My Blog

Victor P. Unda

On September 11, 1973, the coup d’état in Chile was a painful event for the country. I found it difficult to believe in the regime that followed the coup in Chile which left behind so many lives affected by this event. In other words, it was a catastrophic shock for thousands of Chileans. Personally I think seventeen years under the Pinochet regime were not easy to swallow. I traveled from Chile to Bolivia right after Pinochet lost the election of 1988. He was replaced by former president Patricio Aylwin Azócar, a Christian Democrat whose political party remained opposed to the regime. However, the government transition was not easy for Aylwin’s administration. Aylwin had many challenges in leading the country because of Pinochet’s intervention in politics. Even with Aylwin’s leadership, the political and social power remained influenced by the right-wing and the military regime. Aylwin’s efforts to direct the country were not sufficient to change the military autonomy that was imposed by Pinochet’s regime.

Despite all the difficulties to move the country in a democratic direction, Aylwin appointed the National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation, called “The Retting Commission” to investigate the violation of human rights. Nevertheless, Aylwin did not have a chance to pass any reform because of the lack of votes in Congress since the majority of the senators were right-wing.

In the same way, Frei Montalba’s administration also had difficult times to accomplish his political agenda even with the support of the Center and Left parties’ later called “Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia” or CPD. Frei did not have sufficient votes in Congress to pass a reform as well. Overall, it took many years for different presidential administrations to reach out to the victims who were affected by the regime.

To this day I see that there are several Chileans still protesting, still waiting for justice. After the recent earthquakes and tsunamis in Chile, these social and political efforts seem doomed to remain on a waiting list.

The recent earthquakes have caused unaccountable trauma, no doubt. My own family was affected by this catastrophe in the zone of Villa Cordillera in addition to more than 500 other families. An evaluation by the municipality of Rancagua published in the local newspaper “El Tipógrafo” on March 16, 2010, reported that in the Villa Cordillera 816 thousand condominiums were uninhabitable. The victims were forced to abandon the condos which left 500 families currently living in tents in the same sector.

In this moment I am left wondering about an analogy between the aftermath for the survivors of the earthquake and the survivors of Pinochet’s regime. Because before the earthquakes happened, it took nearly thirty years for many victims to receive a response from the government. Many families still cried out for the government to pay a debt to the victims who were affected by Pinochet’s regime. I must ask if the government will answer this enormous need of the people who were affected by the earthquakes in a thorough and timely manner?

After the earthquakes and tsunamis the newspapers and television closely followed former President Michelle Bachelet’s responses which included providing relief and support to the victims before incumbent President Sebastian Piñera assumed the Presidency on March 11, 2010. The magnitude of the damages provoked by the earthquakes was a clear sign for the government to focus in the reconstruction of housing, the supply of water, telecommunications, and more, leaving aside the psychological distress of the victims.

In fact, early on the morning of the earthquake I was following the news every day through Channel 13 and different newspapers like El Rancagüino, La Tercera, El Tipografo, El Mostrador and even the constant telephone calls to my friends and family who were affected. For the past three weeks I did not hear any statements how the government would help the victims that present affects of psychological distress.

Despite my lack of optimism, I feel that at some point the people who were affected will surely find the road to recovery and a normal life, but over time. The government already announced that the reconstruction would be about housing, jobs, electricity, water and more. However, the psychological support, in this case –still remains unresolved –. As a matter of fact, one of the media sources I followed up with was the newspaper “La Tercera” which reported the Head of the State stating that the damages caused by the earthquakes and tsunamis reached thirty billion dollars. On March 16, 2010, in another article from the same newspaper, President Piñera clarified that it would be hard to recover so quickly because of the lack of funding to help the victims. Since the Chilean economy was hit by the recession in 2008, the government does not have a choice but to request financial credit from outside the country before the economic system becomes untenable.

Is this an indication that the President’s efforts to help the victims who experienced psychological distress will remain in status quo? It is more than clear that social-well-being programs would need enormous funding to relieve the victims who were affected in the earthquakes and tsunamis. But one of the unknowns is whether or not the President will fulfill his political agenda or the promises of his campaign. And again, will the President help to relieve the victims who were affected by Pinochet’s regime?

I am sure many of us would like to forget about what happened during the Pinochet regime, but that is unrealistic in the same way it is unrealistic for the victims affected by the earthquakes to forget. It is no more realistic to assume that simply fixing infrastructure will solve the trauma of this natural disaster.

The only thing left to ask is whether Piñera’s government is prepared to assume this challenge: helping the people who were affected by the earthquake in the same way former Chilean presidents did and finally continues to meet the challenge posed by the people who were affected by Pinochet’s regime.