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SUBJECT:  CHILE MEDIA REPORT - FEBRUARY 14-17 
 
Leading Stories 
--------------- 
¶1.  Chilean dailies ran extensive coverage of reactions to Fidel 
Castro's column published after he met with President Bachelet, in 
which he endorsed Bolivia's maritime demand for access to the sea. 
Front-page news also highlighted a helicopter crash that killed 12 
fire fighters who were being transported between blazes. 
 
U.S.-Related News 
----------------- 
¶2.  Douglas Tompkins joined the debate on the relocation of Chaiten, 
damaged by last year's volcanic eruption.  Tompkins proposed 
rebuilding the northeast part of Chaiten, rather than relocating it 
to Fandango.  He believes that since not all of Chaiten's 
inhabitants are likely to return, this proposal makes more sense, in 
addition to the fact that it would be less costly than rebuilding 
all public services.  The mayor of Chaiten, Pedro Vasquez, is 
promoting the relocation to Fandango and has the government's 
support (El Mercurio, conservative, influential newspaper-of-record, 
circ. 129,000, 2/15). 
 
¶3.  Labor Minister Claudia Serrano met with Wal-Mart and D and S 
CEOs to discuss local labor legislation.  The government received a 
report drafted by a Chamber of Deputies investigative committee that 
said that Wal-Mart has a worldwide policy of discouraging unions. 
Reportedly, Serrano reminded the multinational of Chile's labor 
legislation and her role to ensure compliance with those laws. 
Wal-Mart spokesman in Bentonville, Kevin Gardner, responded, "Our 
relations with regard to unions vary from country to country.  If 
the unions exist, we work with them" (La Tercera, conservative, 
independent, circ. 101,000, 2/15). 
 
Comments on Fidel's Column 
-------------------------- 
¶4.  After his meeting with President Bachelet, Fidel Castro wrote a 
column endorsing Bolivia's demands for a passage to the sea, 
triggering criticism across the political spectrum.  Fidel then 
wrote a second and column in which he labels Chile's UDI opposition 
party "a rancid oligarchy."  Following is a summary of reactions to 
the columns: 
 
-- Congressman Patricio Walker (DC): "Fidel has a double standard, 
because on the one hand he asks that no one interfere in Cuba's 
internal affairs while on the other he does not hesitate expressing 
his opinion about an issue that concerns other countries" (La 
Segunda, conservative, afternoon circ. 33,000, 2/13). 
-- Congressman Alberto Cardemil (RN) is:  "enraged" to see "Chile's 
interests exposed and compromised abroad by a trip that had no other 
goal but to revere the Cuban dictatorship" (La Segunda, 2/13). 
-- DC President Juan Carlos Latorres: "He (Fidel) can think and 
write whatever he wants, but this is of no international 
significance to Chile" (La Segunda, 2/13). 
- PRI, Jaime Mulet said this shows "La Moneda's inexperience in 
diplomacy" (La Segunda, 2/13). 
-- Foreign affairs Under Secretary Alberto Van Klaveren said 
Castro's remarks were "a personal opinion of a former head of state. 
 A historic interpretation of an issue that is long past" (La 
Segunda, 2/13). 
-- Opposition alliance presidential candidate Sebastian Piera said: 
"The lesson here is that international relations must be driven by 
state interests and not by ideology or personal sympathies (La 
Tercera 2/14). 
-- PRI presidential candidate Adolfo Zaldivar:  "Fidel Castro's 
remarks are an insult and an offense to Chile and a crooked 
interpretation of history.  I hope the President publicly condemns 
them" (El Mercurio, 2/16). 
- MAS presidential candidate Alejandro Navarro:  "I fully share 
Fidel's reflections" (El Mercurio, 2/16). 
-- Senator Hernan Larrain (UDI):  "He (Fidel) intervened in Chile's 
internal affairs and created an international embarrassment for 
Chile, which shows that the presidential trip was a grave 
international policy mistake" (El Mercurio, 2/16). 
-- Senator Carlos Ominami (PS):  "His (Fidel's) reference to Bolivia 
is part of the former president's ideas and obsessions" (El Mercuric 
2/16). 
-- Senator Roberto Muoz (PPD):  "(Foreign Minister Alejandro) 
Foxley must respond to Fidel Castro's interventionist remarks as 
soon as possible" (El Mercurio, 2/16). 
-- UDI President Juan Antonio Coloma:  "This is part of a campaign 
of the international left whereby its leaders --Castro and Chavez -- 
are forcing Chile to give up part of its territory" (El Mercuric 
2/16). 
-- Senator Sergio Romero (RN):  "Everything indicates that we are in 
the worst possible international scenario.  This should end with a 
very clear and strong stance.  Failing to do this means we have no 
foreign policy (La Tercera, 2/15). 
-- Congressman Jorge Burgos (DC) does not believe that Fidel's 
article was "just a personal expression," adding that the trip to 
Cuba was a government foreign policy mistake (La Tercera, 2/15). 
-- Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley: "We will not let an opinion 
column written by a retired individual ruin what has been a good 
visit" (La Tercera, 2/14). 
-- Foreign Affairs Under Secretary Alberto Van Klaveren:  "We see 
this as Fidel Castro's personal opinion as former Cuban head of 
state" (La Tercera, 2/14). 
-- President Bachelet:  "At the conclusion of this visit, I can 
express my belief that our friendship and mutual trust have been 
strengthened" (La Tercera, 2/14). 
-- Congressmen Patrico Walker (DC): "This trip was an absolute 
failure.... Fidel Castro used us ("La Tercera, 2/14). 
-- Congressman Jorge Tarud (PPD):  "These kinds of provocative 
remarks cannot be ignored.  And in diplomacy there are many ways to 
make this be felt" (La Tercera, 2/14). 
-- Senator Sergio Romero and Congressmen Cristian Monckeberg (RN) 
said the government should recall Chile's Ambassador to Cuba for an 
explanation (La Tercera, 2/14). 
 
Bolivia-Cuba 
------------ 
¶5.  Bolivian President Evo Morales thanked Fidel for his article. 
Morales, however, did not increase the controversy by stating that 
Chile and Bolivia had "taken important steps" on this topic.  "We 
feel we have regained trust between the governments of Bolivia and 
Chile (La Tercera, 2/14; El Mercurio, 2/17). 
 
¶6.  On the morning when the Fidel's first column was published, 
Foreign Minister Foxley met with his Cuban counterpart to ask the 
Cuban government clarify that Fidel's column did not represent 
Havana's position.  Foxley said that neither Bachelet and Raul 
Castro nor he and his counterpart discussed the issue of Bolivia's 
maritime demand, adding that Fidel's column was written from a 
historical perspective (La Tercera, 2/14). 
 
¶7.  Just minutes after landing in Santiago, Bachelet told the press 
that she had expressed to Raul Castro her "disapproval" of Fidel's 
column.  Her remarks to the press are a deep contrast with the 
silence she kept during her stay in Havana after the publication of 
Fidel's column (La Tercera, 2/14). 
 
¶8.  Evo Morales and Bachelet have made significant diplomatic 
efforts to keep Bolivia's maritime demand a bilateral issue.  The 
Foreign Ministry's concern is that Fidel's columns will set these 
efforts back, by encouraging Nicaragua, Venezuela, and even Bolivia 
to take a different stance (El Mercurio, 2/14). 
 
¶9.  The controversy caused by Fidel Castro's column shows the deeper 
differences that exist between Raul and Fidel over the road that 
Cuba must follow in international policy (La Tercera, 2/15). 
 
¶10.  While the opposition looks for excuses to criticize Bachelet's 
trip to Cuba, the President worked.  Proof of that are the series of 
cooperation agreements signed by the Biotechnology and Genetics 
Engineering Center with Chile's International Cooperation Agency, 
and the respective Ministries of Agriculture (La Nacion, 
government-owned, editorially independent, 2/16). 
 
¶11.  Bachelet's visit to Cuba strengthened the political dialogue 
with Cuba on an array of subjects, including human rights. 
President Bachelet's assessment of the tirp is that it was positive. 
(La Nacion, 2/15). 
 
Editorials on Cuba 
------------------ 
¶12.  "The state visit to Cuba has been politicized by Fidel Castro, 
who used the Chilean President's visit to promote his unsuccessful 
ideological agenda, rather than to strengthen bilateral ties as the 
Chilean delegation intended....  But beyond spoiling the purpose of 
the President's trip to promote international ties without 
exclusion, Cuba's interventionist obstinacy calls for Chile to 
officially respond with determination, and to set the record 
straight that these repeated interference are unacceptable (El 
Mercurio, 2/17). 
 
¶13.  "By excluding human rights from her visit, President Bachelet 
missed a great opportunity to show she is impartial in her 
commitment to human rights (El Mercurio, 2/14). 
 
¶14.  Column by Libardo Buitrago:  "By touching the subject of 
Bolivia, Fidel sent Evo Morales a message, which is that he should 
insist on his demand for a passage to the sea and abandon the talks 
with Santiago....  The Cuban leader also undermined what Chile was 
trying to build in the region, with Mexico and Brazil, along the 
lines of what the Obama administration has labeled 'a new era'.... 
Cuba was going through one of its best moment in its ties with the 
region... and Fidel's reflections could very well set all that back 
(Diario Financiero, 2/16). 
 
¶15.  "The foreign policy of the Concertacion governments have always 
had as a priority Chile's integration within Latin America ... and 
ties with Havana are no exception.... The President's visit to Cuba 
is part of that policy of dialogue and diversity... and, in that 
context, meeting with Cuba's dissidence ... was untimely" (La 
Nacion, 2/16). 
 
¶16.  "Castro intervened in Chilean politics, putting the President 
(Bachelet) in an uncomfortable position....  We did not know and 
were not expecting any significant outcome from this trip, which 
concluded with an incident which was both uncomfortable and 
offensive for Chile, especially for the President" (la Segunda, 
2/14). 
 
SIMONS