Santiago Feb. 20-22 Media Report

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000238 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. 20-22 Media Report Pi????era Administration ¶1. It is expected that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will Pi????era's swearing-in ceremony on March 11. The presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, and Guatemala have confirmed their attendance (La Tercera, 2/21). ¶2. On Thursday President-elect Pi????era appointed his undersecretaries, plus directors or assistant directors for budget, the National Environmental Committee, Chile Deportes (Chile Sports),and the assistant director of the National Council for the Arts and Culture. As with his ministers, Pi????era chose engineers from the Catholic University, with graduate studies abroad -- mostly in the United States--, and with ties to conservative think tanks and institutions such as Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo and Fundacion Jaime Guzman. But unlike his ministers, the future undersecretaries have more political experience: 20 have worked in state organizations and 7 have been members of legislative or government commissions. The average age of the future undersecretaries is 45.1, 20 are from Santiago; 11 are women, 20 men; 15 are UDI, 7are RN, one belongs to an opposition party (PPD),and 16 have no formal party affiliation; 63% have graduate studies, and nine studied at the University of Chile (Conservative, independent La Tercera, 2/21) ¶3. Pi????era did not yet name the undersecretary for defense. Sources said that among the possible candidates is current army Commander-in-Chief Oscar Izurieta. The general has a Masters in political science with a concentration in international relations and will retire on March 9. Another candidate is Izurieta's predecessor, Juan Emilio Cheyre. This general set a landmark by publicly and officially accepting in 2004 the army's responsibility for human rights violations committed during the military regime. Cheyre is currently head of the Catholic University's International Studies Center (Conservative, influential newspaper-of-record El Mercurio, 2 /21). ¶4. Pi????era officials have asked Chile's cultural and press attaches in embassies abroad to stay in office until April 30, that is, more than a month after the new president is sworn-in, to assist the new administration in the transition (El Mercurio, 2/21). ¶5. On Friday, Pi????era criticized the Bachelet administration's fiscal management noting that his administration would be inheriting a US$7 billion deficit. Pi????era said his administration would work on an "austere" budget to resolve the "most urgent needs." La Moneda was not pleased with Pinera's remarks and said the deficit was "moderate" and the result of the economic crisis (La Tercera 2/20). OAS ¶6. The delegates at the Rio Group Summit in Mexico have already moved forward on the creation of a new regional organization for Latin American and the Caribbean. The new organization would merge the Rio Group and Caricom and exclude the United States and Canada. While the exclusion of the United States is a concern for countries such as Colombia and Peru, Bolivian President Morales said that if the Rio Summit wishes to "leave a mark," it must "ask for a new OAS without the United States." In this context, Bachelet said that although the proposal is heading "in the right direction," a new organization must "never be seen as replacing the OAS." Bachelet said the new organization should be "an association among governments to articulate policy and not replace the OAS" (El Mercurio, 2/22). Haiti ¶7. In Port-au-Prince, Presidents Bachelet and Preval discussed Brazil's proposal, endorsed by the United States and France, to create an international aid cooperation agency. Bachelet has been asked to coordinate the agency. Sources said she is willing to accept, but must first have a sense of how the agency will operate, what resources it will have, and what authority will be invested upon her (El Mercurio, 2/22). Chile Other Countries ¶8. President Bachelet and her Guatemalan counterpart Alvaro Colom signed a bilateral free trade agreement (Government-owned La Nacion, 2/22). ¶9. Chilean company IDC will sue the Hugo Chavez government before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes for the expropriation of the concession of the airport on Isla Magarita in 2005 (La Tercera, 2/20). Science ¶10. Chile is willing to transfer 55,000 hectares for the European Southern Observatory to build the largest telescope in the world, the E-ELT, in the north. Chile would give 18,900 hectares for free on the Armzones hill and 36,200 surrounding the hill in concession and protected from any activity that might interfere with the light. The government is also guaranteeing electricity supply (La Tercera, 2/20). SIMONS