El pasado de Chile

So today in my Spanish class we watched a documentary called "La Ciudad de Lo Fotografos" (The City of Photographers). Typically and honestly, I dread Spanish class and I thought that this movie would be just another excuse for me to catch up on sleep. However, the movie was the story of a group of journalists who took pictures to document the police terrorism during the reign of Pinochet, a controversial dictator in the 70s and 80s. This year especially is a historic year of Chile because it is their bicentennial along with a recent election, where Sebastian Piñera, an old friend of Pinochet, was the first conservative elected president in 20 years. The history of Chile is actually super interesting, so, as boring as it may be to the rest of you, I just thought I'd inform you of what I know:)

So, in the early 70s, the president of Chile was Salvador Allende, who I know little about, but is regarded many times as one of their best leaders. Allende was in office during the takeover by Pinochet. On September 11, 1973 (yes, the same day as the twin tower crash about 20 years earlier), the Chilean military, with Pinochet as their leader and supposed help from the US CIA, took over La Moneda, the Chilean version of the White House. As this coup was occurring, Allende allegedly commited suicide, however no one is quite sure how legitimate that is.

Pinochet then ruled the country from 73-90, where he peacefully let the country return to democracy. He is one of the most controversial dictators of modern times, with many people believing he was a great leader, while others see him as a monster. With respect to the people here, I know I cannot give an educated opinion as to whether or not he was a hero or a villain. However, from the little I do know, I have come to realize that both sides are credible. Pinochet created a strong economic model for Chile and led them to some of the greatest economic growth they have ever seen. However, he also was responsible for about 3000 disappearances (now widely considered murders), and about 30,000 people being tortured. Most of the terror reign was directed at Marxists, people who sided with Allende, and others at the far left. Many of the photographs pictured in the movie I saw today showed people getting sprayed with tear gas, getting beaten with clubs, and the mass hidden graves of the disappeared. There was especially powerful images of two young photographers, who typically sided with the left, getting burned alive and of a boy getting his eye beaten out of his head. But, as I said before, many Chileans today still support Pinochet. Its very similar to Iraqis and Hussein or Cubans and Castro, or basically any dictator. Pinochet recently died in 2006.

After Pinochet, the left ruled Chile. The president for the past few years has become one of my personal heroes. Her name is Michelle Bachelet, the first female president of Chile, who is a Socialist, a divorced single mother, and a pediatrician. She did so much for the country, from creating an entirely revamped bussing system out of a system that barely existed, helped reduce the gap between Chile's rich and poor (which has been one of the largest in the world), helped make birth control more widespread and readily available, and created the first free trade agreement with China in a Latin American country. She did experience some scandal and low approval ratings, but she just left office with almost 80% approval.

That brings me to today. Just last week, Chile had a controversial election for president. Now first, a few things about the political parties here. They do not match up with the US, and are shifted very far to the left. Someone summed it up for me with this hypothetical: if Obama and McCain ran in Chile, Obama would be a pretty Conservative candidate, and McCain would have been off the charts.

The two candidates were conservative Sebastian Piñera, a billionaire and friend of Pinochet, who lost to Bachelet in 2006; the other being leftest Eduardo Frei, a former president who was in office in the 90s, and apparently did very little besides exploit the copper region. It is weird to think this way as Americans, but after 20 years of left rulers, Piñera campaigned with the slogan "Súmate al Cambio" (summate change), similar to how Obama campaigned for change in the US. Frei, despite the widespread belief that he was a pretty lame president with few accomplishments, had similar youth movements to those for Obama in the US and was largely a candidate for the youth. When Piñera won, there was, as to be expected, riots in certain parts of the city, but, on the flipside, a lot of people excited for the new change. I heard various expressions of fear because of his former connections to Pinochet, but also saw a lot of happiness over the end of the leftist reign. We'll have to wait and see how Chile's first conservative president in 20 years changes this country.