The major issue we want to look at here
is about the quake itself, and the reporting related to the basic
assertion by the international media that not a lot was done by the
Chilean federal government. More importantly that not a lot was done
by the president of Chile
Michel Bachelet.
First, let us say that we general give
the Chilean president
Michel Bachelet
mixed reviews when it comes to her performance, and especially when
it comes to Southern Chile. However, this is one time where the fact
simply do not fit the criticism leveled at her and picked up by the
international media.
A short history of Bachelet
and natural disasters
One of the reason
Bachelet
was elected in a such a landslide was because of her history of
handling national disasters as head of the Military.
Bachelet
herself was tortured by the dictator Pinochet. Her father who was one
of Pinochet's generals was later also murdered by the military.
Bachelet later became the head of the
military and holds a degree in Military studies.
After democracy was reestablished, the
Chilean military understandably stood back from involvement in
civilian matters because of the lack of public trust. It was
Bachelet, as secretary of defense, during
a particularly bad flood in Santiago that personally jumped on a tank
and led the military back in to the streets once again to rescue
people trapped in their cars and houses. Ever since her time as head
of the military, it has been one of their standing orders to support
the civilian rescue workers in times of crisis.
First fact missed by the international
media: It was a surprise.
This was not really a "surprise"
earthquake, as so frequently happens around the World. There were
alerts issued by the government over six months before. The
earthquake was a result of seismic activity resulting from an
undersea volcano off the Chilean coast that has been monitored for
years. There have been hundreds of small quakes in the region this
year, and a large one was more than expected by all. In fact, Chile
is one of the more wired countries in the world for
Tsunami
and earthquakes.
Fact Two missed by the international
Media: number of people effected.
The population of Aysen and the
surrounding area is one of the least populated areas of all the 13
regions in Chile, with about 100,000 people in total. This is not New
Orleans or Guatemala, where tens of thousands of people were
effected, then abandoned by the government. The area effected was
near Puerto Aysen, but was really focused around the small town of
Puerto Chacabuco with a population of about 2,000 people.
Fact Three missed or downplayed by the
international Media: There was little help.
This is a quote of quote from Rueters
news agency:
"The Army has contributed a
helicopter to efforts to find these (missing people)," the
Chilean government said in a statement.
The Chilean federal government issued
warnings and assigned civilian and military personnel to the area.
Over a dozen Chilean military aircraft where in the area within hours
of the quake searching for people. Civilian rescue workers were also
on the seen. Many had been stationed there for months waiting for
this disaster, and many more were already permanently stationed in
the area. Chile, overall has excellent disaster response plans. Here
is the Chilean government emergency management web site:
http://www.onemi.cl/
What the international media picked up
on was that Michel Bachelet faced a lot of criticism for not doing
anything to help. This however is about where the international media
stopped following the details of the story because of the lack of
death and destruction.
Also from Reuters:
"Michelle Bachelet traveled to the
south on Sunday..."
In fact, Bachelete was on the ground by
that afternoon walking around. As is the media tradition in Chile,
she was also on the street face to face with her critics with only a
wall of media microphones and cameras between her and a crowd of very
angry local citizens (we don't recommend that other presidents try
this at home). The fact that she was there the same day is a small
miracle, considering the shear distance between Santiago and Aysen.
So, live on TV in front of the entire
country, the morning of the quake, surrounded by a crowds of angry
citizens demanding to know why she had not done more to protect the
people from the quake, Bachelet had a good answer ready.
Fact Five missed by the international
media: the quake directly killed people.
Most people that died, died because
they where on boats or on salmon fishing rafts at the time of the
quake; not standing on the shoreline. This is where Bachelet's good
answer comes in.
The federal government had six months
before ordered all salmon workers off the salmon farming rafts that
are common to the ocean bays around that part of southern Chile. With
a great deal of certainty, they knew there was a potential for a
quake originating on the ocean sea floor and causing deadly waves.
However, the local government officials chose to ignore that order in
favor of protecting the local Salmon industry over the lives of the
workers. An investigation is underway.
A real break for Southern Chile
The thing that no one but God can take
credit for in this disaster is that the quake occurred on a Saturday
when only a few dozen workers and boats where out at sea. Had the
quake hit during the middle of the week, hundreds of workers would
have been out tending to the salmon rafts or fishing.
So, in that respect, we have to say
Bachelet, the local officials, and southern Chile dodged a major
natural disaster bullet, perhaps compounded by human greed. Only
then, would the international media have had something worthy of CNN
and a proper comparisons to New Orleans, Guatemalan, or the Asian
disasters.
We do not wish to downplay the tragedy
involved. Our heart goes out to those that lost their life in
Southern Chile, after all this is our home; however, we also offer
our pat on the back to Bachelet for standing up and facing the
disaster, facing the critics, and taking care of the business as a
leader should.
Aysen 
