One for the History Books...

Wow...what a time to be in Chile. In case you hadn´t heard, Pinochet died this past sunday. And if you didn´t hear the news, you probably have no idea how chaotic it is here. I´m currently still in the process of educating myself on the ex-presidents history, so I´ll spare you a choppy history lesson for now and just tell you the current state of the country from my point of view.



I´m not sure if the news stations back home have any footage from the streets here, but if they´re showing what is on the all of the South American news channels, you´re probably looking at Escuela Militar, which is about a fifteen minute walk from my apartment. And if you happen to see the footage of the woman with the camoflouge pants, bashing in windows and doors, one of my friends was actually there watching her --before running away for fear of being the next victim of one of her vicious strikes.

And this is just the group that has gathered to see the body of Pinochet before he is moved to a secret location. If you go back to Sunday, there was a giant crowd --including yours truly --in front of the military hospital, to which he was taken very recently. The crowd was chanting amidst tears and hugs. I was astonished to see every age group well represented, from small children of about seven, chanting right along with their parents to grandparents screaming angrily that the flag should be lowered to half mast.

Once again...I say that this is not all. If you happened to be down in the Centro on Sunday (which a few of my friends were), you would have seen a completely different side to the matter. When the news broke, there were people driving around, honking and screaming in celebration. The streets were later filled with people popping open bottles of champagne and in some areas,destroying property and setting fires. I saw footage from Valpairiso (the city in which Pinochet was born and only about an hour from Santiago) and there were people stealing police vehicles and throwing bottles that caught fire to anything they touched.

Back in Santiago, there have been riots, and they still continue today. Water canons are used, police are out in full force, on horseback and on foot, with shields and full armor. As of last night, I heard that about 100 people had been detained and almost 40 policemen had been injured. Let´s just say that when this country protests or riots...they don´t hold back.

Well I must be off for now...but to put your mind at ease (mostly my mother´s) I´m not in danger, nor is anyone else. The dangerous riots are a ways away from my home, which is in a safe area. The only way one could get into trouble is if they went into the thick of things, looking for it. And while the thought of waiting in line all day yesterday to see Pinochet, decked out in his full military garb with his saber and chilean flag draped over his coffin, did cross my mind...I had an exam. So rest easy...the opportunity has passed. And I apologize for the lack of photographs, but I will try my best to put up some from the hospital as soon as I get a chance...