Less than two months after the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, another Hemispheric neighbor has fallen victim to the ravages of nature. The earthquake that struck Chile in the early hours of February 27 measured 8.8 on the Richter scale and was one of the most powerful quakes in a century.
Again as they did in response to the massive Haiti earthquake, the American people stand with President Barack Obama in expressing condolences and in offering support to the Chilean people in face of such a horrific natural disaster.
Chile is an important friend of the U.S., a robust free trade partner, and a vibrant democracy with respect for representative democracy and individual rights. It possesses a professional military and police force capable of responding to the current disorder and disruption caused by the massive devastation of the earthquake.
Chile’s deep commitment to free market policies earned it a #10 overall ranking the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom, the highest degree of economic freedom in the South and Central American/Caribbean. This commitment also makes Chile more resilient and better able to surmount what are certain to be the enormous economic costs imposed by the earthquake.
The tragedy will cast a somber shadow over the government transition scheduled for March 11 when the center-left presidency of Michelle Bachelet and social democratic Concertacion coalition yields executive power to the center-right government of President-elect Sebastian Piñera. Chileans can be counted on to put partisan politics aside as they respond to a national crisis.
For the moment, Chile has requested from the United Nations help with mobile bridges, generators, water filtration equipment, field hospitals and surgical centers, as well as assistance from damage-assessment teams.
When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton briefly visits Chile on March 3, she should be forthcoming in helping facilitate a positive U.S. response to these requests.
The election of Laura Chinchilla of the National Liberation Party on February 7 to the presidency of Costa Rica is an important milestone for Central America. President-elect Chinchilla has become Costa Rica’s first female president and the fifth woman elected president of a Latin America state since 1990. Her election represents a further blunting of the populist Left’s mythical invincibility in the region, and offers a pleasing counterpoise to the likes of anti-American machismo of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. In Panama, Honduras, Chile, and now Costa Rica, leaders of the center or center-right are winning elections, helping curb the march toward the radical Left.
President-elect Chinchilla, a former vice president, considers herself a staunch democrat and will likely continue Costa Rica’s leadership in advancing democracy, respect for human rights, a free press, and economic opportunity in the region.
In this way, she would continue the legacy of two-time Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias, who will now assume a place in history alongside the legendary founder of modern Costa Rican democracy, “Pepe” Figueres. Arias helped to end the Central American wars of the 1980s; he challenged the Latin American tendency to blame the U.S. for the region’s economic and social shortcomings; and he helped negotiate a peaceful settlement of the Honduran presidential and constitutional crisis.
It’s a record that will take courage and conviction to follow, but Chinchilla appears ready. She has promised to pursue free market strategies, to fight crime and drug trafficking in Central America, and to work cooperatively with the United States. And that deserves a welcome response from Washington, indeed.