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TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV ECON PREL SNAR EFIN CI
SUBJECT:  CHILE MEDIA REPORT - JUNE 15 
 
Leading Stories 
--------------- 
¶1.  Chile has 2,335 confirmed cases of AH1N1, but only two deaths. 
The Health Ministry informed that it will stop the daily count of 
cases and will now issue reports only on Tuesdays and Fridays. 
President Bachelet signed the Health Emergency Decree that empowers 
the Ministry of Health special measures to treat the outbreak. 
 
U.S.-Related News 
----------------- 
¶2.  Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Senator Chuck 
Grassley introduced a bill to eliminate a subsidy paid to cellulose 
producers.  "Contrary to the intention of the law, cellulose 
producers have been adding diesel to black liquor to qualify for 
loans given to those who use fuels based on biomass," says the bill. 
 This backs the position taken by Chile's forestry sector, which has 
urged Bachelet to include the topic in her discussion with President 
Obama in Washington this month (El Mercurio, conservative, 
influential newspaper-of-record (circ. 129,000, 6/15). 
 
¶3.  Minister of the Environment Ana Lya Uriarte received a letter 
from Secretary Clinton thanking her for attending the Antarctic 
Consulting Meeting and for Uriarte's present when both met in April 
(La Segunda, conservative, afternoon, circ. 33,000, 6/12). 
 
¶4.  Photo coverage of the seminar, "Legacy of Family Businesses in 
Society," organized by the Santiago Chamber of Commerce, University 
Alberto Hurtado, and sponsored by the David Rockefeller Center for 
Latin American Studies. Special guest was Harvard University scholar 
Charles Collier (El Mercurio, 6/15). 
 
¶5. At a meeting of Home Depot shareholders in Miami, Gary Hughes, of 
the organization "Patagonia without Dams," questioned Home Depot for 
its ties with Chile's Matte Group.  Matte supplies Home Depot with 
retail wood products and is one of the owners of Hydroaysen, which 
plans to build several dams in Chile's Patagonia (La Tercera, 
conservative, independent, circ. 101,000, 6/14). 
 
¶6.  In remarks to the Chilean Council for International Relations, 
Foreign Affairs Minister Mariano Fernandez underscored the "level of 
trust and mutual respect," between Chile and the United States and 
highlighted the Chile-California Partnership (El Mercurio, 6/15) 
 
Bachelet's Trip to the United States 
------------------------------------ 
¶7.  President Bachelet will arrive in Washington, D.C., on June 23, 
to meet with President Obama.  The next day she will meet with Vice 
President Jose Biden, speak at the Brookings Institute, call on OAS 
Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, and visit the Panamerican 
Health Organization (PAHO) to discuss Chile's efforts in combatting 
the expansion of human influenza.  During her visit, both countries 
will sign a memorandum of Understanding on renewable energy (Diario 
Financiero, business and financial, circ. 30,000, 6/15). 
 
¶8.  "The fall of Lehman Brothers marked a point of inflection.... 
Some foresaw the death of capitalism.... The more serious ones did 
not go so far and predicted essential changes while others noted 
Anglo-Saxon capitalism had reached its end....  The arrival of Obama 
-- young, progressive, Afro-American -- to the White House seemed to 
fulfill that prognosis....  But three months into Obama's office, 
one simple conclusion can be drawn: the new administration will push 
for very important changes, but these will not change the essence of 
the U.S. capitalist system" (Economist Sebastian Edwards, La 
Tercera, 6/14). 
 
Nuclear Energy-Alternative Energy 
--------------------------------- 
¶9.  Rafael Guilisasti, chairman of the most important business 
organization in the country, CPC, said Chile cannot progress without 
adding nuclear energy into the energy matrix.  He called on the 
government to move from research to concrete actions; that all 
presidential candidates take a stance on the topic; and Congress 
generate a national consensus on the development of nuclear energy. 
Guilsasti said that while hydroelectricity meets the energy demands 
in the south, the lack of water in the north, where most mining 
companies are located, calls for alternative energy sources that 
must include nuclear reactors (La Tercera, 6/14). 
 
¶10.  All presidential candidates agree that nuclear energy must be 
considered as an alternative energy source. Sebastian Pinera has 
been looking primarily into eolic, geothermal, and solar energy.  In 
January he said that all forms of energy must be considered.  Marco 
Enriquez-Ominami said that although his priority is to encourage the 
development of non-conventional renewable energies, he believes 
there must be a national debate on nuclear energy. Eduardo Frei's 
position is that nuclear energy has a "strategic element," whereby 
Chile must have nuclear reactors if its neighbors do (La Tercera, 
6/15). 
 
Chile-Iran 
---------- 
¶11.  Chile's decision not to open a diplomatic mission in Iran since 
1989 is due to U.S. pressure, said diplomatic sources.  In 1998, 
Chile voted against Iran in the U.N. Human Rights commission at the 
request of the U.S. Ambassador in Santiago; Iran closed its Embassy 
in Santiago a week later.  Chile had rights to explore oil fields in 
that country and, therefore, in 1999, tried to organize a commercial 
mission to Teheran, but failed.  Iran reopened its Embassy in 
Santiago in 2006, but to date the GOC has not appointed an 
ambassador (La Tercera, 6/14). 
 
Chile-Peru 
---------- 
¶12.  Chilean and Peruvian army officials will meet in late June. 
This will be the first reunion since Peru filed a maritime border 
claim in March against Chile with The International Court at The 
Hague.  Santiago is downplaying the upcoming meeting, but Lima sees 
it as a chance to lower tension between the two armies, especially 
after Peruvian congressmen criticized Chile's military acquisitions 
(La Tercera, 6/13). 
 
Chile-Economy 
------------- 
¶13.  Wall Street experts believe the time is right for Chile to 
issue its first sovereign bond, the first in five years (El 
Mercurio, 6/13). 
 
Enriquez-Ominami 
---------------- 
¶14.  Interview on different topics with presidential candidate Marco 
Enriquez-Ominami: "I don't believe the Concertacion as it stands 
today represent the idea on which it was founded....  It was right 
for Chavez to close RCTV, because the station had loaned itself to 
unacceptable practices, but I could not disagree more with Chavez' 
expulsion of (Human Rights Director) Jose Miguel Vivanco....  Fidel 
Castro showed that it's possible to withstand a U.S. embargo, but 
today he is a man of the past" (El Mercurio, 6/14). 
 
Digital Television 
------------------ 
¶15.  Staff writer with the acronyms MOJ: "It's an important 
technical landmark that the world's first power and most important 
economy went from analogous to digital television....  We have yet 
to see how the 2.8 million American homes that don't have the 
required decoding box will jump on the wagon....  Nevertheless, it's 
a historic day....  There will be more television... but will there 
be better television?  That, my dear reader is an entirely different 
matter" (La Tercera, 6/13). 
 
¶16.  "Digital Television and Common Good," by Catholic University 
professor Sergio Godoy:  "Digital television has been around for 
some time.  There are the DVDs and the fact that most paid 
television (cable and satellite) air on digital transmissions, and 
that traditional stations produce all their programs on digital. 
Why then don't we have digital TV?  All receivers in Chile are 
analogous.... Experience in advanced countries such as England or 
Japan suggest that the television of the future... must still be for 
the common good....  By this I mean... better TV (more interactive, 
more stations, better images, more interesting content) with more 
local production and better content.  Will our congressmen be able 
to square that circle?" (La Tercera, 6/15) 
 
SIMONS