On Sunday, October 25, 2020, over seven million Chileans participated in a plebiscite that decisively launched a process to rewrite Chile’s Constitution. About 75% of them favored the constitutional rewrite, and to…
Category: Analysis and Opinion
The Soul of Chile
I started this article several weeks ago with good intentions to provide the best personal description and interpretation I could of the social explosion that was affecting Chile; I entitled it “The…
June 6, 1970
As I recall, albeit through the haze of an all night bachelor’s outing with several friends, Saturday, June 6, 1970, was a lovely, clear, crisp day. But mostly, it defined the future:…
Eduardo Frei Montalva
In 1982, almost ten years into the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, ex President of Chile Eduardo Frei Montalva died during a series of surgical interventions in the Santa Maria Clinic…
“Por la Razon, o la Fuerza”
This motto on Chile’s national emblem, adopted in 1834, would suggest that the “Chilean way” is to try to reason through a conflict, and only as a last resort use force to…
Transition in Chile
Three weeks of massive civil protests, some peaceful, others violent, have left parts of Chile, especially its capital city Santiago, looking like a war zone. Chileans too often have faced costly and…
Michelle Bachelet, Human Rights, and Venezuela
Twice president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet finds herself in a human rights quagmire of considerable proportions as a result of unenviable aspects of her past, her high profile present, and one of…
Chile and China
In early April of this year, Chile and its President Sebastian Piñera were fine tuning plans and juggling resources for three huge image-defining events for the nation: A State visit to China and hosting…
2018: Loose Ends
daveschilelives.com always ends the year leaving loose ends, lots of loose ends. 2018 was no exception. Loose ends result from the eclectic, sporadic nature of this blog, and because life produces events…
An emphatic NO!! Good for Chile
Chileans see August as “hump month”. Being at the end of their winter, if they survive August and September it’s relatively smooth sailing to finish out the year, get through the end-of-year…