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| Executive Travel: Santiago, Chile |
Expat Journal: A Complex Political History
By Jack Dill
03/01/2005
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Those who have come to Chile to pursue business interests may find it valuable to understand my own 30-year love/hate affair with this infuriating, yet intriguing, country.
First, let me clearly state that I consider Chile a genuine destination country, worth your while in myriad ways. But if you ask if Chile is a third- or first-world country, my answer may surprise you. Chile is a “three-world” country.
First, a little history. Over the past 40 years, Chile’s political face has turned and churned, swinging from traditional socialism in the 1960s to extreme Marxism in 1970, to a military regime begun with a coup in 1973 and ending when it was legally voted out of power in 1989. At that point, Chile became a nascent democracy, and eventually evolved into a very stable one.
I call Chile a three-world country because it has three legs: one long, lean front leg firmly in step with the first world; one stout middle leg marching with the emerging second-world economies; and one very nefarious, misshapen hind leg dragging a heavy third-world legacy. Three-legged animals are ungainly—especially when each leg seems to belong to a different whole.
Chile continues to metamorphose, politically, socially and economically. And while the progress is steady, much remains to be done. Trickle-down economics has failed and the poor remain poor. However, they do have a new, if somewhat treacherous, friend—the megastore credit card.
Chile, and especially its capital city of Santiago, has witnessed a recent investment boom in both hotels and restaurants, providing travelers many choices. So, book the very front-leg Ritz-Carlton for yourself, and for your kids, the middle-leg downtown Hotel Paris for a “$20-a-day-cuz-I-started-life-the-hard-way-and-so-will-you” type of trip.
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