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Headlines: Corruption in Chile; IMF and Argentina try to sound optimistic; Lula in Mercosur summit

Corruption in Chile

Former Chilean president Eduardo Frei admitted that during his administration many top officials received additional payments and perks, "a practice that is common to governments", but also stressed that the Chilean society is "quiet hypocrite since it never really faced the close links between the world of politics and money". "To become a deputy or a senator in Chile you need anywhere between 3 and 5 million US dollars, which is a lot of money, a suitcase of money not just an envelope", said Mr. Frei. The former president and Senator for life made his comments during an interview in a much publicized program following growing disclosures of graft and corruption in Chilean politics that so far have seen several former officials in jail and at least six Deputies under suspicion of having been involved in taking money, apparently to finance political campaigns, in exchange for favors. Mr. Frei admitted it's quiet difficult to have access to elected and non elected officials incomes because of a lack of transparency and "as a society we're quiet hypocrites since we don't name things as they should; however the issue here is not the envelopes with money that were handed to politicians but to clearly define relations between politics and money". The former president insisted that "we need clearly defined rules governing political campaigns", adding that the Chilean ruling coalition needs to open windows, "we need fresh air and fresh faces". A special Judge is investigating the awarding of vehicle test plants (compulsory in Chile) in the country's different regions in exchange for money. The original investigation led to the Public Works Ministry and immediately to Congress, but apparently other Ministries, Public Health and Defence could be involved in similar practices.

IMF and Argentina try to sound optimistic

For the IMF the implementation of the agreement reached between President Eduardo Duhalde, the governors and Congressional leaders is essential and previous to the signing of any financial assistance program to Argentina. IMF Foreign Affairs Director Thomas Dawson said that the fact that Argentina didn't repay a World Bank loan last week "has complicated the situation", but it doesn't impede the IMF from advancing to reach an agreement with Argentina. Last week Argentina only repaid interest due on the 805 million US dollars World Bank loan, placing her self in a "pre-default" situation regarding multilateral credit organizations. Mr. Dawson praised the political consensus reached in Argentina with the provincial leaders, but insisted that a sustainable program is also needed to complement that support. However Mr. Dawson recalled that last April 14th., a similar consensus was reached but never was implemented, and "therefore our main concern is that this agreement is effectively implemented", both by the political system and the society. The fourteen points agreement includes most of IMF demands but left out public utilities rates. The agreement, that also includes changes to the timetable for next year's presidential elections, was supposed to be considered this week by Congress, but apparently differences subsisted regarding repossession of mortgages that have been currently suspended. A decision much criticized by the IMF and the US Treasury. In Rio do Janeiro, Argentina's Central Bank president Guillermo Nielsen reiterated his country's optimism about reaching an assistance agreement with the IMF but warned that "if this is not so, Argentina won't be able to repay 9,1 billion US dollars in the coming months". Addressing the Latinamerican Economic Forum Mr. Nielsen said the process with IMF was "very complex and difficult", since "you need two to tango", but "we're still working".

Lula in Mercosur summit

Brazilian elected president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been invited to participate in the coming Mercosur presidential summit to be held December 5/6 in Brasilia. The four full members, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, plus associate members Chile and Bolivia are scheduled to meet in the Brazilian capital when the chair will be handed to Paraguay for the next six months. Senator Aloizio Mercadante said Mr. Lula before the Mercosur summit will be flying to Argentina and Chile, where he will meet presidents Eduardo Duhalde and Ricardo Lagos. After the summit, on December 10th. elected president Lula has been invited to meet US president George Bush.