Santiago Sept. 16 Media Report

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000870 SIPDIS STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL SNAR EFIN CI SUBJECT: Santiago Sept. 16 Media Report Lead -------------- ¶1. Presidential candidates are preparing for their first television debate that will be aired by National Television TVN on September 23, at 10:40 p.m.. The debate will last 90 minutes and will be conducted by one journalist. One part of it will be for the candidates to answer a few questions submitted by the general public prior to the debate (Conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, El Mercurio, 9/16). U.S.-Related News -------------- ¶2. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke will attract significant attention at the Americas Competitiveness Forum. Lock is a man of vast experience in his field. As Governor of Washington for two terms, he created the Competitiveness Council with entrepreneurs and union leaders, which improved the state's competitiveness and created 280,000 new jobs. He also has helped eliminate tariff barriers for U.S. exports, led ten commercial missions abroad, and doubled exports from Washington state to China (Financial Diario Financiero, 9/16). ¶3. Claudia Munzemayer is receiving significant support for her work and interest in African dance. The Department of State invited her to participate in a cultural program that will start on September 19 and will take her to Washington, D.C., Virginia, New York, Louisiana, and Miami (Government-owned La Nacion, 9/15). ¶4. Editorial "An Unpopular Afghanistan": "Everything indicates that as Iraq marked George W. Bush, Afghanistan will mark Obama.... Over 60 percent of Germans, 64 percent of the French, and one of every ten Americans want their troops to withdraw from Afghanistan.... No government in the west wishes to lose popularity due to its military presence in Afghanistan , but stabilizing that country will take at least 10 or 15 years and that is a very high cost in lives and money that many U.S. allies do not seem willing to pay" (El Mercurio, 9/16). Unasur -------------- ¶5. At the Unasur meeting of defense and foreign affairs ministers in Quito yesterday, Peru proposed implementing a system to ensure transparency in military expenses and the signature of a "non-aggression military pact" among South American countries. Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez supported the proposal on transparency, noting that two years ago Chile began talks with Peru to standardize military expenses, but that these had stalled. Fernandez, however, disagreed with the signature of a "non-aggression pact," stating that "this is language of countries on the border of a military conflict." "We have moved forward enough and should be using language related to cooperation and associations," said Fernandez (Conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, El Mercurio, 9/16). ¶6. Minister Fernandez said Secretary of State Clinton had written to Unasur offering to discuss the controversy over the U.S.-Colombia military agreement. Chile expressed support for such eventual meeting (El Mercurio, 9/16). ¶7. Yesterday's Unasur meeting was an opportunity to improve trust on security matters. But the discussion was dominated by verbal attacks between Colombia and Venezuela over U.S. military presence in the region. Brazil also restated its concern, demanding guarantees that the U.S. activities will be restricted to Colombian territory (La Nacion, 9/16). ¶8. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Venezuela to be clear on its weapons acquisitions because they "create fear of an arms race" in the region. "There should be regulations and mechanisms to ensure that weapons bought are not deflected to insurgent or illegal organizations," said Clinton (La Nacion, 9/16). Mapuche Indigenous Conflict -------------- ¶9. Mapuches have occupied several privately-owned estates in the area of Temuco. Their goal is to pressure the government into buying land and transferring it to Mapuche communities. A Temuco agricultural association expressed concern with the increasing number of illegal land occupations and attacks (El Mercurio, 9/16). SIMONS