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TAGS: ECON KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL SNAR EFIN CI
SUBJECT: Santiago Jan. 26 Media Report 
 
January 26 Media Report 
 
 
 
Lead 
 
¶1.      La Moneda is trying to avoid further conflict with the 
Government of Venezuela over the suspension of the Chilean TV 
broadcast station (Conservative, independent La Tercera, 1/26). 
 
 
 
Haiti 
 
¶2.   In an emergency meeting yesterday in Montreal, Canadian Prime 
Minister Stephen Harper said Haiti's reconstruction would require a 
10-year international effort.  The question, however, is who will 
lead this effort, especially now that some are suspicious of the 
large number of soldiers that have arrived to Haiti, particularly 
from the United States. Meanwhile, Haiti's Prime Minister Jean Max 
Bellereive stated that his country has the capability to take 
charge of the reconstruction on its own.  Another issue of concern 
is security.  Brazilian General Floriano Peixoto, who is leading 
the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah), said that 
Brazil is solely responsible for safety in Haiti, adding that any 
tasks that the Minustah and the United States undertake are 
regulated by a protocol signed by the two parties.  By saying this, 
Peixoto was reaffirming the division of labor in Haiti, where the 
Minustah is responsible for security and the United States for 
humanitarian aid.  There was some friction between Brazil and the 
United States over this when President Obama decided to send a 
military contingent of 11,000 to Haiti, which took over tasks 
assigned to the Minustah (Conservative, influential 
newspaper-of-record El Mercurio, 1/26). 
 
 
 
¶3.   International Development Bank (IDB) President Luis Moreno 
said an international aid program similar to the one deployed for 
Central America when Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998 should be 
applied to Haiti. "Latin America and the Caribbean can and must 
play a stronger role in this aid," said Moreno (Conservative, 
afternoon La Segunda, 1/25). 
 
 
 
Venezuela suspends operations of Chilean TV broadcast station 
 
¶4.   The Venezuelan government suspended the airing of six 
international broadcasters including TV Chile, owned by TVN.  A 
Venezuelan law requires foreign stations to submit information on 
their programming so that they can be classified as international 
signals.  TVN did not submit the information on time and was 
therefore sanctioned for failing to air a presidential message, as 
local stations are required to do (Financial daily Diario 
Financiero, 1/26). 
 
 
 
¶5.   La Moneda discussed the situation in its January 25 political 
committee meeting and decided to down-play the incident. "This 
(compliance with Venezuelan law) concerns cable operators and TVN. 
There is no international diplomatic issue here," said Chilean 
Government spokesperson Pilar Armanet.  Government sources said 
that La Moneda does not want a controversy with Venezuela just 
weeks from the swearing-in of the new administration (La Tercera, 
1/26). 
 
 
 
¶6.   Chilean Government spokesperson Pilar Armanet: "We hope to 
revoke the situation in the days ahead.  We have contacted Chile's 
ambassador in Venezuela and the information is that there are 
administrative procedures that must be completed. The Venezuelan 
cable operator that carries the TVN signal is completing those 
administrative procedures. It's very important to have all the 
 
information before reacting." Armanet said that this involves 
Venezuelan laws "which we respect," and concluded, "This matter 
concerns the actors directly involved" (Business, financial 
Estrategia, 1/26). 
 
 
 
¶7.   TVN issued a statement saying it had received an email on 
Friday from Venezuela saying that the station was required to 
submit several documents to register with Venezuela's National 
Telecommunications Committee (CONATEL) as an international 
broadcaster.  Two days later, TVN's signal had been removed from 
cable companies in Venezuela.  TVN said it would gather the 
necessary documents to revoke the suspension, which the station 
presumes is temporary. TVN sources note, however, that while in its 
webpage CONATEL reports that 122 of the 286 international signals 
in Venezuela failed to submit the required information, only six 
were suspended (Diario Financiero, 1/26). 
 
 
 
¶8.  Senate foreign relations committee member Sergio Romero 
(right-wing RN) said the suspension of TV Chile in Venezuela was a 
violation of the OAS Democratic Charter (El Mercurio, 1/26). 
 
 
 
¶9.    President-elect Pi????era will establish direct and 
institutional ties with Venezuela to avoid confrontation, said his 
international relations advisors.  At the same time, he will try to 
play an active role to modify the OAS Democratic Charter.  The 
charter focuses on containing dictatorships in the region, but must 
now address "Palace coups" promoted by populist leaders such as 
Chavez in Venezuela and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua (La Tercera, 
1/26). 
 
 
 
¶10.  While Venezuela claims that it had notified TVN of the 
requirements to register as an international broadcaster last week, 
TVN claims it was notified last Friday, just two days before the 
suspension became effective.  TVN underscored that this is an 
administrative and not a political issue (Conservative, afternoon 
daily La Segunda, 1/25). 
 
 
 
¶11.  Editorial:  "Chavez: Between Provocation and Violation: The 
suspension of TV Chile, TVN's international signal, could be 
interpreted different ways . . .  The mayor of Caracas Antonio 
Ledezma. . .  sees a 'provocation' toward (Chilean president-elect) 
Pi????era.  This could very well be a forewarning of the type of 
situation that the future Chilean Administration will be 
confronting, and that will call for determination but also prudence 
and pragmatism. . .  to avoid falling into the game of on-going 
conflict that Chavez seems to be seeking (La Segunda, 1/25). 
 
 
 
¶12. Editorial: "Another attack on freedom of expression in 
Venezuela: . . .  It is timely to recall that in the past Chile has 
been reluctant to condemn attacks on freedom of expression in 
Venezuela, such as other governments, international organizations, 
and institutions tied to the defense of human rights have done. 
This is an opportunity for the Government of Chile to reaffirm the 
conviction of its democratic values with the kind of prudence that 
must exist among states, but without undermining the strength of 
Chile stance in these matters (La Tercera, 1/26). 
 
 
 
Note:  PA will continue to monitor this issue 
 
 
 
Local Politics 
 
¶13. Defense Minister Francisco Vidal will announce today the 
arrival of eighteen Dutch used F16s.  The purchase was announced in 
April of last year (El Mercurio, 1/26). 
 
 
 
¶14.  Among the possible candidates for finance minister of the 
Pi????era Administration are economists Felipe Larrain (Harvard 
University), Juan Andres Fontaine (University of Chicago), and the 
head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economics 
department Ricardo Caballero (El Mercurio, 1/26). 
URBAN