Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Chile
Newsline: Police suspected in killing of Chilean consul’s daughter
Venezuelan authorities said on Saturday that 11 members of an investigative police unit were suspected in the fatal late-night shooting of a Chilean diplomat’s teenage daughter while she was riding in a car with her brother. Karen Berendique, the 19-year-old daughter of Chilean consul Fernando Berendique, was killed late on Friday when the officers apparently opened fire on the vehicle being driven by her brother in Venezuela’s western city of Maracaibo, officials said. She was hit three times. A local newspaper quoted her father as saying the officers opened fire after his son failed to stop at a CICPC checkpoint. “He got nervous because the armed suspects had not switched on their police lights,” Panorama newspaper quoted Berendique as saying. “When he saw his sister was unconscious and wounded, he pulled over … they told him they fired because he didn’t stop.” CICPC chief Jose Ramirez told reporters the officers in Maracaibo had been looking for a gang involved in robberies and car thefts at the time of the incident. He said 12 firearms had been seized to establish who fired the fatal shots. Violent crime is a major problem in Venezuela and police have been linked to serious offenses in the past. Last November, another Chilean consul was shot and beaten during a brief kidnapping in Caracas. In January, the Mexican ambassador and wife were abducted in the capital for several hours.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46773120/ns/world_news-americas/
Newsline: Greek protesters occupy Chile consulate in support of hunger strikers
A group of Greek protesters have briefly occupied the Chilean consulate in central Athens in support of jailed hunger strikers in the South American country. Police say the occupation on Monday lasted for an hour and ended peacefully with no arrests being made. The protest was held in support of 14 hunger strikers in Chile, most of whom have been refusing food for more than a month. The suspects are in pre-trial detention in connection with arson attacks and small bombings carried out by anarchist groups and groups representing demands by Mapuche Indians for improved indigenous rights. In November, the Chilean embassy in Athens was targeted in a spate of mail bombings claimed by an armed anarchist group. Police destroyed the device by controlled explosion.
US embassy cables: Israel and Chile spied on Iran
Israel worked with Chile to spy on the Iranian ambassador in Santiago as the Jewish state grew increasingly concerned about Tehran’s influence in South America, a leaked US cable from 2008 showed. “Israel is monitoring Iranian influence in the region, which includes enhanced Iranian diplomatic relations with Colombia and Venezuela,” reads a cable sent from the US embassy in Santiago in July 2008 which was leaked to whistleblower website WikiLeaks. “Israel is also watching as a growing number of Muslims immigrate to Chile,” says the cable which was penned by Juan Alsace, an economic and political adviser to the US ambassador. Quoting Israeli Defence Attache Yoeli Or, it says Israel was “working with the GOC (government of Chile) to monitor any unusual activities by the new Iranian ambassador” Kambiz Jalali. They were also monitoring around 37 Palestinian Muslim immigrants from the Iraqi-Syrian border who were resettled in Chile earlier in the year, it said referring to an influx of Palestinians under a UN-sponsored resettlement programme. “While there are no signs of GOI (government of Iran) affiliation with terrorist groups in Chile, the Chilean intelligence service and the Israeli government are screening for anything they deem suspicious,” it said. Or told him Israel was concerned about Iran’s “growing influence” in Venezuela and noted that there were 50 Iranians in Colombia who held diplomatic passports. “Israeli intelligence agencies are monitoring the growing Iranian presence in South America and its influence on Chilean Muslim and Palestinian communities,” Alsace wrote. Israel would like “to expand trade ties with Latin America, in part to help balance Iran’s expanding influence in the region,” but said such a move had not happened due to a lack of resources. Chile is home to a significant Palestinian community which numbers more than 300,000. It also has a Jewish population numbering around 20,000.
Newsline: Swiss embassy bomb may be retaliatory act
A parcel bomb that exploded at the Swiss embassy in Rome could be tied to Switzerland’s detention of members of an anarchist group. Swiss Ambassador to Italy Bernardino Regazzoni, citing the Italian police, told a Zurich radio station that the attack could be in retaliation for the imprisonment of Swiss “eco-terrorist” Marco Camenisch over the murder of a customs officer in Graubünden in 1989. A Swiss court sentenced Camenisch to 17 years in jail in 2004, which was later reduced to eight. Two people were injured in the blasts at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome on Thursday. An Italian group calling itself the Informal Anarchist Federation claimed responsibility for the attacks. Italian Interior Minister Alfredo Mantovano told Il Giornale newspaper that the “targets were not chosen by chance”. He too suggested that Switzerland was targeted because it had imprisoned anarchists. He explained the attack on the Chileans by the death of an activist in Santiago in 2009. The injured Swiss and Chilean embassy staff had undergone operations on Thursday. Police said the 53-year-old Swiss embassy employee was in a stable condition and was expected to be able to regain the use of his left hand. He was visited in hospital by the Swiss ambassador.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/world-news/europe/swiss-embassy-bomb-may-be-retaliatory-act-25122010/
Newsline: Blasts at Swiss, Chile embassies in Rome, 2 wounded, all embassies alerted
Rome’s police chief says all embassies have been informed about a pair of package bombs that exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies, injuring two people who opened them. Chief Francesco Tagliente said a suspicious package found at the Ukrainian embassy turned out to be a false alarm. He spoke to reporters as he arrived Thursday at the Chilean embassy, where witnesses say an explosion was heard shortly after 3 p.m. One person was injured. Three hours earlier, a package bomb exploded inside an office in the Swiss Embassy, wounding the staffer who opened it. He was taken to the hospital with serious hand injuries but his life is not in danger, the Swiss ambassador Bernardino Regazzoni said.
Newsline: Champagne flows at Chile’s US embassy
Screams of joy, singing and champagne greeted the sight of the last man rescued from the northern Chilean mine, as boisterous celebrations kicked off at the country’s embassy in Washington. “This story is a beautiful story, we are very proud,” exclaimed Arturo Fermandois, Chile’s ambassador to the United States, addressing the open viewing party for some 250 people who were glued to Chilean TV news broadcasts of the operation. “They resisted the adversity. It’s a miracle,” he added after the final miner out of 33, Luis Urzua, was brought safely to surface. The ambassador and his wife popped a champagne bottle to applause as a full-throated rendition of Chile’s national anthem broke out. The now-famous patriotic chant was heard throughout the building: “Chi Chi Chi! Le Le Le!”
Newsline: Mine rescue draws scores of well-wishers to Chilean embassy in D.C.
About 100 people milled outside the Chilean embassy Tuesday night to watch the mine rescue unfold and to send prayers and good wishes to the miners and their rescuers. Outside the front entry to the embassy on Massachusetts Avenue NW, a jumbo television screen beamed live coverage from a Chilean network, and Chilean and U.S. flags flanked a podium and a smaller screen, where a continuously looping slideshow showed photos of the 33 miners. Onlookers wore lapel stickers that carried the words of the first note written by the miners in the opening days of their ordeal: “Estamos bien en el refugio los 33″ – We are okay in the refuge. Some passing drivers shouted and honked in support as they realized what had drawn the crowd to the embassy. Such sentiments were in keeping with support that the Chilean embassy staff has witnessed from strangers, said Alejandro Buvinic, an attache working on economic issues at the embassy. During the past several weeks, the embassy has received packets of encouraging letters, poems and drawings from schoolchildren as far away as Alaska; they were all forwarded to the miners. Those simple outpourings came alongside offers of technical expertise, equipment and financial help that also reached the embassy, said Buvinic.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/12/AR2010101206701.html
Newsline: Chilean ambassador resigns after praising Pinochet
Chile’s ambassador to Argentina has resigned after making favourable comments about the military rule of Gen Augusto Pinochet. Ambassador Miguel Otero caused uproar last weekend when he told an Argentine newspaper that most Chileans had not suffered under the military. He also said that had President Salvador Allende not been overthrown in 1973, Chile would today be like Cuba. Some 3,000 political opponents died during the 1973-1990 military rule. In his interview with Argentine newspaper Clarin, Mr Otero, 79, said most Chileans had felt relieved after the army took power. He also said he believed most human rights abuses were not official policies, but rather that there had been people who abused their authority and committed excesses. His comments provoked demands in Chile and Argentina for him to step down. Mr Otero apologised on Monday “to all those who suffered under whatever dictatorship, to all those whose human rights have been violated. I offer my sincere apologies as they are right to feel offended”. On Tuesday, after a heated debate, the foreign relations committee of the Chamber of Deputies voted by six votes to five to ask President Sebastian Pinera to sack him. Mr Otero, who said he would not step down while he enjoyed the president’s support, offered his resignation the same day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/mobile/world/latin_america/10272911.stm
Newsline: Pakistani Says U.S. Embassy False Alarm Led To Chile Detention
A Pakistani detained in Chile said the positive test for explosive traces he registered at the U.S. Embassy was likely a false alarm and denied any wrongdoing. He said he holds no ill will toward America. Mohammad Saif Ur Rehman Khan was detained May 10 after the embassy said tests detected explosive traces on his cell phone and papers. Chilean authorities said they later found traces of the same substance on items in his apartment and charged him with possessing explosives. The 28-year-old read a statement in English to reporters outside the public defenders office Tuesday, professing his innocence and calling the allegations against him “baseless and false.” He said the case appeared “to have stemmed from a false alarm.” Soon after his arrest, Khan told local media he thought his detention was an attempt to cover up shame for America’s actions in Iraq and Pakistan.
http://wap.cbsnews.com/site?sid=cbsnews&pid=sections.detail&catId=TOP&storyId=6496600
Newsline: Pakistani Cancels Appearance In Chile Embassy Case
A Pakistani man detained at the U.S. Embassy in Chile after testing positive for explosive traces has canceled plans to read a statement to reporters. Mohammad Saif Ur Rehman Khan is not allowed to leave Chile pending the investigation and is staying at a student residence surrounded by journalists. On Sunday, the 28-year-old threw a napkin with the word “tomorrow” written on it out his window and a friend sent media a note saying Khan would read a statement Monday afternoon. The reading was canceled without explanation. Khan was detained a week ago after embassy equipment detected traces of explosives on his cell phone and papers. Khan, who maintains his innocence, was charged with possessing explosives.
http://wap.cbsnews.com/site?sid=cbsnews&pid=sections.detail&catId=TOP&storyId=6493193
