CHILE MEDIA REPORT - JANUARY 15

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000056 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 - JANUARY 15 Leading Stories -------------- ¶1. Chilean dailies highlighted an audit on Chile's National Registry Service that revealed repeated mismanagement and embezzlement during former Director Guillermo Arenas' administration; Chile's Central Bank's predictions of a 2% to 3% economic growth in 2009; and the latest developments in the conflict in Gaza. U.S.-Related News -------------- ¶2. Interview with Chile's Ambassador to the U.S. Mariano Fernandez on the atmosphere in Washington for the upcoming Presidential Inauguration and his expectations about bilateral relations with the Obama Administration. "Our greatest challenge is to continue deepening and diversifying the current very good bilateral relations with the United States. Our challenge is to be creative in order to avoid making our relations bureaucratic and dull. Besides a host of initiatives that we will continue to pursue and broaden, the Free Trade Agreement and the Chile-California Plan are the framework of our relations. It is important to point out that the State Department's 2008 document on (U.S.) relations with Latin America mentions the Chile-California Plan and the Economic Dialogue with Brazil as the only bilateral (issues)" (Diario Financiero, business and financial, circ. 30,000, 1/15). ¶3. Chilean exports to the United States dropped by 11.5% during November 2008, revealed a report released by business and industry association SOFOFA (La Segunda, conservative, afternoon daily, circ. 33,000, 1/15). Local -------------- ¶4. The Central Bank's Monetary Policy Report projected a 2% to 3% growth in Chile's economy in 2009, and reduced from 4% to 3.1% its inflation rate prediction for December 2008 (El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, circ. 129,000, 1/15). ¶5. Long timer Socialist Party member Jorge Arrate resigned his membership of 46 years and announced he will run for the presidency of Chile. Mr. Arrate, a close friend's of President Salvador Allende and other renowned Chilean Socialists, served in the cabinets of former Presidents Patricio Aylwin and Eduardo Frei. Jorge Arrate criticizes the current party leadership headed by Camilo Escalona (All dailies, 1/15). ¶6. Members of the Chamber of Deputies' Human Rights Commission voted to remove Deputy Karla Rubilar as President of the Commission for erroneously charging several families of detained and disappeared as "false" victims (La Tercera, conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 1/15). Chile-Cuba -------------- ¶7. Government coalition Senators Nelson Avila from the Radical Democratic Socialist Party (PRSD) and Jaime Gazmuri from the Socialist Party (PS) argued in favor of President Michelle Bachelet's agenda during her upcoming official visit to Cuba. Both Senators characterized the tour as "natural and positive in the process of diversifying relations with countries and governments in Latin America." Senator Gazmuri criticized the right and the Christian Democratic Party for having a "double standard" in their requirement that Bachelet meet with the dissidents. "We have never seen those sectors setting conditions on trips to countries... such as China" (La Nacion, government-owned, editorially independent, circ. 4,200, 1/15). Editorials -------------- ¶8. "Obama's Initial Signals Towards the Region" "In her confirmation hearing at the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday, future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's guaranteed that the Obama Administration aspires to have 'a vigorous association' with Latin America... (and that) her country's international policy should be based on a combination of 'principles and pragmatism' and not affix itself on a 'rigid ideology.' If these lines are interpreted as key to Obama... one could expect from Washington a more flexible and understanding perspective towards the new political realities that have appeared on the subcontinent. The guarantee offered by the next Secretary of State regarding her will to rebuild a common space in Latin America is good indication of a collaborative period...." (La Nacion, 1/15). ¶7. "Israeli Military Operation in Gaza" "Israel notes that it is acting on legitimate defense. However, it seems evident that there is no proportion between the violence deployed in its offensive and the threat represented by Hamas' missiles on the south of Israel.... Hopefully, the talks carried out by Egypt and France will bear fruit and Palestinians and Israelis understand that they live in a territory where they need to learn to share, by respecting the integrity of their borders and mutual deference" (La Tercera, 1/15). SIMONS