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TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV ECON PREL SNAR EFIN CI
SUBJECT:  CHILE MEDIA REPORT - JANUARY 22 
 
Leading Stories 
--------------- 
 
¶1.  Chilean dailies highlighted President Barack Obama's first day 
in office.  Front-page coverage also included the case of Chile's 
retired Air Force (FACH) General Ramon Vega, who was arrested for 
allegedly receiving illegal payments during the purchase of Belgian 
fighter jets in 1994. 
 
U.S.-Related News 
----------------- 
¶2.  Lan Cargo, affiliated with Lan Airlines, will pay the U.S. 
Government a fine of US$88 million dollars for breaking free 
competition regulations during the February 2003-2006 period. 
Specifically, Lan Cargo fixed fuel prices and other charges.  The 
U.S. Government's probe included other 30 airlines (El Mercurio, 
conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, circ. 129,000, 
1/22). 
 
¶3.  Arturo Valenzuela, a Chilean scholar who heads the Center for 
Latin American Studies at Georgetown University, appears mentioned 
as a possible candidate to become the WHA Assistant Secretary of 
State.  His strongest contender could be Julia Sweig, Director for 
Latin American Studies at the Council of Foreign Relations (El 
Mostrador, liberal, online daily, 1/21). 
 
¶4.  The judge investigating the case of Chile's retired Air Force 
(FACH) General Ramon Vega and other three high-ranking retired 
officers is examining the role of Bartolome Dezerega, a member of 
the Christian Democratic Party.  The military officers were arrested 
for allegedly receiving US$ 15 million dollars in illegal payments 
during the purchase of Belgian fighter jets in 1994.  Mr. Dezerega 
reportedly deposited US$ 3 million dollars in banks in the United 
States (La Tercera, conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 1/22). 
 The probe has revealed that some  high-ranking retired FACH 
officers received deposits in their accounts at Coutts & Co. Bank; 
Riggs National Bank, in Washington, D.C.; and Espirito Santo Bank, 
in Miami (La Nacion, government-owned, editorially independent, 
circ. 4,200, 1/22).  A bank account with First Union Bank Int. in 
New York was also mentioned (El Mercurio, 1/22). 
 
Local 
----- 
¶5.  The Chamber of Deputies approved introducing a constitutional 
reform to the Chilean electoral system that would allow all 
qualified citizens to register automatically and to vote 
voluntarily.  The text will return to the Senate, where it had been 
approved two weeks ago, to review some modifications (La Tercera, 
1/22). 
 
Cuba 
---- 
¶6.  Six letters sent by a Chilean citizen and other prominent Cuban 
dissidents are sitting on President Michelle Bachelet and Foreign 
Minister Alejandro Foxley's desks since early January.  The notes 
request a meeting with President Bachelet during her upcoming 
official visit to Cuba and denounce the human rights violations on 
the island.  The letters have not yet been answered (El Mostrador, 
1/22). 
 
Editorials 
------------ 
¶7.  Editorial entitled "Obama's Economic Guidelines"  "Although 
inaugural speeches do not set an academic definition to a 
government's work plan, the meticulous selection of issues, careful 
rhetoric, consciousness of the fact that every word will be 
scrutinized, and Obama's talent for using the language and 
communicating his ideas, leads one to think that what he said about 
economic matters reflects the core of his beliefs in this area.... 
It is a modern, eclectic and pragmatic vision of the economy, which 
understands the power of the individual, competition and creative 
forces, and comprehends the need for resorting to the State to bail 
out from important jams such as the ongoing one..." (El Mercurio, 
1/22). 
 
¶8.  Opinion piece by author and academic Cristian Warnken "O 
Captain! My Captain"  "I want to believe in this man who just read 
his speech to a tired world that is perplexed and full of fear.  I 
want to believe in those winged words that come out his mouth and 
his ancestral African blood.  I want to believe again in the 
grandeur of a leader....  I see Obama's serene and pure smile.  I 
listen to his words, almost pronounced in a trance, from the heart. 
And I cannot think any more except for repeating Whitman's verses: 
'O Captain, My Captain....'  Will this new captain be able to sail 
this ship, loaded with bad omens, to a seaport, and have someone 
re-write this song in a future we cannot see yet? (El Mercurio, 
1/22). 
 
¶9.  Opinion column by Alberto Lopez-Hermida, Professor of Political 
Communication at University of Los Andes, entitled "Celebrating with 
Intelligence"  "Barack Obama is human, a politician, and a neophyte. 
 There is no doubt that today is a day for celebrations, but it also 
needs urgent realism.  In Chile we have already suffered the 
consequences of celebrating beyond the necessary the novelty in 
power" (La Segunda, conservative, afternoon daily, circ. 33,000, 
1/21). 
 
¶10.  Opinion piece by Jose Jara, Director of FLACSO-Chile think 
tank, "From 'Yes We Can' to 'Yes We Should'"  "The time has come to 
go past rhetoric to action....  The new President faces a Latin 
America that has historically disconnected from the directions 
imposed by the United States.  Thus, this will become a unique 
challenge....  Therefore, Obama has an opportunity to go beyond the 
solutions that have already been used to solve the problems in the 
region.  During the latest U.S. Administrations, Latin America has 
not been an issue on its agenda.  Now is time not only to 
acknowledge the 'we can' but that 'we should'" (La Segunda, 1/21). 
 
SIMONS