Santiago - A 14-year old Chilean girl with cystic fibrosis has asked
to be allowed to die in a film she made pleading with President
Michelle Bachelet to authorize her euthanasia.
In a video that news media said had been uploaded to her Facebook
page on Sunday, Valentina Maureira said from her hospital bed: "I am
asking to speak urgently to the president because I am tired of living
with this sickness and she can authorize the injection to put me to
sleep forever."
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition that affects the lungs and other
organs.
Maureira's brother had died of the disease, her father, Freddy
Maureira, told local Radio Bio Bio.
"She has already had five operations ... which have caused her a lot
of suffering and pain," he said. "It was promised that things would
get better, but for her it was worse."
The video had surprised him, he added.

A spokeswoman from the Universidad Catolica clinic in Santiago
confirmed that Valentina Maureira was a patient at the hospital and
said she was stable, with no immediately life-threatening conditions.
Government spokesman Alvaro Elizalde said on Thursday that the
health ministry was in contact with the family to ensure Maureira was
receiving the psychological and medical treatment she needed, but
ruled out euthanasia as an option.
"We have to be completely clear, the current norm, the current law in
Chile does not allow the government to agree to a request of this
nature," he said.
In Chile, as in many countries, euthanasia is against the law. The
Catholic Church retains a strong influence on society, and the country
is one of a handful to ban abortion under any circumstances.
Center-left Bachelet, who is a year into her second term, has
introduced reforms, including a bill being debated in Congress that
would relax the abortion law. These have angered conservatives.
Bachelet's agenda has not mentioned euthanasia.
- Reuters