Santiago Feb 4 Media Report

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000150 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 Feb 4 Media Report Lead Story ¶1. President-elect Pi????era and Bachelet discussed the report that Chile will submit to the international court of The Hague to counter Peru's claim to change bilateral maritime borders (All dailies, 2/4). Chile-U.S. ¶2. Ambassador Paul Simons commented on Chile's invitation to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD: "Having a seat at the table and the opportunity to share best practices with other countries will benefit Chile" (America Chilean Chamber of Commerce, AmCham, magazine Business Chile, January edition). ¶3. Photo coverage and article of the AmCham breakfast for the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, and his visit to Chile (Business Chile). Chile-Peru ¶4. The report that Chile will submit to The Hague to counter Peru's claim to change maritime states that bilateral borders were defined by the 1952 Border Zone Declaration and 1954 Special Border agreements. Both treaties, says Chile's report, are in force today. Chile has exerted sovereignty over the territory that Peru is now claiming as its own since the time of the treaties. In its border claim, Peru does not directly address land borders, but does refer to a land marker which sets the maritime border south of the current one. With regard to this point, Chile hints in its report that if Peru has land border issues, the matter should be resolved by the United States in accordance to the 1929 Lima Treaty (Conservative, independent La Tercera, 2/4). Note: The 1929 Lima Treaty establishes borders between the Chile and Peru and was drafted based on U.S. proposals, which participated in the solution of the conflict at the request of the two parties. One of treaty's articles says that that "any disagreement" will be resolved by the President of the United States "whose decision cannot be appealed." Local Politics ¶5. Minister Secretary General to the Presidency Jose Antonio Viera Gallo called on the opposition alliance to pass the law on blind trusts before the swearing-in of President-elect Pi????era (La Tercera, 2/4). Haiti ¶6. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asked the organization's special envoy to Haiti, Bill Clinton, to head the reconstruction effort in Haiti. U.N. spokesperson Martin Nesirky said Clinton is "highly involved in Haiti and can mobilize political and business leaders worldwide" (Government-owned La Nacion, 2/4). ¶7. The distribution of humanitarian aid in Haiti is threatening to deepen the crisis in that country. Yesterday, demonstrators accused the mayor of Port-au-Prince of selling the aid and of receiving bribes (La Tercera, 2/4). Weapons to Latin America ¶8. The Institute for International Strategic Studies (IISS) based in London reports that Latin America has become the most important market for Russian weapons. Russian sales to the region totaled US$4 billion over the past years. One reason for this trend is the restriction imposed by the United States for sales to countries such as Venezuela (El Mercurio, 2/4). OAS ¶9. The OAS Permanent Council voted to hold the election of its secretary general on March 24. La Moneda believes that the proximity of the date will undermine Venezuela and Nicaragua's efforts to submit a candidate, amid rumors that Venezuela's Ambassador to the OAS, Roy Chaderton, is a possible candidate (El Mercurio, 2/4). Technology ¶10. Undersecretary of Telecommunications Pablo Bello said the latest Telecommunications Services Consumer Survey shows that 40.1 percent of homes in Chile have Internet. This is a 7% increase compared to six months ago and twice as many as in 2006. Bello, however, underscored that there is still an unequal access to this service between urban and rural sectors and among the different social strata. Figures also show that in 2008, 33% of homes had "paid," i.e., cable, television. This figure also increased 7% this past semester because the service if offered together with Internet (Business daily Estrategia, 2/4). ¶11. Chile became the first Latin American country to test the Long Term Evolution, or 4G, technology. The tests, conducted by Entel PCS and the University of Chile, were a success. The new technology allows wireless transition at a much higher speed than what is used today. Local experts said that the testing of this technology is landmark, comparable to the arrival of Internet to Chile (Financial daily Diario Financiero, 2/4). China ¶12. Conservative, influential newspaper-of-record El Mercurio, 2/4, ran editorial entitled, "The U.S. and China": "Once again relations between Washington and Beijing are facing turbulence. The U.S. announcement that it would sell weapons to Taiwan... was an open challenge to Beijing's sovereignty, which has the non-negotiable policy that there is only one China... and that Taiwan is only a 'rebel province' .... China is no longer an aspiring world power: It already is one and is demanding to be treated as such.... Beijing is not willing to make concessions on issues that concern its political and economic independence and with regard to the United States is more a competitor than an ally." URBAN