Chileans elected Piñera

The Concertación centrist political alliance has ceded power after a 30 year stint.

Sunday at 11 in the morning, several Ancuditanos waited in lines, according to gender (an esoteric practice enacted during the dictatorship years), to vote for the next president. Chileans faced what I viewed as dismal choices: Frei, the Concertación candidate who already served as president, and Piñera, from the ultra-right political alliance. Chileans decided their political fate for the next four years. The people elected a businessman that owns a third of the island of Chiloé, a television channel, a farmacy chain, an airline, mining interests, forestry interests, and much more.

What has Piñera done so far for the people with all his material wealth? Nothing comes to my mind. He established a private park in the south of Chiloé, but people have to pay to enter, so this limits visitors. The very people who live here on the island cannot pay to enter.

At 6 in the afternoon, we already heard the results of the election. Here in Ancud, many Chileans rode around in their cars waving Piñera flags and honking their horns. People gathered in the plaza and bought champagne to toast the new change that Piñera promised during his campaign. The mayor here in Ancud is also aligned with the ultra-right, so many people believe that the town will receive more monetary resources when Piñera assumes presidency in March.

The most disconcerting moment, for me, occurred when the national news showed the U.S. ambassador to Chile meeting with Piñera five days before elections.

Photos: Signs likening Piñera to Pinochet and warning against "Pinochet disguised as Piñera," Piñera promising change while campaigning in Valdivia, and a political cartoon by Allan McDonald published in Rebelión. "Voy para la otra Moneda" is a play on words: the presidential palace in Santiago is called La Moneda and "Moneda" is slang for money. Given that he is a businessman and millionaire, it is difficult to downplay Piñera's interests as a politician.