Thoughts on Chile from a dear friend

[Stinky The Clown]

I got this e-mail, addressed to our extended family, just a little while ago. The author is close to me, a fellow vet (he was Army), and a dual US/Chilean citizen, having been born there. We're also related by marriage. He is aware of DU, but does not post here and only rarely reads us. I suggest, after you read this, you follow his link to the Naomi Klein article in The Nation. Very illuminating.

You may have noticed a bit of a difference in how the American media has covered the recent earthquakes in Haiti versus the much larger, more devastating one causing much more damage and followed by an equally devastating tsunami in Chile.

When Haiti was struck, virtually all US news outlets went to immediate and constant 24/7 coverage. CNN covered almost nothing else for three days and MSNBC devoted it's top prime-time shows (Hardball, Countdown & Rachel Maddow ) to near exclusive coverage for several days. This coverage started with damage video and first person accounts, then went into search and rescue operations, and then settled on relief activities... mainly US relief activities including desperate masses chanting "USA, USA" as our troops arrived to secure the airport and hand out provisions. Every network and radio station had donation hot-lines set up, charity concerts were scheduled and you could even use your cell phone to text any number of donations to any number of newly set up relief funds. Compare this handling of the quake in Haiti with the first six days of aftermath in Chile...

Though Chile received a much more powerful quake affecting many more people over a much wider area, a force so severe it actually vibrated the earth off its axes, Chile has received a decidedly different treatment in the American press. Looting and government inaction seem to dominate the headlines and even though this was one of the most powerful quakes ever recorded... NBC, CNBC and MSNBC never once preempted a single minute of their coverage of the Winter Olympics. I have my own theory as to why this is...

- Chile has committed the cardinal sin of once again electing a Socialist President, the second in her history. The first freely elected Socialist President (always referred to as a Marxist by the American press) was Salvador Allende... he was murdered in a bloody coup backed by the CIA and with the approval of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in 1973, September the 11Th 1973 to be exact. This coup was led by Chilean General Augusto Pinochet who then proceeded to rule the country with an iron fist and is now widely recognized the world over as having been a Fascist Dictator. In an ironic twist of fate... Chile's current President, Michelle Bachelet, was herself a political prisoner in one of Pinochet's infamous "black holes" and her father died in another prison as a result of his torture.

- Chile has by far the healthiest economy on the continent. She has almost no foreign debt. She is the worlds largest copper producer/exporter and she has used proceed from her state owned copper Company Codelco to set up large offshore funds designed precisely to protect the country from from predatory lenders known to swoop into other countries in the region in times of crisis and eventually seize their natural resources.

- Chile has not asked the US for help and has refused our offer of US military intervention. Chile has not asked the Us for anything near the economic, military or financial aid that Haiti was begging for, even to the point of allowing the US to send in troops to secure her airports and key logistics.

- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even made a special trip to Chile this week to offer a slate of military and financial aid... she came home empty handed. The following is the sum total of what Chilean President Michelle Bachelet asked for; Fifty satellite phones and a water purification unit. That's it, end of story, thanks for coming.

You see, it's not that Chile has no need of help or that she is arrogant to a fault, it's more that she is very wary of the consequences of accepting aid and even more wary of just who /whom she is accepting aid from. Chileans (Chilenos) have seen how Brazil's debt to The World Bank and the IMF resulted in tipple digit inflation, How US interests (Bechtel in Bolivia) have tried to take over Latin American resources and how easy it is for the US military to move in to any given country and how hard it is to get them to move out.

My theory is that the difference in coverage of these two earthquakes by the main stream media in the US is a reflection of nothing more than pure politics coated in image. In short... We are hero's in Haiti... Not so much in Chile. Of course, as a native born Chileno, I'm a bit sensitive.

Below is a link to a short but sweet article on this written by Naomi Klein (author of The Shock Doctrine) and posted in The Nation

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100315/klein

Questions? Comments?... Thoughts?

~R

[DCKit]

1. Chile has asked PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) for NOTHING.

They've got their shit together. Tried to post an OP about this a bit ago, but got an error message.

I've got a friend who works for PAHO and he said they have asked for nothing beyond their regular orders for pharmaceuticals and supplies. Chile is a member nation of PAHO.

The news couldn't be better. One less possible foothold for the NeoCons and other nation destroyers.

[sandnsea]

2. I don't know where people get this shit

In remarks with Chilean president Michelle Bachelet ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/March/20100302152644xjsnommis2.334231e-02.html ) March 2 in Santiago, Clinton said the United States can provide "not only solidarity, but specific supplies that are needed to help you recover from the earthquake."

The Chilean government has requested international assistance in the form of mobile bridges, field camps and hospitals, satellite phones, electric generators, saltwater-purification systems, autonomous dialysis systems, field kitchens and restaurants. Bachelet said money donations would help with the purchase of food and medication.

"Our objective is that cooperation will exactly meet and respond to ... our most urgent needs," Bachelet said.

http://live.iencyclopedia.org/2010/03/united-states-meeting-chilean.html

And then there's the 14,000 Chilean troops Bachelet sent to the disaster area because there really is looting.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hMuYTBPZ5BpF0seQexrh2BlzWllQ

[Stinky The Clown]

6. Thanks for nothing with that last link

A LOUD WALMART AD SCREAMING AT ME

[sandnsea]

7. Oh my gosh - SKIP AD

But I guess that's just too damn much trouble when you don't want the truth anyway.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Skip Ad skips the ad or downloads malware.

How do I know that site is safe?

No thanks.

[Duer 157099]

3. I love reading stuff like this

I am seriously considering relocating to some other place on earth, and Chile has now become a candidate. If they'll have me.

[Warpy]

4. That sounds right on the money to me

and our McNews is disinclined to cover anything that doesn't have a huge number of US personnel trying to run things.

Chile more than any other country in the hemisphere knows the consequences of having the US "help." Bolivia seems to have learned recently and the jury is still out on Brazil, although they're showing distinct signs of telling their plutocrats to STFU about how much they're being put upon in the name of the nation.

They're also right that once we go in, we don't generally leave and I think that is likely going to be the case in Haiti if the military gets its way.

The right wing meme I find most laughable right now is that Pinochet's regime improved construction standards and that's why buildings did better in Chile than in Haiti. A quick look at the photos will tell you that the buildings that survived mostly intact were pre Pinochet and that standards have declined rapidly since then.

[sandnsea]

5. Even with the facts posted right in your face

Seriously?

I don't know how people can just wash away reality. It's quite stunning.

[malaise]

9. That's an excellent analysis

Thank you. Will send this to my Latin American and Caribbean colleagues.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Thoughts? Looks like spam.

Why are Chileans worried about US media coverage? Or play a stupid game of tragedy oneupmanship?

"Though Chile received a much more powerful quake affecting many more people over a much wider area"

The Chilean earthquake released more energy, as given by the higher magnitude on the Richter and moment magnitude scales. The Chilean earthquake was deeper, at sea, and further away from populated areas which were on solid bedrock. As opposed to the Haitian earthquake, which was shallow, very close to urban areas, and on various kinds of sandy fill.

If you're going to look at how earthquakes effect people, you need to use the Mercalli scale, which takes these things into effect. The Haitian earthquake was much worse than the Chilean earthquake, as evidenced by far higher casualties.

"a force so severe it actually vibrated the earth off its axes"

First, the earth only has the one rotational axis. Second, this is the common misperception of a poorly reported news story. The earth may (theoretically) have shortened its day due to a decrease in moment of rotational inertia, like a figure skater bringing her arms in to spin faster. This happens every time there's an earthquake, landslide, gradual soil erosion, dam burst, etc.

"NBC, CNBC and MSNBC never once preempted a single minute of their coverage of the Winter Olympics."

What universe is this guy in? The cable news covered the whole thing all day, particularly in Chile, cutting only for tsunami coverage shortly before it hit various locations, notably Hawaii.

"Looting and government inaction seem to dominate the headlines and even though this was one of the most powerful quakes ever recorded..."

And they also dominated headlines during Haiti.

"US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even made a special trip to Chile this week to offer a slate of military and financial aid... she came home empty handed. The following is the sum total of what Chilean President Michelle Bachelet asked for; Fifty satellite phones and a water purification unit. That's it, end of story, thanks for coming."

The satellite phones were a gift that were on Clinton's plane when it arrived. She and the US promised far more to come, highlighting gaps in Chile's own response, water purification being one of them.

This guy's theory explaining the facts would be a little more credible if he were right on the facts.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Coming from my Secretary of Gitter Done .....

.... that's high praise.