Cablegate: Santiago Feb. 11 Media Report

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL SNAR EFIN CI
SUBJECT: Santiago Feb. 11 Media Report

Lead Story

1. President-elect Pi????era instructed his new cabinet members
to resign from any company boards and foundations to which they
belong by February 28. He also instructed them to sell their
shares in companies that could in any way lead to a conflict of
interest or that are supervised by their respective ministries
(Conservative, independent La Tercera, 2/11).

OAS

2. In an editorial published yesterday, The Washington Post
launched an offensive against the reelection of Jose Miguel Insulza
to the Organization of American States (OAS). The editorial
criticized Insulza's performance and called on the USG to promote
another candidate. The organization, says the editorial, has
"failed in consolidating and promoting representative democracy"
and has "served the leaders of the left in the region, frequently
disavowing the organization's Democratic Charter." The criticism
occurs just a few weeks after A/S for Western Hemisphere Arturo
Valenzuela said that the United States had not yet taken a stance
regarding the election of a new secretary general in the OAS.
President-elect Pi????era has not discussed this topic directly, but
the current government assures that Insulza will have the support
of the incoming administration (Conservative, influential
newspaper-of-record, El Mercurio, 2/11).

3. Headline: "Conservative U.S. newspaper declares war on
Insulza." In yesterday's editorial, The Washington Post said that
Insulza's leadership of the OAS was inefficient. But the fact is
that Insulza is the only candidate for the election of secretary
general for the next period, although the election is just a month
away (Government-owned La Nacion, 2/11).

4. The United States must not endorse Insulza's reelection to the
OAS, said The Washington Post, because the organization had failed
in consolidating and supporting democracy in Latin America. The
daily recommends the U.S. Congress to review its financial support
to the organization. But Insulza's reelection is practically
assured, because 17 countries have already given him their vote:

Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay), Chile,
Colombia, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Caricom countries (La
Tercera, 2/11).

Local Politics

5. President-elect Pi????era held yesterday his first cabinet
meeting, where one of the main topics of discussion was the need
for all cabinet members to become independent from their businesses
to avoid conflict of interest (El Mercurio, 2/11).

6. Pi????era's ministers met yesterday with their counterparts in
the Bachelet administration to start the power transfer (Business
daily Estrategia, 2/11).

7. In accordance to the new law, President Bachelet appointed the
board members that will represent her in state-owned copper company
Codelco. They will remain in office until May 2011, when
President-elect Pi????era can appoint his own representatives
(Government-owned La Nacion, 2/11).
URBAN

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