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Isabelle Williams's avatar

I am surprised by this article in that it repeatedly refers to Chile as a success story. I never read about Chile in the media, so I am not well informed in that sense. But I happen to know quite well two Chilean immigrants to the USA who help care for my elderly mother . Both of them speak of Santiago as a dangerous place. One of them was from an upper middle class family who lived in a neighborhood with high level government people but nevertheless she chose to leave the country to come to the USA.

Guy Bassini's avatar

I would not judge the success of Chile by one city. Think of DC, Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia and so on. According to Statista.com “Chile ranks constantly among the most peaceful countries to live in Latin America.” We could also learn a lot from their retirement system.

Isabelle Williams's avatar

The two Chileans that I know said that the crime is very bad. I guess I am wondering why so many people emigrate if the country is doing well. I am not sure how reliable Statista.com is. The World in Data, for example, is very biased.

Guy Bassini's avatar

You are right to question statistics. I don’t think that there is a lot of immigration from Chile though. I suspect that more Canadians move to the US, despite the “elbows up” mantra. My next door neighbor is Chileno, I shall ask his opinion, although he moved here 50 years ago.

I see mostly Cubans, Venezuelans, Colombians, and Mexicans where I live.

Guy Bassini's avatar

I am glad that Persuasion is writing more about Latin America. Chile is indeed a success story. I only have one quibble with this welcome essay, which is “nobody talks about radically reinventing the Chilean system.” Boric talked a lot about reinventing the Chilean system. The fact that Chilenos rejected the latest constitutional revisions confirms Quito’s observations.