CHILE MEDIA REPORT - JULY 15

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000664

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 - JULY 15

Leading Stories
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1. The government and the opposition reached an agreement to provide
US$3.4 billion to finance the public transportation system
(Transantiago) in the capital city until 2014.

Insulza and the OAS
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2. Conservative sectors in the region are lobbying to discredit OAS
Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza. These sectors disagree with
Insulza's role in lifting the ban on Cuba and/or with his defense of
Honduras President Manuel Zelaya. Democrats led by Congressman
Robert Menendez are lobbying the Department of State, Congress and
the media questioning Insulza's performance. The Democratic Party
was the origin of "El Mercurio's" report that Secretary Clinton had
informed Bachelet that the United States would not vote for
Insulza's reelection. Although Bachelet herself denied having spoken
about this with Clinton, an array of dailies published the story
anyway, as well as the opinions of well-known columnists who also
question Insulza Government-owned, editorially independent La
Nacion, 7/15).


3. At a dinner with Socialist Party senators and Secretary General
Insulza, the topic of discussion was "the rumor of an eventual U.S.
veto of the Secretary's reelection and the campaign to discredit him
led by conservative sectors in the United States and Latin America"
(La Tercera, conservative, independent, 7/15).

U.S.-Related News
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4. Column on President Obama's speech in Accra: "The speech in
Ghana is important because it successfully promotes the view that
Africa can play a transcendental role in a new system of nations....
It didn't have the usual demagogy, mixed with colonialism and
assistance... and instead urged Africa to form part of a global
alliance to rebuild the foundation of prosperity; there are no
records of this kind of speech with regard to Africa. The four
pillars of the speech hold true for any developing country and seem
obvious; Governance, opportunity, public health, and the peaceful
resolution of conflict ... but are goals that the international
community has been unable to fulfill.... More than acting as the
administrator of a country seeking supremacy, the U.S. President is
articulating a message that we would expect to hear from a United
Nations Secretary General, but never have" (El Mostrador, by Juan
Francisco Coloane on-line independent news agency, 7/15).

Chile other countries
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5. President Bachelet and Turkish Foreign Trade minister Zafer
Caglayan signed an FTA that will allow the entry of products to both
countries 98% tariff free. (Diario Financiero, business, daily,
7/15).

U.S-Cuba
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6. At U.N. headquarters in New York, former U.S. Ambassador to
Chile Craig Kelly - today Secretary Clinton's advisor for Latin
America and the Caribbean -- led a dialogue with Cuba on
immigration. This is the first dialogue on this topic between the
two countries in six years (La Tercera, 7/15).

Survey
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7. In an eventual presidential election, the "Imaginaccion" poll
gives Sebastian Pinera 35.9% votes, Eduardo Frei 28.2% and Marco
Enrique Ominami 21.5%. In a runoff election, Pinera received 43.3%
and Frei 41.9% (La Segunda, conservative, afternoon, 7/15).

Narcotics
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8. Three containers with a total of 634 kilos of cocaine arriving
in Spain and Bulgaria were smuggled from Bolivia through Chile's
northern port of Arica. The containers are protected by the
Chile-Bolivia 1904 Free Transit Treaty, which means that Chilean
Customs officials can only inspect containers if there is evidence
that the seals have been tampered with (El Mercurio, conservative,
influential newspaper-of-record, 7/15).

URBAN