CHILE: 7 JULY UPDATE: Hoping To Calm Protesters...Pinera Proposes $4bn For Higher Education; Starbucks Workers Plan Strike.

                                       LINK CHANGE / REUTERS


President Sebastian Pinera's administration has been beset by regular mass student protests...even rioting met with water cannons and tear gas...over education standards and costs.
New polls show that Pinera's approval rating dropped to 31%...down by 15 points in June.


Now he has proposed $4bn usd for higher education...to try to calm protesters and regain support.


But the protesters apparently...are not buying it. They recently held a kiss-in protest.


"It's not just a student movement. There's a strong and widespread discontent that Spain's 'indignados' are also expressing," said a political analyst .


Those education protests...along with large recent protests against  proposed Patagonian energy projects... and a possible strike at state copper giant Codelco...have threatened his legislative plans.
AND: Some union workers at Chile's Starbucks...will walkout over low pay and benefits.
New hires get $2.50 per hour...a rate that hasn't changed in 8 years.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/07/starbucks-idUSN1E76523020110707

CHILE: Court Halts Controversial Patagonian Dams Project.

BBC

A court has suspended a $3bn usd dam project in the wilds of Patagonia after recent massive protests and objections by legislators and environmentalists.

Five dams were proposed and approved in May for the Aysen area of Patagonia with heavy support from President Sebastian Pinera.

 The court ruled it needs time to review the approval process.

CHILE : 24 May UPDATE :More Anti-Patagonia Dams Protests...And Clashes; 22 Injured In Valparaiso.

LINK CHANGE: M.PRESS

      Protestors angry over construction of 5 dams in the wilds of Patagonia, clashed with police...while President Sebastian Pinera delivered his annual state of the nation address to congress in Valparaiso.
     Protests were also held in 27 other Chilean cities...and some turned into riots.
     In Valparaiso, an estimated 15,000 called for change.
     But 22 were injured...including 12 civilians. At least 70 were arrested.

CHILE: Protestors Clash With Police In Coyhaique Over Patagonian Dams Approvals; 2 Injured, 22 Arrested.

MPRESS/

    Police hosed down some demonstrators outside a building in Coyhaique where, after 3 years study, an environmental commission approved the building of 5 dams...on 2 rivers...in the wilds of Patagonia.
    A police officer and at least one other person were injured and 22 were arrested in the melee.

 (TO SEE 1:08 ENGLISH VIDEO Of Protest)
http://jp.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=209286553 

   The new dams will flood nearly 6,000 hectares of land and require building a 1,900 kilometer/1,000 mile transmission line thru the wilderness to Santiago...at a cost of  $7 bn usd.
   Hydro electric construction has been pushed by President Pinera
(pictured) to supply new energy to the nation's important mining industry.
   “We have to get that energy somewhere, independent of what the project is, because energy today is twice as expensive as in other Latin American countries,”said spokeswoman.“We want to be a developed country and to do that we need energy, especially cheap energy for the poor.”
    Though 61% of Chileans oppose the dams, the nation has no oil or gas resources and must import 97% of energy other than hydro-electric power.

BOLIVIA / CHILE: Oppenheimer: Evo Picking Fight With Pinera To Improve Popularity.

M.HERALD/ OPINION: Andres Oppenheimer

    "Leftist populist President Evo Morales — until recently one of Latin America’s most popular presidents — is playing a dangerous card to improve his falling support at home: reviving a 132-year-old territorial conflict with neighboring Chile.
    What’s going on?, I asked several Bolivian politicians and journalists. Virtually all responded that Morales, who won a second term in 2009 with a massive 64 percent of the vote, has been in a political free fall since December, and is propping up the fight with Chile for domestic political reasons.
   Morales’ popularity has fallen to 32 percent in most polls, his lowest number since he took office five years ago."
   “The government is rapidly losing popular support, and this fight with Chile is a consequence of that,” says Samuel Doria Medina, a business tycoon and opposition leader who is currently facing several government suits for alleged economic crimes. “Morales is trying to divert public attention from our economic problems.”

CHILE / CZECH REPUBLIC: Prez.Klaus Gifts Himself With Pen...And Delights YouTube/ Facebook.

GUARDIAN/

    On a recent visit to Chile, crusty euroskeptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus, 69, adeptly spirited away a pen covered with semi-precious stones...during a press conference...with a nifty slight of hand...that is now popular viewing on YouTube and Facebook...and ridiculed in Prague.
     Seated next to Chile's President Pinera, Klaus (pictured above left) is seen taking a pen out of a box, examining it carefully, then hiding his hands under the table, rearranges his jacket, buttoning it up with both hands and ending with empty hands above the table again.
      The video has had more than 550,000 views so far.
FOR VIDEO: In Czech: 1:04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrAqoT4l-3A  

CHILE: Obama Would Consider Opening Records Of Painful Pinochet Era.

M. HERALD / J.WYSS/  Overview/

    President Obama and his family arrived in Chile for a short stay after speaking in Brasilia, touring Rio's tourist sites, visiting a repatriated favela/slum and even kicking around a soccer/futbol.
  His Santiago visit was met with a small protest of environmental groups and university organizations.

  At the  news conference, a journalist asked Obama whether he also would “ask for forgiveness” for the USA's role in the 1973 coup that brought dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet to power and for the “open wounds” that remain. Obama said that his administration would consider requests for information but that neither country should be “trapped by our history.”  “So I can’t speak to all of the policies of the past,” he (Obama) said. “I can speak certainly to the policies of the present and the future.”

  “I know I’m not the first president from the United States to pledge a new spirit of partnership with our Latin American neighbors,” he said. “Words are easy, and I know that there have been times where perhaps the United States took this region for granted.”
OBAMA/ PINOCHET COVERAGE:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/21/2127064/obama-says-us-ready-to-help-chile.html

CHILE: Protests Against Pinera Mark Quake Anniversary.

AP/ M.HERALD / E. VERGARA /


    The opponents of President Sebastian Pinera have staged protests and questioned his claims of success after 2010's 8.8 quake that killed 524 people with 31 still missing and caused $30 billion in damage with some 220,000 families homeless.
     Thousands of families still live in unheated flimsy wooden shacks without running water and sharing bathrooms.

CHILE: Strong Quake Shakes Nerves And Sends Fears Soaring.

AP/ M.HERALD/

   A 6.8 quake hit the central area almost exactly where last year's magnitude-8.8 quake spawned a tsunami and devastated coastal communities, again disrupting phone and electricity and sending thousands of terrified citizens to higher ground.
   Dozens of aftershocks followed ranging from 3.9 to 6.3.
  In Santiago, skyscrapers swayed and inland mothers ran into the streets carrying babies in their arms.
   President Sebastian Pinera called for calm.
    "Today we're better prepared," Pinera said. "I think we've learned the lesson of Feb. 27, 2010."
  Pinera warned that "experts and seismological centers have said that we can expect aftershocks up to five years after the earthquake of 27 February 2010."
   The 2010 quake (damage pictured) killed at least 521 people, left 200,000 homeless and caused at least $30 billion in damage..

CHILE: Deal Ends Punta Arenas Blockades, Freeing 3,000 Tourists.

BBC/

   The sometimes violent demonstrations and road blocks that kept 3,000 tourists as virtual hostages after the government proposed a 17% increase in the cost of nat gas and outraged residents of the Magallanes region of Patagonia...has apparently ended.
     The government reached a deal to end the week of protests by cutting the increase to just 3%...and increasing subsidies for 15,000 poor families.
    The demonstrations have been President Pinera's biggest challenge since massive earthquakes shook his nation in 2010.

CHILE: Pinera Officially Recognizes An Independent Palestine.

NYTIMES/

    Chile has become the 7th South American nation to formally recognized Palestine as an independent state.
 President Sebastián Piñera ( pictured with Palestine's Mahmoud Abbas) had reportedly been under pressure to act from Chile's  400,000 Palestinian residents.
   Brasil, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela have all officially supported a Palestinian state. Paraguay and Peru are expected to offer announce recognition soon.
    “South American countries are acting every day with greater coordination,” claimed senator Eugenio Tuma. “We are demonstrating that South America can play, together, a role in the great global issues affecting humanity.”

CHILE: 2ND UPDATE: President Pinera Betting Heavily On Rescue Of 33 Trapped Miners.

LINK CHANGE/ NYT /UPDATE 27 AUG/
ALEXEI BARRIONEUVO/
   With his poll numbers slipping dramatically, new President Pinera is going all out to rescue the 33 miners trapped 700 meters underground. He is sparing no expense or innovation as his country and the world closely watch the ordeal since the 5 Aug. cave-in. Barrioneuvo reports that "no fewer than seven government ministers roam the dusty brown dirt of the makeshift camp outside the mine here in Chile’s Atacama Desert, not to mention the countless politicians, millionaire donors and observers who almost outnumber the family members camping in tents."

CHILE: Riot Police Tear Gas 3,000 And Arrest 15 Students In Education Protest.

LAHT/    Police arrested 15 after using tear gas and water cannons to scatter 3,000 students in downtown Santiago protesting the new conservative Pinera government's education policy. The mostly college age protestors demanded that the government increase public spending, eliminate the profit motive from education and lower tuitions at state universities.

CHILE: Pinera's 45% Approval Rating Is The Lowest Ever For New President.

M.PRESS/    Pinera's new 45% approval makes him the president with the lowest approval rating for the first few months in office since Chile’s return to democracy in 1990. Former President Michelle Bachelet had an approval rating of 46 in July 2006, only a few months into her presidency, while former President Ricardo Lagos had a 49% approval rating from November to December in 2000.

CHILE: Pinera Accused Of Rewarding Supporters With Rebuilding Shortcuts.

AP/ MIAMI HERALD/ MICHAEL WARREN/
 "Before February's devastating quake, Fernando Echeverria ran a major construction company and led Chile's powerful chamber of builders, which successfully lobbied against government inspections that would have made companies like his more accountable for faulty structures.
Now, despite the failure of three of his newer buildings in the 8.8-magnitude temblor, Echeverria leads the reconstruction of Chile's urban Santiago region as the governor appointed by President Sebastian Pinera.
It's one of numerous potential conflicts the conservative president has created in his zeal to run the reconstruction like the private ventures that made him a billionaire."

CHILE: Job Cuts Protested In Valparaiso During Pinera Speech.

BBC/ 1:37 VIDEO/               Police used water cannons to disperse demonstrators, mostly public sector workers, protesting against recent job cuts outside the building in Valparaiso where President Pinera was delivering his first state-of-the-nation address.

EU/LATAM: Madrid Summit Summary; Pinera Says Results "Not Sufficient."

MERCOPRESS LINK with additional facts/
   Chile's President Sebastian Pinera is criticizing the Madrid Summit. “We have results, but I consider them not sufficient. I feel we are addressing old problems with old solutions”, he said. Pinera want “re-engineering” of world organizations like the IMF, World Bank, United Nations “created six decades ago for a world that is entirely different from nowadays”. He also believes there are two “visions” for the development of Latam countries: one led by Venezuela and the other by countries such as Chile and Brasil. Meanwhile, Brasil's Lula da Silva was awarded the New Economy Forum Prize 2010 and praised by Argentine president Cristina Kirchner as he delivered what may be his farewell speech. Pinera also met with Peru's President Alan Garcia in hopes to improve their nation's rocky relationaship. Piñera requested that García not bring up his plan for arms restriction in Latin America. Piñera believed that could be seen as an accusation pointed at Chile.

CHILE: Quake Pays Off For President Pinera's Pals.

GLOBAL POST/ Pascale Bonnefoy/    "Pinera has haphazardly tapped into the business world to fill in government positions, because, he says, that’s the only way to get people with expertise and experience. However, in doing so, he has disregarded the potential conflicts of interest his appointees are dragging in with them, especially those who will have a hand in the reconstruction effort."

CHILE: Pinera Eyes Defense Budget For Rebuilding.

AP/ MIAMI HERALD/   The immense cost of rebuilding Chile's infrastructure destroyed by the massive earthquake may give new President Sebastian Pinera the opportunity to tap the 10% of Chile's copper revenues reserved for defense spending and required by law. Chile has outspent every other major South American nation in military expenditures except Colombia, where the FARC rebels have been waging a decade-long guerrilla war. But overcoming military leaders won't be an easy task.

CHILE: Pinera Sells Remaining LAN Stake After Critics Lambast Slow Pace.

BUSINESS WEEK/   Chile's President Sebastian Pinera finished selling his stake in LAN Airlines, raising a total of $1.5 billion in the past month as the stock rallied to a record. Pinera's delay was criticized by the opposition and even some members of his own coalition.