Why the rain?

Santiago's winters are wet, cold (albeit mild compared to my home state of Iowa) and a bit depressing. Last winter it rained for days on end at times, flooding Santiago's inadequate drainage system, filling canals above their mark, leaking through people's roofs, generally making life a bit dreary.

This is all supposed to end in October, and by November blue skies (a bit hazy at times due to the smog) reign over the city. However we seem to be having some sort of relapse into a more wintery time with rain pouring down. Up higher in the mountains, peaks are covered with a fresh layer of white snow, giving anyone from the northern hemisphere a reminder of what November used to feel like.

The difference in the seasons between hemispheres has a profound effect on the sense of time. Celebrating Christmas and new years in the midst of summer heat waves is a bit confusing, it distorts any sense of time that might exist in a visitor's head. I receive emails from the US talking about the arrival of fall, and logically it seems to make sense, my birthday being in October, I was accustomed to those cold winter winds starting to blow around that time. But not now, thinks are starting to feel more and more like spring. On a recent bike ride to the Cerro San Cristobal in Santiago's central park, I found the vegetation to be in some sort of growth spurt, reaching out from their roots, showing their flowers, spurning birds to sing.

Today, that springtime sensation has been washed away by an untimely and unseasonal rainstorm. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to talk bad about the rain, it washes things clean, especially the smog, and lets me be a bit lazier than usual, guilt free.

However, winter just got over, so really, why the rain?

Colin

What beer to drink in Chile (If you can afford it)

I thought that I would change pace a bit today, and look at what is undeniably one of the best Chilean beers, Kunstmann.

Brewed in Valdivia, located in southern Chile, it has a great taste, more of a body than some of the other Chilean beers such as Cristal, Austral, or Escudo.

The only downfall, it is rather expensive. You can pick up a four pack (yes a four pack, really should be a six pack in my opinion) for around 2,800 pesos. In bars it averages from 1200 to 1800 pesos a bottle, though there are a couple rare places where it goes for 1000 pesos a draft.
One of those places is Armenia, located on the corner of Chile-España and Irarrazaval in Ñuñoa.

Cheers!

When the news is a lie...

I remember a time in my life when I considered the news to be some sort of deity, speaking truth to the people through a talking head. I must have been about 7 or so, it took a long time to really understand what the news really is, a story.

A story is never completely true, and rarely completely false, but stories are twisted depending on who is telling them. Someone who claims to be objective is not to be trusted, we are human beings, and objectivity isn't our nature.

We can be balanced, and we can talk about facts, rather than pass on rumours.

Chile's military regime relied heavily on a complacent, lap dog press that served as a mouthpiece for their "message." There is no better example of this complacency than what occurred in the aftermath of Operation Colombo.

On July 13, 1975, a mysterious Argentine publication, Lea, in its sole edition, printed the names of 60 people it claimed had been executed by their own comrades in a settling of political scores. Four days later, the list of 119 victims was completed when a small Brazilian daily, Novo O Día, published the names of 59 Chileans who, according to its sources, had died in clashes with military forces in Argentina. Later that month, DINA itself published the 119 names and announced that all had died in military operations in Argentina.

Read today's lead in the Santiago Times for a bit more background.

Chile caught in the middle

The arrival of Alberto Fujimori really couldn't have came at a worse time for Chile. His appearance and subsequent arrest has complicated Chile's relations with Peru, where Fujimori faces charges, yet intends on returning to power; and Japan, where Chilean Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker was scheduled to travel for trade agreement talks this Thursday. Chile announced the postponement of his trip Tuesday due to issues sounding the current situation with Fujimori.

According to the Mainchi Daily News, Japan has asked Chile to allow consular officials to visit Fujimori in Chile. All of this, topped by the border dispute, makes for rough times in the Chilean government. To make it even worse, this interwoven web of international characters and claims comes as Chile moves into the final weeks of a Presidential campaign.

CB

Woman in Chile

Chile is moving into the final month of its presidential campaign, and it appears that Concertacion front runner Michelle Bachelet has a very good shot at winning the election.

I am particularly excited to be in a country when they elect their first woman, especially in a country that is still very conservative when it comes to social roles and norms. Of course, the opinions of whether or not she will be a good leader vary depending who you talk to, but she seems to have widespread support.

Politics aren’t the only arena where woman are making gains toward more responsibility and respect. An article that appeared in the Christian Science Monitor took a look at the progress that woman are making in Chile’s military.

In one of Latin America's most conservative countries, women are making significant inroads into its most male-dominated institution. The increasing role of women in all levels of Chile's military is part of a larger societal shift over the past year that includes laws legalizing divorce for the first time, outlawing sexual harassment, and making domestic abuse a crime.

The transformation of the military is championed by Michelle Bachelet, who was the country's first female defense minister, and is now the front-runner in next month's presidential elections. Chile's military reforms are considered by many to be a model in Latin America.

Apparently Chile has a higher ratio of woman than in the U.S., something that took me by surprise. Women even participated for the first time in an international U.N. mission to Haiti. Another mark of change here in Chile…

CB

Fujimori arrives?!?

In a strange twist to Chilean-Peruvian politics, the former president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori arrived in Chile and was arrested on an international warrant.

This comes at an interesting time. Peru's congress recently passed legislation deeming their country in control of a fish rich slot of 17,000 square KM, despite that there was an agreement between the countries made some 50 years ago.

It will be interesting to see how this influences the tone of conversation, the fact that Chile now has someone Peru wants might change some of the dynamics over this border dispute.


Overall, there have been some ongoing stories worth following. One is the Cuadra story, the former government spokesman turned university rector who revealed some interesting info in an interview recently that indicates he knew a lot more about some of the revenge killings after the attempted assassination of Pinochet than he indicated at the time.

Then of course there is the Summit of the Americas, which wrapped up this last weekend. Apart from the regular summit, there was an anti-Bush summit nearby that drew a lot of attention.
From an article in today's Santiago Times (members only):


The strong showing of anti-Bush supporters, however, seems to confirm a recent study by British newspaper “The Economist” that showed anti-American sentiment is growing in South America. The study classified Argentina, along with Uruguay and Venezuela, as one of the most anti-American countries in South America, citing President Bush, the invasion of Iraq, and U.S. economic influence as factors encouraging the strong sentiment.

Bush really has to be feeling the heat at this point, or maybe his bubble is even more insulated than I imagine.

CB