Santiago Media Report

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000228 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 Media Report Lead Story ¶1. President-elect Pi????era will announce his future undersecretaries on Friday at 11 a.m. in the Fine Arts Museum. He also confirmed that he would include individuals close to or from the Concertacion (Conservative, influential newspaper-of-record El Mercurio, 2/18). IPR ¶2. Chile's Association of Industrial Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Asilfa) has stated that local laboratories comply fully with existing patent laws. Claudio Alvarez, president of Chile's Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industries (CIF),which encompasses 18 U.S. and European labs, immediately rebutted the statement. "Since the IPR law came into effect in 1991, 73 patented products have been copied with more than 3 copies per product on the average," said Alvarez, adding that not just the patents are being copied, but also the manufacturing process and procedures, which are also patented. Alvarez said that several cases are already in court, but these usually take up to eight years to be resolved. He said the Chamber realizes that the Chile's government has made an effort to improve matters, but concluded, "The only way to stop this is for Chile to comply fully with the commitments acquired when it signed the free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union" (El Mercurio, 2/18). Chile-U.S. ¶3. "Chile and the United States: 200 Years," is the title of a book released by the Chilean Embassy in Washington, D.C .yesterday. The book is a collection of "forgotten chapters" and photographs of memorable moments of the bilateral relationship over 200 years, said Chilean Ambassador Jos???? Go????i. It is also intended to show Chile's cultural patrimony in the United States, he added. The book is the result of research by embassy staff in the U.S. Library of Congress, the National Archive, and the National Library in Chile (El Mercurio, 2/18). ¶4. David Rockefeller, Jr., traveled to the Region of Ays????n in the Chilean Patagonia, to meet with an NGO that is promoting the creation of a protected marine and coastal area in Ays????n (Financial daily Diario Financiero, 2/8). Terrorism ¶5. An organization that calls itself "Marzo Anarchista" (Anarchist March) published an invitation on the Internet for anyone interested in attending a series of workshops and conferences throughout March. The initiative is intended to promote "libertarian" principles and the creation of a "social and political movement for the destruction of the domination and exploitation of society and the creation of a new world based on liberty and equity." Registration fee is under 2 dollars. Some of the courses are ecoanarchism, Marx and anarchism, anarchist organizations and political action. The workshops are an opportunity to "share experiences and expertise to find the best means to organize and face the enormous task of carrying forth the Social Revolution," says the invitation (Conservative, afternoon La Segunda, 2/17). Pi????era Administration ¶6. Asked about the development of nuclear energy, future energy minister Ricardo Raineri said Pi????era's agenda does not include the construction of a nuclear plant, but the belief is that "we must keep all options open." Raineri said the future government is highly interested in the development of hydroelectricity, noting that this is the major resource available in the country (Financial daily Estrategia, 2/18). Chile-U.S. ¶7. The Chilean American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) will launch in March a series of workshops on new technologies and technology transfer for the food industry. The goal is to assist local food producers enter the U.S. market (Financial daily Diario Financiero, 2/18). OAS ¶8. "Insulza's problem is that he arrived to his office when the continent was politically and ideologically divided.... He was dazzled by radical rhetoric and accepted the worst kind of autocrats into the group of revolutionaries.... Insulza was unable to make a difference ... between modern leftists and loud-mouthed authoritarians... and abandoned democratic dissidents in governments ruled by the most radical and authoritarian sectors.... He... focused on representing presidents and ignored the victims of divisions .... In his hands the Inter-American Democratic Charter did not exist. He strongly condemned the coup against Zelaya, but never admitted that the former president had incurred in constitutional and legal violations... disqualifying the OAS as an instrument for a peaceful solution.... That was when Washington came in with a viable solution, with the subsequent cost for Latin America for not being able to articulate a solution. Almost all governments... would want someone different in the OAS. But it is almost impossible for them to reach a consensus.... The paradox is that if Insulza is reelected by default, his hands would be free to support the democratic struggle (Colum by Venezuelan political analyst Carlos Blanco, La Tercera, 2/18). SIMONS