Election Flurry In Chile: Not That Anybody Cares...
15 December 2009By Jane Stillwater
Well, after a sleepless night on an airplane, I
arrived in Chile this morning and went straight to my
hotel -- which happens to be the campaign headquarters
for one of the main front-runners in the Chilean
presidential elections. Wow!
But it´s not that anyone in America even knows that
there are elections down here -- and not as if anyone
cares. But for the Chileans -- who were not allowed to
have elections at all for 27 years after the bloody
coup of September 11, 1973 -- they take their
elections very seriously indeed.
Let´s hope that someday Americans will take their
elections seriously too.
"Pinera is running as a central candidate," said one
of his campaign managers. "He stood up to Pinochet."
That´s a definite plus on his side. "There is probably
also going to be one more candidate who will get a
majority of votes in this election. And then there
will be a run-off." Interesting. I´m hoping that
Marcos whats-his-name will win. His father used to be
a left-wing guerrilla. For me, that´s a plus.
Pinera owns Lan airlines and an island and an estancia
and a credit card company and is full of big bucks --
like so many recent U.S. candidates who have bought
their way into office. But there seems to be a buzz
here in Pinera´s favor and there are big billboards of
him all over Santiago. We´ll see.
"Pinera wasn´t against Pinochet per se," said one
other source I talked to. "He was just out of the
country during the September 11 coup.¨ Oh. And one
member of the press stated that Pinera would sweep the
elections and there wouldn´t have to be a run-off. But
another member of the press was rooting for Marcos.
"If Marcos can get to the run-off, he will win because
the other center-left coalition will start backing him
instead of their own candidates."
In any case, I´m here at Pinera´s campaign
headquarters and tonight is the big night! The press
room is filling up. Let´s wait and see.
Chilean elections should be very important to
Americans -- if for no other reason than that Chile is
where we get all our fresh off-season strawberries.
But also because of the strong people-oriented
political wind that is now sweeping South America
after so many years of rule by dictatorship and
torture. And if Pinera wins, where will he stand? With
the nascent democratic movement or with the old-guard
Latin American friends of the CIA?
For a more in-depth analysis of the election by the
Guardian of London, click here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/13/chile-presidential-election
****
From Max: Billionaire tycoon set to win most votes in
Chile's presidential election: Sebastian Pinera may
have to wait for runoff to end 16 years of leftist
rule as he requires 50% plus of vote for outright win:
A conservative businessman appeared on course today to
win the most votes in Chile's presidential election,
potentially ending nearly two decades of leftist rule
which have left the country stable and prosperous.
Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire who owns stakes in an
airline and a media firm, said he would rejuvenate the
economy but not radically shift Chile to the right.
"Better times are coming to Chile," he said. Opinion
polls gave him a wide lead over his nearest rival,
Eduardo Frei, a former president who is running on the
ticket of the ruling coalition, Concertación, which
has been in power since the end of Augusto Pinochet's
dictatorship in 1990.
But with four candidates running it was unclear if
Pinera, 60, would win enough votes – he needs 50% plus
one – to avoid a runoff against Frei next month. The
country of 17 million people was Latin America's
wealthiest but the ruling coalition had run out of
steam, Pinera said. "Chile needs a true renaissance
which frees us from this state of lethargy," he wrote
in a Sunday newspaper column.
Opinion polls suggested the tycoon would win 44% of
the vote, far ahead of Frei's 31%, and that he would
win a narrower victory in a runoff on 17 January. If
Pinera prevails it would be the right's first election
victory in half a century and distinguish Chile from a
continent dominated by leftist governments. Analysts
said he was the right's most moderate candidate and
would keep Chile on a centrist course. The two-chamber
congress is expected to remain divided.
After a four-year term which saw copper and wine
exports help weather recession, President Michelle
Bachelet has a 77% approval rating. But she is
constitutionally barred from seeking re-election. Frei,
a civil engineer whose 1994-2000 administration was
buffeted by economic problems, has put Bachelet's name
and face on his campaign posters but struggled to
transfer her popularity. At 67, he represents the old
guard in a country which seems to want change.
The race was shaken up by Marco Enríquez-Ominami, 36,
a former film director and congressman who broke from
the ruling coalition to run as an independent. Dubbed
"the rebel", he has promised to increase taxes on the
rich and broached taboo subjects such as marijuana
consumption, gay marriage and abortion. Opinion polls
put him third with 17%. If there is a second round,
the race will hinge on whether his supporters migrate
to a leftist promising more of the same or a
conservative promising a shake up.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/13/chile-presidential-election
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