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UNCLAS SANTIAGO 002289 
 
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SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR H, WHA/BSC, IIP/G/WHA, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KPAO PREL PHUM OVIP CI
SUBJECT: STAFFDEL MEACHAM -- NGO COMMUNITY HEALTHY AND VIBRANT IN 
CHILE 
 
REF: SANTIAGO 2269 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Senior Senate Foreign Relations Committee Staff 
Member Carl Meacham met with Chileans across the political spectrum 
October 25-27 to discuss challenges facing Non-Governmental 
Organizations (NGOs) in Chile.  NGO representatives emphasized there 
is freedom to operate and no onerous bureaucratic requirements. 
Many noted, however, that securing scarce financing and responding 
from the bottom up to growing citizen needs are among the NGOs' most 
pressing issues. 
 
¶2. (SBU) NGOs agree progress is being made, but much more is 
possible.  The GOC's executive branch seeks to expand citizen 
influence in government decisions and NGO leaders want more dialogue 
on how to achieve this objective.  Many argue that the Congress' 
over-reliance on party-affiliated foundations and think tanks limit 
their Members' ability to respond to constituent wishes (Congressmen 
and Senators have few advisors and personal staff).  Moreover, 
donations to non-profit organizations have been on the decline since 
the implementation of a new law that increased the government's role 
in distributing charitable contributions (30 percent of a tax 
deductible donation goes to a GOC-controlled common fund that is 
distributed to other charities.)  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (SBU) During a packed three-day program (October 25-27), Senior 
Latin America SFRC Staff Member Carl Meacham discussed the 
challenges facing NGOs in Chile.  Meacham met with Corporacion 
Proyectamerica, Fundacion Jaime Guzman, Instituto Libertad y 
Desarollo, Center for Justice Studies of the Americas (CEJA), 
Fundacion Chile 21, Participa, and Fundacion Paz Ciudadana.  Meacham 
also met with Foreign Minister Foxley (reftel) and political party 
leaders, notably Renovacion Nacional's Sebastian Pinera, Party for 
Democracy (PPD) President Sergio Bitar, Christian Democratic 
International Relations Chief Esteban Tomic and President Bachelet's 
advisors for International Relations and Social Development. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In addition to a dinner hosted by the Ambassador, Meacham 
participated in several public outreach activities:  sharing his 
career experience with Chilean youth leaders, addressing think tank 
analysts, engaging the press (radio and print) in a roundtable 
discussion, and conducting an interview on the Embassy's radio 
network. 
 
NGOs Operate Freely, Compete for Funding 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Former Senator Antonio Viera Gallo, who now heads NGO 
Proyectamerica, told Meacham that NGOs function without impediments 
in Chile.  While there are some conflicts between the government and 
environmental NGOs (e.g., pending defamation charges), Viera Gallo 
said there is no persecution of NGOs that hold views different from 
those of the government.  Viera Gallo acknowledged that many think 
tanks and foundations have ties to political parties, but this 
support is not automatic and that such NGOs do criticize the 
government. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Viera Gallo noted that NGOs can register as non-profit 
"foundations" or "corporations" and receive tax exempt status.  The 
most pressing issue is financing.  Many NGOs depend on foreign 
funding or private contributions.  Following the end of the Pinochet 
dictatorship, millions of dollars in funding from the United States 
and Europe dried up.  Viera Gallo explained that many NGOs also rely 
on government bid contracts, producing products or services for the 
government.  He said there are companies dedicated exclusively to 
proposal writing. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The former Senator noted that Chileans participate in many 
organizations and volunteer groups, but tend not to make financial 
donations.  Viera Gallo described civil society as weak, largely 
because of the excessive reliance on a strong executive branch, the 
Catholic Church and private companies.  He added that NGOs are an 
Anglo-Saxon phenomenon, emphasizing that there are many in the 
United Kingdom and United States, but few NGOs in France, Spain, and 
Portugal. 
 
Conservative Think Tank Leery of NGOs Independence 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Fundacion Jaime Guzman's Legislative and Public Policy 
 
Advisors Beatrice Corbo and Nicolas Figari expressed concerns about 
the independence of NGOs affiliated with the ruling Concertacion 
government.  The two advisors stated that NGOs on the left are well 
organized and receive financing from Europe, notably France and 
Belgium, and to a lesser extent Mexico.  They noted that Members of 
Congress have limited staff, which has increased their reliance on 
party-affiliated think tanks and foundations for information and 
analyses.  While Concertacion-affiliated NGOs are often invited to 
comment on the GOC's legislation at Congressional hearings, 
Fundacion Jaime Guzman is seldom invited. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) While there is more transparency than 10 years ago, Corbo 
and Figari cautioned that there is a perception of widespread 
corruption, as demonstrated by the recent Chiledeportes scandal in 
which administrators allegedly funneled funds to Concertacion 
electoral campaigns.  They also expressed disappointment over a new 
Donations Law, which has had the effect of discouraging private 
donations to non-profit organizations (affecting more NGOs on the 
right, than the left).  Under the law, 30 percent of a private 
donation is earmarked for a government's common fund, and not the 
intended recipient. 
 
Government Seeking to Increase Citizen Participation 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) In Meacham's meeting with Francisco Estevez, Director of 
the Social Organizations Division at La Moneda, Estevez noted that 
President Bachelet wants to expand the participation of civil 
society in decision making -- one of her top campaign promises.  As 
part of this effort, Estevez highlighted a $1.8 million fund for 
strengthening social development organizations.  The GOC assigns 
sums of money to NGOs involved in development projects based on a 
competitive bid process. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Estevez cautioned that reforms aimed at increasing citizen 
participation take time and are difficult to implement.  He stated 
that Chile has a strong executive with a top-down framework 
emanating from Pinochet's 1980 constitution.  Compared to other 
countries, Chile is behind in revising its constitution, he said. 
Chileans do not have the right to hold plebiscites, referendums, and 
 
there is no ombudsman, but this could change under the Bachelet 
administration. 
 
¶12. (SBU) When Meacham raised the issue of declining donations to 
non-profit organizations, Estevez defended the government's new law 
on donations.  Estevez argued that it is not fair, for example, that 
a company makes a tax-deduction donation that benefits only one 
entity when there are more needy recipients.  The 30 percent 
allocation to a common fund and distribution by the government is 
more beneficial to society.  To justify the new law, he added that 
Chilean firms pay only about one-tenth the income taxes of their 
U.S. counterparts. 
 
Being Non-Partisan in a Partisan World 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Gonzalo Vargas, Executive Director of Fundacion Paz 
Ciudadana, said that while his NGO receives approximately 80 percent 
of its funding from private sources, its Board of Directors is a 
mixture of all major parties in Chile.  His NGO is non-partisan, but 
many perceive it to be right-leaning (it was founded by El Mercurio 
owner Agustin Edwards).  When the government selected one of his 
senior assistants to become the new Under Secretary overseeing the 
Carabinero police, several pundits expressed surprise given his 
organizations rightist credentials.  Vargas credited Paz Ciudadana's 
five-year effort in convincing the government to quantify and 
publicize levels of common crime in Chile. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Vargas also criticized the new Donation Law, arguing it 
hurts well-known organizations such as the Municipal Theatre and the 
Catholic Church-affiliated Hogar de Cristo.  Vargas supported the 
idea that donors should be able to provide full funding to the NGO 
of their choice without government direction. 
 
 
 
Raising Awareness with Consultative Processes 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) Executive Director Andrea Sanhueza described Corporacion 
Participa as an independent NGO with no political party affiliation. 
 It has a budget of approximately USD$1 million budget per year, 70 
percent of which comes from foreign sources (USAID, Canada, Holland, 
UK) and 30 percent from local financing (competitive government 
contracts).  Participa spends much of its time raising public 
awareness through workshops and organizing forums for the public to 
examine proposed legislation.  The NGO recently established a 
consultative process (financed by the GOC and Inter-American 
Development Bank) that formalized input from local residents on how 
to improve the port city of Valparaiso.  Sanhueza indicated that 
Chile has improved incorporating views from civil society, but there 
is still more to be done. 
 
Lagos-Affiliated Foundation Training Young Leaders 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶16. (SBU) Executive Director Maria de los Angeles Fernandez 
explained that 15 years ago then-Presidential hopeful Ricardo Lagos 
created Fundacion Chile 21.  A temporary institution became a 
permanent and respected foundation with ties to Brazil, Uruguay, 
Argentina, and Europe, notably France and Germany.  Through its 
legislative and international studies, Chile 21 seeks to meet 
growing demands from Chile's citizenry, which is increasingly well 
educated.  Fernandez noted that Chile 21 recently hosted for the 
first time Chile's Army Commander, offering a "meeting space" for 
such events.  The foundation has trained some 55 youth leaders, 15 
of whom now have positions in the Bachelet government. 
Fernandez agreed that there is no culture of philanthropy in Chile 
and that a major concern of NGOs is financing. 
 
Successful Visit and Outreach Activities 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) Comment:  Consistent across the political spectrum, 
Chilean NGOs highlighted the need for greater citizen participation 
from below with less political party influence.  They also promoted 
better coordination to ensure their democracy serves a larger mass 
of Chilean citizens. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Utilizing his flawless Spanish and knowledge about the 
country, Carl Meacham impressed his Chilean audiences and advanced 
our interest in promoting mutual understanding and strengthening 
civic society within Chile.  Post very much appreciated Meacham's 
willingness to participate in public outreach activities with 
Chilean youth leaders, political analysts, and media, which 
highlighted the perceptions of Chile from a U.S. Congressional 
vantage point. 
 
¶19. (U) Carl Meacham cleared this message. 
 
KELLY