Bachelet:: Absolutely false that Hillary told her U.S. is against Insulza's re-election to lead OAS

[rabs]

Bachelet greets Insulza in Santiago today.

Bachelet said in Santiago today she had spoken with Hillary Clinton and at no time did the issue of Insulza's re-election come up.

The first thing I want to say is that it is absolutely false. I spoke with her by telephone because she was (under) bed rest and clearly the theme of the OAS was not a theme we talked about.

(Lo primero que yo quiero decir es que esto es absolutamente falso. Yo hablé en Estados Unidos con ella por teléfono, porque estaba en reposo, y claramente el tema de la OEA no fue un tema del cual hayamos conversado para nada", dijo la Mandataria.)

"It is not true that we have received any message in that regard ... the government of Chile has not received any official or unofficial information in that respect.

(A renglón seguido aseguró que "no es efectivo que hayamos recibido un mensaje de esa naturaleza, para nada, el gobierno de Chile no ha recibido ninguna información oficial ni oficiosa a ese respecto".)

Chilean foreign minister also denied in the strongest terms the story published Sunday by the Santiago newspaper El Mercurio.

(El canciller Mariano Fernández y el propio Insulza, quienes también negaron de forma rotunda la información publicada ayer por el diario El Mercurio.)

La Tercera made contact with Shannon, who also denied that the U.S. government had said that Washington would oppose Insulza. (In Chile, Insulza has the nickname "Panzer.")

(La Tercera se contactó con el secretario de Estado adjunto para América Latina, Thomas Shannon, quien también desmintió que el gobierno de EEUU haya expresado que no apoyará al pánzer.)

Insulza arrived in Santiago this morning and said the sources for the rumors "are not the most qualified, but for some reason the newspaper people think they should be given credibility."

(Por su parte, Insulza, quien llegó a Chile a las 6.50 de la mañana, manifestó que "no son las fuentes más calificadas, pero por algún motivo la gente en los diarios piensa que hay que darles credibilidad".)

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Reminding that the reports came from CNN en Espanol, which has an anti-leftist agenda, and from the ultra-conservative El Mercurio, the same one that received millions of dollars from the CIA to help topple Allende.

http://latercera.com/contenido/674_155068_9.shtml

(Now, should I copy this for the big LBN thread? I am posting it here because this is where the posters who really count on Latam issues are.)

[EFerrari]

1. Thank you so much for putting this here, rabs.

I'd post it in LBN.

[rabs]

2. Done, now my next question is

Has Hillary said anything? After all, it has created a big fuss in Santiago.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Maybe Hillary is afraid to mess with such a nice lady (and heroine) too much. n/t