Last night we got together with a couple other Fulbrighters and friends at a restaurant in Providencia. There were a few people from Chile in the group, as well as a person from Venezuela. In the last few weeks there has been this transition of being a visitor seeing a lot of new and interesting things to being someone that is beginning to develop a deeper understanding of Chile and Latin America. It is interesting to talk to people from other South American countries during our visit, and the chance to talk to people from Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Peru are fairly common occurrences. Some of these conversations confirm intuition and also provide insight into the relationships between the countries. BTW - feedback is that Uruguay people are the happiest, and the reason cited was that they have the largest middle class.
My closest Chilean friends are in the cyber crimes unit in the Policía de Investigaciones de Chile (PDI). I have spent quite a bit of time with them and very much enjoy their friendship. Prior to coming to Chile I had read about the somewhat closed environment - kind of like the clicks you so often see in the States. Other than my experience with PDI, my inclination would be to confirm what I had read. This isn't meant to paint all with one brush, but compared to other places and countries I've been it does seem to be apparent. While I could pick up on this early in my stay in Chile, what has changed is that now I am beginning to understand and appreciate why.
As recently as today, I walked into a small tienda and greeted the shop keeper. He simply looked away. Often when out on one of my walks or runs and I make eye contact, my inclination is to smile and say hello or wave. More often than not the action is not reciprocated. In talking with our friend from Venezuela last night he said that people from Venezuela tend to be somewhat loud spoken and everyone says hello to everyone else. When he first came to Chile he received a lot of feedback on being loud - or Venezuelan - and learned to be more reserved. Argentineans and especially Brazilians can be conspicuously flamboyant, especially compared to Chileans.
Chileans seem to spend their time with family and/or close friends. My experience and the experience of those I've talked with reinforces this. But now I have gained a better appreciation of what contributes to this. I thought that once we got past 9/11 and the 40th anniversary of the Pinochet coup that things would fade a bit. Clearly that is not what is happening. The momentum to go after those responsible appears to be increasing rapidly. Just this week it was announced that the country club type of prison that some former Pinochet officials are housed in is going to be closed and the prisoners transferred to a 'regular' prison. Today, the leader of the 'Caravan of Death' - who was housed at that prison - killed himself while on a weekend release to his home because of fear of the transfer. A weekend release? Private bathrooms, Internet, cable tv, tennis, BBQ pits, separate cabins... I can see how this may get people worked up.
The former president that looks likely to be elected president next month - who herself was a victim of torture and exile - said that even as recently as a few years ago that the climate wouldn't allow aggressively going after the Pinochet clan. She was president when Pinochet died 6 years ago. It is clear to me that this is a raw wound that has deeply impacted Chile. Throughout Pinochet's reign people were terrified of becoming a target. A couple decades of this will surely impact a culture and perhaps make people more reserved and less inclined to be outgoing.
To some degree I could feel some of the Hitler shame coming through in my times in Germany - even though much time had passed and virtually nobody is still alive that had anything to do with it. The children bearing their parent's shame if you will. When in Hungary recently it was clear there was considerable distaste for the Russians. There are feelings of a similar nature all over Europe. So it is no surprise that the Pinochet issues are so raw and festering. I hope that the people of Chile are able to deal with this in a way that will allow everyone to move on because the alternatives are not that attractive.
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