A Powerful Earthquake Has Just Hit Chile

By Nono Barahona. April 24, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. Just a few minutes ago, a strong earthquake has shaken central Chile. Preliminary reports indicate that the epicenter was located west of Valparaiso.

In Santiago, the earthquake was stronger than the quake that shook the city last Saturday. And it lasted longer.

TV stations say that authorities, as a preventive measure, are calling people to evacuate coastal areas in the regions of Valparaiso and O'Higgins.

And according to TV stations, the earthquake went up to 6.7 on the Richter scale in Santiago, and up to 6.9 in Valparaiso. However, this information has yet to be confirmed.

No Tsunami Alert, say Chilean Authorities

By Nono Barahona. April 23, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. After an earthquake shook Chile at 23:36 hours local time, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, Chilean authorities say that there is no risk of a tsunami.

The earthquake reached 6.0 on the Richter scale.

The Chilean National Seismologic Center said the epicenter was located 48 kilometers west of the port of Valparaiso.

More importantly, the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy said that the earthquake's magnitude was not enough to cause a tsunami.

After the 23:36 hour earthquake, there have been five aftershocks in the city of Valparaiso, all of them above 4.6 on the Richter scale.

At 6.0 on the Richter scale, the 23:36 hour earthquake was strong enough to cause concern in the population, especially because it took place at night and also because there were aftershocks, which, some people fear, might be a buildup to another, stronger, earthquake.

Country-Wide Census Brings Chile to Standstill

By Nono Barahona. April 19, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. A country-wide census is taking place right at this moment, turning Santiago and other cities in the country into ghost towns.

Authorities decided to declare this day a national holiday, and banned everyone from working, to ensure the success of the census.

As a result, movie multiplexes, malls, supermarkets, bakeries are all closed. Only some pharmacies are open to the public.

State employees have taken to the streets, visiting houses to count their occupants.

Even President Michelle Bachelet was shown on television on her way to visit houses as a census field interviewer.

Authorities regard the census as critical to gather information that can be a tool to develop public policies.

A cloudy and mostly cold day has been the backdrop to the census, inviting everyone to stay indoors, contributing to the feeling of ghost town in Santiago.

In the case of this writer, his house was visited at about 9:30 a.m.. The census field interviewer, a woman, asked a series of question, while filling in a form.

What kind of material was used for roofing in the house? What kind of flooring does the house have? How many people live in the house? How many bedrooms does the house or department have? How old are they? Their level of education?

Foreigners are also included in the census.

According to the head of the National Statistics Institute, the preliminary results of the census will be released in August this year, and in December this year we will know how many people are living in Chile, by region and by district.

The idea is not to repeat the embarrassing census of 2012, during the administration of former president Sebastian Piñera, when a census turned into a big fiasco for the administration, forcing the then President Piñera to publicly apologize for the errors.

Almost 25,000 People Died in 2016 in Chile While Waiting for Medical Treatment in the Public Health Care System

By Nono Barahona. April 15, 2017

Waiting room in Salvador hospital in Santiago.
Photo taken by author last year while waiting with
his mom for a blood test on her.

SANTIAGO, Chile.  A report submitted to the Chilean Congress by the "Subsecretaría de Redes Asistenciales", a Chilean government agency that monitors the operation of the public health system, says that 24,817 people died in 2016 while on the waiting lists of the 29 health care services existing in the country.

"El Mercurio", an influential Chilean newspaper, says that out of the total number of patients who died, 22,459 died while waiting for a first visit to a specialist physician, and that 2,358 died while waiting for surgery.

The report states that 74.4% of those who died were more than 65 years of age and that, considering the total number of the dead patients, 52.6% were male.

The government agency claimed that there is no direct relationship between the cause of death of the 24,817 patients and the fact that they were on waiting lists.

However, almost any Chilean reading an article like this makes a direct immediate connection between the fact that the patients were on waiting lists and the fact that they are dead, with the implication that they died for not receiving medical care on time.

Waiting lists are a feature of the Chilean public health care system, which is dominated by hospitals.

The Chilean public health care system is plagued by a shortage of specialized doctors and of doctors in general, resulting in that patients are placed on “waiting lists” on which they wait for their turn to get treatment for their ailments from a hospital doctor.

Since there is no limit on how long a public health patient has to wait for treatment, due to the shortage of doctors and staff, and sometimes due to the shortage of beds to accommodate patients in hospitals, a waiting list patient may have to spend months waiting for their turn to get medical treatment, giving the Chilean public health care system a very bad reputation.

In this regard, an article published by "La Tercera", a major Santiago newspaper, updated as of June 7, 2015, said in its headline that people on waiting lists had to wait even up to 6 years in some cases, with country-wide averages of 273 days for an oncologist and 727 days for a specialist in abdominal surgery.

On the other hand, middle class and upper class Chileans typically have health care insurance and get medical treatment in private clinics, where there are no waiting lists.

Therefore, waiting lists are for those Chileans who can not afford the private health care system.

A Revamped Chilean "Marraqueta" Is Accepted By Consumers, A Study Says

Two crisp marraquetas at lunch time.
The marraqueta is considered to be the quintessential
Chilean bread (photo by author)

By CTN. April 15, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. A study found that Chilean consumers would accept and would buy a less salty marraqueta.

The study was conducted jointly by Universidad Católica and Univesidad de Chile, Chile's two most prestigious and traditional universities.

Singled out for its high content of salt, which exceeds the 400 milligrams (mg) of sodium per 100 grams of bread recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), the marraqueta is considered to be the favorite type of bread among the Chilean population, achieving the status of a cultural item that is inseparable from Chilean daily life and tradition.

The Chilean Health Ministry had proposed a limit of 400 mg of salt per 100 grams of marraqueta, in accordance with the WHO recommendation.  However, last year, the President of the Santiago association of bakers said that taking the salt away from the marraqueta would spell the demise of Chile's most beloved bread, because a less salty marraqueta would lose its crunchiness, its crispiness, its taste, becoming an altogether different kind of bread.

In the study, samples with 400 mg, 200 mg and 0 mg of salt per 100 grams of marraqueta were offered to 30 selected consumers. 

The consumers in the study were asked to rate the samples on a 1-7 scale, with 1 meaning "I hate it" and 7 "I like it a lot". 

In Chile, the 1-7 scale is used for grades from elementary to university education and therefore is very easy to understand for a Chilean national.

The consumers in the study rated with 5.5 the marraquetas with 400 mg of salt and with 5.3 the marraquetas with 200 mg.

After trying these revamped marraquetas, the consumers were asked whether they would buy them. On a scale of 1-5, the answers were 4.0 for the 400 mg marraqueta and 3.6 for the 200 mg variety, suggesting that marraquetas, even if baked with a lot less salt, will still be present on the tables of Chilean households for many, many years to come. (Data for this article were taken from El Mercurio newspapers and the Chilean press).

60 Syrian Refugees To Re-settle To Chile

By Nono Barahona. April 12, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. The Chilean finance ministry has green-lit the money needed to re-settle 60 Syrian refugees in the country.

Eligible candidates must not have been involved in military organizations and must not be linked to human rights violations. Also, preference will be given to parents where at least one of them can support the family.

The money devoted to re-settling the Syrian refugees amounts to CLP 1,612 million, which at today's exchange rate is equal to US$ 2.47 million.

Of that amount, CLP 1,084 million are contributed by Chile and CLP 528 million are contributed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The money will be allocated to providing housing, education and health care to the refugees. Spanish lessons are also included.

The program is to last from 2017 to 2019.

Between June and July this year a delegation will be sent to Syria to look for eligible families. Approximately 15 Syrian families are expected to re-settle to Chile.

Chile deserves credit for taking these steps. This money could well have been used to help the poorest of the poor in Chile, as there is plenty of them (source: Chilean press).

Ricardo Lagos crashes out of Chilean presidential race

By Nono Barahona. April 10, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. He became the face of the opposition against the Pinochet regime, because he had the courage to stand up to Pinochet publicly, in a time when everyone feared Pinochet's secret police, and for that he was admired by all those who opposed the dictator.

His gesture of pointing to Pinochet with his finger became an icon of the 80's for Chileans. 

A respected man and politician, with a towering reputation, he seemed to come out of retirement, at 79, when he decided in September 2016 to run for president again in the void left by young like-minded politicians tainted in scandals surrounding how they financed their political campaigns. 

But his campaign never really took off. The latest poll showed him struggling at the bottom, beaten even by a relatively unknown candidate who entered the race just a few weeks ago.

The final blow to his campaign came yesterday. The leadership of the Socialist Party, a party with which Mr. Lagos was closely associated, in a secret balloting, chose instead Mr. Alejandro Guillier, a well known journalist, to be the Socialist Party's presidential candidate. 

For that reason, many had anticipated that Mr. Lagos would step down today, and he did, in particular in light of Mr. Guillier's landslide victory: 67 votes vs. 36 for Mr. Lagos.

All six major Chilean TV networks broadcast live Mr Lagos' speech today at around 10:30 am local time. At the end, he turned around and took no questions.

Before announcing that he would no longer be a candidate, he said that during his trips around Chile he felt the people's affection, but that he was aware that such affection did not translate into political support.

Mr. Lagos' exit seems to strengthen Mr. Alejandro Guillier's chances of becoming the candidate of the governing coalition, known as New Majority. However, many feel that the New Majority will break up in the coming months and that its members will each choose their own presidential candidates, bypassing a primary election.

Former President Ricardo Lagos seeks presidential nomination from Socialist Party

By Nono Barahona. April 9, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. The Chilean Socialist Party will decide today whether to nominate former President Ricardo Lagos Escobar as the Party's presidential candidate. 

Mr. Lagos, a former president with a strong reputation in the country, known for his defiant stance against the late dictator Augusto Pinochet, faces strong competition from senator Alejandro Guillier for the Socialist Party's presidential nomination.

A defeat would be a tremendous blow for Mr. Lagos and his chances of becoming the presidential candidate of the governing coalition, among other things, because he is recognized as a historical figure of the Socialist Party, which is not the case of Mr. Guillier.

Mr. Guillier is the official presidential candidate of the Radical Party, another member of the governing coalition.

Since announcing that he wants to be the presidential candidate of the governing coalition, known as New Majority, Mr. Lagos has been trailing badly in the polls. On the other hand, Mr. Guillier is currently second in the polls.

"I'm not interested in a brutal economic growth if it doesn't improve people's lives", says President Michelle Bachelet

By Nono Barahona. April 8, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. In an interview with a Chilean newspaper, President Michelle Bachelet, 65, said that she is not interested in a "brutal economic growth" by itself, adding that the economic growth that matters is the one that improves people's lives.

Although the President used the word "brutal", she meant "whopping", "exceedingly high", a typical meaning of the word in Chilean Spanish.

The interview was published yesterday, and it resonated all over the Chilean press, with most media outlets quoting from it.

She acknowledged, though, that she is not happy with the fact that her current administration has been dominated by low economic growth, but she pointed out that, despite that, unemployment has been relatively low.

In the same line, she added that for those who rate an administration on the basis of economic growth performance, "evidently this is not going to be the administration with the highest economic growth".

However, regarding the current economic growth figures, she said that she has the feeling that they have hit rock bottom and that from now on the economy is going to grow, according to the article.

And she said that it is a fact that in 2018 there will be greater economic growth. For that reason, she warned that the next administration, whichever it is, should not take credit for higher economic growth.

President Bachelet's administration is into is final months, with a presidential election scheduled for November 19 this year. Therefore in 2018 a new administration will be in office.

Asked about her legacy, she said that she hopes that all the reforms she has pushed for, that sought to give people more dignity, and equal opportunities and rights, are embedded in people's lives.

She added that she expects that at the end of her administration Chile is a better country than at the start in 2014. She elaborated that by better she meant "a little bit fairer, a little bit more egalitarian" and a country that gives "a lot more opportunities to its boys and girls. That's the legacy I'm looking for. I'm not looking for statues", she said according to the interview.

"When you feel that you have to do something about the inequality that exists in the country, you know that's going to have costs, because not everyone will agree with the change". Asked about whether the political costs were worth it, she said that they are worth it when they help people, according to the interview.

Bumpy road ahead for AFPs

By Nono Barahona. April 6, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. Any Chilean working under an employment contract knows what an AFP is, because the moment they are hired by a company they are required by law to join an AFP. No choice there. Well, they can choose which one of the several AFPs they want to join.

The AFPs are the private companies that manage the workers' savings for pension payments. They "manage" in the sense that they try to increase those savings while at the same turning in a profit.

Any Chilean working under an employment contract knows that 10% of their monthly salary goes to an AFP, every month. The law says so and there is nothing they can do about it. And they know that in most cases a worker can not receive pension payments from an AFP before they reach the age of retirement, which for men is 65 years of age and 60 for women. 

And any Chilean has heard the rumor that after they retire they are going to get a pension that is going to be far below, way far below, their last paycheck as an employed worker.

And that's something that scares everyone.

Enter the "No more AFP" movement. The movement staged its fourth rally the Sunday before last, March 26 (See our article). They claim that 2 million people took to the streets on that day all over the country ---that is approximately 11% of the Chilean population, a lot of people.

In their website, they say that AFPs pay a third of your last paycheck, that in all developed countries and in almost all OECD countries (Chile is an OECD member) people get on average 70% of their last paycheck for pension, that in those countries pensions are handled by State-run entities, and that in those countries private companies are only supplementary to the State-run entities and do not replace them (in Chile there are no State-run entities). 

For all those reasons, the "No more AFP" movement wants to give AFPs a one way ticket to hell.

However, most experts say that is not likely to happen. What did happen, though, is that they got everybody talking about the AFPs, and often in a bad way.

In fact, the movement's impact has been so huge that now, for the first time since the inceptions of AFPs 37 years ago, a major proposal has been floated to change the system, and everyone seems to agree on it: increase by 5% the mandatory statutory 10%.

Big question: Who is going to pay for that additional 5%? The worker? The employer? The Chilean State? A combination of the 3?

Another big question: Who is going to manage the additional 5%? The AFPs? A State-run entity? Something in between?

Still another big question: Who is going to implement the additional 5%? The current administration of President Bachelet, now into its final months, or the next administration, yet to be elected?

No consensus has been reached so far on the answers to those big questions.

With widespread dissatisfaction with them fueled by the "No more AFPs" movement, AFPs are now sailing in rough waters.

Chilean youth killed for defending stray dog

By Nono Barahona. April 4, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. Camilo Ignacio Navea del Canto, a young man aged 19, was stabbed to death last Saturday for allegedly defending a stray dog which was about to be beaten by a street peddler, Chilean media have reported.

According to press reports, the youth, who was fond of sporting a "punk" look, had a reputation for loving animals, volunteering time to care for stray dogs, and was starting a curriculum to become a veterinarian orderly.

Last Saturday night, April 1, he would have spotted a street peddler who was about to beat a stray dog. Camilo couldn't take it and confronted the man, according to articles in the Chilean media.

Sadly, the street peddler, aged 33, had a criminal record for theft and for carrying a cutting and stabbing weapon, and stabbed Camilo in the abdomen and then took off.

The killing took place in Anibal Pinto square in the city of Valparaiso, Chile's main port.

As many foreign tourists notice, Chile is home to a large population of stray dogs, some of them posing a threat to passers-by.

The killer would have confessed to the killing and was indicted with murder. A court decided to send him to jail for 80 days, which is the period of time allocated to investigate the killing.

Chilean Central Bank cuts Chilean GDP growth forecast to 1.0% to 2.0% in 2017

By Nono Barahona. April 3, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. In a report submitted today, the Chilean Central Bank said that the Chilean economy will grow between 1.0% and 2.0% in 2017, cutting by 0.5 percent its forecast of December 2016.

In December 2016, the Central Bank had estimated the Chilean GDP growth at between 1.5% and 2.5% in 2017.

Under the report's new GDP growth estimate range, the Chilean economy runs the risk of growing below 1.6% in 2017.

In 2016, the Chilean economy grew 1.6%, the lowest since 2009.

The report said that a major factor cutting the GDP growth forecast was the strike by workers of La Escondida in the first quarter of this year.

La Escondida is the world's largest copper mine. Its workers went on strike for 43 days, in the longest strike in the history of the Chilean mining industry. 

The strike ended last March 23.

The Central Bank report said that, as a result of La Escondida strike, GDP growth for the first quarter of 2017 is close to 0%, adding that the strike would trim by 0.2% points the annual GDP figure for 2017.

In a more positive note, the report said that the Chilean GDP is expected to grow between 2.25% and 3.25% in 2018.

Chilean economy loses 120,000 jobs over last 12 months, says El Mercurio

By Nono Barahona. April 1, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. "El Mercurio", an influential Chilean newspaper carried a front page story today saying that 120,000 jobs were lost in the Chilean economy in the last year.

The story indicated that the 120,000 jobs lost involved people working under employment contracts, as opposed to self-employed workers.

Employment contracts provide workers with pension fund savings and health care insurance.

The story says that the job loss figures were based on a report by the Chilean National Institute of Statistics, referred to as INE in Chile.

111,000 jobs were lost in the private sector and 9,000 in the public sector, the story says.


On the other hand, self-employed workers grew 131,730 over the same 12 month period.

A scholar was quoted as saying that 83% of self-employed workers do not contribute money to their pension funds, do not have health care insurance and have very low income.

That means that self-employment in Chile is no match to working under an employment contract in terms of income and social security.

The INE report was published yesterday, but it only provided percentage unemployment figures. It says that unemployment grew 0.5% over the last 12 months and that it jumped to 6.4% in the December 2016-February 2017 quarter, the highest for the same period in the last 6 years, says the paper.

The fact that an influential newspaper says that 120,000 jobs were lost in one year lends a lot of credibility to the story, in what seems to be a scoop for the paper.

This story, and similar ones (See our stories "Chile's 2016 GDP growth of 1.6% lowest since 2009" and "Chilean construction industry takes a dive") over the last few days paint a grim picture of the Chilean economy in 2017, a year in which a presidential election is scheduled for November 19.

Lawmakers exposed as out touch with daily concerns of their constituencies

By Nono Barahona. April 1, 2017

SANTIAGO, Chile. It originally aired as a feature story in the news of a TV channel last Wednesday, but the findings stunned viewers so much that they rippled out through the media in the following days.

The story sought to determine whether lawmakers, because of the fact that they make 40 times as much as the minimum wage, live in a world of privilege, separate from the daily concerns of millions of their fellow countrymen, the story said.

Interviewed at random, Congressmen (and women) were asked two questions:

How much is the metro ticket at rush hour? And how much is a kilo of bread?

None of the respondents came up with the right answer. One of them was even too way off the mark not to raise eyebrows.

The questions were asked to both left-wing and right-wing lawmakers.

One expert said at the beginning of the story that all lawmakers, because of the money they make in Congress, belong in the top 5% of the richest people in Chile.

Metro ticket and bread prices have a direct impact on the budget of the approximately one million Chileans who earn the minimum wage.

Metro (the Santiago subway train network) is the fastest and most efficient way to get from A to B around the city for the working man.

Most Chilean families typically buy fresh bread every day for breakfast and in particular for our beloved "once" (a sandwich and a cup of tea, but it may include other bakery items as well, eaten between 5 pm and 7 pm).

A kilo of bread typically includes around 10 pieces. 

After paying the rent, the one million Chileans who earn the minimum wage can only afford two Metro tickets and one kilo of bread every day, the story said.

Discovering that at least some lawmakers do not know these prices, which are critical for millions of Chileans, inevitably raises the question of how well they do their jobs, for which they are paid more in Chile, a developing country, than lawmakers make in some developed countries, the story said.