What the left really fears about Chile’s new president
As George posted last night, the victory by conservative candidate Sebastian Piñera in Chile's presidential election yesterday indicates that the country has turned away from the leftists/socialist ideology that has dominated for the past two decades. This monumental change in mood by South America's strongest economy has sent chills down the spines of both the leftist media and the leftist elite throughout the continent and the world.
Many on the left (especially the media) attempted to equate a vote for Piñera as a vote for Pinochet and an eventual return of a right-wing dictatorship in Chile. This ridiculous extrapolation, however, was not the real fear the left was feeling. Their real fear is that South America's strongest and most stable country will now be led by a strong, outspoken leader who is apparently not willing to turn a blind eye to the atrocities being committed by other leftist leaders in Latin America.
A perfect example of this fear is illustrated by this Canadian Press article published right after Piñera was named the winner. Note the dismay in the writer's tone as even in victory, he continues to associate the candidate with Pinochet.
Billionaire president-elect's criticism of Latin leftists could complicate Chile's diplomacy
By Michael Warren (CP)
SANTIAGO, Chile — Billionaire and now President-elect Sebastian Pinera invoked the calls to service of John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama as he challenged Chileans to come together to improve their country.
The conservative businessman, who won Sunday's election by a 52-48 per cent margin over former President Eduardo Frei, vowed to appoint the "best, most prepared, most honest and most dedicated" people to help transform Chile "into the best country in the world."
But Pinera's long and rousing victory speech made no mention of foreign policy, and given his recent comments about Chile's neighbours, he may find unity on a continent dominated by leftist governments very hard to achieve.
Pinera's election victory Sunday night ends two decades of uninterrupted rule by a centre-left coalition, and returns to power the same political parties that provided civic support for Augusto Pinochet's brutal 1973-1990 dictatorship.
That legacy alone is bound to complicate relations with Argentina, whose leader has made prosecuting human rights violators a centerpiece of her presidency, and Uruguay, which just elected a former leftist guerrilla as its president.
Even after losing the election, the left will continue to beat the long-dead Pinochet horse; without any other argument to offer, they really have no choice. As I mentioned before, however, the left is well aware that there is no danger of Piñera becoming a dictator--the real danger they see and fear is that Piñera is not a loyal, card-carrying member of the leftist elite. Because of this, they fear he will say and do things that expose the vile mechanics behind Latin America's leftist movements and leaders.
At about the halfway point of the article, we see clearly what is really bothering the left.
Pinera has criticized Latin American populism as a failed approach, and in last week's presidential debate, he called Cuba a "dictatorship," said Venezuela is "not a democracy" and vowed never to concede land nor sea that belongs to Chile.
"This tone is clearly going to become an obstacle to building good relations with Bolivia, and certainly with Venezuela," said Marcelo Mella, a political scientist at the University of Santiago. "It seems to me that nationalistic and chauvinistic declarations won't help generate a good climate for resolving conflicts."
Can you imagine that? A South American leader calling the Cuban dictatorship a... (GASP) a dictatorship! And if that was not enough to cause knots in the bellies of the most enlightened elitists, he goes on to say that he will protect the sovereignty of Chile and refuse to concede what is rightfully theirs to tin pot dictators looking to steal some resources from their neighbors.
An interesting side-note is the quote from the political scientist at the University of Santiago. It seems he is very concerned about the "nationalistic and chauvinistic declarations" made by Piñera and believes they may hinder relations with Bolivia and Venezuela. It seems he believes that Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez have earned their right to be nationalistic, chauvinistic, and incendiary as they steal everything they can get their hands on. I guess being a dues-paying member in good standing of the leftist/elitist club has its benefits.
It is going to be fun to watch the Latin American summits coming up with Chile's new president. The left will definitely drag out the dead Pinochet horse and beat it some more, but the real fun will be watching their wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The winner of this election is the Chilean people. Not for turning away from leftist/socialist ideology, but for its healing. Unless a good number of independents/centrists had healed wound from the dictatorship era (which remember in Chile its still quite recent), and recognized that no party should be in power for too long, decided to bet in favor of giving the right a chance.
I'm very proud to be married to a Chilean today, not because we believe or not in Piñera, but because of the great step el pueblo chileno dared to take.
Big Caveat: the left and right in Chile are very different from the left and right anywhere else.
"This tone is clearly going to become an obstacle to building good relations with Bolivia, and certainly with Venezuela..." One has to wonder why building good relations with Bolivia and Venezuela must necessarily be a goal of Chile. How would such relationships benefit Chile? You can bet that Morales and Chavez will go out of their way to deliberately sour any relations with Chile and then exploit the friction.
Hmmmmmmm On Pi~nera won with 52% of the vote and seeks moderation
Allende won with perhaps 36% of the vote and immediately tried to impose his extreme left ideas on the country
I very much wish there were more Canadian journalists like Mark Steyn, and fewer of these types such as Michael Warren. I did a brief search here, but it seems he hasn't written a lot. I remember when Pinochet came to power in Chile, here in Canada it was all my grade 8 teachers rage, and it seemed that I heard about this for a few years at all my families gatherings, I remain the sole rightist in my extended family. well actually.. the kids and I, are of the same..
What does the left fear the most?
a loss of control, they seek to control others, to control your future, your kids future... everything.
And the best of all is that Pinera "gets it" about Cuba and has publicly denounced the lack of democracy.
Caballeros, BTW, por que no agregan el boton the Twitter, please? It's way easier than C & P links, for us, Cuban-bloggers-recovering-and-don't-wanting-to-blog-lately... pliiiz
Went to Chile couple of times this year and talked plenty to people about it. There is definitely going to be a change in tone with the outside world but that is not why Pinera won. It was about a need for change in faces and personnel. The Chileans do want to get a little kick start to their economy but they don't really want Pinera to mess with anything Bachelet has done. I couldn't stand Bachelet but what shocked me was when I met a Socialist Party leader at their Commerce Dept. for a meeting - looking every bit the Socialist (beard, no tie, no jacket) he started by bragging how many Free Trade Agreements Chile had and how the US was too rigid.
The right/left paradigm isn't so easy to figure out in Chile for outsiders. It is more about tone and for pol more than anything else.
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