Chile's Ghosts Are Not Being Rescued

[SHRED]

And the beat goes on.

Chile's Ghosts Are Not Being Rescued
Wednesday 13 October 2010
by: John Pilger, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed


Chile's indigenous Mapuche population peacefully protest in Santiago, Chile. (Photo: Patricio / Flickr)
The rescue of 33 miners in Chile is an extraordinary drama filled with pathos and heroism. It is also a media windfall for the Chilean government, whose every beneficence is recorded by a forest of cameras. One cannot fail to be impressed. However, like all great media events, it is a facade.

The accident that trapped the miners is not unusual in Chile and is the inevitable consequence of a ruthless economic system that has barely changed since the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Copper is Chile's gold, and the frequency of mining disasters keeps pace with prices and profits. There are, on average, 39 fatal accidents every year in Chile's privatized mines. The San Jose mine, where the trapped men work, became so unsafe in 2007 it had to be closed - but not for long. On 30 July last, a labor department report warned again of "serious safety deficiencies," but the minister took no action. Six days later, the men were entombed.

For all the media circus at the rescue site, contemporary Chile is a country of the unspoken. At the Villa Grimaldi, in the suburbs of the capital Santiago, a sign says: "The forgotten past is full of memory." This was the torture center where hundreds of people were murdered and disappeared for opposing the fascism that General Pinochet and his business allies brought to Chile. Its ghostly presence is overseen by the beauty of the Andes, and the man who unlocks the gate used to live nearby and remembers the screams.

I was taken there one wintry morning in 2006 by Sara De Witt, who was imprisoned as a student activist and now lives in London. She was electrocuted and beaten, yet survived. Later, we drove to the home of Salvador Allende, the great democrat and reformer who perished when Pinochet seized power on 11 September 1973 - Latin America's own 9/11. His house is a silent white building without a sign or a plaque.

Continued:
http://www.truth-out.org/chiles-ghosts-are-not-being-rescued64160

[demosincebirth]

1. That was a terrible time in Chile. I remember...similar to Argentina, a few years latter

Right-wing Governments. What does that tell us?

[aquart]

2. Something you need to know.

When something like this happens, a place changes, the people change. When you survive disaster, there is a spirit that sets a standard. Of course, it will never meet your lofty goals, but it will not be business as usual. They know what they do, now, when the worst happens.

I don't know why anyone would want to rescue a ghost. Chile spent its money rescuing the living.

[RandomThoughts]

3. Glad all the miners are getting out.

Cheers! To the Shovelers! :toast:






Side Note
We have the Fork,
We have the Fork.

[liberalmuse]

4. Now is a good time to use the rescue of miners...

to voice your liberal fucking point. Love liberalism - hate that there are some opportunists out there who will jump on a tragedy and hump it for their own gain or to make a point - liberal or not. Fuck them. It's deplorable and as a flaming liberal, I don't support this kind of shit.

[struggle4progress]

5. The overthrow of Allende was largely motivated by the economics of copper

[w4rma]

6. If you have the opportunity to make the world better, why would you pass on it?

You are used to getting bested by your opponents, aren't you, liberal muse?

[Rhiannon12866]

7. K&R. This is important background on the amazing rescue that the world has been following...

And, hopefully, all the attention will bring this to light and memory. Thanks so much for posting... :kick: