an overview of chile by me

 *this is not really a recipe, place, or person, so if you’re not interested in ramblings over history and education, please ignore. too much to say so screw it, it’s in english.*

“everything is illuminated in the light of the past.” –jonathan safran foer

i didn’t have any wifi in buenos aires so i speedily read through “the house of the spirits,” by isabel allende, which i highly recommend for anyone who wants to expand outside western centric literature. the book takes place in chile and is sort of historical fiction without explicitly saying so. at the end of the book, there is a military coup that leaves everyone either exiled or oppressed. it wasn’t until i finished the book that i realized the characters are based on real-life figures (the poet= pablo neruda, the president= salvador allende).

salvador allende was the first democratically-elected socialist president in latin america so basically, that makes him my favorite political figure ever because he beat the odds and was overall, just a kind person trying to do some good for his country. but of course he was elected in 1970, which is right in the middle of the cold war, so the united states obviously had to help the conservatives/rich in chile overthrow him through a military coup d’état (i am simplifying this by a lot because then this would so long). the coup blows up in everyone’s faces because of course, the general who was in charge at the time, pinochet, never gives up his power, so chile remains under a military regime until the 1989 plebiscite that brings back democracy to the country.

on tuesday, i went to el museo de la memoría y los derechos humanos (museum of memory and human rights). i unknowingly spent the whole day there because sadly, there was a lot of suffering under pinochet’s rule and a lot to see. this museum is hands down my new favorite non-art museum in the whole world because it goes beyond documenting history and goes into celebrating the human spirit. it looks at resistance through music, through art, and through the perspectives of different groups (women, children, and campesinos). chile during 1973-1989 was a real shit show politically, but the strength and determination of the people to resist the regime is inspiring to say the least. there is nothing pretty over the disappeared or tortured, but the ability for chileans to demand justice and truth through difficult times just demonstrates the clearest form of bravery and resilience. it’s something that connects chile with mexico today: the saddest bonds of solidarity.

this fighting spirit is still present today. i see it when i walk down the streets and see a university or school “en toma” (under siege) by student protesters demanding quality education or when i see a union in strike. i met a high school student yesterday who told me about how in eighth grade, she missed 7 months of school because the teachers and the students were protesting. in the end, students were given the elective of repeating the year or continuing on. she chose to go on, but as she mentioned, there are entire gaps of knowledge that are unknowingly missing. it's a deficit in education that students pay so that those after them don't have to. it’s something that could never work in the united states because it’s too risky and we think a damned education is better than none at all.

 (graffiti like this was written all over the cniversity of chile when I went yesterday. "the doubts of the poor are rich's festivities." )

i guess what i’m trying to say with this post is that chile is a hell of a country. they have so much passion for social justice to the point that government policies cannot keep up with the social conscience of its citizens. i love it so much.

(this is a clear article over the student protests for those who want to learn more: http://www.economist.com/node/21552566)

a particularly powerful art piece featuring a long black flag alongside the chilean flag.