CHILE MEDIA REPORT - JUNE 17

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000564 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 17 Leading Stories -------------- ¶1. Front-page headlines: The Central Bank lowered the benchmark interest rate to 0.75 percent; sources in the salmon industry estimate the Chilean salmon industry's bulky debt to be USD 4 billion dollars, which could open a new flank in the financial crisis. U.S.-Related News -------------- ¶2. The Government of Chile voiced its rejection to the State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism 2009, in which it stated that the Coordinadora Arauco Malleco (CAM),a radicalized indigenous group, has shown increased planning and a more professional use of weapons and tactics. Under Secretary of the Interior Patricio Rosende commented that "we have a somewhat different opinion on the report. (These) are reports that we receive regularly but they (consist of) a political analysis." Under Secretary Rosende said, "We do not share the opinion that the CAM is in the process of rearticulating . . . We do not see them rearticulating, reorganizing, or anything like that," he underscored. (La Tercera, conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 6/17) SIMONS