Chile Triumphs

Along with people all around the globe, we watched the first miner in Chile step from the rescue capsule - via live feed. And watched the last rescue worker step into the capsule in the underground chamber where the 33 miners had lived for over two months. Such is the present world, where we can be present and be here simultaneously.

From travel in Chile, I know the country as remarkably resilient. Since Pinochet's reign of terror ended, it has become one of the most stable countries in South America. Occasionally, I go to places where I say: "I could live here!" Chile is one of those places. The natural beauty of its southern tip is breath-taking beyond description. Its people are warm and welcoming.- determined to keep their hard-earned democracy functioning. And they learn from its mistakes.

Stable economically and politically that is! The tectonic Nazca Plate under the Pacific is constantly moving eastward under South America's continental plate, making Chile highly earthquake-prone. Every day a quake occurs somewhere in Chile. However, those quakes are rarely felt because they occur so far down in the earth. Most Chileans just shrug their shoulders regarding any risk.

Not so the massive earthquake that struck Chile last February. A month later, Sebastian Pinera was inaugurated as president, while aftershocks still shook Valparaiso's congressional building. He certainly has had his work cut out for him. Two major disasters within five months.

The rescue of the 33 miners has given the rest of the world a model to use when catastrophe strikes. The government took charge immediately and began to develop a plan if the miners were found to be alive under mega-tons of rock. They were not hesitant to call upon expertise from around the world. There was no energy wasted by finger-pointing about blame. All of the attention went toward safely rescuing these men.

Of course the saga is not over. The mine was considered unsafe before its collapse - and adequate government regulations for safety were not in place. Chile's mining industry and the technical details of the rescue will be examined under the world's microscopic eyes. And questions will be debated about the rapid mobilization of the country's military, both with this man-made mining disaster and the natural disaster when the earth erupted with such force last February.
The triumphant rescue was not perfect. However, the world has gotten a flavor of what Chile is about - this long pencil-thin strip of land once so isolated from the world. Last February, I wanted a bottle of wine from Chile to celebrate Valentine's Day and our travels there. The twenty-something woman in the liquor store said she thought they had some Chilean wine and led us over to a section of European wines.

We laughed after we left - with a bottle of wine from Chile that we found on another shelf. Thank goodness our clerk was not an aspiring travel agent!