CHILE MEDIA REPORT - JULY 23

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000697 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 23 Lead Story -------------- ¶1. Eduardo Frei's campaign advisors want National Television Network TVN to review anchorwoman Karen Doggenweiler's contract. The anchor, "a station symbol," is married to presidential candidate Marco Enriquez Ominami and "can be influential," they argue. The station backed Doggenweiler: "Karen has been an anchor for this station for 20 years and her position is the result of dedicated work.... Her participation in her husband's political activities falls in the area of her personal activities" (El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, 7/23). U.S.-Related News -------------- ¶2. Tension in the U.S. Congress is stalling Obama administration nominations. Republican Senator for Arizona John Kyl objected to Judge Sotomayor's confirmation, stating that he "is not sure" that Sotomayor "can put aside her biases, if confirmed." On Tuesday, Senator Jim DeMint asked to postpone Arturo Valenzuela's nomination arguing that the nominee "told me he was unaware of the events taking place in Honduras" (Diario Financiero, business and financial, 7/23). ¶3. Several international electricity holdings have shown interest in entering the local market, including U.S.-based Duke Energy. None of them, however, are pursuing a position in Chile. Local company officials say foreign players feel discouraged when they learn about environmental regulations to protect indigenous peoples and native forests and about the lengthy environmental (certification) process. But there are other reasons too. Duke did not want to increase its exposure with coal plants to avoid problems with the USG, and long-term energy supplies have already been sold to current generators, leaving little room for new players to enter the market (La Tercera, conservative, independent, 7/23). ¶4. Over the last 50 years, the IDB has given Chile US$7 billion in loans for public projects, such as Route 48 and Transantiago. Now the IDB wants to contribute to private sector initiatives in Chile by financing through its Multilateral Investment Fund, "innovative, replicable, and measurable" initiatives, including those related to education, said the entity's representative to Chile, Jaime Sujoy (El Mercurio, conservative, influential, 7/23). Local -------------- ¶5. OECD Executive Secretary Angel Gurria said that for Chile to join the organization it must pass laws that allow the exchange of tax information and lift banking secrecy (El Mercurio, 7/23). AH1N1 -------------- ¶6. The Health Ministry opened a bidding process to buy six million vaccines for human influenza to inoculate three million people in 2010 (2 doses each). Given the number of people that acquired the virus this season, next winter 3.7 million will have been inoculated. The bidding process is a way to assure a supply of the vaccine amid limited global production. There are 11,293 confirmed cases of AH1N1 in Chile (El Mercurio, 7/23). SIMONS