Posted by periodistainternet in Social and Politics / Politica y Sociedad.
Después de las reflexiones introductorias anteriores , corresponde entrar ahora al espinoso suelo chileno y dar, como primer paso, un breve panorama general de la evolución de las ideas y de los partidos políticos a lo largo de su historia independiente casi bicentenaria.
En el siglo XIX, con un país emergiendo a la independencia del dominio colonial español, el debate político se centró en organizar el Estado. El resultado más sólido de ese esfuerzo fue la Constitución de 1833. Dominado por una economía agraria, con alguna actividad minera en lento ascenso y un comercio exterior que también fue adquiriendo forma poco a poco, Chile vivió bastante aislado del mundo. Se parecía a una isla, alejada además de los grandes centros mundiales, que en ese tiempo estaban en Europa.
Conservadores y Liberales en Pugna
En ese contexto, hubo un área temática que dividió las aguas por varias décadas. Me refiero a las llamadas “cuestiones teológicas”, que produjeron un enfrentamiento entre conservadores y liberales. Estas dos fuerzas, claramente dominantes en dicho siglo, no tenían grandes diferencias en materias económicas. Discrepaban, en cambio, en un campo que hoy llamaríamos “valórico” y que tenía como protagonista a la Iglesia Católica.
Los líderes conservadores, predominantemente provenientes de la agricultura, se consideraban a si mismos como el “brazo político” de la institución religiosa, lo que era consentido e, incluso, estimulado por la jerarquía eclesiástica. Los liberales, más urbanos, comerciantes, burócratas y profesionales, tendían a no aceptar la ingerencia clerical en la vida nacional y buscaban una organización más laica del Estado.
Desde el sector minero, que adquirió vigor creciente en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, y desde sectores profesionales y de la burocracia estatal, surgió el partido radical. También aparecieron los demócratas, nutridos de pequeños comerciantes y del incipiente proletariado obrero. Radicales y demócratas jugarían roles más decisivos en el siglo siguiente. Los primeros, aunque muy disminuidos, están presentes hasta hoy. En cambio, un sector de los demócratas alimentó los primeros contingentes del partido comunista. El resto desapareció, disperso, en el abanico partidista de la segunda mitad del siglo siguiente.
Por Otto Boye, ex embajador de Chile en Venezuela y ex secretario general del sistema Económico Latinoamericano, SELA
http://www.asuntospublicos.cl/informe.php?id=2962
Posted by periodistainternet in Social and Politics / Politica y Sociedad.
El informe “Expansión de la Educación Superior: Hacia un nuevo enfoque sobre la equidad y calidad del sistema”, presentado por la Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Humano, en su edición de febrero de 2006, plantea una reflexión sobre algunos de estos desafìos, en particular aquellos que se vinculan con la equidad y calidad del sistema.
En este Informe, se propone una nueva mirada sobre el tema de la equidad y una nueva relación entre calidad y equidad poniendo especial énfasis en el ámbito de los resultados académicos del sistema.
¿ Cómo se ha entendido tradicionalmente la equidad en la educación superior?
En el ámbito de la educación escolar, la equidad ha sido entendida tradicionalmente como un mínimo que debe garantizarse a toda la población. Sin embargo, no ha ocurrido lo mismo con la educación superior. Este nivel se ha entendido como un nivel avanzado al que tienen acceso sólo quienes poseen los méritos académicos suficientes (medido de acuerdo a un puntaje en una prueba de selección (PSU)).
El tratamiento de la equidad en la educación superior se ha vinculado principalmente con la no discriminación en el acceso. Gran parte de los esfuerzos para asegurar este objetivo han estado orientados a mejorar el acceso al sistema a través de financiamiento estatal (créditos y becas) para estudiantes de escasos recursos económicos con capacidades académicas. Se ha planteado que las razones económicas no pueden ser el motivo para que buenos alumnos sean excluidos del sistema.
Sin perjuicio de la importancia del criterio de igualdad de oportunidades en el acceso, resulta necesario agregar mayor complejidad al criterio con que se aborda el tema de la equidad en la educación superior. Ello, como consecuencia de los procesos de expansión que el sistema está experimentado y las desigualdades que reproduce (parte de ellas heredadas del sistema escolar), se plantea la necesidad de comprender el tema de la equidad desde una perspectiva sistémica, prestando atención ya no sólo al acceso al sistema sino también a las distintas fases que están involucradas en el proceso formativo de los alumnos. En este informe se plantea que es necesario avanzar en la comprensión y tratamiento de la equidad, desde una perspectiva asociada tanto a los procesos formativos como a los resultados educativos.
Las razones para re-definir el concepto de equidad
Cabe consignar que la educación superior en Chile se ha desarrollado sobre la base de las decisiones de oferentes y demandantes, sin mediar las condiciones de regulación e información que permitan asegurar que tales decisiones sean consistentes con el bien público. Esto ha llevado a que la educación superior presente una importante segmentación y heterogeneidad en la calidad de su oferta.
El financiamiento público entregado al sector ha tendido a ampliar la brecha entre las instituciones de elite y el resto. El Estado apoya la consolidación de instituciones de elite entregando más recursos a quiénes se destacan en la producción de ciencia y tecnología, aporte a la economía y formación de capital humano. Cabe destacar, que las instituciones más competitivas son precisamente aquellas que concentran a alumnos de mayores recursos económicos.
Sin embargo, esta heterogeneidad no sólo es producto de las dinámicas internas del sistema sino que provienen claramente de la educaciòn escolar o antes inclusive (desigualdad atávica).
En el sistema escolar, existe una profunda brecha que separa la educación particular pagada de la educación subvencionada y pública. Esta brecha se traduce en diferencias significativas en los procesos formativos como también en los resultados educativos (medidos a través de pruebas estandarizadas nacionales e internacionales), lo que determina en gran parte las posibilidades de acceso a la educación superior.
La equidad en los procesos formativos
La preocupación por los procesos formativos se plantea como una necesidad de primer orden, ya que de acuerdo a cifras de la Encuesta Nacional de Caracterización Socioeconómica (Casen, varios años), el tipo de alumno que está ingresando al sistema ha dejado de ser un grupo de elite para constituirse crecientemente en un grupo de alumnos heterogéneo en edad, condición socioeconómica y situación laboral.
Muchos de estos alumnos, son la primera generación de sus familias en acceder a la educación superior y, no cuentan en consecuencia con los recursos ni el capital cultural requerido para hacer frente a las demandas del sistema. Un joven con un capital social precario no tiene las mismas posibilidades para enfrentar sus estudios superiores que un alumno que proviene de una familia con mayores recursos.
Las demandas que suponen los “nuevos” estudiantes en la educación superior no hacen más que reforzar la necesidad de generar condiciones de aprendizajes más adecuadas a sus requerimientos (currículos, didácticas, etc). La evidencia sugiere que estas condiciones formativas tienen una directa relación con las tasas de permanencia y de graduación del sistema y, que el fracaso académico afectan fuertemente a quienes provienen de hogares más pobres.
Por las razones dadas, los objetivos de calidad y equidad deben ser vistos de manera integral. Alcanzar mejores tasas de retención suponen educación de más calidad y no relajo de las exigencias académicas.
Mirado desde esta perspectiva, los procesos de aseguramiento de la calidad y de acreditación adquieren una relevancia especialmente significativa. Dada la existencia de instituciones de baja calidad (y de una demanda que está dispuesta a pagar por sus servicios), este tipo de procesos debieran operar como un filtro a la permanencia de estas instituciones en el sistema.
Sin embargo, esta tarea enfrenta importantes limitaciones debido al carácter voluntario de la acreditación en el país actualmente, lo que determina que se deba hacer un uso complementario de otros tipos de instrumentos que apoyen la labor de aseguramiento de la calidad. De allí surge la importancia de considerar a la equidad y a la calidad mirando a los resultados del sistema.
Equidad y calidad de los resultados
La mayor heterogeneidad de la población que está ingresando a las universidades, así como las grandes diferencias en la calidad de su oferta, plantean como necesidad de primer orden avanzar en el seguimiento de los resultados académicos que el sistema está alcanzando.
La evidencia muestra que los resultados que tiene nuestro país en el ámbito de educación superior son semejantes a los resultados que tienen alumnos de enseñanza secundaria de países escandinavos, lo que debiera operar como una severa llamada de atención. En especial si se le mira desde la perspectiva de formación de capital humano y sus consecuencias para la competitividad del país.
Los malos resultados no hacen más que reforzar la idea de generar políticas y medidas orientadas a la evaluación de los resultados de aprendizaje con el objetivo de garantizar competencias, habilidades y resultados mínimos de aprendizaje al egreso de los alumnos del sistema. Junto con eso, la implementación de procesos de habilitación profesional que preparen a profesionales para desarrollar actividades laborales de alto riesgo social e impacto.
El Informe propone adicionalmente que los recursos públicos se asignen mayormente de acuerdo a los resultados académicos y de desempeño de las instituciones. Estas medidas parecen pertinentes, ya que en la educación escolar hoy en día se están aplicando instrumentos en esta misma línea (subvención diferenciada o la ampliaciòn de la cobertura preescolar) con el objeto de enfrentar el dilema selectividad-equidad de manera más integral.
La tarea de avanzar en la calidad y equidad del sistema sólo podrá ser alcanzada en la medida en que todos los actores involucrados, ya sean, autoridades gubernamentales, instituciones, el mundo laboral y, expertos (centros académicos y de investigación) puedan conversar, coordinar y colaborar en sus esfuerzos para alcanzar estos propósitos.
El informe fue desarrollado por Andrea Canales , socióloga de la Universidad Católica de Chile, Master en Políticas Públicas de la Universidad de Londres. Participó como co-investigadora responsable en la elaboración de este Informe. Este artículo, no obstante, representa su visión personal y no compromete al PNUD ni al resto de los autores con sus dichos.
Posted by periodistainternet in Economia / Economy.
Andres Velasco, a Harvard University professor who researched financial crises in emerging markets and ways to avoid them, will take over as Chile’s finance minister amid optimism he’ll keep spending in check and the economy growing. `I see him as very committed to fiscal discipline,” said Leonardo Suarez, head of research at brokerage Larrain Vial SA in Santiago. “It’s a good signal to the market.”
President-elect Michelle Bachelet, a member of the Socialist Party and part of the coalition that ousted Augusto Pinochet from power in 1990, late yesterday named Velasco among her first cabinet appointments since winning election Jan. 15. Velasco, 45, will replace Nicolas Eyzaguirre after Bachelet takes office March 11. Velasco, who holds a doctorate in economics from Columbia University, has been a professor of international finance and development at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government since 2000. The new government will keep fiscal spending controls in place, Velasco told Radio Agricultura today. Chile, the world’s largest producer of copper, enjoys the highest credit rating among any nation in Latin America for policies investors expect Velasco will maintain.
“It’s an important asset to have the rating that Chile does – – Velasco should continue along that line,” said Francisco Lepeley, who manages $1.77 billion of bonds at MetLife Chile Seguros de Vida SA in Santiago. The Chilean peso has strengthened 11 percent in 12 months against the dollar, the second-best performance worldwide among 61 currencies tracked by Bloomberg News.
The peso was little changed at 523.80 pesos at 1:45 p.m. New York time, while the country’s benchmark IPSA index of 40 stocks was little changed at 2,115.22. Chile’s $103 billion economy is set to expand at least 6 percent for a third year, bolstered by higher copper prices, according to government estimates. A 53 percent increase in copper prices in 12 months helped push the government’s budget surplus in 2005 to an estimated $5.4 billion, or 4.5 percent of gross domestic product from 2.2 percent of GDP in 2004. The surplus is the largest in government budget records that date back to 1987.
Bachelet also expanded the number of cabinet members to 22 from 18 under President Ricardo Lagos, including ministers for the environment and public security whom she said she will name in March. Of the 20 posts she named last night, half were granted to women, compared with four in Lagos’s current cabinet. Bachelet will be Chile’s first woman president and is the second woman to be elected president in South America. Chile needs to increase the share of women in its workforce — now at about 35 percent — that lags neighboring countries such as Argentina and Peru, as well as improve schools and boost worker productivity that lags the U.S., Velasco said in a speech in September in Santiago.
Among Bachelet’s new ministers also are Andres Zaldivar, a former senator who was tapped as interior minister, and Karen Poniachik, currently head of the government’s foreign investment committee, who was named mining minister. Osvaldo Andrade, a vice- president of the Socialist party, was named labor minister.
Chile has an A credit rating from Standard & Poor’s, the highest in Latin America. Investors demand 0.57 percentage point more yield to hold Chile’s 5 1/2 percent bond due in January 2013 instead of a U.S. Treasury maturing in November 2015. That compares with a spread of 2.07 percentage points for Brazil’s 7 7/8 percent bond due in 2015, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
During her campaign, Bachelet said she will keep in place current rules that cap spending when copper prices surge. In contrast, oil-rich Venezuela is spending its windfall from a surge in oil prices. Velasco, who worked at Chile’s Finance Ministry as director of international finance from 1990 until 1992, will face pressure from lawmakers who want Chile to spend more copper revenue on social programs. Almost 19 percent of Chileans live in poverty. “Velasco is an academic, so his big challenge will be confronting the politicians,” Suarez said. `There’s going to be pressure from all parties to increase spending,” Julio Espinoza, an economist at brokerage BICE Corredores de Bolsa, said prior to the announcement.
The next finance minister also probably will have to find funds to increase pension coverage for workers and the elderly, one of Bachelet’s campaign pledges, Espinoza said. Bachelet said during her campaign that the costs of the country’s private pension system, created in 1980 during the dictatorship of Pinochet, are too high for workers.
31/enero/2006 by Bloomberg
Posted by periodistainternet in Economia / Economy.
Perú propuso a Chile un sistema de protección para sus emigrantes en esa nación, cifrados en más de 80.000, en el marco de las conversaciones para ampliar el Acuerdo de Complementación Económica, informaron hoy fuentes de la negociación.
El coordinador de las negociaciones, Carlos Posada, informó que Perú planteó el tema debido a que hay “muchos compatriotas trabajando allá”, que necesitan una protección laboral.Según cifras de la Cancillería peruana de 2003, en Chile viven más de 80.000 peruanos, lo que significa que es el sexto destino más buscado por los que abandonan el país. Las delegaciones reunidas en Lima desde el lunes están encabezadas por el viceministro peruano de Comercio Exterior, Pablo de la Flor, y por el director general de Negociaciones Económicas Internacionales de la Cancillería chilena, Carlos Furche. Posada agregó que la reunión que concluirá mañana, miércoles, busca resolver “obstáculos técnicos para el comercio” bilateral y establecer un procedimiento para la verificación de origen.
Asimismo, acordar un sistema de procedimientos aduaneros de vital importancia para dos países fronterizos con intenso comercio, un régimen de protección de inversiones y un régimen de servicios. Gracias al acuerdo firmado en 1997, Perú y Chile tienen más del 85 por ciento de su intercambio comercial, de aproximadamente 7.000 partidas, libre de aranceles. Tras la firma del ACE, el flujo comercial pasó de 424 millones de dólares en 1997 a 1.577 millones de dólares en 2005. Las exportaciones peruanas se incrementaron un 671 por ciento, mientras que las importaciones de Chile subieron un 91 por ciento en los últimos ocho años.
Original en Univision – 31/01/2006
Posted by periodistainternet in Defensa / Defense, Social and Politics / Politica y Sociedad.
SANTIAGO.- La presentación hoy de los dos primeros F-16 que llegaron a Chile sirvió para que el Presidente Ricardo Lagos enviara una mensaje a los países vecinos que siguen con preocupación estas adquisiciones, al declarar que “no se están rompiendo equilibrios”.
“Lo que estamos haciendo aquí es reemplazar equipos que han cumplido su vida útil”, dijo el Presidente. Lagos fue enfático en afirmar que lo importante en este tipo de adquisiciones es la transparencia. “Todo esto se informa adecuadamente y anticipadamente a todos los países de la región”, sostuvo. Tenemos que avanzar entre los países de la región hacia un proceso de transparencia en lo que tiene que ver con las adquisiciones de este tipo de material, de manera que quede claro que los equilibrios no se están rompiendo y que estamos buscando preservarlos”, afirmó. Chile no tiene reclamos territoriales.
Posteriormente habló el ministro de Defensa Jaime Ravinet, quien declaró que “Chile, a diferencia de otros, no tiene reclamo de ningún tipo, está contento con sus fronteras, y por tanto, es deber de los chilenos el cuidarlas y preservarlas”. Aunque no mencionó directamente a Perú, es con este país con el que Chile mantiene mayores diferencias debido a la pretensión peruana de modificar las fronteras marítimas alegando que no hay tratados definitivos en esta materia, postura que es tajantemente rechazada por Santiago. Ravinet añadió que “tenemos una transparencia envidiable (en el sentido de las compras militares) en comparación con otros países de América Latina”. Reconoció que contar con estos aparatos le da a Chile una capacidad disuasiva importante, pero a la vez permite cooperar en misiones de paz en conjunto con otras fuerzas armadas.
Esta mañana, en los hangares del Grupo 10 de la Fuerza Aérea de Chile (FACh) se hizo la presentación oficial de los dos primeros aviones F-16 adquiridos por la FACh con motivo de la modernización de su flota. El Comandante en Jefe de la Fuerza Aérea, General Osvaldo Sarabia, se mostró “orgulloso” de presentar los nuevos aviones. “Esto representa el término de un gran proyecto que comenzó a germinar en la mente de los conductores aéreos hace 10 años”, dijo Sarabia, agregando que los F-16 planteaban grandes cambios al “sistema de administración logística”.
Estos dos primeros aviones son parte de los diez aparatos nuevos que la Fach compró a EE.UU. y que irán llegando durante este año. A estos cazabombarderos se unirán dieciocho F-16 usados que Chile adquirió de Holanda y que remplazarán definitivamente a los antiguos Mirage Elcan. La muestra se inició con la exibición de un aparato que estaba en tierra, en medio de un gran despliegue que incluyó música y videos, además de la posibilidad de acercarse a esta moderna nave de combate. Luego hubo una muestra en el aire del otro aparato para exhibir su maniobrabilidad y capacidades, lo que incluyó giros en 360 grados, en medio del ensordecedor ruido de sus motores. Una vez concluida la muestra, los aviones partirían con destino a la base Los Condores de Iquique.
Ravinet salió a aclarar suspicacias ante la cercanía de estas bases con la frontera peruana y dijo que las instalaciones en el norte tenían todas las capacidades para colocar allí los F-16, y que era natural que se ubiquen ahí porque los aviones de combate siempre han estado en las bases de Iquique, Antofagasta y Punta Arenas. El General Osvaldo Sarabia añadió que la zona de Iquique permitía realizar “vuelos sin restricciones para ejercicios”, los que tienen que hacerse en lugares no poblados debido al motor supersónico que posee el F-16.
CONVENCION
El gobierno de Chile ratificó ayer la Convención Interamericana sobre Transparencia en las Adquisiciones de Armas Convencionales, asumiendo el compromiso de informar a la OEA sobre el comercio de armamento. La Cancillería chilena informó que, en el marco de la XXXI Asamblea General Extraordinaria de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), que se desarrolla en Washington, el viceministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile, Cristián Barros, depositó el instrumento de ratificación de dicha convención. “El propósito central de Chile a través de esta ratificación es contribuir a la apertura y transparencia regional en la adquisición de armas convencionales, mediante el intercambio de información para fomentar la confianza entre los Estados parte”, indicó.
Mediante esta convención, Chile se compromete a informar anualmente a la Secretaría General de la OEA acerca de las importaciones y exportaciones de armas convencionales. Este informe se realiza sobre la base del Registro de Armas Convencionales de Naciones Unidas. Dichos antecedentes contemplan carros de combate, vehículos blindados de combate, sistemas de artillería de gran calibre, aviones de combate, helicópteros de ataque, naves de guerra, misiles y lanzamisiles.
Asimismo, en virtud de esta Convención, Chile notificará a la OEA las adquisiciones mediante importación y producción nacional, a más tardar a los 90 días de que esas armas hayan sido incorporadas a los inventarios de las Fuerzas Armadas. “Chile ha impulsado fuertemente este proyecto desde sus inicios por tratarse de una importante medida de fomento de la confianza que transparenta los gastos en el campo de la defensa”, apuntó Barros. Hasta la fecha, 20 Estados miembros de la OEA han firmado la convención y 10 lo han ratificado, siendo Chile el país número 11 en hacerlo.
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Posted by periodistainternet in Economia / Economy, Science and Technology / Ciencia y Tecnología.
Con el objetivo de dar cierre al trabajo realizado durante el año 2005 y establecer las prioridades y ejes centrales de acción en que se basará el trabajo durante 2006, el presidente de la Asociación Chilena de Empresas de Tecnologías de Información (ACTI), Alfredo Piquer, destacó la labor realizada, resumiéndola en los siguientes ámbitos: La posición destacable de Chile en la región en materia de TICs; La acción con SOFOFA y CORFO en Innovación y competitividad, dentro de las Políticas Gremiales; El Rol de los líderes de las empresas y el Estado para fomentar la I+D tecnología e innovación; En cuanto a Innovación el cómo aumentar el 20% con que hoy participan de la I+D+i, más allá del cómo repartir US$100 millones disponibles por el impuesto específico a la minería y; finalmente, el mayor sentido de urgencia que requieren las TICs en las políticas y los énfasis del nuevo gobierno. Si bien se destacó la posición obtenida por Chile en varios rankings mundiales, Piquer señaló que aún queda mucho por hacer, lo que se manifiesta al comparar la situación de Chile con otros países de similar desarrollo. En este sentido, el presidente de la Asociación agregó que ACTI ha comenzado a trabajar con los diferentes gremios de Sofofa, para llevar a cabo una Agenda Digital 2.0 para el sector privado y promover, la innovación y la competitividad en los diferentes sectores económicos.
A dos meses de que asuma un nuevo gobierno, Piquer, hizo un llamado a no olvidar la importancia de las TIC para la economía y el desarrollo del país. Además, agregó la necesidad de que los líderes, tanto de empresas como del Estado, fomenten el uso de la tecnología y la innovación para aumentar la competitividad de las empresas e instituciones. Siguiendo con el tema de la innovación, Piquer valoró “la creación de un Consejo de Innovación para la Competitividad, porque creemos que en Chile aún falta infraestructura TIC en las empresas, y ofrecemos nuestro apoyo y conocimiento, a través de propuestas concretas para incentivar la innovación en el país usando TICs”.
Para 2006, ACTI continuará con el trabajo de incorporación de las Tecnologías de Información en todos los sectores productivos mediante la actualización de la Agenda Digital, la Campaña de Competitividad de la Industria con Sofofa, y su participación y aportes en las agendas ProInnovación y ProCrecimiento. También para este año y como parte del rol principal que el sector privado tendrá en el sector TIC, ACTI complementará el trabajo interno con propuestas, generación de acuerdos y un activo papel para el cumplimiento de los compromisos adquiridos por las nuevas autoridades en el ámbito TIC y en -por ejemplo- en el impulso a la creación de clusters ligados a los principales sectores productivos.
“Una relevante tarea en el 2006”, sostiene Piquer, “está ligada a la necesidad de que Chile y sus empresas inviertan más en Investigación, Desarrollo, Innovación y Tecnología, como algo fundamental para su desarrollo”.
Posted by periodistainternet in Social and Politics / Politica y Sociedad.
Las ciudades de Santiago de Cuba (860 kilómetros al este de La Habana) y Estación Central (Chile) suscribieron hoy un convenio de hermanamiento que busca incrementar el intercambio económico, social y cultural.
El convenio fue firmado por los alcaldes de ambas municipalidades, el cubano Luis Ibáñez Arranz y el chileno Gustavo Hasbum Selume, quienes expresaron su interés por llevar esta relación más allá de una simple amistad. Ibáñez y Hasbum coincidieron en que Santiago y Estación Central pueden también desarrollar intercambios mutuamente provechosos en campos como el económico, cultural, educacional y de servicios de salud, entre otros.
De acuerdo con el alcalde chileno, dos sectores en los que su ciudad puede establecer una especial relación con la segunda urbe en importancia de Cuba son el del transporte terrestre y la infraestructura vial. Estación Central, donde se encuentra la principal estación ferroviaria del país y opera un importante servicio de ómibus, ha experimentado avances significativos en ese sentido, dijo Hasbum.
Agregó que no por gusto a esa joven demarcación, fundada oficialmente en 1985, se le considera la capital del transporte terrestre de Chile y la puerta de entrada a la capital de esa nación sudamericana. Santiago de Cuba es la segunda alcaldía de la isla caribeña con la que Estación Central establece un acuerdo de hermanamiento, pues anteriormente lo había concretado con el municipio habanero de Playa.
http://www.spanish.xinhuanet.com/
Posted by periodistainternet in Social and Politics / Politica y Sociedad.
President Bush uses Chile as a shining example of political and economic freedom. The free market economy, introduced by Pinochet, is said to have pulled the country out of the economic malaise it experienced in the 1970s. However, Dutch researcher Lucian Peppelenbos discovered that centuries-old paternalistic relationships form the basis of this success.
In the 1970s Chile suffered food shortages and a brutal coup. Yet thirty years later it is one of the top emerging economies in the world. Lucian Peppelenbos demonstrated that the Chilean success is based on centuries-old paternalistic relationships which have persisted within the free market. Although Pinochet replaced the welfare state with a free market economy, he was a patriarchal statesman who gave his citizens little room to make their own choices.
This hierarchical organisational structure made the economy less efficient and the country less democratic, yet it did result in more security and solidarity within society. As a result of this opportunities arose for small businesses and unskilled labourers, who would not have stood a chance within our individualistic, goal-driven society.
Patronised tomatoes
This is apparent from the showcase examples of the Chilean neo-liberal ‘export miracle’, the tomato-processing industry. The industry draws up a one-sided production contract, takes almost all of the operational decisions and compels the growers to provide a total package of products and services.
The growers scarcely have any entrepreneurial freedom, are not organised, and defend their interests by cultivating friendly relationships with the personnel from the industry and where possible by swindling. This patron-client model leads to considerable inefficiency in the chain. Yet at the same time it ensures that small farmers, under the patronage of a large processor, have access to the world market.
As a consultant, Peppelenbos tried to introduce cooperation in the chain. Yet his efforts were continuously confounded by a critical system characteristic of the existing organisational structure – the need for personal leadership. Grassroots initiatives were fruitful, as long as these were directed by the consultant in cooperation with the top of the organisation. Yet as soon as the consultant disappeared from the scene, the initiative collapsed like a pack of cards.
Lucian Peppelenbos’ research was funded by WOTRO.
http://www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOP_6GMGVS_Eng
Posted by periodistainternet in Social and Politics / Politica y Sociedad.
Michelle Bachelet, a former Chilean defense minister, torture victim, and divorced mother of three, won the Chilean presidency with over 53 per cent of the vote, official results revealed on 15 January.
Bachelet is closely aligned with Chile’s ruling Concertacion party, which has dictated Chilean politics since 1990. Its adherence to neo-liberal economics, its respect for free trade, and its impatience with corruption has kept it in power for 15 years. Bachelet’s administration will do little to break the continuity that proves that neo-liberal politics, in an environment of little to no corruption, actually works.
Concertacion now holds a slim majority in both houses of Congress and, while loyal to Chile’s president-elect, will not allow her to make any major policy shifts. “We must remember that Michelle Bachelet came to power supported by the Concertacion party, which has been in power from 1990 until today,” Chilean political scientist and Central University professor Patricio Gajardo told ISN Security Watch on Monday.
“One can evaluate [her] presidential campaign with two stages. At the beginning of last year [we saw] Bachelet distancing herself from the government, but in the second round of the elections, she clearly was more close to the government, identifying herself with the work of Concertacion,” Gajardo pointed out.
He argues that apart from her charisma and political savvy, Bachelet cannot forget her close alliance with Chile’s ruling political party. It is an alliance that will, more than anything, temper her administration, which begins on 11 March.
Her strong mandate will be challenged by a number of hurdles that remain in Chile’s path to continued economic stability and regional leadership. Exports, economy, and energy top the list. She must also prove that Chile will not take a turn to the left, as her socialist politics – and past experiences in alliance with Chile’s first socialist president Salvador Allende – may indicate.
To the right of the region’s left
Reactionary observers have indicated that Bachelet has cemented the region’s slide to the political left. Chile remains on the list of countries governed by self-proclaimed socialists. Two of Chile’s three neighbors, Argentina and Bolivia, have embarked on a decidedly leftist agenda. And the future of Peru, while uncertain, seems likely to lean farther to the left in the name of nationalism espoused by presidential candidate Ollanta Humala.
Bachelet’s administration, however, will not join the ranks of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his hopes for a strictly socialist agenda in South America. She is more likely to align herself with Brazil and remain careful not to distance Chile from the US or the EU.
Natural resources and exports
Perhaps the only characteristic Chile and Venezuela have in common is over-dependence on state-run exports in natural resources. Venezuela’s economic weakness sits squarely on the price of oil. Similarly, Chile’s economic prowess relies in large part on the price of copper. Bachelet’s first priority is to diversify her country’s export portfolio.
In the heat of campaigning and promise making, Bachelet made pledges that spoke strongly to policies of social inclusion. Her vows to better meet the needs of women and the poor will not be forgotten, but before she can begin spending money on her political base, she must focus on Chile’s export portfolio, which is dangerously reliant on copper.
The price of copper plummeted in 2001 to 15-year lows, greatly affecting the Chilean economy and forcing many there to wonder if Chile would ever reduce its reliance on the red metal. Since then, copper prices have rebounded, due largely to increased demand out of China. Recent agreements between Chile’s state-run copper company, Codelco, and Chinese mining company, Minmetals, will supply China with copper for the next 20 years.
So far so good, but the Chilean economy relied on some 45 per cent of its export revenue from the sale of copper last year, according to the Economist weekly magazine. Chile’s outgoing Finance Minister, Nicolas Eyzaguirre, predicted that the Chilean economy would grow at a rate of 5.5 per cent a year, given no major world economy shocks. This growth relies on consistent high demand for copper.
Given copper’s current record prices, it is likely the price will fall at some point during Bachelet’s administration, which may hurt growth. Bachelet’s challenge is to make sure that the Chilean economy has the export diversification to withstand this possibility.
Natural gas still a concern
When it gets too hot in Buenos Aires, Argentina cuts off gas to Chile. The same happens when it gets too cold. Argentine gas exports to Chile are tightly controlled. Argentine President Nestor Kirchner has publicly stated that he would not export gas to Chile unless the needs of Argentines were met first. So far, he has kept that promise, contributing to what has become a simmering energy crisis in Chile.
Until the late 1990s, Santiago’s power plants were run on diesel gas generators, whose output of pollutants contributed significantly to winter-time smog. Once natural gas replaced diesel as the fuel of choice for these generators, smog levels noticeably decreased. The absence of natural gas has led to an increase in smog in Santiago, a considerable public health concern, considering most of Chile’s 16 million inhabitants live in the capital city. The lack of natural gas in Chile has also contributed to an electricity crunch, felt each time Argentina closes the natural gas spigot.
A liquid natural gas port currently on the table for financing makes up part of the promise for more increased energy security in Chile. Another project also on the drawing board would link Chile’s northern natural gas lines with piping entering Chile from southern Peru before making a junction with Argentina. Presumably this link would benefit Chile by reducing the strain on Argentina’s natural gas supply.
So far these plans are on hold because political instability in Bolivia – part of the planned energy ring – gave investors cause to wait. Competing gas pipeline projects in Peru, which would pipe gas slated for Argentina to Peruvian liquefied natural gas ports for export, have also stalled plans for the multi-billion dollar energy ring.
Observers are still waiting to see what importance Bachelet places on Chile’s energy situation. Most agree that it will be a challenge for her administration, and if it is hot in Buenos Aires this austral summer, Chileans may feel an energy crunch even before Bachelet assumes her post in mid-March. “We are still waiting on who is going to form the energy team in the [Bachelet] government,” Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ Southern Cone Assistant Director Sophie Aldebert told ISN Security Watch on Monday. “But during the campaign, Bachelet commented on the importance of energy security so I would expect a focus to remain on those issues,” she added.
Chile’s regional role
Bachelet is decidedly the most conservative of her socialist comrades in South America. Bachelet will likely not depart from the path set by her predecessor and friend, outgoing Chilean President Ricardo Lagos. Her administration likely will be marked by decisions that lead the Chilean government to more transparency, and perhaps more socialist programs to help assuage poverty and improve education – but she is no Chavez.
Chile’s regional role is to maintain solid economic growth, proving that less corruption and more sound fiscal policy does lead to prosperity. Ironically, this is the very message given by the much-hated “Washington Consensus”, whose failure in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador has, in part, put these countries’ current leadership in power.
Chile has managed to follow the rule of neo-liberal economics and prosper at the same time. Such success is in stark contrast to other countries, such as Argentina, where studious stewardship of neo-liberal policies seems to have led to disparity and ruin. Chile’s success and reputation of a serious country where corruption is not tolerated paints the picture that economic ruin is consistent with high levels of corruption, not neo-liberal economics.
Strong economics, coupled with a successful democratic mechanism, makes Chile the beacon of hope and a regional success story for government officials in the US and Europe. Chile’s pursuit of free trade agreements with South Korea, China, and now Japan, prove to increase this small nation’s popularity in Asia – increasingly a region of global demand for imports.
As a leader of South America’s success story, Bachelet would do well to project her country’s leadership to those pockets of South America where desperate hope has fed populist leaders who have not proven yet that their model is better than neo-liberalism. Chile is proof that without rampant corruption, market-driven economic policies do work. Bachelet’s election will not change that fact.
Sam Logan is an investigative journalist who has covered security, energy, politics, economics, organized crime, terrorism, and black markets in South America since July 1999. He has reported from Santiago, Sao Paulo, Brasilia, and Buenos Aires. He currently lives in Rio de Janeiro. Sam holds a Master’s in International Policy Studies, and has earned a specialization in Security and Development in South America.
By Sam Logan (www.samuellogan.com)
for ISN Security Watch (16/01/06)
Posted by periodistainternet in Social and Politics / Politica y Sociedad.
In the January 15, 2006 run-off for Chile’s presidency, Socialist Party candidate Michelle Bachelet scored a convincing victory, winning 53 percent of the vote against her rival, conservative Sebastian Pinera.
Bachelet’s win gave the Concertacion coalition, which has governed Chile since the fall of dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1990, its fourth consecutive administration. The election, however, did not represent a simple choice for continuity by voters, but marked a shift of Chile’s political landscape to the left and, more importantly, at least a temporary normalization of the country’s politics.
Although Washington has been the primary external influence on the content of politics in the countries of South America’s Southern Cone, the form of their politics has most resembled Southern Europe’s during the first part of the twentieth century, with periods of weak parliamentary governments alternating with right-wing military and populist dictatorships, and an extreme left waiting in the wings. In Chile, the Concertacion — a grouping of three center-left socialist parties and the center-right Christian Democrats — has served to heal the country’s divided society following Pinochet’s rule, which originated in a Washington-supported coup that had overthrown the traditional left administration of Socialist Salvador Allende.
The Concertacion brought together all of the moderate democratic forces in Chile to form a united front that isolated the right, which had supported Pinochet, and the remnants of the far left. In doing so, it suppressed the normal play of political differences, subsuming them under the overriding aim of preventing a repeat of the past.
Political normalization in Chile, as in the rest of the Southern Cone, would take the form that has developed in Southern Europe — particularly Spain and Italy — after World War II, where center-left and center-right parties compete with one another peacefully and alternate with one another in power, leaving the far right and left on the margins. That pattern has not yet fully taken hold in the region, but Chile’s January 15 election was a step in its direction.
The impetus for normalization came from the right through Pinera, whose National Renovation Party broke its alliance with the more conservative Democratic Independent Union, which is rooted in a base of supporters of the Pinochet legacy. Repudiating that legacy and promising a modern conservatism committed to democratic practices, Pinera finished second in the first round of the presidential elections, setting him up to oppose Bachelet in the run-off and forcing the Union to back him. As a result of Pinera’s move toward the center, Bachelet edged toward the left, creating a contest in the run-off that resembled the pattern that has become familiar in Southern Europe. Released from the overhang of Pinochet, the candidates addressed a broad spectrum of social and foreign policies, offering proposals that differed in emphasis, yet did not evince deep ideological divisions.
The Economic Basis of Chile’s Normalization
Chile’s political normalization is rooted in its relative economic success, which has given the country a growth rate of six percent in 2005, cut the proportion of the population living below the poverty line from 39 percent in 1990 to 18 percent in 2005, doubled the per capita income to US$7,000 over the past decade and provided government with funds for social programs.
On the other side of the coin, the form that economic success has taken has generated an increasing wealth gap, left unemployment stuck at eight percent, produced a crisis in Chile’s privatized pension system and, through rising expectations, engendered widespread dissatisfaction with the level and quality of social services, particularly health care and education.
The combination of relative prosperity and persisting economic disparities is the context of political normalization; the prosperity provided the leeway for the candidates to address economic and social policy without excessive demagoguery and resort to rigid ideological positions.
Chile’s economic success story is a product of several factors. The one that is noted most in the West is the country’s adoption of neoliberal policies, which were initiated under Pinochet’s regime and continued and reinforced under successive Concertacion governments. Those policies included fiscal discipline, privatization of much of the state sector and a free trade agreement with the United States that spurred the growth of nontraditional agricultural and wine exports. Most importantly, as a 2006 report by the Inter-American Development Bank noted, Chile’s privatization program had been more successful than that of any other Latin American country because it had been accompanied by “strong regulatory institutions” that encouraged transparency and discouraged corruption.
Although there is a broad consensus in Chile’s political class, business community and general public on the benefits of a market-oriented economy, neoliberal reforms do not entirely explain the country’s export-driven growth. Of Chile’s top ten export items — totaling approximately $28 billion — copper accounts for $18 billion and molybdenum, which is essential to the production of stainless steel, for $3 billion, with salmon, wood pulp, wines, plywood, grapes, methanol, fish meal and apples trailing far behind.
As it traditionally has, copper remains king in Chile, which is the world’s largest producer of the metal, and copper is booming on world markets, having risen from less than $1 per pound in 2003 to around $2 per pound currently as a result of demand from China and difficulties in expanding supplies. Molybdenum has seen an even steeper advance, from $5 per pound in 2003 to $32.50 per pound in 2005.
Royalties and profits from copper and molybdenum production are primarily responsible for placing social policy and social spending high on the agendas of both candidates in the January 15 presidential run-off, and for making a European-style center-left versus center-right debate structurally possible.
Although mining analysts predict that copper and molybdenum prices will remain high through 2006, price levels in the medium and long terms will depend on factors conditioning global demand that are beyond Chile’s control. Underlying Chile’s economic success story is continued reliance on its traditional metals exports. A global economic recession would put the country’s economy under stress and would test the emerging political normalization, opening up the possibility of a drift back toward the class polarization of the past.
The Political Dynamics of Normalization
With a government budget surplus running at 4.5 percent of Chile’s $103 billion economy, Bachelet and Pinera had the luxury of being able to address the country’s accumulating social problems on a credible basis. Under the outgoing Socialist President Ricardo Lagos, who leaves office with a 70 percent public approval rating, social services had been expanded, yet polls showed that voters were dissatisfied with the quality of health care and education, concerned about the unemployment rate and the poverty level, disturbed about rising crime rates that are tied to economic disparities, and anxious to bolster Chile’s failing privatized pension system.
Both candidates took on the full range of social issues in typical contemporary Western fashion, offering similar programs directed at each policy area that incorporated increased public spending and varied according to Pinera’s greater commitment to market-based solutions and Bachelet’s reliance on state welfarist policies. Given the availability of funds, the candidates could promise to honor the legacy of fiscal discipline, and neither one excited the anxieties of the business community. Indeed, the most controversial populist proposal was put forward by the pro-business Pinera, who said that he would extend the pension system to housewives, an idea that was denounced by Bachelet as irresponsible given the system’s chronic underfunding and high administrative costs.
Although most Western analysts consider Chile to be an exception to the leftward political turn that is occurring throughout South America, the run-off campaign showed that the country is falling in line with the regional pattern, with the difference that its relative prosperity, budgetary and trade surpluses, and substantial currency reserves totaling $16.2 billion allow the possibility of increased social spending without opening up class divisions, releasing the genie of inflation, discouraging foreign investment and weakening the domestic currency. Copper has given Chile the chance to make up for the uneven development caused by its growth spurt. All of the center-left governments in the Southern Cone are under the same domestic pressures to reverse rigid neoliberal policies and rehabilitate the social safety net; only Chile has the fiscal resources to do it.
Bachelet’s margin of victory of Pinera, which exceeded pre-election expectations, was based on the failure of Pinera’s strategy of moving toward the center while retaining votes on the right. By breaking with the Pinochet legacy and emphasizing social issues, Pinera had hoped to capture votes from the centrist Christian Democrat component of the Concertacion while keeping the support of traditionalist and often pro-Pinochet backers of the Union. Polls showed that he was unsuccessful on both counts. Christian Democrat voters chose to stay with the Concertacion, while pro-Pinochet voters who comprise one-fifth of the electorate appear to have stayed home in large enough numbers to have cut deeply into Pinera’s totals. Bachelet faced a similar problem on the other side of the political spectrum. In the first round of the elections, the combined total of votes for the two conservative parties was greater than the Concertacion’s tally for the first time in the post-Pinochet era, forcing Bachelet to bid for the 5.4 percent of the electorate that had supported the left Humanist-Communist alliance. In contrast to Pinera, Bachelet was successful in her efforts to reach out as the Communists threw their support behind her, convinced that her promises of “progressive” social policies were credible.
As a condition of their backing, the Communists had demanded from Bachelet a commitment to push for expanded labor rights and tighter labor regulations, which they received. The Communists were dead-set against Pinera, who had based part of his program for alleviating unemployment on relaxing labor regulations, setting up one of the few instances of traditional class polarization in the presidential race.
Along with her shift toward the left on domestic issues, Bachelet edged closer to the Brazil-led Mercosur trading bloc and away from Chile’s longstanding support of Washington’s trade policies, seeking to bridge the gulf between Washington’s plan for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (F.T.A.A.) and Mercosur’s adherence to regional integration. Claiming that there is no necessary incompatibility between the contending positions, Bachelet declared herself in favor of both regional trade cooperation and a “bare-bones F.T.A.A.” that would be based on incremental agreements tailored to each country in the hemisphere.
Bachelet also distanced herself from Washington by pledging to cultivate strong relations with all South American governments, including the left administrations of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia. Bachelet’s refusal to join what she called a hemispheric “cold war” is based less on ideological sympathies than on Chile’s reliance on regional energy supplies, particularly Bolivian gas.
The most difficult foreign policy issue that will engage Bachelet in her coming four-year term is Bolivia’s demand that Chile cede to it a sovereign corridor to the Pacific Ocean. Bolivia lost its access to the sea after the nineteenth century War of the Pacific, and relations between Santiago and La Paz have been troubled ever since then. Bolivia’s burgeoning gas industry has given La Paz leverage in the chronic dispute, causing Lagos to eliminate most tariffs on Bolivian exports to Chile in 2005.
Bachelet will be pressured by Morales, who has threatened to seek international arbitration of the sea-access issue and has insisted that La Paz will not accept a “qualified marina,” to make further concessions. Caught between the possibility that Bolivia will staunch the flow of gas if progress is not made on sea access and the prospect of a nationalist backlash if she makes concessions, Bachelet will have her diplomatic skills tested.
Bachelet’s victory will bring Santiago closer to integration with the emerging South American power center than it would have been had Pinera won the run-off. He had promised to continue Chile’s full support of the F.T.A.A. and had expressed distrust of the left populism espoused by Chavez and Morales. Bachelet had warned in her campaign that a Pinera administration would isolate Chile from its neighbors. Under her government, Santiago will free itself from Washington’s tutelage and seek to become a mediator in the north-south conflict, attempting to gear foreign policy to the twin economic realities of Chile’s dependence on regional energy supplies and its dependence on the U.S., which is its largest export market, particularly for its crucial renewable agricultural products.
Conclusion
Beneath the surface publicity accorded to Bachelet as Latin America’s first female president elected on her own account, Chile’s new Concertacion government initiates a period of political normalization that is likely to last as long as the country’s economy continues to grow.
With Pinera pledging to form a “constructive opposition” in the majority Concertacion parliament, there is a high probability that the center-left versus center-right configuration that emerged in the run-off will hold, leaving the traditional left and right marginalized. With Bachelet committed to increased social spending and tighter economic ties with Chile’s neighbors, the country will fall more closely into line with the broader political tendencies in South America.
Washington suffers an incremental loss of influence in the region from Bachelet’s victory, but its vital interests will not be threatened by a government that is aware of the need for positive relations with the U.S., will not abandon the market-oriented economy and is dedicated to playing a mediating role in north-south disputes. Indeed, if Washington softens its insistence on strict neoliberal policies — as it appears to be doing under the pressure of circumstances — the presence of a mediator in the Southern Cone promises to secure its interests in the region more effectively than an explicit ally would further them.
Although it is not clear how much progress Bachelet will be able to make on ameliorating Chile’s deficient social services, closing the wealth gap, reducing unemployment and crime, and reforming the pension system, she faces less pressure for immediate improvements than do her counterparts in the other Southern Cone states, and she has more resources than they do to devote to social spending.
Expect that tensions with Bolivia and Peru, which also has territorial grievances and might elect a populist-nationalist to its presidency in 2006, to be Bachelet’s most difficult challenges.
Chile’s underlying weakness is its continued dependence for its relative prosperity on its metals sector, which is subject to global economic cycles. A worldwide recession, which is not on the horizon in the short term, would threaten political normalization through a likely revival of the traditional left-right polarization.
Drafted By: Dr. Michael A. Weinstein
http://www.pinr.com
The Chilean Observador 