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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSG #0560/01 1651934
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131934Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3387
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 2055
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1876
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1743
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 0969
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 5613
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000560 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA STATE FOR 
INL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KPAO PREL KMDR PGOV OVIP CI
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - BACHELET VISIT TO CALIFORNIA 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Most Chilean dailies highlighted the warm personal 
interaction between the President and Governor Schwarzenneger.  El 
Mercurio and La Tercera featured the Governor's praise, that 
Bachelet's life reads like a Hollywood movie script:  She's a 
doctor, surgeon, pediatrician, first woman Defense Minister, and the 
first woman President in Chile.  Together they visited the 
University of California, UC Davis, experimental vineyards and 
signed the California-Chile Partnership for the 21st Century 
cooperation agreement.  Sidebars described the five signed 
cooperation agreements, which are intended to develop human capital 
and improve energy efficiency, agriculture, education and 
environmental protection.  The media also reported on President 
Bachelet's comments to the California legislature, in which she 
emphasized that Chile is not looking for aid, but rather to form an 
alliance for growth and investment.  The President invited 
Schwarzenneger to visit Chile and he agreed.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record 
(circ. 129,000):  "Schwarzenneger and Bachelet praise each other in 
California" 
 
¶3.  At the UC Davis campus, Governor Schwarzenneger and Bachelet 
signed the Chile California plan.  The Governor praised Bachelet for 
speaking five languages, noting with humor that she could correct 
his English.  Bachelet knew how to match the occasion.  She 
concluded her remarks on the cooperation agreement with Terminator's 
most famous phrase, "Hasta la vista (baby)." 
 
¶4.  La Tercera, conservative, independent (circ. 101,000): Governor 
Schwarzenneger greeted President at California's Congressional 
building, where Bachelet addressed the plenary session. They both 
then met privately.  In his office, a sword that the former actor 
used as "Conan" caught Bachelet's attention.  He handed it to her 
and jokingly said, "It's to slice budgets."  The Governor labeled 
Bachelet's life "extraordinary."  "It reads like a move script.  She 
is a physician, surgeon, pediatrician, the first woman Defense 
Minister and the first (woman) president....  She is brilliant," he 
said.  The Governor also accepted Bachelet's invitation to visit 
Chile with a commercial delegation. "I will do so. It will be a good 
excuse to travel a little and to go on vacation," said the Governor. 
 
 
¶5.  Diario Financiero, business and financial (circ. 30,000, 6/13): 
"When you are the head of state, you must learn to live with the 
resources you have," was Governor Schwarzenneger's message to 
Bachelet.  In her address to Congress, Bachelet emphasized that the 
goal of her visit was "not to ask for aid.  We have come to form an 
alliance for growth," she said.  "Chile has moved forth and our 
goals are much more ambitious," she underscored.  Bachelet also 
spoke at a California Chamber of Commerce breakfast, where the local 
entrepreneurs' inquiries focused primarily on Chile's economy and 
her experience as a woman President. 
This daily placed the photograph of the Governor greeting Bachelet 
as "Photo of the week." 
 
¶6.  La Nacion, government-owned, editorially independent (circ. 
4,200, 6/13) featured a two-page coverage of Bachelet's visit to 
Canada and California.  One photo caption read, "She opposed 
repression against an old and corrupt regime and has distinguished 
herself with her accomplishments in the economy, environment, health 
and issues related to equity," said Schwarzenneger. 
 
¶7.  Las Ultimas Noticias, leading-circulation, popular (circ. 
140,000 headlined:  "Bachelator teases Scharzenneger and invites him 
to Chile: 'Hasta la vista.' "Schwarzenneger was extremely polite in 
his greeting of Bachelet and in the private meeting, where both 
exchanged presents. 
 
¶8.  La Cuarta, widely-read popular daily, highlighted the private 
meeting between Bachelet and Schwarzenneger, focusing on the 
enormous opportunities that Chile and California have to work 
together "as brothers."  Both exchanged views on fuel efficiency 
plans, and visited the University of California-Davis campus to sign 
a cooperation agreement that allow Chileans to study at California 
universities. 
 
¶9.  La Segunda, conservative, afternoon daily (circ. 33,000, 6/12) 
ran the editorial, "The Opportunities California has to Offer." 
 
¶10.  "The California visit has a special meaning, because it will be 
the opportunity to launch an alliance with a state that by itself is 
one of the largest economies in the world....  California is truly 
in the forefront in the world in several areas that are key for 
Chile, from agronomy to new technologies and the rational use of 
energy." 
 
¶11.  La Segunda also ran an op-ed by Chilean Ambassador to the 
United States Mariano Fernandez entitled, "Bachelet-Schwarzenneger 
and the Partnership for the 21st Century" 
 
¶12.  "Chile wants to make a qualitative jump in its development so 
that it can reach the US$20,000 per capita income target ... in the 
near future.  And California is the ideal partner to help accomplish 
this, because its universities and educational institutions are 
among the best in the world, its businesses are known for their 
innovation capability, and its government management has resulted in 
enormous environmental progress and an impressive reduction in the 
use of energy, while maintaining a satisfactory rates of social and 
economic growth rates.  Chilean efforts are not a plea for help, but 
rather at making these ties more dynamic to become an active 
counterpart in all possible areas." 
WEITZENKORN