Troubles in the South American Paradise

by Miguel Morales

"I wonder if the President decided to announce the State of Emergency while he was getting dinner in an exclusive restaurant in the richest neighborhood of the most unequal society of the continent."

On Wednesday October 9th, the Chilean President stated, proudly, that Chile is “a true oasis [haven]” in a “disrupted Latin America[1]”: Argentina is in social crisis, Peru is in a political crisis, Venezuela is in an economic crisis, Brazil is in a criminal crisis, Ecuador is in an indigenous people uprising, while Chile... Chile is doing so good that the South American people who suffer at their “unstable” countries decided to migrate into it.

From this exception on a troubled continent, the Chilean President, for a second time in just nine days, announced an exception once again. This time, not about a haven, but rather about something that Chilean government considers a “hell”: A State of Emergency to face the harsh and violent protests in Santiago of Chile. (In Spanish, the word for “emergency” in this case is “exception.”) So, what happened in just nine days? Why did the people in the "South American paradise" wake up so angry one day? What went wrong at this shining exception in the middle of an undeveloped continent?

Well, the reason seems simple: Chilean people are very unfair (because for our Government, when someone complains, it is always because of themselves, never due to a bad decision from them).

It’s so unfair that Chilean people do not feel happy living in the country with the highest PIB in Latin American[2], even when the difference in income between the 1,7% richest and the 50% poorest is over 10x[3].

It’s unfair that people feel angry when someone who sells food without legal permission goes to jail while many of the richest entrepreneurs who gave illegal financial support to the most important political parties only receive a small fine as punishment and classes of “Ethic” without putting one foot in jail: How can we be ungrateful with those entrepreneurs who “create” our jobs?[4]

It’s unfair when the people cannot understand the underlying reason behind the Chilean President's decision of keeping as Vice President of the country, a man who covered up the murder of a young mapuche (native people) who was killed from the back by the Chilean Police, as it was showed in the recovered video that was immediately after the murder erased by the Police[5].

It’s unfair that people do not empathize with the Chilean President who has the same rights as “any nobody” to spend time with his sons. (“Any nobody” is a close translation for "patipelados" –someone who lacks resources– which was the word used by a pro government senator to refer to the people who complain about the high salary of the a political representative, who receive a salary equal to thirty minimum monthly wages[6].) For this reason, the Chilean President took two of his sons –both of them investors on app development companies- in a State trip to China in the airplane funded by the people’s taxes, and even invited them to an official dinner with Chinese businessmen interested in investing on… App development companies[7].

The Chilean People, as you can see, are so unfair: how can we dare to protest against the logical rise of the price of public transportation (the last of a series of raises in basic services in the last four months)? How is it that these people could not understand the good intentions behind the words of the Secretary of State who recommended they deal with the raise by waking up earlier (because the rise is lower if you use the subway before 7:00 AM[8])? Why cannot we accept the good advice of other Secretary of State who invites the people to buy flowers as gifts, since flowers are a cheap alternative now that the people have less money for gifts[9]?

Since the Chilean People are so unfair and so ungrateful of their “happy copy of the Eden”–the oasis stated for Chilean President alludes to this sentence of National Anthem–, the Chilean President decided to promulgate a State of Emergency in the Chilean Capital for the first time since the return of the Democracy in 1990. In the most obvious reminder of the sympathy and proximity of many of the politicians in the current government with Pinochet’s Military Dictatorship, the Chilean President is mobilizing soldiers to the streets in that country that only nine days ago he described as a “haven” in the continent.

I wonder if the President decided to announce the State of Emergency while he was getting dinner in an exclusive restaurant in the richest neighborhood of the most unequal society of the continent: At the same time when six millions of “santiaguinos” (Santiago’s habitants) walked between two and ten miles to get home, the President celebrated a family birthday. But Chilean People keep being the most unfair in the world. Maybe this is an ironic way of having poetical equilibrium: The alleged unfairness of this ungrateful people looks an aftermath of living in the most unfair Latin American Society.

NOTES

[1] https://www.cooperativa.cl/noticias/pais/presidente-pinera/presidente-pinera-chile-es-un-verdadero-oasis-en-una-america-latina/2019-10-09/063956.html

[2] http://www.ansalatina.com/americalatina/noticia/economia/2019/03/19/pib-crecio-4-en-2018-el-mas-alto-de-la-region_e67d636a-516c-40a1-af49-820fb9680f64.html

[3] https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/economia/actualidad-economica/2019/08/13/revelan-el-sueldo-promedio-de-los-chilenos-en-2018-y-el-porcentaje-que-gana-mas-de-3-millones.shtml

[4] https://www.cnnchile.com/lodijeronencnn/columna-monica-rincon-clases-de-etica-delano-lavin-caso-penta_20190405/

[5] https://ciperchile.cl/2018/11/19/la-evidencia-policial-que-confirmo-el-testimonio-clave-del-menor-que-acompanaba-al-comunero-catrillanca/

[6] https://www.latercera.com/politica/noticia/presidenta-la-udi-cualquier-patipelao-se-siente-derecho-insultar-quienes-trabajan-servicio-publico/685500/

[7] https://www.adnradio.cl/noticias/nacional/gira-presidencial-a-china-hijos-de-pinera-participaron-de-reunion-con-empresas-tecnologicas/20190428/nota/3896119.aspx

[8] https://www.eldinamo.cl/nacional/2019/10/07/fontaine-alza-metro-madrugar-transporte-publico/

[9] https://www.publimetro.cl/cl/noticias/2019/10/09/levantarse-a-las-5-00-llegar-a-las-23-30-la-formula-para-que-las-comunas-perifericas-se-sumen-al-metodo-fontaine.html