CHILE MEDIA REPORT - JUNE 15

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000558

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 15

Leading Stories
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1. Chile has 2,335 confirmed cases of AH1N1, but only two deaths.
The Health Ministry informed that it will stop the daily count of
cases and will now issue reports only on Tuesdays and Fridays.
President Bachelet signed the Health Emergency Decree that empowers
the Ministry of Health special measures to treat the outbreak.

U.S.-Related News
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2. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Senator Chuck
Grassley introduced a bill to eliminate a subsidy paid to cellulose
producers. "Contrary to the intention of the law, cellulose
producers have been adding diesel to black liquor to qualify for
loans given to those who use fuels based on biomass," says the bill.
This backs the position taken by Chile's forestry sector, which has
urged Bachelet to include the topic in her discussion with President
Obama in Washington this month (El Mercurio, conservative,
influential newspaper-of-record (circ. 129,000, 6/15).


3. Minister of the Environment Ana Lya Uriarte received a letter
from Secretary Clinton thanking her for attending the Antarctic
Consulting Meeting and for Uriarte's present when both met in April
(La Segunda, conservative, afternoon, circ. 33,000, 6/12).


4. Photo coverage of the seminar, "Legacy of Family Businesses in
Society," organized by the Santiago Chamber of Commerce, University
Alberto Hurtado, and sponsored by the David Rockefeller Center for
Latin American Studies. Special guest was Harvard University scholar
Charles Collier (El Mercurio, 6/15).


5. At a meeting of Home Depot shareholders in Miami, Gary Hughes, of
the organization "Patagonia without Dams," questioned Home Depot for
its ties with Chile's Matte Group. Matte supplies Home Depot with
retail wood products and is one of the owners of Hydroaysen, which
plans to build several dams in Chile's Patagonia (La Tercera,
conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 6/14).


6. In remarks to the Chilean Council for International Relations,
Foreign Affairs Minister Mariano Fernandez underscored the "level of
trust and mutual respect," between Chile and the United States and
highlighted the Chile-California Partnership (El Mercurio, 6/15)

Bachelet's Trip to the United States
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7. President Bachelet will arrive in Washington, D.C., on June 23,
to meet with President Obama. The next day she will meet with Vice
President Jose Biden, speak at the Brookings Institute, call on OAS
Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, and visit the Panamerican
Health Organization (PAHO) to discuss Chile's efforts in combatting
the expansion of human influenza. During her visit, both countries
will sign a memorandum of Understanding on renewable energy (Diario
Financiero, business and financial, circ. 30,000, 6/15).


8. "The fall of Lehman Brothers marked a point of inflection....
Some foresaw the death of capitalism.... The more serious ones did
not go so far and predicted essential changes while others noted
Anglo-Saxon capitalism had reached its end.... The arrival of Obama
-- young, progressive, Afro-American -- to the White House seemed to
fulfill that prognosis.... But three months into Obama's office,
one simple conclusion can be drawn: the new administration will push
for very important changes, but these will not change the essence of
the U.S. capitalist system" (Economist Sebastian Edwards, La
Tercera, 6/14).

Nuclear Energy-Alternative Energy
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9. Rafael Guilisasti, chairman of the most important business
organization in the country, CPC, said Chile cannot progress without
adding nuclear energy into the energy matrix. He called on the
government to move from research to concrete actions; that all
presidential candidates take a stance on the topic; and Congress
generate a national consensus on the development of nuclear energy.
Guilsasti said that while hydroelectricity meets the energy demands
in the south, the lack of water in the north, where most mining
companies are located, calls for alternative energy sources that
must include nuclear reactors (La Tercera, 6/14).


10. All presidential candidates agree that nuclear energy must be
considered as an alternative energy source. Sebastian Pinera has
been looking primarily into eolic, geothermal, and solar energy. In
January he said that all forms of energy must be considered. Marco
Enriquez-Ominami said that although his priority is to encourage the
development of non-conventional renewable energies, he believes
there must be a national debate on nuclear energy. Eduardo Frei's
position is that nuclear energy has a "strategic element," whereby
Chile must have nuclear reactors if its neighbors do (La Tercera,
6/15).

Chile-Iran
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11. Chile's decision not to open a diplomatic mission in Iran since
1989 is due to U.S. pressure, said diplomatic sources. In 1998,
Chile voted against Iran in the U.N. Human Rights commission at the
request of the U.S. Ambassador in Santiago; Iran closed its Embassy
in Santiago a week later. Chile had rights to explore oil fields in
that country and, therefore, in 1999, tried to organize a commercial
mission to Teheran, but failed. Iran reopened its Embassy in
Santiago in 2006, but to date the GOC has not appointed an
ambassador (La Tercera, 6/14).

Chile-Peru
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12. Chilean and Peruvian army officials will meet in late June.
This will be the first reunion since Peru filed a maritime border
claim in March against Chile with The International Court at The
Hague. Santiago is downplaying the upcoming meeting, but Lima sees
it as a chance to lower tension between the two armies, especially
after Peruvian congressmen criticized Chile's military acquisitions
(La Tercera, 6/13).

Chile-Economy
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13. Wall Street experts believe the time is right for Chile to
issue its first sovereign bond, the first in five years (El
Mercurio, 6/13).

Enriquez-Ominami
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14. Interview on different topics with presidential candidate Marco
Enriquez-Ominami: "I don't believe the Concertacion as it stands
today represent the idea on which it was founded.... It was right
for Chavez to close RCTV, because the station had loaned itself to
unacceptable practices, but I could not disagree more with Chavez'
expulsion of (Human Rights Director) Jose Miguel Vivanco.... Fidel
Castro showed that it's possible to withstand a U.S. embargo, but
today he is a man of the past" (El Mercurio, 6/14).

Digital Television
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15. Staff writer with the acronyms MOJ: "It's an important
technical landmark that the world's first power and most important
economy went from analogous to digital television.... We have yet
to see how the 2.8 million American homes that don't have the
required decoding box will jump on the wagon.... Nevertheless, it's
a historic day.... There will be more television... but will there
be better television? That, my dear reader is an entirely different
matter" (La Tercera, 6/13).


16. "Digital Television and Common Good," by Catholic University
professor Sergio Godoy: "Digital television has been around for
some time. There are the DVDs and the fact that most paid
television (cable and satellite) air on digital transmissions, and
that traditional stations produce all their programs on digital.
Why then don't we have digital TV? All receivers in Chile are
analogous.... Experience in advanced countries such as England or
Japan suggest that the television of the future... must still be for
the common good.... By this I mean... better TV (more interactive,
more stations, better images, more interesting content) with more
local production and better content. Will our congressmen be able
to square that circle?" (La Tercera, 6/15)

SIMONS