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RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000238 
 
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 Feb. 20-22 Media Report 
 
Pi????era Administration 
 
¶1.    It is expected that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will 
Pi????era's swearing-in ceremony on March 11. The presidents of 
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, 
and Guatemala have confirmed their attendance (La Tercera, 2/21). 
 
 
 
¶2.    On Thursday President-elect Pi????era appointed his 
undersecretaries, plus directors or assistant directors for budget, 
the National Environmental Committee, Chile Deportes (Chile 
Sports), and the assistant director of the National Council for the 
Arts and Culture.   As with his ministers, Pi????era chose engineers 
from the Catholic University, with graduate studies abroad -- 
mostly in the United States--, and with ties to conservative think 
tanks and institutions such as Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo and 
Fundacion Jaime Guzman.  But unlike his ministers, the future 
undersecretaries have more political experience: 20 have worked in 
state organizations and 7 have been members of legislative or 
government commissions.  The average age of the future 
undersecretaries is 45.1, 20 are from Santiago; 11 are women, 20 
men; 15 are UDI, 7are  RN, one belongs to an opposition party 
(PPD), and 16 have no formal party affiliation;  63% have graduate 
studies, and nine studied at the University of Chile (Conservative, 
independent La Tercera, 2/21) 
 
 
 
¶3.    Pi????era did not yet name the undersecretary for defense. 
Sources said that among the possible candidates is current army 
Commander-in-Chief Oscar Izurieta.  The general has a Masters in 
political science with a concentration in international relations 
and will retire on March 9.  Another candidate is Izurieta's 
predecessor, Juan Emilio Cheyre. This general set a landmark by 
publicly and officially accepting in 2004 the army's responsibility 
for human rights violations committed during the military regime. 
Cheyre is currently head of the Catholic University's International 
Studies Center (Conservative, influential newspaper-of-record El 
Mercurio, 2 /21). 
 
 
 
¶4.   Pi????era officials have asked Chile's cultural and press 
attaches in embassies abroad to stay in office until April 30, that 
is, more than a month after the new president is sworn-in, to 
assist the new administration in the transition (El Mercurio, 
2/21). 
 
 
 
¶5.    On Friday, Pi????era criticized the Bachelet administration's 
fiscal management noting that his administration would be 
inheriting a US$7 billion deficit.  Pi????era said his administration 
would work on an "austere" budget to resolve the "most urgent 
needs."  La Moneda was not pleased with Pinera's remarks and said 
the deficit was "moderate" and the result of the economic crisis 
(La Tercera 2/20). 
 
 
 
OAS 
 
¶6.    The delegates at the Rio Group Summit in Mexico have already 
moved forward on the creation of a new regional organization for 
Latin American and the Caribbean.  The new organization would merge 
the Rio Group and Caricom and exclude the United States and Canada. 
While the exclusion of the United States is a concern for countries 
such as Colombia and Peru, Bolivian President Morales said that if 
the Rio Summit wishes to "leave a mark," it must "ask for a new OAS 
without the United States."  In this context, Bachelet said that 
although the proposal is heading "in the right direction," a new 
organization must "never be seen as replacing the OAS." Bachelet 
said the new organization should be "an association among 
governments to articulate policy and not replace the OAS" (El 
 
Mercurio, 2/22). 
 
 
 
Haiti 
 
¶7.    In Port-au-Prince, Presidents Bachelet and Preval discussed 
Brazil's proposal, endorsed by the United States and France, to 
create an international aid cooperation agency.  Bachelet has been 
asked to coordinate the agency. Sources said she is willing to 
accept, but must first have a sense of how the agency will operate, 
what resources it will have, and what authority will be invested 
upon her (El Mercurio, 2/22). 
 
 
 
Chile Other Countries 
 
¶8.    President Bachelet and her Guatemalan counterpart Alvaro 
Colom signed a bilateral free trade agreement (Government-owned La 
Nacion, 2/22). 
 
 
 
¶9.    Chilean company IDC will sue the Hugo Chavez government 
before the International Center for Settlement of Investment 
Disputes for the expropriation of the concession of the airport on 
Isla Magarita in 2005 (La Tercera, 2/20). 
 
 
 
Science 
 
¶10.  Chile is willing to transfer 55,000 hectares for the European 
Southern Observatory to build the largest telescope in the world, 
the E-ELT, in the north.  Chile would give 18,900 hectares for free 
on 
 
        the Armzones hill and 36,200 surrounding the hill in 
concession and protected from any activity that might interfere 
with the light. The government is also guaranteeing electricity 
supply (La 
 
        Tercera, 2/20). 
SIMONS