(10 Aug 1999) Natural Sound
Chile's Foreign Minister says attempts by Spain to try former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet amount to foreign intervention.
At a news conference in Washington, D-C, Juan Gabriel Valdes said Spanish action ignores and subordinates Chile's courts.
Valdes is in the U-S for consultations with officials.
So far, those meetings have been dominated by trade issues.
Chile's Foreign Minister is accusing Spain of meddling in its sovereign affairs.
At a news conference in Washington, D-C, Juan Gabriel Valdes said Spanish attempts to try Augusto Pinochet have ignored Chile's legal processes.
Valdes says Chile is not defending Pinochet, but rather is defending the rights of Chileans to judge for themselves.
SOUNDBITE: (English) "Pinochet's not in Spain. He's in Britain. He's not a resident of Spain. He lives in Chile and he is in prison under detention. Therefore, we don't see the legal authority of Spain to use that article."
SUPER CAPTION: Juan Gabriel Valdes, Chilean Foreign Minister
The two nations have been trying to decide what to do with the former dictator since last October.
That's when Pinochet was arrested in London under a Spanish warrant.
He remains there under house arrest.
Spanish efforts to extradite Pinochet are before the courts.
Chile's government says Spains efforts impinge on Chile's sovereign rights.
SOUNDBITE: (English) "We favour an international judicial system that can prosecute crimes against humanity. But we are not prepared to accept a decision by one court and one country, by itself, to take measures and pretend to subordinate our own courts."
SUPER CAPTION: Juan Gabriel Valdes, Chilean Foreign Minister
While the press conference was dominated by questions about Pinochet, Valdes said there were more important aspects of Chile's foreign policy.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"I hope that the topic of General Pinochet isn't the principal topic, nor is it the only topic of Chilean foreign policy."
SUPER CAPTION: Juan Gabriel Valdes, Chilean Foreign Minister
Valdes' consultations with U-S officials have been mostly about trade issues.
The foreign minister says Chile has given up on becoming a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Instead it is seeking a bilateral trade agreement with the U-S.
Influenced by labor union opposition, U-S Congress has refused to grant President Clinton the "fast track" authority he needs to negotiate free trade agreements with Chile and other countries.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We are not asking for the United States to approve fast track. We understand the difficulties that there for that, to make that step forward. What we are saying is, why don't we work together examining all the issues we have in the market area, in the trade area in order to examine what would be the impact of this agreement. Probably we will make such progress in such a short time, that we will be able to assess the need we have for fast track."
SUPER CAPTION: Juan Gabriel Valdes, Chilean Foreign Minister
While spurned on its NAFTA bid, Chile has since become an associate member of Mercosur.
That's a South American free trade group led by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
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