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<b><i>Daniel del Solar <solarmedia@hotmail.com></i></b></font>
wrote: <br>
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<dd>A walk in downtown Santiago on this sunny day a bit past 4 in the
afternoon <br>
<dd>near Chile´s White House, El Palacio de la Moneda, show few signs of
the <br>
<dd>spirited protests by socialists, communists, and the poor who have
been left <br>
<dd>out of Chile´s dream of economic development.<br><br>
<dd>While President Michelle Bachelet was in Australia attending yet
another <br>
<dd>summit, the Vice President who was left in charge prohibited marchers
in <br>
<dd>defense of Human Rights from marching past the door where Salvador
Allende <br>
<dd>frequently entered the historic government house. It was from this
door <br>
<dd>that his lifeless body was removed by members of the Chilean military
who <br>
<dd>had carried out a coup that had deposed a democratically elected
Allende <br>
<dd>Government.<br><br>
<dd>Supporters of Allende, torture survivors who lived through 18 years
of a <br>
<dd>military regime that sacraficed national sovereignty and income in
the name <br>
<dd>of "economic development" attempted to march by that door,
but where forced <br>
<dd>by hundreds of baton weilding police to take a different route to the
tomb <br>
<dd>of President Allende and of Ambassador Orlando Letelier who are
burried in <br>
<dd>the Cementerio General. The police also counted on large Mercedes
Benz <br>
<dd>trucks outfitted to spray noxious liquids which have such strong
streams <br>
<dd>that the crowds are often thrown off balance and are caused to fall.
Similar <br>
<dd>vehicles drive into demonstrators spewing tear gas and pepper spray
which is <br>
<dd>so strong that it brought tears to my eyes four hour after having
been <br>
<dd>sprayed into protestors.<br><br>
<dd>As the so'called socialist government of Bachellet has continued to
provide <br>
<dd>an open season for international raw materials hunters, very little
of the <br>
<dd>economic benefits of globalization have come to the lowest income
groups. <br>
<dd>The economic miracle of globalization, initiated after the coup in
1973, has <br>
<dd>led to Chile selling off 75% of its copper resources, entire glaciers
inthe <br>
<dd>south, and the poisoning of Chile´s largest river, the Bio Bio,
located 300 <br>
<dd>miles to the south of Santiago. A paper plant at the ocean outlet of
the <br>
<dd>river has led to the destruction of local fisheries to the extent
that local <br>
<dd>people in Concepcion, where the Bio Bio meets the Pacific, largely do
not <br>
<dd>eat fish any longer.<br><br>
<dd>Local fishery stocks the length of Chile are currently largely
destroyed and <br>
<dd>traditional, small scale fishermen no longer can make a living.
Recent <br>
<dd>conversations with the Government have led to promises of help. The
<br>
<dd>fishermen and their families have been forced to create community
kitchens <br>
<dd>in order to feed children and families.<br><br>
<dd>This year, as distinct from other years, there has been a concerted
move <br>
<dd>away from any celebrations regarding the Allende Government. This
means that <br>
<dd>only the values remain, and a very vague history about the time when
<br>
<dd>idealism was backed by actions. Allende´s government began in 1970 by
<br>
<dd>promising milk to all of the children, recognizing that social
inequality <br>
<dd>begins even immediately after birth.<br><br>
<dd>A 15 year old Mapuche girl told me that her school taught her nothing
about <br>
<dd>recent history nor anyting about Salvador Allende. The moral struggle
to <br>
<dd>control history is in full flower, and the good times promised by the
<br>
<dd>upcoming national holidays, the 18th is the formal "July 4th
equivalent" <br>
<dd>here in Chile, and this year the celebration lasts from this coming
Saturday <br>
<dd>the 15th through the 19th.<br><br>
<dd>Television news programs have focused on the great times to be had in
<br>
<dd>chile´s distinct regions.<br><br>
<dd>The press today barely made mention of what today has meant to Chile
as the <br>
<dd>media is anxious to forget what has been an unpleasant twenty years
of <br>
<dd>military dictatorship, and its consequences. The major left oriented
<br>
<dd>newspaper, La Tercera, said that the national holidays would likely
be <br>
<dd>cloudy and that Britney Spears likely performed under the influence
of drugs <br>
<dd>in her most recent MTV appearance. The more conservative La Segunda
<br>
<dd>presented the only major headline in the press today with the words:
Homages <br>
<dd>to Allende, Offerings, emotions, a internal fights," refering to
rude words <br>
<dd>and actions between the socialists and the communists. The same front
page <br>
<dd>gave the news that Bachelet, standing with one of Allende´s daughters
and a <br>
<dd>grandaughter, spoke of the need for a Chile that was more just and
fair, and <br>
<dd>more democratic.<br><br>
<dd>The Weekly "el Siglo" had a special promotion on the front
page saying: <br>
<dd>Honor to the fallen, march this Sunday starting at the Plaza Los
Heroes at <br>
<dd>ten AM. The right-wing LA NACION headlined "an alliance that has
<br>
<dd>shattered, showing a piece of broken glass between the images of the
<br>
<dd>socialist and communist leaders in the governing coalition, with the
subhead <br>
<dd>"They came together to help the workers, but they ended up
fighting amongst <br>
<dd>themselfes. The dog eat dog love , the history of lies, backstabbing,
and <br>
<dd>paternalism amongst the workers. This same newspaper shows of a
picture of <br>
<dd>Michael Townley´s son, a progressive geologist. Townley was a double
agent <br>
<dd>with the CIA and DINA, the miilitariy´s secret police that
assassinated <br>
<dd>Ambassador Orlando Letelier in Washington DC in 1976. The
assassination of <br>
<dd>an Ambassor in Washington, DC, had never before occured in the
history of <br>
<dd>the United States, and it was planned and carried out by Michael
Townly at <br>
<dd>the direction of the senior George Bush, then director of the
CIA.<br><br>
<dd>N, Clarin´s weekly cultural magazine rand a picture of a greenpeace
<br>
<dd>demonstration showing the sign, "No pulpmill Pollution" and
the subheadline, <br>
<dd>"A Protest without camara´s does not exist."<br><br>
<dd>Speaking with book dealers half a block away from the Moneda, they
said that <br>
<dd>this year´s protests where significantly less disruptive and
destructive. <br>
<dd>That the youth still was in the lead in the violent protests. And
finally, <br>
<dd>that the government was "the same joke, but with a different
commedian."<br><br>
<dd>This is bad news for the poor and working class in Chile on this
occassion, <br>
<dd>34 years after the Chilean military headed by Augusto Pinochet,
killed <br>
<dd>democracy and established a murderous 18-year regime that has led
Chile to <br>
<dd>near ruin of several of its vital resources. That the death of
significant <br>
<dd>fisheries, handing over of other vital portions of Chile´s natural
resources <br>
<dd>at bargain basement prices, means that the poor can expect to wait
for a <br>
<dd>long time for justice to arrive to their particular neighborhoods
throughout <br>
<dd>Chile.<br><br>
<dd>I am Daniel del Solar in Santiago, Chile, on September 11th,
2007<br>
<dd>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX<br><br>
<dd>Daniel del Solar<br>
<dd>e-mail solarmedia@hotmail.com<br>
<dd>cell 510 290 3022<br><br>
<br><br>
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