One Earthquake for two Chiles

Today, more than ever, I can see the disconnect between capital and province, rich and poor, the one with a voice and the many silent Chileans.

This one earthquake will be more than a natural disaster and hopefully will open the eyes of one Chile to the other.

It is easy to forget the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami that affected mostly the poor when you live in the suburbs of Santiago, a sophisticated city, with spectacular architecture, tall glass buildings, intense green everywhere, soft mountains to the north and the Andes present at all times.

With the earthquake, the city only lost power, some areas lost water, the luxury shopping  malls are closed, even some Starbucks are closed, ATMs are finally dispensing some money, with limits, but there are very few deaths in Santiago. Mostly structural damage to some new construction and of course, the collective hysteria and fear, people blaming this earthquake to God, global warming and the announced end of the world.

The biggest destruction and losses are in the coastal towns of the south, today a ghost landscape with orphans and widows, abandoned homeless survivors who just today started receiving water and basic foods.  The biographies and circumstances of the dead arrive on rapid changing images trough the very advanced media, CNN style, with dramatic music intervals. Watching TV feels  like obscene voyeurism.

A 28 -year-old marine biologist working in the Juan Fernandez Island died on the tsunami, two of four children of a known  lawyer,  camping in Matanza, were carried away by water because he could not hold four on his arms. Anonymous people, old and young,  so many affected in so many areas. It is a lost world on the coastal towns of the South, traditional vacation places with old adobe houses, it is a lost world for urban Concepción, Chillán and Talca.

Echoes from the past are starting to divide. The right is focusing on the need of more military in the streets to control looting in supermarkets, the lumpen vandalism and criminality in eight days, when Sebastian Piñera will start his presidential period, he will probably expand the state of exception to more regions of the country, a political decision that allows the executive to intervene  directly to maintain the order with military.

Others think that the exaggerated reporting of looting is politically motivated. In any event, seeing military in the streets of Concepcion and in the Region of Bio Bio fully dressed and equipped with battle gear brings back memories from the past dictatorship.

The aftershocks are strong and frequent and now for example, I am writing on the ninth floor from an office building re-opened in the morning that was just shaking a few minutes ago again (almost 200 aftershocks, just learned it was 5.8 strength)  and  was closed for two days to assess structural damage.

Today,  more than ever, I can see the disconnect between capital and province, rich and poor, the one with a voice and the many silent Chileans.

This one earthquake will be more than a natural disaster and hopefully will open the eyes of one Chile to the other.

Chilean TV stream life

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tv-de-chile

ADN Radio, 24 hours of news
http://adnradio.cl/player/player.html

Google Chile Earthquake person finder
http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/?lang=es

The calls for help and reconstruction dominate the streets, media and daily life here. Just found an easy way to donate if you live outside Chile.

http://www.google.com/intl/es/relief/chileearthquake/

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