The Atacama Desert
in the north is temperate despite its arid topography and tropical latitude.
Cool ocean (Humboldt) currents and underground springs sustain its cities,
which extend down from the Bolivian Altiplano through the Precordillara
(foothills). The desert gives way to more scrub and some forests when rainfall
increases as you move south into central Chile, where 70% of Chileans live.
Central Chile is the chief agricultural region and enjoys a Mediterranean
style climate. Santiago the capital is located here along with most concentrations
of industry, and major shipping ports. The lake district immediately south
of the central regions is one of Chile's great tourist attractions with
more than 20 snowcapped volcanos (many still active) framing many foothill
lakes known for excellent fishing. 0utlying territories include the Eastern
Island (Isla de Pascua), the Juan Fernández Island and other islands
in the Pacific.
Chile, from the
Indian Tchili meaning "the deepest point of the Earth," achieved
independence in 1818. Divided into thirteen administrative regions, the
segmentation of this latitude rich country reflects ecological, and economic
areas numbered roughly from north to south. The Roman numerals are attached
for convenience because some region-state names are exceedingly long. The
metropolitan region of Santiago (XIII ) appears in the middle of the country.
PEOPLE AND POPULATION
Chile's population accounts for almost 14 million inhabitants. More
than 80% of Chileans live in cities and towns with 1/3 living in Gran Santiago.
No other city in Chile has more than 250,000 pop. 3/4 live in the Chilean
heartland including Valparaiso and Viña del Mar which is an area
comprising 20% of available land. The growth potential for Chile is enormous.
In Chile social class is still a greater issue than race.
In the highlands of the desert north the Aymara and Atacameño peoples farm precordillaran terraces and raise Alpacas and Llamas in the Altiplano. There is a large population of Mapuche Indians in and around the southern city of Temuco. Most Chileans are mestizos although a great many can claim European descent. Unlike its neighbor Argentina, Chile did not experience massive European immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries.
At the end of the 19th century only a small number of Chileans were foreign born. Immigrant groups most notably Germans, settled near present day Valdivia, Osorno, and Puerto Montt in southern Chile after European upheavals in 1848. European immigration did not alter the structure of Chilean society despite inroads made by British, Italians, French, Slavs, European Jews, and Palestinians into Magallanes and Tierra del Fuego. The effect of these emigres on Chilean society was to add non-Spanish elements to the middle and upper classes. The aristocracy is made up from the original landed Gentry of mostly Spanish Basque origin. Despite their small number, European, Jewish and Palestinian immigrants became economically powerful, controlling rural estates, commercial, financial and industrial institutions.
LANGUAGE
The official language of Chile is Spanish. However, there is also a
group of native languages, some spoken by a very few individuals. In the
desert north, more than 20,000 speak Aymara, although most of them are
bilingual in Spanish. In the south live more than half a million Mapuches
and most of them are also bilingual. The most complicated linguistic minority
are the 2000-plus speakers of Rapa Nui, the Polynesian language of the
Easter Island's population, annexed by Chile in 1888.
EDUCATION
Chile's literacy rate at 94% is one the highest in Latin America. From
the age of five to twelve, education is free and compulsory. Universities
were traditionally free and very prestigious. After the coup d'etat of
1973 the military appointed its own university presidents throughout the
country; it swept away the university reforms of the 1960s; reduced state
funding; raised student fees, and downgraded or eliminated critical disciplines
such as sociology, anthropology, political science , education and others.
The military reform of higher education opened the doors to many private
universities, most of them business schools, with part-time faculty and
dubious academic standards.
ARTS
Chilean art, literature and music have influenced culture beyond the
country's borders. Chilean literature has produced writers of international
reputation, including Nobel Prize-laureate poets Gabriela Mistral (1945)
and Pablo Neruda (1973), who was also an important political figure from
the left. José Donoso, Isabel Allende, Antonio Skarmeta, Nicanor
Parra, Damiela Elitit are some of many writers whose work have been translated
into different languages.
Until the coup d' etat of 1973, Chilean cinema was among the most experimental in Latin America. Director Miguel Littin produced the classic film El Chacal de Nahueltoro and many others. Later in exile, Littin produced Alsino y el Condor, nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards in 1983. Antonio Skarmeta's book, Ardiente Paciencia, was adapted for the movie Il Postino, winner of an Academy Award in 1996, and a Cannes Film Festival Award.
One the best-known
manifestation of Chilean and Latin American culture was the New Canción
Chilena (New Chilean Song Movement). The practitioners of this musical
movement wedded Chile's and Latin America's folkloric heritage to the political
events of the 1960s and early 1970s. The movement's most significant figure
was Violeta Parra, an humble peasant woman who worked in a circus when
she was 12. Parra formed a duo with one of her sisters later on andthey
performed and sang all types of song. Violeta Parra was a singer, a poet,
a composer, a ceramicist, arpilleristas and did extensive research
in folklore. She travelled around the world and exhibited her work at the
Louvre Museum and Geneva University. She is the author of many well-known
songs such as her enduring theme Gracias a la viva (Thanks to Life).
Her daughter Isabel Parra and son Angel Parra continued her folkloric legacy,
first in Chile and later in their exile in Europe during the military dictatorship
of Agusto Pinochet.
Some Individual performers such as Victor Jara, were brutally executed during the 1973 coup. Musical troupes s like Quilapayun, Inti-Illimani and Illapu gained an international reputation for musical talent, and political commitments against the military dictatorship. Many Chilean folk musician-exiles performed regularly in Europe, Canada, the United States, and Australia. Their music is still available in many countries, and Chile of course.
RELIGION
Figures indicate that 90% of Chile's, population are Roman Catholic,
but since the 1970s protestantism has gained important social spaces among
the population. The Mormons have recently become very active in Chile and
created much controversy about their presence and activities. The influence
of Catholicism has provided a strong influx to Chilean culture. Literary
works, paintings, monuments, churches, architecture across the country
display abundant evidence about the role of the Roman Catholic religion
in Chile. Countless roadside shrines, some of which are extraordinary manifestations
of folk art, show the pervasiveness of Catholicism in this country.
During the military government of General Pinochet--1973 - 1990--the
Church through the Vicaría de la Solidaridad, played a very
important role in the defense of human rights. At great risk to themselves
Chilean priest and nuns worked in the shanty-towns across the country bringing
support, consolation and solidarity to the people. Many of them engaged
in antidictatorial actions and confrontations.
ECONOMY
The Chilean economy is based on manufacturing and service. Mining,
which provides about half of all exports, employs a tiny percentage of
the labor force. The government has played a major role in economic development
since 1939, when the Production Development Corporation (CORFO, from its
Spanish name) was created to support substitution of domestic manufactures
for imported goods. When Pinochet's junta seized power Chile's economy
adopted a neoliberal model.The economic infrastructure was staffed by economists
trained or associated with the economic department at the University of
Chicago. The so-called "Chicago Boys" favored monetarist policies
which severely reduced the government's role in the public sector, reducing
expenditures to a minimum and eliminating regulatory functions in order
to promote commerce. The Chicago Boys also eliminated price controls, reduced
tariffs to promote free trade, and sold off most state-owned industries
to private entrepreneurs. New financial emphasis encouraged foreign investments.
The Chilean economy
improved greatly on a macro-economic scale,after civilian government returned
in 1990, but elite sectors benefitted much more from economic growth than
the poor. Chile has been able to repay some of its foreign debt, and inflation
is very low in comparison with other Latin American nations. Although unemployment
has declined, underemployment--the so called informal sector--has grown
significantly to over 45 per cent. Countless city dwellers earn a precarious
subsistence as street vendors of cheap candy, ice cream, cigarettes, pencils,
soft drinks, gum, etc. Wages remain low and prices high. Since 1987, Chile
has enjoyed a trade surplus which has progressively increased.
POLITICAL PARTIES
Political parties in Chile were banned by the military from 1973 until
1987. The range and variation of Chilean political parties and their ceaseless
transformations make comprehension of electoral politics very dificult.
in Chile.
In the 1989 elections, 17 different parties with precious little in common, except their opposition to Pinochet, formed an unlikely coalition known as the Concertación para la Democracia. The Christian Democrat, Patricio Aylwin, was selected as a candidate for the presidency by a compromise among the many parties. He easily defeated his opponents, the right-wing candidate Hernán Bucci supported by the coalition Renovación Nacional, and the independent right-wing businessman Francisco Errázuriz. The outcome of the election clearly showed that Chile was ready for a change.
The Concertación held together and in June 1992 the first municipal elections in 21 years took place. The result was a major blow for the right wing candidates and the Concertación outpolled the conservatives by 53% to 31%. The remainder of the vote went to minor outsider organizations, including the Communist Party. The same political formula was applied in 1993, when another Christian Democrat, Eduardo Frei, was elected to replace Patricio Aylwin in the presidency for a period of six years.
Trade unions
and workers' federations once a bastion of political support and activity
for political parties and candidates from the left suffered greatly during
the military regime. Many leaders were jailed, murdered, disappeared or
forced into exile. A new labor force put in place by the military atomized
the working movement and promoted individual, versus collective bargaining,
Strikes became illegal after 60 days and the employers are permitted to
use non union labor to break strikes.
Despite the return to civilian rule, the Armed Forces still enjoy considerable power granted by the 1980 military Constitution under which Chile is now governed. Pinochet's group of Senators were appointed for life, and along with help from duly elected conservatives, they are able to block constitutional reform, and reform of the electoral system. All the Armed Forces enjoy great autonomy because the civilian president lacks authority to discipline their chiefs, or even junior officers. Both Presidents Aylwin and Frei have proposed constitutional amendments to redress this abnormal situation, but have failed in their efforts due to Senate non-compliance with reform initiatives.
HISTORY
The first European exploration of the region that is now Chile was
made in 1535 by Diego de Almagro. Unlike Peru, the land yielded little
gold, and the native Araucanian Indians offered fierce resistance. In 1541,
Pedro de Valdivia established several settlements, including Santiago.
In 1553, Valdivia was killed by Lautaro, an Araucanian who became the hero
of the epic poem La Araucana. Chilean-born Spaniards (Creoles) declared
their autonomy and established a governing junta on September 18, 1810.
Although the Spanish crown regained control, its forces were defeated by
Chileans and Argentines led by Bernardo O'Higgins and José de San
Martin
Independence was proclaimed on Feb. 12, 1818, and O'Higgins was elected
supreme director. By 1830, O'Higgins was in exile, and conservative landowners
and merchants were in control of a centralized government. A constitution
adopted in 1833 remained in effect until 1925. After defeating Bolivia
and Peru in the War of the Pacific (1879-84), victorious Chilean armies
finally defeated Araucanian forces to end the Indian wars. Arturo Alessandri
pushed through a new bourgeois-democratic constitution in 1925 that provided
for direct popular election of the president, separation of church and
state, and compulsory primary education.
Since the
depression of the 1930s, few Chilean governments have been able to solve
the problems of inflation, fluctuating copper prices which are dependent
upon U.S. corporations that own the principal mines, and the problems caused
by the inequitable landholding system . In 1964, Eduardo Frei Montalva
of the Christian Democrats began buying the U.S. copper companies (Chilenizacion
del cobre) and expropriating land, but he encountered opposition on
all fronts. In 1970, Salvador Allende, head of a the Popular Unity coalition
made up of Socialists, Communists, Radicals (social democrats) and Christians
won an electoral plurality and was confirmed as president. He became the
first constitutionally elected Marxist president in the Western Hemisphere.
Allende then finished the process of nationalizing the U.S. copper firms,
without paying compensation, nationalized all private banks, and accelerated
land distribution. After three turbulent years marked by problems including:
an international boycott by the USA, covert operations by big corporations
from the USA, the Nixon-Kissinger Administration, the CIA, and the Chilean
ruling classes, the military overthrew President Allende and seized power.
Censorship and a state of siege were imposed as the right-wing junta dedicated
itself to eradicating "the cancer of Marxism.". The Pinochet
government was consequently criticized widely in the international community
for continuous violations of human rights
The military government
returned many factories, banks, and expropriated land to private national
and international owners. After sustained economic growth in the late 1970s,
Chile plunged into a deep recession in 1982-83, which sparked an upsurge
political opposition. In the mid-1980s the economy began a sustained upturn.
During 1988, Pinochet was forced to lift all states of emergency and to
permit some political exiles to return. In October, Pinochet was the sole
candidate in a plebiscite on whether he should serve an additional eight
years transitioning to democracy. The opposition united to defeat him,
but he remained in office until March 1990 (and continues today as army
commander in chief ). The Presidential election held on December 14, 1989,
was won by Patricio Aylwin, a Christian Democratic Party candidate who
headed a coalition ticket. In 1994, new elections were held and Eduardo
Frei Montalva, also a member of the Christian Democrat Party was elected
to the presidency on behalf of a coalition better-known as Concertación.
A new presidential election will be held in the year 2000.