Japan's Devestation Creates Concern with Proposed Nuclear Energy Program

Last Friday the United States and Chile signed an accord with the hopes to help the country develop a nuclear energy program. Chile imports nearly all of their energy and with hopes of bridging a predicted energy gap in the decades to come, have been considering constructing their our nuclear reactors.

The accord calls for cooperation in areas that deal with operation and utilization of nuclear reactors, safety,radioactive waste management and scientific exchange; with specific focus on the training of nuclear engineers.

Although, things have become complicated following Japan's devastating earthquake and fears regarding the spread of radiation throughout the Asian country. The recent disaster has reopened Chilean concerns regarding last year's 8.8- magnitude earthquake that destroyed cities throughout the country.

Chile's mining and energy minister, Laurence Golborne, signed a similar accord with France last month, but recently stated that the Chilean government will need to study the situation in Japan prior to committing to a nuclear program. He stated that due to recent occurrences the country may decide against investing in this type of energy. More sustainable renewable sources of energy are being considered in place of nuclear energy, such as, solar, wind, and geothermal. Chile is looking at Japan's destruction as a warning sign. They are taking into consideration that their country is prone to earthquakes and the construction of nuclear reactors could ultimately lead to a catastrophe of epic proportions.

While concerns are understandable, officials are troubled about what impacts the country's limited imports of energy and an outdated power grid will have on the growth of the Chilean economy. Chile's electricity demands have been steadily increasing at 6% each year and the country will need to double their supplies over the next 12 years if this continues. More than half of this will have to come from fossil fuels if nuclear energy is not part of Chile's future.

Media Regulation

I mentioned in a prior post that the BBC reported Chile ranked 33rd out of 175 countries and territories in respect to their level of current media censorship. This ranking reflects their lack censorship in regards to media.

Chile maintains a freedom of speech and press policy from which media outlets benefit. They are able to report current news, criticize government policies and officials, and report on controversial issues without the threat of governmental censorship or retaliation.

Relaxed media regulations allow for Chile's national and local television to operate along side many international affiliates. These positive aspects extend to Chilean internet usage, with 8.4 million citizens currently able to access the internet.

The majority of Chile's citizens are able to obtain current international news from a variety of media sources which has a direct connection to their democratic stance on freedom of press.

Traditional Communities Within Chile

The Mapuches are an indigenous tribe that originally inhabited the south-central parts of Chile. they are the largest ethnic group in Chile and make up approximately 10% of the population. The Chilean government did not officially recognized the Mapuches, their culture, or their language until 1993. Although the Mapuches suffered a fate similar to the indigenous tribes of the US, there is still a large population of Mapuches that live in Chile. Some continue to maintain their traditions, continuing to live in more rural areas surviving agriculturally and from the sale of textiles. T exile skills have been passed down generation to generation, mother to daughter to continue their treasured forms of traditional art.

Others have migrated to less rural areas trading in their agricultural roots for the city life. There is a large population of Mapuches residing in Santiago, the capital and largest city in Chile. The city life offers more opportunities for economic advancement than a traditional lifestyle.

There are roads being built through Mapuche areas, the forest is being felled in at fast speed and big power plants are being constructed in the rivers. Encrochments on traditional Mapuche settlements threaten their ancestral way of life.

All of these occurrences have brought more attention to the still surviving traditional communities. Many feel that there depiction within the media has perpetuated their simplistic, poverty stricken, lazy, drunkard stigmatic image the world holds of their ethnic group. this has caused many Mapuche to turn their back on their culture to avoid the discrimination that poor press creates. Furthermore, more and more parents are choosing not to teach their children the Mapuche language because it puts them at a disadvantage in school and understanding different media sources. It seems that to avoid the stigma of the Mapuche culture many individuals feel that assimilation would be the easiest route.

There is still hope!! even though many are choosing to assimilate into current Chilean culture and reject their ancestral roots, some have not given up the fight. Hungers strikes have taken place to draw attention to the need for more Mapuche rights, something that they have been fighting for for quite some time. hopefully these protests pay off and it is possible that they are able to use the media to change the views of their culture and people.

Who Owns the Media?

It seems like many countries Chile's media does suffer from conglomeration. It appears that the countries major media sources are primarily owned by just a handful of individuals. Agustín Edwards Eastman is the owner of the El Mercurio chain of newspapers which controls about 20 national and regional newspapers. While Álvaro Saieh heads the Consorcio Periodístico de Chile (COPESA) that controls the newspapers La Tercera, La Cuarta and La Hora, a radio network and the magazines Qué Pasa and Paula. These two individuals create what has been referred to in my readings as a "duopoly" within Chilean press. Additionally, there is Sebastián Piñera a presidential candidate for the rightwing Coalition for Change whom owns the Chilevisión television channel.

These three individuals are all part of conglomeration seen with in Chilean media. I find it extremely interesting that the owner of one of the oldest television stations, ranking 3rd in viewership in Chile would double as a presidential candidate. This is a perfect example of the risks that conglomeration can create, companies or individuals that are able to use their ownership to promote their own agendas through mass media. Interestingly in recent news, Time Warner has proposed the purchase of this station. So media ownership is shrinking even further with Time Warner, the second major media conglomerate in the world, getting their hands on one of Chile's major television stations.

Potential For New Trade Agreements??

On Sunday President Sebastian Piñera of Chile traveled to Israel to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the possibility of introducing negotiations for new trade agreements and tax laws between the two countries.

Prospects of these negotiations had previously begun with Chile's former president Michelle Bachelet. Although, it looks as though some Chile legislators plan to delay negotiations until Israel changes their policies with Palestine. The pro- Palestine legislators announced they would not be signing any free trade agreements between the two nations in the near future.

Legislators offered two arguments in support of their firm stance. First, no negotiations could be settled while Israel continues to have settlements in politically disputed territories. Second, some members of their legislation believe that signing a free trade agreement with Israel would be hypocritical considering the nation currently affects Palestine's ability to trade.

To alleviate some of the controversy, President Sebastian Piñera mentioned that countries such as Argentina and Brazil (that acknowledged Palestine prior to Chile) already had established free trade agreements with Israel.

Media Conglomeration An Overview

Media conglomeration is a growing trend for global media to be more concentrated in ownership. Media conglomeration affects who owns the media. It also affects how the media is produced, exported, the content, and the impact that it has on its audience. Through a series of different mergers and acquisitions media companies become part of much larger conglomerates that may actually represent all different forms of business. When minimal numbers of conglomerates own multiple media industries they fail to recognize what a nation’s public interests are and fail to provide proper media and news coverage for the area they are representing. The media becomes dominated by whatever will produce the largest profit for the conglomerate and the industry can become monopolized by the conglomerate’s specific interests. If a company is only looking to produce revenue then news runs the risk of becoming more sensationalistic, news that will interest the average individual. Air time becomes littered with reports of Hollywood stars, sex scandals, and celebrity rehab replacing international, political, and economic news reports.

Moving Forward With Globalization

In recent years, Chile has become one of S. America’s most stable countries. This stability has made way for their economic growth and rise in foreign investments. Currently, Chile has free trade agreements with approximately 50 countries which has allowed for businessmen to invest more than 40 billion dollars creating over 200,000 jobs for Chilean inhabitants.

Since the end of the 17 years Pinochet regime, Chile has been moving forward in the world embracing the beneficial aspects of globalization. Opening up their economy to free trade was just the beginning.

The U.S. Chile Equal Opportunities Scholarship Program was established to sponsor English and academic studies for Chilean PhD students who come from disadvantaged and rural areas that have not traditionally had access to English language schools or study abroad opportunities. The program has been quite successful, becoming a model for other international scholarships programs with Chile. In 2008 President Bachelet announced plans to increase funds to support sending students to study abroad, with hopes of sending up to 1,000 students that year. At least one- third of those prospective students reported hopes of going the United States.

As discussed in our class, globalization generally travels “from the west to the rest” and the United States and Chile most definitely highly interactive. More than 10,000 U.S. citizens reside in Chile and there are about 170,000 U.S. citizens that visit Chile annually. Beyond that over 66,000 visitor visas are issued to Chilean citizens that plan to travel to the U.S. At the U.S. embassy, the Public Affairs Section cooperates with universities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on a variety of programs of bilateral interest. The Public Affairs Section works daily with Chilean media focusing on bilateral and regional relations while also assisting with visiting foreign media, such as U.S. journalists. They work through the Information Resource Center, to spread information about U.S. policies, society, and culture.

Having all these interactions through free trade policies, foreign investors, international scholarship programs, and just travel I would assume has played a large role in Chile’s movement to a more globalized nation, while voluntarily adopting many of the United States cultural norms. Every time someone travels or interacts with someone from another country a transference culture has taken place.

This is also happening through Chilean media. Chile ranked 33rd out of 178 countries in media rights group Reporters Without Borders' 2010 world press freedom index.

Chile's national and local terrestrial TV channels operate alongside extensive cable TV networks, which carry many US and international stations.

Their constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the media, and this is generally respected by the authorities. The media maintain their independence, criticize the government and cover sensitive issues. Approximately, 8.4 million Chilean’s are internet users.