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SUBJECT: Santiago Chile Media Report, January 14
Lead Story
1. Dailies provided extensive coverage on the aftermath
of the earthquake in Haiti, the two Chilean women who are missing
in the island and international assistance efforts.
Haiti/U.S.-Chile
2. "Obama Calls President Bachelet to Coordinate Aid."
At approximately 7:00pm, President Michelle Bachelet held a phone
conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama to coordinate
assistance efforts for Haiti. Sources at La Moneda revealed that
Obama also conveyed his sympathy over the Chilean women who went
missing. Bachelet told her American counterpart about Chilean
Presidential delegate to Haiti Juan Gabriel Vald????s's mission to
coordinate the assistance. (Conservative, newspaper-of-record El
Mercurio, 1/14)
3. EFE wire story: Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez
confirmed that U.S. President Barack Obama called President
Michelle Bachelet Wednesday evening to discuss the tragedy in
Haiti. Obama conveyed his sympathy over the missing Chileans,
which according to Foreign Ministry sources sum up to four, and
spoke about coordinating the humanitarian aid efforts initiated by
both countries. In addition, the U.S. President praised Brigade
General Ricardo Toro's strength of mind for having accepted to
temporarily take charge of Minustah's operations in spite of his
wife's disappearance in the island. (Liberal, online daily El
Mostrador, 1/14)
4. Chilean Representative to the U.N. Heraldo Mu????oz
commented on the disaster: "Fate has vented its anger on Haiti." In
spite of the heartbreaking panorama, Ambassador Mu????oz picks up
notes that the world has put back its eyes on the impoverished
Caribbean nation, "All of a sudden, this tragedy may become an
opportunity," he noted. (El Mercurio, 1/14)
5. Editorial entitled "The Disaster in Haiti and the
International Community's Debt." "Images of the catastrophe are a
crude reminder that, in spite of the longstanding efforts to assist
the Caribbean nation in leaving behind it's weighed down condition
in the Hemisphere, these have been insufficient, although valued .
. . In the midst of this emergency, one cannot put aside a further
long-term focus, which dictates that the international community's
commitment with Haiti, especially Latin America's, should be
sustained." (La Tercera, 1/14)
IPR
6. After two years of legislative procedures, the
Chilean Senate approved reforming the Intellectual Property Law
that modernizes the legislation that has been in force since the
70s. In essence, the new text increases sanctions on individuals
who infringe intellectual property rights, but at the same time
makes explicit the conditions under which they are allowed to make
copies of copyrighted works for a greater cause. In addition, the
law honors the accords signed by Chile under the Free Trade
Agreement with the United States, by limiting, among other issues,
the responsibility of Internet providers (ISP) when users infringe
the law. (El Mercurio 1/14)
Local Politics
7. Former Presidential candidate Marco Enriquez-Ominami
(who obtained 20.13 percent of the votes in the first round) gave
his support to government coalition presidential aspirant Eduardo
Frei. Explicitly, Deputy Enriquez-Ominami avoided mentioning Frei's
name while endorsing his campaign, and gave his followers full
autonomy in the upcoming runoff. Enriquez-Ominami also revealed
that he will be an opponent to any of the candidates elected next
Sunday, January 17 and suggested he would compete again in 2013.
(El Mercurio, 1/14)
8. Opinion polling company Mori released its latest poll
prior to next Sunday's runoff: Sebastian Pi????era 40.8 percent;
Eduardo Frei 39.4 percent; Null/Will Not Vote 20.8 percent. The
survey conducted 1,200 face to face interviews during January 1-9.
It has a 3 percent margin of error. (El Mercurio, 1/14)
SIMONS