Chilean president pushes whaling ban

[Judi Lynn]

Chilean president pushes whaling ban
Posted on Mon, Jun. 23, 2008
By EDUARDO GALLARDO
Associated Press Writer



Santiago Llanquin / AP Photo
Children wearing drawings of whales on their cheeks
attend a protest against whale hunting outside a hotel
where the International Whaling Commission holds its
60th annual meeting in Santiago, Monday, June 23, 2008.

SANTIAGO, Chile -- President Michelle Bachelet pushed to permanently ban whaling along Chile's sprawling coast at the opening Monday of the weeklong International Whaling Commission meeting.

Bachelet endorsed making Chile's coastal waters - more than 3,100 miles long and up to 200 miles from shore - a whale sanctuary. The proposal still must be approved by Congress.

Chile, which shares economic rights to the waters with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, has not hunted whales since the 1970s. It was not clear if approval will be needed from other countries.

Bachelet said Chile "wants to give the world a clear sign of its will to protect whales in its waters."

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/915/story/580729.html