Seven Years of War and Going Strong

Seven years ago, on March 19, 2003, the United States government sent troops to invade Iraq.

Seven years.

Two thousand five hundred and fifty five days of US-led war on the people of Iraq.

Here's a link to the news story covered by Democracy Now

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.

holiday in uruguay

Uruguay is the most relaxed country I`ve visited so far. To enter the country, I didn´t even have to go through customs. I just handed my passport to the bus attendant the night we left Buenos Aires, and he returned my passport to me the next morning. I wish to write much more, but in the meantime, I`m enjoying the humid climate, the rain, the beach, homemade empanadas, fireflies, motorcycle rides, walks along the Atlantic ocean, and sipping mate all day while spending time with Pedrito and Sandrita`s family. More to come... Happy holidays for everyone. Much love.

round one of voting

Sunday evening the Chilean television channels, all about the same, debriefed the first round of voting for the presidential elections. The presidential candidate from the "Together We Can (Junto Podemos)" political alliance, Jorge Arrate, received a worthy 6,21% of the national vote. And, even more impressive, three Communist Party candidates will occupy seats in the parliament. These outcomes represent signficant steps for a country that experienced a sysematic, bloody purge of leftist leaning activists and intellectuals only a few decades ago.

Jorge Arrate taught a seminar at the University of California. He shared stories from his post as ambassador to Argentina during Allende´s Popular Unity government (1979-1973). The photos show propaganda from his campaign, which called on the memory of the protest singer, Víctor Jara, and democratically elected Socialist president, Salvador Allende.

In order for a decisive outcome, a presidential candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote. Hence, Chileans will vote a second time on January 17. This time people will choose between the businessman from the ultra-right political alliance, Piñera, and the Christian Democrat from the center-right incumbent political alliance, Frei. For the record, Piñera owns a major television channel, half the island of Chiloé and other parts of the country, the airline LanChile, and copper mining industries. He´s a multi-millionaire.

Last night Piñera threw a party in a park in downtown Santiago to thank his supporters--many from the working classes. People bought into it. He has appeal, and he´s certainly more charismatic and attractive than Frei, who reminds me of a dinosaur. On the other hand, many people still support the Concertación center-right political alliance that has maintained power since the return of democratic elections in 1990 (following the military dictatorship under General Pinochet). As former diputado (governer equivalent but for a region) in Chile´s Rivers Region, Frei oversaw a project that allowed a timber company to expand, which resulted in the near extinction of black-necked swans native to Valdivia. It seems that either way, national politics will continue to compromise this country´s natural resources.

Still, it´s important to recognize the small triumphs--that more marginalized political parties succeeded in gaining posts and demonstrating presence.

summer rain

Today I barely took my laundry down from the line before rain started to fall. I spent the day cooking lunch (lentils and salads), doing laundry, reading, and writing. Here are more pictures from the Villa San Luís neighborhood in Valdivia. Tomorrow Chileans vote in the first round of elections. Most likely there will be another round of voting to elect the next president.

valdivia! que lindo valdivia!

December 10, 2009

After spending the day in Santiago, I felt relieved to leave the city and take a 13-hour bus ride south. The next morning, my colleague met me at the Bus Terminal in Valdivia. The Calle Calle River runs through this city of 140,000 inhabitants. Most streets contain names of German heritage. The German influence also appears through the architecture, including wooden shingles reminiscent of gingerbread houses. Gigantic sea lions sit atop buoys and entertain onlookers at the fish market along the river.

The climate might be most comparable to Seattle, Washington. Now, it mists off and on, a cold wind blows, and clouds cover the sky. Hence, the verdant green of the Valdivian temperate rainforest characterizes this region.

That afternoon, we took a bus to the city of Osorno, 110 km south of Valdvia. We met with the research project’s principal investigator and discussed strategies while looking at a map of Chile’s Lakes Region. The main impetus of the project is to plan coastal resource distribution while taking into account the knowledge of various stakeholders, especially that of artisanal fishing communities.

a day in santiago de chile

December 9, 2009

At 6:00 am grey clouds covered Santiago. By 7:00 am, the sun appeared and illuminated the remaining snow on the Andes Mountains. The highest peak visible from the city, El Plomo, stood out. Supposedly the Inca Empire extended to this point, as archaeologists found a mummified baby at the summit.

The bus from the airport to downtown Santiago charged through weekday morning traffic. Posters, flyers, and all kinds of propaganda related to the upcoming elections added to the chaos. A flashy billboard announced the businessman Piñera as Chile’s new president with the slogan, “We will defeat delinquency.” On the other side of the street, a poster related information about the Revolutionary Left Movement (Movimiento Izquierdo Revolucionário, MIR). At streetlights, hired workers waved flags for Frei, the Christian Democrat candidate. Flyers with the names “Arrate,” the Communist Party candidate, lined walls.

In the working class neighborhood of Pudahuel, trucks filled with family members and sacks of fruits and vegetables made their way to the central market. Girls and boys dressed in school uniforms waited for the bus. Workers on bicycles dodged cars, trucks, buses, and taxis. Thousands of people marched in and out of the metro entrance. Horses attached to carriages ate grass on islands next to the main street, La Alameda. In the same island, people had constructed homes from discarded materials. Dogs ran around chasing each other and looking for food scraps. Old men chatted leisurely next to newspaper kiosks. On the corner of Arica Street and San Borja, a homeless couple warmed bread over a makeshift fire. In downtown Santiago, a vendor sold the summer bounty of Chile’s Central Valley: apricots, cherimoyas, peaches, loquats, strawberries, nectarines, plums, almonds, walnuts, avellanas, and raisins. Street vendors sold 15 Haas avocados for ~$2. The temperature in the city passed 90˚ Farenheit that afternoon.