MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Furious with “The New York Times”

Tourist operators in Punta Arenas are furious with an article published in “The New York Times”, followed by some comments in “La Nación”, from Buenos Aires and even with ?Chilean president Ricardo Lagos.

The contentious issue is the ozone layer and Ultra Violet rays, and how they have allegedly influenced normal life in Punta Arenas and the extreme south of Chile, which for practical purposes has become the "worst possible promotion for tourism".

The Magallanes Tourist Companies Association is particularly annoyed with a December 27 article published in the "The New York Times", and reproduced in La Nación, January 2, describing life in Punta Arenas as full of inconveniences, with residents forced to take all kind of precautions to avoid sun exposure and from damaging UV.

The article publishes two Punta Arenas testimonies of mothers who admit "life has changed a lot in the last few years", and that their children will not be able to enjoy the same kind of infancy they experienced, plus "the red (solar) light is on, and I never let my children out to the sun".

"This has nothing to do with real life in Punta Arenas. People have learnt how to deal with UV and know when and when not to expose to the sun. The article is full of nonsense, but it has given tourism in the area a dreadful image", said Liliana Kusanovic one of the most active members of tourist companies association.

"I've even received calls from Europe asking if the article was true. What about those who didn't call and will not be coming because they believe the sun in Magallanes is dangerous?", asks Ms. Kusanovic.

La Nación in early January published the NYT column and later editorialized on the issue saying Punta Arenas has become the "symbol of a specific environmental problem".

"Life of Punta Arenas residents has visibly complicated because of this problem", writes La Nación adding that a similar problem could soon be present in southern Argentina.

The tourist companies association president Jorge Norambuena points out that professor Juan Honeyman, possibly Chile's leading dermatologist and UV expert has indicated that radiation is dangerous but depends on many factors and "not necessarily is most harmful in Punta Arenas; actually Magallanes is one of the areas with less UV radiation, quiet differently from Iquique, (north of Chile), Santiago and even Miami".

However Mr. Norambuena admits Magallanes will now be forced to launch a campaign dismissing all that was published about an alleged "UV emergency situation" in Punta Arenas.

"It's all rubbish, similar to when they published sheep were becoming blind because of the thinning of the ozone layer. It took us several years to undo that nonsense and clean people's memories", remarks Ms. Kusanovic

A more cautious Mr. Norambuena underlines the danger that is generated when officials and/or regional researchers, with good intentions, send out warnings relative to UV and ozone that can end in public alarm situations.

"I favour investigation, but it's also alarming when, for example, President Ricardo Lagos in the opening of an international forum on Global Change here in Punta Arenas talks about the thinning of the ozone layer as a specific problem of Magallanes, when it's a world phenomenon that affects the whole globe".

"Research results must be precise and clearly informative for the common man", insists Mr. Norambuena.