MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Three dead in Punta Arenas

Freezing weather in the Magallanes Region has left at least three people dead in Punta Arenas, plus several dozen pedestrians injured since residents are not used to walk on ice covered streets.

One of the dead was a homeless male who was found suffering hypothermia and the other two, mother and daughter asphyxiated with a faulty gas stove. Last week Punta Arenas experienced exceptionally severe weather and was left virtually isolated by air and land from the rest of the country under a meter of snow. The worst snow storm in over half a century to hit the extreme south Chilean city has been followed by a polar front with below zero temperatures. Armored vehicles, trucks and servicemen from the Chilean Army stationed in Punta Arenas are helping local Public Works gangs to clear downtown streets and access to some of the farms closest to the city. So far there are no official reports about the extent of losses and damages in farms, since communications are still precarious, however it's anticipated that sheep and cattle mortality is high and could worsen if animals have difficulties in feeding. Farmers associations claim that 400,00 sheep are stranded and with limited access to food. Punta Arenas Mayor Raúl Hein estimates that up to 30% of greenhouses belonging to small farmers in the periphery of the city and who supply fresh produce, have been completely destroyed. Meantime in Santiago de Chile that last week was bombarded by the worst torrential rains since1926, a preliminary report of losses and damages was announced: 15 people killed; 83,000 displaced of which almost 8,000 remain sheltered in schools and other public buildings; 1,600 hectares of prime farm land in the metropolitan area completely flooded as well as 2,780 dwellings. Chilean president Ricardo Lagos announced that the government will be investing the equivalent to 40 million US dollars to help return to normality, a third of which will be subsidies to families who lost their belongings. President Lagos added that in a second stage, the government will find a definitive solution to the 80,000 people living in shanty towns in metropolitan Santiago, who are forced to abandon their homes whenever it rains heavily.

Chilean poultry banned

Mexico could be the next country to ban Chilean poultry imports because of an outbreak of chicken influenza that has forced Chilean farmers to sacrifice over half a million broilers. Argentina, Peru and Bolivia have already banned the introduction of Chilean poultry, but Chilean officials are particularly concerned about Mexico that is the country's main market, equivalent to 21 million US dollars annually. "Mexico is considering banning Chilean poultry shipments because of the same problem, but we believe it's premature and an over reaction following the non too loyal attitude adopted by Bolivia, Argentina and Peru", indicated Gustavo Rojas head of Chile's Animal Health Services Department. Mr. Rojas said that in co-ordination with Chile's Poultry Association, "we're sending an urgent mission to Mexico to explain the situation". "What we have are two isolated outbreaks, where we've eliminated all the chickens, but under no circumstances can it be considered an epidemic", stressed Mr. Rojas. Chicken influenza is a highly contagious disease in the poultry industry.

Concern about nuclear waste

Chilean Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mario Artaza convened last week the ambassadors from France, Japan and the United Kingdom to express the country's concern about the possible passage in the extreme south, and close to the Chilean coast, of ships carrying nuclear waste. Apparently early last May the Chilean government was informed by its Embassy in London that two BNFL vessels had left Barrow with the purpose of loading radioactive waste that Japan is returning because of low quality. Chilean Foreign Affairs Ministry indicated that in the event of those vessels making use of Cape Horn to return with the radioactive cargo to Europe, Chile was expressing its concern and grievance. "Given the catastrophic potential consequences for the Chilean coastline and environment of a nuclear accident, we have expressed our concern to the French, British and Japanese ambassadors", said Mr. Artaza. British vessels have a long term contract to transport nuclear waste from France to the Japanese Energy Commission and have done so on several occasions, sometimes crossing the extreme south of South America, other times sailing via South Africa

Strong trade position

Chile recorded a 212 million US dollars trade surplus during the first half of May, making the overall 2002 surplus so far 1,6 billion US dollars. Exports in the period reached 7,157 billion US dollars and imports 5,556 billion, according to the latest Central Bank report. Mining, mainly copper, remains Chile's main export followed by agriculture, fisheries and the forestry industry, chips, wood and furniture. Regarding Chilean foreign debt, it now stands in 38,989 billion US dollars, of which 6,7 billion belongs to the government and the rest, 32,419 billion to the private sector. Short term debt is 6,5 billion US dollars. International foreign currency reserves in the Central Bank stand at 15,142 billion US dollars, with a slight drop of 275 million US dollars during May.

15 million Chileans

According to the preliminary numbers from the 2002 national Census, the Chilean population sums 15.050.341, a 12,9% increase from the previous in 1992 when the number was 13.348.401. "This basically means the Chilean population is ageing and in line with European tendencies", said Maximo Aguilera from the Chilean Institute of Statistics, INE, adding that in the last decade the annual average demographic growth was 1,2%, compared to the 1,6% rate of the 1982/92 decade, and quiet distant from the late fifties, early sixties when the rate was 2,5%. "Actually the fastest growing age group is above 65, because of improved feeding and health", explained Mr. Aguilera. Chile is now amongst the four countries in Latinamerica with the lowest population growth rate: Cuba, 0,5%, Uruguay 0,6%; Argentina 1,3%. This is similar to the developed countries that have an average 0,5%, (Italy and Sweden actually have negative growth), and contrasts with the rest of Latinamerica that is above the 2% rate. Following a world tendency, urban population in the last decade grew 17,1%, reaching 13.044.221, equivalent to 86,7% of total population, while rural areas lost 9,1%, and now stand at 2.006.120, equivalent to 13,3%. In the early 1900, Chile has three million inhabitants of which 80% lived in the camp. The Chilean regions with the greatest population increase are in the north of the country, First Region, 25,6%; Second Region 20%; Fourth Region 19% and Metropolitan Santiago 14,9%. All other regions are below the national average of 12,8%. The Magallanes Region figures bottom of the list with just 0,8% annual population growth. According to INE demographic expert Odette Tacla , the northern regions of the country with the greatest population expansion have benefited from commerce, mining and fisheries. The city that broke all records is Iquique, close to the Peruvian border, that functions as a Free Zone and has become an important merchandise in transit distribution area for the whole region. Population in ten years jumped from 151,677 to 215,233. Another city in the north with an extraordinary development is Antofagasta: in a decade population grew 29,4%, from 228.408 to 298.153. Metropolitan Santiago also kept growing as a percentage of total population from 39% to 40,1%, in spite of government's efforts to decentralize and the worsening of environmental conditions. Santiago smog in winter months causes a peak in respiratory diseases, rotation of vehicles according to the last number of their plates and even forces the suspension of classes. Santiago together with the port of Valparaíso, Biobío, de los Lagos concentrates 75% of the Chilean population. Regarding housing the Census 2002 number stands at 4.434.521, a 31,6% increase over 1992, representing an increase of 1.064.672 dwellings.