Needless to say, the South American country of Chile has been through a lot lately. As most who haven’t been under a rock the last month know, its northern region was pummeled by an earthquake a few weeks back, and aftershocks continue to plague the recovery.
But aftershocks yesterday did not interrupt the peaceful transfer of power as outgoing President Michelle Bachelet turned over her control to newly inaugurated President Sebastian Pinera without a hitch – aside from the shaking of the earth. Moreover, much as Democrats give way to Republicans, Pinera is the first right-wing president Chile has seen in two decades.
Yet this moment shows the maturing of a democracy in a region of the world not always known for peaceful transitions of power. If there were ever an excuse for a Honduran-style flouting of a constitution and extension of a presidential term, this may have been it. But that possible temptation was not acted upon, and Chileans are the better for it.
There are a few people out there who have darkly intoned that some national emergency will arise (or be concocted) within our nation in 2012 and somehow elections would be suspended so that President Obama can consolidate his power in the face of sure defeat at the polls. While I know Obama is buddies with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, I don’t see that same sort of rigging the system to become president for life going on here – for starters, he would have to repeal the 22nd Amendment. (It’s worth mentioning, though, that there have been supporters of its repeal during both Reagan’s and Clinton’s second terms and efforts continue to this day.)
The point is that Chile made a large step in gaining the confidence of the world by this transfer of power during a time of national crisis. Even in our history we’ve had issues with this step – witness the secession of states after President Lincoln was elected, leading to the War Between the States. (To quote Axl Rose: what’s so civil ’bout war anyway?) Yet our Republic was eventually mended and we carried on to this day.
Chile may not necessarily be a friend or foe to us, but we’re reassured that it belongs on the world stage of advanced nations by its normality in a time of crisis.