Global Voices » Rosario Lizana

Chile: A Gathering of Entrepreneurial Minds

Rosario Lizana — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 06:31:49 +0000

.Photo by Luis Ramirez and used under a Creative Commons license.

Webprendedor [es] was the first conference of its kind in Chile that gathered entrepreneurs and their projects. Some of the questions that were addressed included: What are some of the projects using web 2.0 tools? What are some of the difficulties of running a project of this kind in Chile? The conference was held in the Santiago Library, with approximately 300 people in attendance. Luis Ramirez explains the mood of the conference [es]:

Algo que siempre sorprende de esta clase de eventos es la pasión que colocan los emprendedores, especialmente los que ya han tenido que pasar por las fases iniciales de creación de su empresa. Ellos comunican de manera eufórica que hay que a atreverse a cruzar las barreras o como uno de ellos dijos (en inglés) BE BOLD (ser audaz, tal como el lema de mi blog). Me llamó mucho la atención algo que venía escuchando hace tiempo: cada vez impresionan menos los buenos planes de negocio e impresionan más las ideas que se creen con convicción. Oskar, el sueco que vino a Chile a fundar Needish fue la máxima prueba de ese punto.

Something that always surprises me in these events is the passion that the entrepreneurs display, especially those that have had to pass through initial phases during the creation of their company. They communicate in an euphoric manner that one must dare to cross through many barriers or as one of them said (in English) BE BOLD (which is also the slogan of my blog). Something else that caught my attention which I have been hearing for quite awhile: Business plans impress less and ideas coupled with conviction impress more. Oskar, the Swede, who came to Chile to establish Needish [es] was an extreme example of this point.

The first speaker was Tim Delhas, who spoke about what it is like to be an entrepreneur and to work on web. 2.0 projects. Richard Bou of La Ideoteca [es] posts about the tips that he learned from Tim's lecture. Some of them were suggestions on how to be bold and ambitious, and that an entrepreneur need to have 4 things very clear: the market, the opportunity, the differing characteristics between the two, and the team to make it possible. Richard also summarized other presentations and what he got out of them.

Cristian Sepulveda [es] presented his talk, “Corfo te amo, te odio.” (Corfo, I love you, I hate you). He explains his relationship with Corfo [es], an organization that supports web 2.0 innovations. In addition, he spoke about how to deal, how to move, and what to expect when asking for economic support in order to start a project with CORFO. He had already been through this process when he asked for support for his project Meeting [es], which is an online project to conduct meetings, classes and seminars.

As referenced earlier by Ramirez, Oskar Hjertonsoon from Needish spoke about how to present web 2.0 initiatives to investors and what to expect from his own experience. Oskar is one of the founders of the Needish platform and which has received support from Wenceslao Casares, founder of Patagon. To see his presentation, click here.

Other presentations were given by Paolo Colonnello [es] from Blue Company, who explained about the Bligoo platform. This program (developed in Chile) has started to generate profit. Paolo wrote his thoughts on the conference:

La conferencia de ayer me dejo muy satisfecho, es la primera vez que nos encontramos los emprendedores de la Web Chilena. Unos 300 entusiastas llenamos el auditorio de la Biblioteca de Santiago y por más de cuatro horas estuvimos conversando y exponiendo de distintos proyectos y aprendiendo mutuamente. La orientación de las charlas no fue tecnica sino que la visión de negocio, cuidado de clientes, financiamiento y emprendimiento. La organización a cargo de Nico Orellana fue impecable.

Yesterday's conference left me fulfilled, as it was the first time that Web entrepreneurs in Chile had met. Around 300 enthusiasts filled the auditorium in the Santiago library and for four hours, we talked and presented about different projects. We learned from one another. The point of the lectures were not very technical, but rather focused on business vision, customer care, on financial and entrepreneurial matters. Nico Orellana's organization of the conference was perfect.

Another topic that gathers interest is how to make money from blogs and pages. Javier Yranzo [es] from Grey Chile [es] spoke about adwords and adsense.

The conference concluded with the presentation of Leo Prieto [es] (see interview with Global Voices here), founder of Zetacorp Networks [es]. He spoke about the world of web 2.0 and his experience with Fayerwayer [es], one of the most successful technology blogs in Latin America. To see his presentation click here.

How was the conference organized? One of the lecturers, Oskar from Needish wrote how he was invited to participate in this event [es]:

Un día aparece Nicolás Orellana en mi vida (no hace falta llorar), con la visión del sitio Webprendedor como un lugar para fomentar el negocio… ¡de otros sitios Web! Algo que entendía hace rato ya, se consolidó en mí como algo clave hoy en la conferencia organizada por Nicolás (y otros importantes emprendedores chilenos, ej. www.meeting.cl): Uno puede crear negocio solo pero un negocio necesita una industria para vivir. La industria tendremos que crear juntos (ahora, si pueden llorar) y yo prometo que Needish – en caso de éxito - prestará futuros recursos para soportar eventos y actividades para fomentar la innovación en Chile

One day, Nicolas Orellana appeared in my life (there is no need to cry) with the vision of the site Webprendedor as a place to promote the business…….of other web sites! Something that I have known for awhile now, but was reinforced today at the conference organized by Nicolás (and other important Chilean entrepreneurs, i.e. www.meeting.cl) that one can create a business but only a business needs industry to be able to survive. In industry, we need to create together (now, we can cry) and I promise that Needish, in the case of being successful, will lend future resources to be able to support events and activities to support innovation in Chile.

Photos of the conference here

Chile: A Controversial Agreement with Microsoft

Rosario Lizana — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 02:37:10 +0000

There is a feeling among Chilean bloggers that the agreement signed between the Economy Minister, Alejandro Ferreiro and Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer de Microsoft Corporation on May 9th is not good for Chile. The title of this post written by Christian in elfrancotirador [ES] explains the situation in a simple way:

“Chicos, ¿qué me dirían si les cuento que desde hoy, los 15 millones de chilenos (todos) vamos a ser usuarios de Microsoft… lo queramos o no. Lo imaginé.

¿Y qué tal si agrego al paquete que, en adelante, realizar cualquier trámite estatal o municipal requerirá el uso de software Microsoft? Pero no nos conformemos. Sumen que toda la educación chilena será ejecutada sobre plataformas Microsoft y que -no conforme con eso- cada estudiante matriculado de nuestro país se convertirá en “cliente preferencial” de la empresa.”

Guys: what would you say if I told you that starting today that the 15 million of Chileans will (all) be users of Microsoft, even if we wanted to or not? That's what I thought.
And, what if I added, that from now on, to make any state or municipal transaction will require the use of Microsoft software? Don’t be content with this beacause in addition, the entire Chilean education system will be carried out through the Microsoft platform-and that's not it, but every registered student of our country will turn into a “preferential client” of the company.

Microsoft buying Chilean citizen’s information?

Carlos in diabloendetalles [ES] give us some extract of the agreement (ES):

The common creation of a “space” where the citizens have access to all the relevant notification information and interaction with the public institutions

Microsoft commits to supply 15 million users the platform Live (mail, Messenger, Spaces and mobile) for the mail service, instant communication, blogs and the access to them from mobiles for free. Microsoft agrees to assume the operational cost and administration of the infrastructure associated.

For many, this agreement continues to get worse and worse. The Economy Ministry also commits to give the information from the Internal Revenue Service to charge the citizens' accounts. As Fayerwayer [ES] explains, Microsoft also commits to teach all the Chileans between 18 and 35 to use Windows, Word, Explorer and the rest of the Microsoft platform.

No a usar un computador, no a usar un procesador de texto, no a navegar la web, sino más bien a utilizar sus productos y únicamente sus productos — ¡gracias Microsoft!

Not to use a computer, not to use a data processor, not to use the web, rather only use their products and only their products- Thank you Microsoft!

Other view of the agreement is from Rodrigo Walker [ES], that the agreement should have been done through a public bidding, but which also ruled out the chance of free software.

Blogger reactions didn't wait, “The Front of Digital Liberation” [ES] is a movement that was created to alert, inform and report on all the digital development decisions. This initiative was created as a reaction of the agreement with Microsoft. Bloggers can support this initiative that has all ready 738 signatures.

To track the forums discussion (all in Spanish): Tarreo and Atina Chile

Chile: Oil Spill Affects Livelihood of Fishermen

Rosario Lizana — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:11:38 +0000

Three hundred and fifty liters of oil were spilled in Bahia San Vicente in Talcahuano. As Ecologia y Patrañas Diversas (ES) explains, the spillage happened when the ship New Constellation under the flag of the Marshall Islands and operated by Ultramar, while unloading fuel for the National Enterprise of Petrol, Enap. The accident happened on May 25.

To understand who were responsible for the accident, the Public Prosecutor's Office is working on the case. The online newspaper, El Ciudadano (ES) posts that the accident was due to a breakdown in the pipe on the property of Enap (ES), National Enterprise of Petrol. In the meantime, SAG (Agricultural and Livestock Service) is working to rescue, rehabilitate, wash, and relocate the birds to a safe area. More than 200 birds are being attended to at a clinic in the same location.

The environment and the fishermen in the area have been the most affected. As Sergio Leiva (ES) explains, the Enap company hired 50 fishermen to help with the labor of cleaning the area, because it is now impossible for the fishermen to work. Up until now, it is said that 85% of the area is now clean. The port authority developed a plan to recover the petrol and to build barriers to slow down the damage. Mauricio Barrientos (ES) wrote that the damage will remain for 15 years. Also, that there are some groups of students helping to clean the area.

Chile: Issues of Broadband Access and Net Neutrality

Rosario Lizana — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 20:26:15 +0000

This week Chilean bloggers had a heated reaction about the broadband and net neutrality. Senator Fernando Flores declared that we were far along the way as a country, and that this was not an issue for Chileans. Pepe Huerta, who attended a private discussion about broadband and net neutrality, discovered that the general managers of big companies just don’t care about it, and are protecting their investment. The brave act was a posting about this meeting on his blog.

This all started through a meeting called together by País Digital (ES) a foundation that promotes Information Technologies in Chile. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the law proposal concerning broadband and neutrality on the net. The audience was comprised of generalmanagers of the large telecommunications companies and some governmental officials, Senators, and Deputies. As Pepe Huerta (ES) explains, he was able to attend the meeting because he is the assistant of deputy Gonzalo Arenas, who is the sponsor of this two law proposals. Pepe described the conversations of the meeting on his blog. One of the issues exposed was that companies can not use the commercial name broad band in connections lower that 1.5 Mbps, which is the standard of the International Communications Union and is used by most of the developing countries. He explains the reaction of the General Manager of Telefonica Company, the biggest communication company in Chile:

(…) las empresas proveedoras de acceso a Internet no estarían dispuestas a invertir el dinero necesario para lograr otorgar el servicio que la ley exige y que, según el, no puede acotarse el nombre Banda Ancha solo a las velocidades superiores, debido a que históricamente se le denomina Banda Ancha a todas las conexiones no conmutadas (aquellas realizadas por líneas telefónicas comunes).(…)”

The companies that provide internet access will not be willing to invest the necessary money to provide the service that the law requires and the name broadband cannot be limited to those higher speed connections, because historically the word broadband has been given to all the non-commuted connections (connections carried through telephone lines)

Pepe continues explaining his personal view :

Sobre esto, solo puedo comentar que mientras las plataformas físicas que sostienen “los cables” que se utilizan para generar la conexión a Internet sigan siendo de propiedad de un par de grandes empresas, los costos asociados para generar conectividad seguirán siendo elevados, por lo que tampoco existirá competencia ya que es imposible competir con el “dueño de la pelota“. En Chile finalmente, pagamos lo mismo que paga un ciudadano europeo por una conexión diez veces más rápida que las nuestras. ¿Parece coherente?.”

About all this, the only thing I can comment is that while the physical platform that hold “the cables” that are used for the internet connection are still being owned by a few large companies, the cost associated to generate connections will still rise, because it is impossible to compete with the “owners of the ball”. In Chile, we still pay the same amount that a European citizen pays for a connection 10 times faster than ours, Is this consistent?

Regarding the neutrality issue, Pepe explains that the one of the members of VTR, the other main telecommunications company argues that they use filters to protect the users from attacks of hackers and virus on the net.

There are more concerns about these issues, but the main discussion does not center on broadband or net neutrality. There are many blogger reactions about the declarations by Senator Fernando Flores, who led the discussion. Pepe writes:

Creo que la discusión sobre neutralidad en la red debemos dejársela a los Estados Unidos y Europa, Chile no es potencia en desarrollo tecnológico, por lo que no tenemos pa’ que discutirlo

I think we should leave the discussion of net neutrality to the United States and Europe, Chile is not a power in technology development, so why should we have to discuss it.

In regards to blogger reactions to this issue, Flores posts (ES) that he is concerned about the issue of broadband and he has been working a lot on the issue for quite a while, even though there are a lot of people who do not know about the issue. He wrote that Chileans are too immature to be able to participate in the discussion and that we have to wait to see how this issue goes on in Europe and EEUU.

The blog, neutralidadsi (ES), (Pepe's blog) promotes free internet in Chile and asks for support for the new law proposal regarding neutrality on the web. They declared that the Chilean discussion is similar to discussion in the United States: “the internet provider should restrict their themselves only to provide the access and not to allowing privilege or to hinder the access to some content”. He also posts the text of the law proposals.

This is the beginning of a discussion and bloggers will continue to post about for years to come. Atina Chile, one of the biggest and most well-organized online social movements founded by Fernando Flores has promoted the campaign of broadband for all and lately has been meeting with the Chilean Economy Ministry to support OLPC (One Laptop Per Child), here you cand find the news about this issue.

Chilean Gas Crisis: Biofuel Perspectives

Rosario Lizana — Thu, 17 May 2007 23:59:35 +0000

Cold temperatures in Argentina this week decreased the supply of gas to Chile. Even though the Argentinean government declared that Chileans will be provided their regular supply of gas, Chileans are seeking other energetic alternatives to ensure the energetic supply for the country. This week, the Ministers of Economy, Energy, Agriculture and Revenue decided to release biofuels from a tax in order to promote their use.

Ecoperiodico (ES) explains that this tax also applies to gasoline and diesel, and with this measure the prices of bioethanol and biodiesel will be a third of the price of one liter of gasoline.

Chile decidió el miércoles eximir a los biocombustibles de un impuesto específico que pagan las gasolinas y el diésel para fomentar su uso, en medio de preocupaciones por un menor suministro de gas natural desde Argentina, su único proveedor del recurso.

Chile decided this Wednesday to eliminate a specific tax on biofuel, that is also paid on gasoline and diesel in order to promote their use. This takes place in the middle of the concerns about the reduced supply of gas from Argentina, which is the only supplier of this resource.

The note continues explaining that Chile imports almost all of the fuel that it consumes, and this decision will help reduce the fluctuations in fuel prices and gas supply. One of the most affected areas is the northern part of the country. One of the projects that is concerned for this area is from the Ministry of Interior. The Interior Minister, posted on his blog (ES) an agreement with the University of Tarapacá to develop the crop “Jatropha” on 1,500 hectares. Jatropha is a shrub that is used in Europe and the Middle East to generate biofuel.

Also in regards to biofuels, but not related to the energy crisis, Atinabiotec (ES), which is a blog that publishes biotechnology-related news, posts the results of The Insurance Society Co-op, which warns about the dangers for the environment due to the use of biofuels. One of the issues is that the use of biofuels can help reduce the greenhouse effect, but on the other hand, it can also increase the use of agriculture land for biofuel plantations. This could decrease the amount of available lands for agriculture in countries that still have famine.

Local newspapers and television said that the gas for domestic use will be supplied. The most serious situation is for the companies that must find other sources of fuel in order to operate.

Chilean Ethnic Groups: Development Against Native Rights?

Rosario Lizana — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:51:24 +0000

Chile's native ethnic groups have been here long before the Spanish occupation, and since then, they have been defending their rights in different areas. Today they defend the lands that they have occupied for centuries from the country's development that may threaten their way of life.

Víctor Toledo (ES), from the Centre of Public Policies and Native Rights posts an entire case of this situation. Lleu-Lleu is a location, where 17 Mapuche families will be affected if the government decides to activate a mine, which is still a project under economic evaluation. He argues that the government doesn’t respect indigenous rights, who are not even safe on their own land, which by doing so, is one way to maintain the native peoples' integrity. Also he remembers that indigenous communities are protected by law, but goes looks at the deeper issue: the role of the government.

“Las comunidades mapuches del Lago Lleu Lleu, sur de Chile, con la denuncia de un proyecto minero, han puesto en la agenda pública, y a su modo, un asunto de fondo: la contradicción entre la obligación estatal de protección de las tierras indígenas, y la inadecuación de la institucionalidad y legislación sectorial minera ante esa obligación. Más allá de sus detalles, el caso de Rucañanco- Lleu Lleu es un conflicto que encuentra sus causas y responsabilidades en las antinomias e incumplimiento de obligaciones del propio estado chileno.”

The Mapuche communities from the Lleu-Lleu Lake in southern Chile, with their complaints about the mining project, have placed the underlying issue on the public agenda: the contradiction between the state's obligation to protect the indigeous' lands and the inadequacy of the institutional and legislative mining sector of completing this obligation. In addition to the details, the Rucañanco- Lleu-Lleu conflict's causes and responsibilities can be explained by the non-fulfillment of the Chilean state's obligations.

Another case is the construction of the Ralco dam by the Spanish company Endesa, where 381 indigenous families were relocated from an area that is now flooded. All of the cemeteries and ancestral ceremonial sites were lost. A Spanish producer made a documentary about these events that explains step by step how the government and the company acted in order to make the project a reality. Under the title “ A documentary that shows the genocide of the Mapuche people by Endesa” the Spanish blog Teruel (ES) recounts the situation in the area.

A national network called” Action Network for Environmental and Social Justice” (ES) works to educate and inform about environmental rights and indigenous rights. The majority of the national organizations are registered there, and most do not have websites or blogs and many do not appear in the local newspapers.

Mapuexpress (ES) is a page where you can find all the news and about the concerns of Chilean indigenous communities, especially the Mapuche.

New political movement: Chile Primero

Rosario Lizana — Thu, 03 May 2007 20:42:09 +0000

The electoral system in Chile promotes alliances between candidates, called binominal. For Senators- that run for regions- or deputies- that run for district-it is the same system. Every list can have two candidates, the sum total of both candidates' votes must be more than the 50 % to win. This means that if candidate has only 10%, it is most probable that it will not be enough representation to win, and the candidate must make an alliance with another candidate to obtain the proper percentag. The list wins according to the percentage. This logic has developed two strong wings, the right and the left. The left wing has been the one with more representation since the end of the dictatorship period (right wing). All of Chile's presidents since then has been from the leftist coalition. In this scenario, building a new political movement is extremely difficult, as an alliance with the right or left coalition is always necessary.

In spite of this, a new political movement, Chile Primero [ES] has risen due to the citizen dissatisfation of some of the politicians. Fernando Flores [ES], Jorge Schaulsohn and Esteban Valenzuela [ES] are supporting this initiative that will be launched on May 12. All of them were members of the PPD political party, Party for the Democracy, but they are no longer members. Bloggers have been providing opinions about the movement, as chilepost [ES] explains:

Son reconocidas sus posturas liberales en lo económico. Schaulsohn ha actuado de frente y criticado el excesivo poder estatal. Flores siempre está hablando de los saltos que Chile necesita en materia educacional, del bajo nivel de la clase política y de como debemos integrarnos a la sociedad del conocimiento. Creo que en ese movimiento, se está gestando lo que en otros lados no: un espacio de discusión de lo que Chile necesita, aunque obviamente hay una estrategia de construcción de una plataforma político-electoral en ello.

Liberal attitudes towards economics is popular. Schaulsohn has been out in front criticizing excessive state power. Flores is always talking about the leaps that Chile needs in the educational field, the low level of the political class and how we should become integrated in the field of knowledge. I think this movement is generating something that other places are not: a space for discussion about what Chile needs, even though there is obviously a strategy for building a political-electoral platform.

Alejandro Valenzuela [ES] posts an article from Angélica Meneses that touches on the relation of this new movement with the actual presidency:

Pero la pregunta lógica es la siguiente: ¿cómo van a actuar frente al gobierno que eligieron y del que hoy ya no son parte? Esto es algo que aseguran tener resuelto. Valenzuela sostiene que “vamos a seguir apoyando a la Presidenta en todas sus cosas constructivas, pero creemos que el país necesita una oferta política distinta.

The logical question is: How will they act in front the government that they elected and that now they are not a part of? This is something they have ensured that they have solved. Valenzuela maintains that “we will continue to support the president in all her constructive issues, but we think the country needs a different political offer

The president of the PPD party Sergio Bitar [ES] has been defending the left coalition project, well known as “concertación” and in referring to Chile Primero, MasdemocraciamasPPD (ES) post an article of the opinions of Bitar:

El presidente del PPD recalcó que “para nosotros la Concertación es un proyecto político de gran importancia, distinto de la derecha, es un proyecto político por la libertad, por la democracia y por la justicia social”, dejando entrever que al ubicarse Chile Primero fuera del conglomerado se establece la separación definitiva con los ex PPD.

The president of the PPD stresses that “for us the concertación is a political project of large significance, different from the right wing, it is a political project for liberty, democracy and social justice”, let us see if Chile Primero is left out of the conglomeration and it establishes itself in definitive separation with the ex PPD.

A lot of young people from different regions are involved with this new movement, Osvaldo Yañez [ES] is from Talca, and he expresses:

Aquellos que vivimos fuera de Santiago, no nos resignaremos a esperar “concesiones graciosas” de tecnocratas de la capital. Muchos somos los hombres y mujeres de provincia que estamos comprometidos con que Chile sea un país mas grande, un país emprendedor, un país de hermanos. Es por esto que veo en el Movimiento Chile Primero, una forma de aglutinar a aquellos que vemos que en el hacer política estamos encargándonos de un mejor futuro para los nuestros.

For the ones that live outside of Santiago, we are not resigned to wait for “graceful concessions” from technocrats in the capital. There are plenty of men and women from the provinces that are committed to making Chile a grand country, an entrepreneurial country, and a country of brotherhood. Because of that, I see in the movement Chile Primero, as a way of drawing together those involved in politics to make a better future for us.

Seismic Activity and Tidal Waves in Chile

Rosario Lizana — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:19:38 +0000

Chile is a land of the earthquakes. In recent months, the Aysén region has been affected by small seismic activity every day. Last weekend, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, caused a fjord landslide into the sea. Big waves crashed into the small city of Puerto Tortuga, devastating everything in its way.

Many criticized the reaction of the authorities, for example Copihues Rojos [ES] posts:

Las autoridades discuten si fue tsunami, maremoto o sólo marejada, como si esto tuviera alguna importancia para los que perdieron casas, familiares o sus animales. La Presidenta fué a la zona. Inmediatamente la derecha criticó, que era un error haber ido, pero si no hubiera ido igual la criticarían. El asunto es que hay que solucionar los problemas que deja el sismo y prever lo que pueda venir, por que aún no hay nada seguro sobre lo que vendrá. Hay que tener en cuenta que hace dos años hubo un fuerte terremoto en el norte del país, en la zona cordillerana y aún lo que se derrumbó esta en el suelo, antiguas iglesias construidas por los españoles, monumentos históricos etc.

The authorities are discussing whether this was a tidal wave, tsunami or only a swell, as if this has any importance for the ones that lost houses, relatives or their animals. The president went to the zone. Immediately the right wing criticizes her that was a mistake to go, but they would have criticized her if she hadn't gone. The issue is to solve the problems that the earthquake left and to prevent what might come; because it is still unknown of what might happen. We have to consider that two years ago in the north of the country there was a strong earthquake in the mountain range and what had fallen down is still on the ground, old churches build by the Spanish, historic heritage, etc.

Capitán Tricolor [ES] is a disaster volunteer, ever since the earthquake of 1985 in the central zone of Chile. Referring to the Aysén situation, he recalls the seismic activity that has been affecting the area since January. He explains that the Onemi (ES), (National Emergency Office) wrote a report in March that advised to evacuate the zone an earthquake over 6 on the Richter scale would produce damage. He explains the reason:

El caso de Aysén es diferente, la misma Onemi había anunciado que los movimientos telúricos que han afectado la zona desde enero son de origen volcánico (formación de un cono volcánico submarino), se informó de la muerte de fauna marina por el aumento de la temperatura del agua y la semana pasada se había informado de desprendimiento de laderas de cerros luego de un sismo fuerte.

The Aysen case is different. The Onemi announced that the telluric movements that affected the zone since January are of a volcanic origin (formation of a underwater volcanic cone), and they informed about the death of the marine fauna due to the increase of water temperature. Last week they informed of a landslide of the hillside after a strong earthquake.

Up to now, 3 people have died and 7 are still missing.

The blog El Morrocotudo [ES], posted two impressions of foreigners that were in Aysén: Steve and Rhonda Wilson are missionaries in the the Patagonia and Jen, a British woman, lives with her boyfriend in Coyahique.

The Diban [ES] , the Department of Libraries, Archives and Museums has information about Earthquakes in Chilean history and some photos. The Seismology Service [ES] of the Universidad de Chile (ES) has a complete report of seismic from month to month.

Chilean Love Poetry Online

Rosario Lizana — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 22:03:56 +0000

Love is one of the universal languages. One of the Chilean poets who wrote poems about love was Pablo Neruda. Not only do Chilean bloggers have Neruda's romantic prose in their digital DNA, but so do bloggers around the world. Here is a selection of Pablo Neruda’s poetry that has spread throughout the net.

Dantecalva (ES) explains in her post “Poetry with Conscience” what the poems can produce:

Ni en mis peores momentos de apatía mis fieles libros me abandonaron. La poesía siempre ha sido una compañía de todas las etapas en el transcurso de mi vida. La he sabido poner en el lugar pretendido, es decir, mi palabra o cualquier texto.

¿A cuántas personas en este mundo nos ha movido un sentimiento una frase bien hilada? ¿Cuándo se escuece el alma con solo leer algo conmovedor? ¿O cuándo dejamos nuestras emociones en la pluma de otros?

Not even in my worst moments of apathy do my faithful books abandon me. Poetry has always been a companion throughout each chapter of my life. I have learned to put it in the proper place, that is, in my words or any text.

How many people in this world have been moved to emotion by a perfectly threaded phrase? When our soul is touched by just what we read? Or when we leave our emotions in the pens of others?

She continues with a selection of Neruda's poems that she likes the most. Damian (ES) posts the poem “I love you” along with more poems in Spanish from other authors. He declares in his blog “I don’t mind if you loved me…. In my dreams I have you.”

Sabrás que no te amo,
y que te amo,
puesto que de dos modos es la vida,
la palabra es un ala del silencio,
el fuego tiene una mitad de frío.

Yo te amo para comenzar a amarte,
para recomenzar el infinito
y para no dejar de amarte nunca:
por eso no te amo todavía.

You'll know that I dont love you,
and that I love you,
just as of the two ways of life,
the word is a wing of silence,
the fire has its portion of cold.

I love you to begin loving you,
To restart infinity,
And not to never stop loving you:
That why I don’t love you yet

Te amo y no te amo,
como si tuviera,
en mis manos las llaves de la dicha,
y un incierto destino desdichado.

Mi amor tiene dos vidas para amarte.
Por eso te amo,
cuando no te amo
y por eso te amo,
cuando te amo.

I love you and I don’t love you,
as if I had,
in my hands the keys of happiness,
And a uncertain destiny without fortune.

My love has two life’s to love you
That why I love you,
When I don’t love you,
And that’s why I love you
When I love you.

The spanish blog, elperiodistadigital (ES) post the poem ”Poema 20” from Nerudas book “Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada” (”Twenty poems of love and one desperate song”). Here is a fragment:

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.

Escribir, por ejemplo: “La noche está estrellada,
y tiritan, azules, los astros, a lo lejos”.
El viento de la noche gira en el cielo y canta.

Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.
Yo la quise, y a veces ella también me quiso.

I can write the saddest verses tonight.

Write, for example: “The night is starry,
and shivering, blue, and the astros, far away”.
The wind of the night spins in the sky and sing.

I can write the saddest verses this night.
I loved her and sometimes she loved me two.

En las noches como ésta la tuve entre mis brazos.
La besé tantas veces bajo el cielo infinito.

Ella me quiso, a veces yo también la quería.
Cómo no haber amado sus grandes ojos fijos.

On nights like this I had her between my arms.
I kissed her so many times beneath the infinite sky.

She love me, and sometimes I loved her too.
How could I not have loved her big frozen eyes.

On this site (ES), there is a complete list of the most famous poems of Pablo Neruda, as well as MP3 files of the poet reading his own poems.

Chile: building a new educational understanding

Rosario Lizana — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 20:33:32 +0000

These days one of the issues that is capturing the attention of Chilean bloggers is the educational reform. The LOCE, Constitutional Organic Law of Students is being reformed to a new law called the General Law of Education (PLEGE) (ES).

Michele Bachelet, president of Chile declared that origin of the LOCE was authoritarian and that this new reform is based upon republican and democratic visions “and in a democracy, a law has to legitimize the popular sovereignty and the current LOCE, clearly does not count on this legitimacy”

This could be a reference to the beginnings of the current educational law, which was made during the dictatorship period under Augusto Pinochet.

One of the two issues of conflict of this reform has to do with the selection of students during the first schooling period and the elimination of profit for private institutions.

Mariana Aylwin, ex Minister of Education (and son of Patricio Aylwin, ex Chilean president) , posts (ES) that the public schools used to select children, because before there were not enough schools for all of them. She also refers that the schools that still have to select students because there is more demand, that should make a transparent selection process.

The number of schools has grown in the last few years. José Joaquín Brunner, (ES) an expert in education explains that the private educational for-profit sector gives education to half of the Chileans students, which means one million students. So any decision in this matter should be oriented to strengthen the relation between the public and the private sector.

To understand other general issues in discussion, Rodolfo (ES), a professor of the University of Talca explains some general differences about this new reform:

“Actualmente la LOCE se centra en que el Estado debe resguardar la libertad de enseñanza, sin prestar similar atención al derecho a la educación. El proyecto propone equiparar ambos derechos. La LOCE actual no obliga al Estado a financiar un sistema gratuito que asegure el acceso a la enseñanza preescolar; la modificación extiende esta obligación a la enseñanza preescolar.

En la actualidad la LOCE permite el financiamiento público a instituciones educacionales privadas con fines de lucro, creadas sin mayores exigencias respecto de su creación y continuidad. En paralelo las escuelas municipales deben funcionar con subvenciones irrisorias basadas en la asistencia y sin real autonomía. El resultado lo tenemos a la vista: una educación de mala calidad. Por eso extraña que se afirme que la LOCE no tiene nada que ver con una educación de calidad: tiene mucho que ver. Lo anterior no implica que la LOCE sea la solución para una educación de calidad, pero ella contiene las bases conceptuales, los fundamentos, los cimientos, sobre las cuales se construye el sistema educativo. Lo que corresponde es que ella recoja la amplia experiencia nacional e internacional en la materia”.

Currently, LOCE is centered on the fact that the State should guarantee the freedom to teach, without giving the same attention to the right of education. The proposal of the project wants to balance these rights. The current LOCE does not obligate the state to finance a free system that includes access to preschool education, the modification extends the obligation to include preschool education.

In reality, the LOCE allows for public financing of educational private for-profit institutions, created without any great demands on their creation and continuity. The public schools, in comparison, have to operate with ridiculous subsidies based on attendance and without real autonomy. We can see the results: Bad educational quality. Because of that it is strange to see the assertion that the LOCE has nothing to do with a quality education: it has a lot to do with it. This doesn’t mean that the LOCE is the solution for a quality education, but this contains the conceptual bases, the grounds, the foundations in which the educational system is built. These correspond to widen the national and international experience in this issue.

Chile: Bachelet, Transantiago and student protests

Rosario Lizana — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:58:08 +0000

Michelle Bachelet has had a difficult time since she was inaugurated as Chile’s first female president just over a year ago. She has endured corruption scandals in her own leftist coalition, student protests expressing angry dissatisfaction with the education system, and now, the collapse of Santiago’s costly new transportation system. This big project was started during the Ricardo Lagos presidency, known for its large investment into transportation infrastructure.

“The severely ailing transportation reform in the capital city of Santiago called Transantiago has begun to generate its political costs,” writes Tomás Dinges who includes a number of links to comparisons between Transantiago and Bogotá’s Transmilenio, which served as a model for the project.

Transantiago is kicking her ass, and unfortunately it wasn’t even a problem of her design. This new system is based on Colombia’s TransMilenio and was designed over a period of five years under the administration of Ricardo Lagos. It is now cultivating bad moods, lack of confidence and frustration by the people outside the government, while creating instability within her government. The idea that she is a president of the people, the head of a “gobierno ciudadano,” which can have a real effect on people’s “hogares,” or homes, as she refers to in speeches, is coming under severe and dangerous questioning reflected in polled popularity levels tracking steadily downwards, a five point drop since early March (51-46) with an increase of people unhappy with her administration (36 - 41).

Since Transantiago first opened, a lot of commentary has poured forth. Plataforma Urbana [ES] wrote a critique about the government’s latest announcement of improved operation of Transantiago and summarizes the emotions of the citizens reacting to it:

A nadie le sorprendieron las medidas anunciadas para corregir el caótico estado en que se encuentra operando, pero muchos echamos de menos el cómo se arreglaran los problemas a largo plazo, sobre todo en lo que concierne a la operación del plan a través de los años. A casi 2 meses de su implementación, qué es lo que nos deparará Transantiago y qué tanto hay que esperar de las medidas anunciadas.

Habiéndose nivelado el servicio en general -la gente ya está acostumbrada al nuevo sistema- es ahora donde aparecen los problemas estructurales dentro del sistema, aquellos que no se solucionan con más buses ni con renegociación de contratos. Si bien el aumento de buses permitirá contar con una mayor capacidad -y por ende, poder subirse a los buses repletos-, el gran problema es cómo controlar las frecuencias y ajustar los recorridos y micros a la demanda real de pasajeros. Esto porque obviamente el diseño debe ser ajustado en función de la variación dinámica de la demanda conforme a la ciudad crece y genera nuevos viajes.

No one was surprised by the new measures announced to correct the chaotic state that had been in operation, but many people did not understand how the problems will be fixed in the long term. At nearly two month since its inauguration, what is the fate of Transantiago what can we expect from the newly announced measures?

Having the general service leveled out – the people are now used to the new system - is now when the structural problems appear inside the system; the ones that aren’t solved by re-negotiating contracts or adding more buses. Even though more buses will allow for a greater capacity and permit people to actually enter board the crowded buses, the major problem is how to control the frequency and adjust number of buses to the real demand of passengers. Obviously the design has to be adjusted to the changing demand and in accordance with the growth of the city as it requires new routes.

The government announced that to repair the operation they will need US $34 million. And a local newspaper, published an article revealing that the government spent US $12 million to research the impact of the project before the operation. So, what happened with the studies? Were they well made? Why do we now have a new budget to repair the mistakes of the system?

All of these issues are focused on the capital, Santiago, where Transantiago operates. But what about the rest of the country?. Chile.com has an article [ES] that reviews reactions from other regions that shouldered some of the expenses:

La parlamentaria por la Sexta Región agregó que “cuando Santiago tiene problemas el ministro no los tiene para abrir las manos, pero cuando es en regiones no vemos lo mismo. Necesitamos recursos para agua potable, caminos, educación, defensas fluviales; no podemos permitir que se saquen de los que ya están asignados para solucionar los problemas del Transantiago.

The parliament of the sixth region added that “When Santiago has problems the government doesn’t have any problems opening their hands [asking for money], but when the problems are provincial, we don’t see the same support. We need resources for drinking water, roads, education, and river dikes. We can not permit that they take money from that which was already allocated in order to find a solution to the problems of Transantiago.

Yesterday, the students poured into the streets of the capital to protest against Transantiago. Duna [ES] writes that 228 people where detained, and almost 71% of those detainees are under 18. One of the Student Federation’s University blog (ES) corresponding to the Universidad de Chile (ES), claims than more than 1,500 people attended the rally. They also write that many were not sure where to meet or march. They seemingly admit that the protest was poorly organized and without a real sense of what they were doing.

Students are becoming accustomed to protesting just about everything and some citizens, like kurotashio [ES] have observed the consequences.

Era posible también ver el descontento de muchos comerciantes, los cuales echaban más de algún improperio a los estudiantes por causar un estado de desalojo de muchas personas, las cuales acostumbradas a sus puestos laborales deben ser corridas para que no tengan problemas por abc motivos… A pesar de ello, por la avenida principal (Alameda) circulaban buses como si nada pasara, la gente caminando, aunque temerosa, pero como si la lluvia que emanaba del carro policial fuera lo más común del mundo.

It was possible to see the discontent of the downtown merchants, many of who hurled more than one insult to the students for causing chaos. The street merchants are used to staying in their work stalls and, during the protests, they havd to be removed in the case there were any problems … However, on the main thoroughfare, buses ran normally, people were walking (although with fear), but as the forceful water coming from the police truck was the most common thing in the world.

Photo of detained student protesters from Kurotashio

The Chilean people have a history of protest, but since Michelle Bachelet was elected president, difficult issues which started in the previous administration, have ended in near social collapse.

The student protests against the education system began last year and, since then, every time they have a chance - like last week - they protest. The Government is working hard on the educational issue. Bachelet created the Advisory Board for Educational Quality last June, which seeks to develop an improved Chilean education system. One of the major brains behind Chile’s educational system, José Joaquin Brunner [ES] has several documents on his blog [ES] that explain the vision and objectives they are working on.

Chile: Day of the Young Fighter

Rosario Lizana — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 07:19:56 +0000

Universidad del Bio Bio Concepción

During Chile's dictatorship period, two brothers, Rafael and Eduardo Vergara were murdered. They were fighting against the government. Since then, some associations in Chile celebrate the day of the “young fighter.” This in not an official government issue. Unfortunately for us, the meaning of the celebration, related to struggle against Augusto Pinochet, has been forgotten. On Thursday, in the centre of the capitol, young students made disruptions and disorder in the name of the “young fighter.” They also said they were going to protest against the failure of Santiago's new transportation system. Bloggers reacted immediately. Solylunnyta [ES] described the emotional atmosphere:

Que yo sepa, los jóvenes Rafael y Eduardo Vergara, tenían conciencia y una lucha muy clara….pelear por sus compañeros y sacar el gobierno dictatorial de don finao… Pero estos niños no tienen ni idea de quienes eran los hermanos Vergara¡¡¡…. no tienen ni idea cuales son sus ideales aún, ni menos saben cuales eran los ideales de los Combatientes de antaño….Apuesto lo que quieran que si les preguntan no tienen ni idea quienes eran los Vergara Toledo…. Además, por otro lado, queda claro que el tema no era el Transantiago y buscarle una solución… El tema era o la Piedra, ó la Molotov, ó la escopeta hechiza, o el saqueo, pero nada que ver con conmemorar esta fecha…

As far as I know, the young Rafael and Eduardo Vergara, had conscience and a really clear struggle … to fight for their peers and remove the dictatorship. But these kids don’t have any idea of who the Vergara brothers even were!!! They don’t even know what their ideals are and far less what the ideals of the combats of the past were … I bet you anything that if someone were to ask them who the Vergara Toledo brothers were, they wouldn't know … And furthermore, it is clear that the issue was not Transantiago and to search for a solution … The issue was the stone to throw, the Molotov, the homemade-shotgun, the looting, but nothing to do with the commemoration of this date.

One of the associations to commemorate this date is the Workers Collective [ES]. They made a very emotional invitation to all the people that were in some way involved in the period when the Vergara Brothers were murdered, to participate in a commemorative act. Here we translate an extract of the invitation:

Aquí están todos los días los hermanos y hermanas que estuvieron antes y los hijos e hijas que estarán pronto, están porque estamos, están porque somos alguien más que nosotros mismos: somos toda nuestra historia de días y noches de amar y de guerrear, somos la rebelde rebeldía y las manos siempre tiernas abiertas para abrazarnos y el puño en alto ante los enemigos del género humano; y claro, somos también cansancio, y un dolor que parte el pecho con su historia de infamia y nos hermana… pero ante todo somos los que somos por vencer las barreras de la pura bronca y del llanto necesario empuñando la necesidad de la sonrisa de todos los niños, porque hacemos de la memoria experiencia y de nuestra historia aprendizaje para seguir caminando nuestro compromiso con más y nuevas fuerzas.

Here, each and every day, are the brothers and sisters that were here before and the son and daughters that will soon be here. They are here because we are here. They are here because we are something more than just ourselves: we are all our history of days and nights of loving and fighting. We are the rebellious rebels and the affectionate hands always open to hug and the fists held high in front of the enemies of the human race. And, of course, we also are the exhaustion and the pain that starts in the chest with his story of disgrace and brotherhood us … but above all, we are what we are to defeat the barriers of conflict and the tears, bringing about the necessity of the smile of all children because we make experience from memory and from our knowledge of history to continue walking to our commitment with more and new forces.

Eduardo Arriagada (ES) published an invitation to the activities in Santiago and some photos about what happened yesterday in the city center.

Small taste of Chilean writers and poetry part I

Rosario Lizana — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:11:51 +0000

Chile is well known as a country of poets, including Nobel Prize Winners Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1945) and Pablo Neruda, one of the most influential poets of the 20th century (1971).

Gabriela Mistral (ES) was not only a poet, she was also a public school teacher and a revolutionary as well. She worked hard to change the way Chileans understand education. In 1922 she receive an invitation to work for the Mexican government in order to help develop educational reforms. Here is a sample of her work, from the poem “Rocking”(ES).

El mar sus millares de olas
mece, divino.
Oyendo a los mares amantes,
mezo a mi niño.

El viento errabundo en la noche
mece los trigos.
Oyendo a los vientos amantes,
mezo a mi niño.

Dios Padre sus miles de mundos
mece sin ruido.
Sintiendo su mano en la sombra
mezo a mi niño

The sea and his thousand of waves, rock, divine.
Hearing the lovers sea,
I rock my child.

The wander wind in the night,
Rock the wheat
Hearing the lovers wind,
I rock my child.

God, father and his thousand worlds,
Rock without sound,
Feeling his hand on the shadow
I rock my child.

Another well-known Chilean writer is Isabel Allende (ES). She has received more than 20 awards in various countries and 16 books, which have been translated into more than 10 languages. Pablo Neruda (ES) was also both a well known poet and well known for his political involvement.

New generations have since arrived. To have an updated taste, here is a post from Lizia (ES) with some pieces of a poem by Armando Uribe (ES) called “No hay Lugar”, There's no place.

“Te amo y te odio. Dirás: Cómo es posible. No sé. yo te amo y te odio […]

Lo que amo en ella no tiene edad, no ha nacido […]

No te amo, amo los celos que te tengo, son lo único tuyo que me queda, los celos y la rabia que te tengo, hidrófobo de ti me ahogo en vino. […]

No te amo, amo mis celos, esos celos son lo único tuyo que me queda. Cuando desaparezca en esos cielos de odio te ladraré porque no vienes. […]

La soledad me toma de los pies -como la muerte- y me hace entrar a un mausoleo polvoriento donde juego a las bolitas de mentira […]

I love you and I hate you. You say: How is this possible. I don’t know. I love you and I hate you […]

What I love in her has no age, was not born […]

I don’t love you, I love my jealousy, this jealousy is all that you left me, the jealousy and rabidity, hydrophobic, I drown myself in wine […]

I don’t love you, I love my jealousy, this jealousy is all that you left me. When I disappear into those skies of hate, I will bark at you for not coming. […]

The loneliness took me from my feet- like death - and makes me enter a dusty mausoleum where I play little balls of deceit […]

Chilean bloggers like Miguel de Loyola (ES) and Roberto Fuentes (ES) are traditional writers that have published their works on the web. (Writers 2.0?) Also, Literus (ES) is small movement that that hopes to encourage conversations about literature and poetry. The blog is maintained by the attendees of a poetry course, led by renowned Chilean poet Raul Zurita. Paolo Astorga, also a poet, published an a interview [ES] with Zurita from last December.

Bachelet's First year as President of Chile

Rosario Lizana — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 17:04:56 +0000

The first woman to be elected president in Chile, Michelle Bachelet, has made it through her first year as head of state. General opinion said that several situations made it not easy, including the education strike and delay in implementing the new transportation system that is still receiving mixed reaction from the population.

El Chere of EquinoXio [ES] gives an overview in numbers:

¿Qué sugiere cuando una Presidenta tiene uno de los niveles de popularidad más bajos de la región (cerca del 38%), uno de los promedios más mediocres desde la vuelta de Chile a la democracia (3,8 en escala del 1 al 7) y ha debido hacer frente a constantes crisis tanto políticas (con su coalición) como estructurales y sociales?

What does it imply when a President has one of the lowest levels of popularity in the region (near 38%), one of the most mediocre since the return of democracy in Chile (3.8 from a 1 to 7 scale) and has had to confront constant political (from her own party), structural, and social crises.

Andrés Sanfuentes reminds us [ES] of the five areas that Bachelet proposed to focus on before she was elected.

“El Programa de Gobierno de Bachelet plantea cinco áreas temáticas, lo cual ayuda a ordenar las preocupaciones principales:

1.) Una nueva red de protección social.
2.) Condiciones para un salto al desarrollo.
3.) Un programa para mejorar la calidad de vida de los chilenos.
4.) El combate contra la discriminación y la exclusión.
5.) Un nuevo trato para los ciudadanos en todos los aspectos de la acción pública.”

The government programme of Michelle Bachelet proposes five thematic areas, which helps prioritize the main concerns:

1.) A new social net protection
2.) Conditions to jump for Development
3.) A programme to improve Chileans life quality
4.) A combat against discriminations and exclusion
5.) A new treat for the citizens in all the aspects of the public action.

Andrea Henríquez [ES] reveals a perspective shared by many which, in some ways, touches on the 5 thematic areas that Bachelet proposes:

A pesar de que en el 2006 el crecimiento económico fue de 4, 2%, el más bajo de los últimos tres años, las exportaciones aumentaron, impulsadas por el récord histórico que alcanzó el precio del cobre.

En comparación con el gobierno anterior, durante el primer año de gestión de Bachelet el desempleo bajó y la inversión en salud, vivienda y educación aumentó. También se impulsaron medidas a favor de la paridad de género y se presentó en el congreso una propuesta de reforma al sistema previsional.

Desde el inicio de su mandato las encuestas otorgaban a Michelle Bachelet un amplio respaldo, sin embargo, durante los últimos meses la tendencia ha sido a la baja. Según la encuesta de la empresa Adimark, la aprobación durante febrero fue de un 49,3%.

Even thought the economic grow of 2006 was 4.2%, the lowest in the last three years, exports increased because of the historically high price of copper.

Compared to previous administrations, during the first year of Bachelet's management the unemployment rate went down and investment in health, housing, and education increased. She also pushed through legislation on gender equality and a proposal to congress to reform the retirement system.

From the beginning of her term of office, the survey gives Michelle Bachellet plenty of support even though the last few months the tendency has been less positive. According to a survey by Adimark, the approval rating from February was 49.3%.

Bachelet had to deal with deep problems in her first year. A crisis in the educational system that ended with a national students strike, a new system of transportation, the missing detainee wrongly identified that awoke human rights sensibilities, and the death of Pinochet last December without a general concern about how to deal with his controversial historical legacy. Furthermore, the left wing coalition crisis - spawned by several corruption scandals - also contributed to her loss of popular support. Bachelet was sworn in with exaggerated hope that she would bring a new era of cleaner politics to Chile. It remains to be seen whether or not she can overcome the obstacles of her first year in office to fulfill her five central objectives that were repeated so often during her campaign.

Santiago, Chile: New Transportation System

Rosario Lizana — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:54:11 +0000

This week marked the debut of the new public transportation system, called Transantiago (ES) . The government and private companies have invested (ES) US$ 292.5 million. Changing the transportation system is a major issue, because they also had to change people's habits. No more coins, no more waiting times. No long journeys. This system is run in the capital of Santiago with its population of over 5 million.

On its first day, hundreds of complaints about its service have circulated the Chilean Blogosphere. Every social change in behaviour takes some time to adjust. This new system only started on Februrary 10 so we need some time to get used to it.

Luis Alarcón (ES) has his own view of Transantiago, which also gives us an idea of what the transportation system was like before and the dimension of the change:

Imagina lo siguiente: “Te vas al trabajo y subes a un moderno bus que pasa a un horario indicado, para pagar no necesitas monedas solo pasas una tarjeta por un lector y se te descuenta de tu saldo, tiene rampla para discapacitados y marcas para invidentes, además los choferes son amables y educados también es posible que tengas que hacer algunas combinaciones para llegar a tu destino, no importa, puedes bajarte del bus y tomar otro sin tener mayor recargo en tu tarjeta o bien puedes conectar tu viaje trasladándote en una de las tantas líneas de metro que recorren la ciudad.

Imagine the following: “You go to work and get on a modern bus that arrives at the indicated time. To pay you don’t need coins; you just pass a card trough a reader that will deduct from your balance. It has a handicapped-accessible ramp and braille for blind people. Furthermore, the drivers are nice and educated. It's also possible that you have to transfer to arrive to your destination, but it doesn’t matter, you can get off the bus and get onto another without any charge from you’re balance. Or you can connect you’re trip with one of the many subway lines that go through the city.

La imagen podría decirse que ocurre en alguna ciudad europea o ciudad muy desarrollada, pero no, está ocurriendo en Santiago de Chile en plena Sudamérica, se llama “Transantiago” y es la apuesta más ambiciosa del presente gobierno por ordenar un tremendo parque de autobuses, elevar la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos de cara al bicentenario y sobre todo hacer un completo cambio al transporte urbano.

This image could be of some European city or a very develop city, but no, this is happening in Santiago, Chile in South America, is called “Transantiago,” and is the most ambitious gamble of the current government by ordering a huge bus park, elevating the quality of life of the citizens as our bicentenary approaches, and more than anything, completely changing the urban transportation.

Describing the experience over the last few days and the people's reaction, Cristián Muñoz (ES) wrote:

Luego de 3 días de semi colapso de la ciudad, de pequeñas muestras de caos urbano, de mostrar la peor cara, la de una desorganización de Santiago, las cosas finalmente funcionan, las partes básicas de este mecanismo funcionan, engranó, se afiató, cuajó. El Transantiago está en marcha. Ok, podrían decirme que estoy loco, que cómo tan positivo, etc, etc. Pero no es así, soy bastante crítico con el sistema, pero no hay que desconocer que por lo menos ahora las cosas andan mejor. La frecuencia de los buses ha mejorado, en los paraderos no se juntan cantidades sorprendentes de personas, ya no. Ahora está todo un poco más organizado. Incluso ya comenzaron a aparecer soluciones inteligentes y otras que son más de criterio. Hoy se vieron filas en los paraderos, algo que NUNCA se había visto en Santiago. La gente se dió cuenta que esto ya no tiene vuelta atrás y que debe ordenarse, al final, el sistema nos sirve a todos. Y lo otro, el directorio del Metro sentó cabeza (o se la hicieron sentar) y ampliará, desde el 1 de Marzo, el horario de funcionamiento del tren metropolitano. Ahora abrirá a las 6 de la mañana, media hora antes de lo actual.

After 3 days of a nearly collapsed city, small signs of urban chaos, of showing the worst face, the face of a non organized Santiago, things finally worked out, the basic parts of this mechanism worked, fit, got on. Transantiago is working. Ok, you can say that I’m crazy, that why I'm being so positive, etc etc. But it'ss not that way, I’m really critical of the system, but we have to see that now things are going better. The frequency of buses is better, the bus stops don’t get amazing quantities of people, not any more. Now everything is a little more organized. Also, they started using intelligent solutions. Today we see lines at the bus stop, something that never have been seen in Santiago. People realized that there is no return and that they have to use order. At last, the system is good for everyone. The other thing is that the directors of the subway decided (or were made to decide) to extend the schedule of the metropolitan train. Now it will open, half an our earlier, at six in the morning.

Tomorrow the “Transantiago Users Committee” is organizing a protest(ES) . The people that are on this committee are the ones that used to sing on the buses, sell things and also some community neighbourhoods. All of these people used to gain their salary on buses. This is one of the things with the government is dealing with. Also, most of the Chileans, used to take a daily nap on the bus, while they were going to work, or after work. Some times were on the bus for an hour and a half. Now, they can get home quickly by changing buses or to the tube, so no more “public transportation nap culture.”