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R 102015Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0412
INFO RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
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UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001204 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR R/MR, I/PP, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL SNAR EFIN CI
SUBJECT: Santiago Dec. 10 Media Report 
 
Lead Story 
 
¶1.      President Bachelet will celebrate the International Human 
Rights Day today with a visit to Talagante, the location where the 
first victims of the military regime were found in 1978.  Bachelet 
and presidential candidate Eduardo Frei have been highlighting 
human rights in the final portion of the presidential campaign 
(Conservative, independent La Tercera, 12/10). 
 
 
 
U.S.-Related News 
 
¶2.   Assistant Secretary Arturo Valenzuela will travel to 
Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay next week as the region 
stands divided over the election in Honduras.  In fact, the four 
countries that Valenzuela is visiting don't recognize the results 
of the election in Honduras and still consider Manuel Zelaya its 
president. Valenzuela will speak today to the foreign media on U.S. 
policy toward Latin America and Secretary Clinton will deliver a 
speech tomorrow on the same topic (Conservative, influential El 
Mercurio, 12/10). 
 
 
 
¶3.   Chile was excluded from Valenzuela's first trip to the 
Southern cone.  Valenzuela will arrive to the region amid division 
over the recognition of the election in Honduras (La Tercera, 
12/10). 
 
 
 
¶4.   All the countries that Assistant Secretary Valenzuela will 
visit have left-wing regimes and, unlike the United States, don't 
recognize the election in Honduras.  However, they are not close to 
the axis formed by Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia.  At the Summit 
of the Americas, the United States announced a new stage in its 
relations with Latin America, but as months have gone by, relations 
have begun to deteriorate.  That is why Valenzuela and Secretary of 
State Clinton have the mission of explaining the goals of U.S. 
diplomacy to their allies (Government-owned, La Nacion, 12/10). 
 
 
 
¶5.   Issues that separate the White House from the region: The most 
recent impasse that has "poisoned" U.S. relations with the region 
is the military agreement signed by Washington and Bogota.  Both 
the United States and Colombia have tried to explain the scope of 
the agreement, which has been discussed in a wide number of forums 
in the region.  The agreement, however, has never been revealed and 
this has hurt Washington's ties with some of its allies, such as 
Brazil.  At the latest Summit of the Americas, Latin America asked 
the United States to lift the embargo on Cuba, but this did not 
happen and relations between the two countries remain unchanged (La 
Nacion, 12/9). 
 
 
 
Chile-U.S. 
 
¶6.  At a conference with experts on cancer from several countries 
including the United States, Undersecretary of Health Jeanette Vega 
announced an agreement that would allow Chilean women with breast 
cancer to receive experimental therapy in the United States 
(Regional daily La Prensa Austral, 12/1). 
 
 
 
Poll 
 
¶7.   The Centro de Estudios Publicos (CEP) released a "prediction" 
on Sunday's presidential election based on previous polling 
information: 44.1% for Sebastian Pinera, 31% for Eduardo Frei, 
17.7% for Marco Enriquez Ominami, and 7.2% for Jorge Arrate (La 
Tercera, 12/10). 
 
Death of former President Eduardo Frei Montalva 
 
¶8.  Judge Alejandro Madrid ruled that the death of former President 
Frei in 1982, "was caused by the gradual administration of 
non-conventional toxic substances and a non-authorized 
pharmaceutical product called 'Transfer Factor',' plus the 
existence of an array of anomalous situations." Madrid believes 
that the gradual application of Transfer Factor facilitated septic 
shock (La Tercera, 12/10). 
 
 
 
¶9.  Forensic expert Laura Borgel said that the administration of 
Transfer Factor was not decisive in Frei's death, because "the mix 
of sulfuric mustard and thallium had already done their job." 
Borgel said that the most conclusive results were drawn from Frei's 
hair and were confirmed by foreign laboratories that she declined 
to identify (El Mercurio, 12/10). 
 
 
 
¶10. The analysis of samples of Frei's brain and hair confirmed the 
presence of thallium and mustard gas in his body, which was exhumed 
in 2004 for forensic testing. The samples were tested in Chile and 
in the United States and led Doctor Laura Borgel to conclude that 
Frei was repeatedly administered small amounts of both chemicals. 
Borgel also studies blood tests taken from Frei before his death 
during his stay at the hospital before his death and said these 
were consistent with the use of the two chemicals in question. 
Borgel also used infrared and other testing methods to confirm her 
results. A source said that Borgel tested the samples at the U.S. 
Army Laboratory in 2007, which detected the presence of thallium. 
This occurred at the same time FBI tests ruled out the presence of 
drugs in Frei's body (Conservative, afternoon La Segunda, 12/9). 
SIMONS