verge of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup (soccer) with its 4-0 victory over Bolivia in Santiago last night. Dailies also reported Chile has a total of 1,694 cases of AH1N1, and an expert from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) from Atlanta arrived in Santiago to analyze the outbreak in Chile. U.S.-Related News -------------- ¶2. President Bachelet will meet with President Obama in Washington on June 23. The agenda will focus on energy, trade, the new relationship with Latin America, and the FTA (Government-owned, La Nacion, 6/11). ¶3. Invited by the GOC, an expert from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta arrived last night in Santiago. He will meet with Ministry of Health officials and medical experts to analyze the evolution of the disease, particularly in Puerto Montt where the virus has been particularly aggressive. Health Minister Alvaro Erazo said Chile's epidemiological surveillance, good diagnostics, and "real time" testing are the reason for the CDC's visit (all dailies, 6/11). ¶4. Hudson Clean Energy, through its branch office Element Power, will build a wind generation park in the VIII Region. The company will invest US$235 million to build 50 generators in 32 hectares, which will produce 2.5 MW each for the Central Interconnected System (La Tercera, conservative, independent, 6/11). ¶5. State-owned copper mining CODELCO filed a request with the U.S. Department of Commerce to patent a bacteria that assists the bioliviation process, which is the process to extract copper from ore (La Segunda, conservative, afternoon, 6/10). Guantanamo -------------- ¶6. The small archipelago of Palau in the Pacific is willing to accept 17 Chinese prisoners released with no charges from Guantanamo. The United States is prevented by law from returning prisoners to their country of origin if there are grounds to believe that they will be mistreated or tortured. The State Department has not yet accepted Palau's offer (Alvaro Vargas Llosa reported in La Tercera, 6/11). UNASUR Summit Off, Chavez visit Uncertain -------------- ¶7. The next UNASUR meeting was to take place in Santiago on July 6, and President Chavez had scheduled a visit to coincide with the summit. But now Ecuador has proposed hosting the summit on August 10 in Quito, coinciding with Rafael Correa's swearing in ceremony. Reportedly Chile has accepted, but must ask the other members. Both Santiago and Caracas are already discussing whether Chavez will cancel his visit to Chile (La Tercera, 6/11). Prostitution Scandal -------------- ¶8. Seventeen year-old Sabina Bustos was kidnapped and forced into prostitution a year ago. Bustos has to testify, but claims she is being threatened by former clients, who paid for her services while knowing she was underage. Among them are several Valparaiso Investigations Police detectives, attorneys, and even a regional prosecutor. The Supreme Court granted Bustos legal protection. Also among her former clients are U.S. sailors who took part in past UNITAS exercises (La Nacion, 6/11). SIMONS