Hey Larry B....

[Artemis]

Not sure if this is something you are interested in or even care about, but here is an interview with Ricardo Lagos on a CBC radio. It's about 15 minutes long...you can click in the link.

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/gamechange ... rdo-lagos/

Chile's Game Changer - Ricardo Lagos
It is hard to imagine that one television discussion could change a nation, but that is exactly what happened when Ricardo Lagos publicly denounced Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet. That conversation set in motion the change that led to Pinochet's ouster and the restoration of democracy. Ricardo Lagos later became President. Now, in the midst of the Arab uprisings, he says the world can learn from his little country.

We began this segment with sound of Ricardo Lagos, on television in 1988, saying he was speaking for 15 years of silence. It was a game changing moment in Chile.

It was the first televised political debate since Augusto Pinochet seized power. Ricardo Lagos was an opposition politician and used the rare occasion to speak directly to the camera... and to the dictator. He raised his finger and told Pinochet it was inadmissible for a Chilean to have so much power. Many people thought Lagos would be dead before dawn. It's estimated as many as two thousand people were killed during Pinochet's regime and nearly 30 thousand tortured. But Lagos not only survived to see the dictator toppled, he became president of Chile in 2000, a post he held for six years.

Ricardo Lagos has just written a book called The Southern Tiger: Chile's Fight for a Democratic and Prosperous Future. And as part of our Game Changer project on The Current, he joined us from our Washington studio.

[Matz]

cool, I didn't know it went down like that, brave guy. Somebody should do the same to that punk in North Korea. But there probably aren't that many televised political debates happening overthere

[farrellgirl99]

cool, I didn't know it went down like that, brave guy. Somebody should do the same to that punk in North Korea. But there probably aren't that many televised political debates happening overthere

well kim jong il is dead now. who knows how crazy his son will be.

[Larry B.]

Thanks for the link! That's actually pretty cool, that you post this.

I have to say there is some truth and some non-quite-truth to this subject...

In year 1984, the first public demonstration against Pinochet happened in Punta Arenas.

In 1987, political parties were allowed once again so that a referendum could be held in year 1988 (Pinochet was expected to lose and did, 55% vs 45%. Yes, almost half of the population thought Pinochet was the savior of this country).

By the end of the regime (which ended in 1989-1990), and having in mind the increase of international attention, atrocities had decreased dramatically, so Lagos most likely knew that it was very unlikely that he would die. Still, 'the Lagos' finger' is regarded as an important moment in Chilean politics and he was indeed a relatively good President. As crooked as most of the local politicians, but he projected a strong image.

Today I went to one of the houses of Pablo Neruda (Chilean Poet, Literature Nobel Prize in 1971 or 1972), who was a member of the communist party and who had this house partly destroyed by the military 2 or 3 days after the coup (they went looking for HIM, of course). Being there, inside his house, it hurt my heart a little. The guy had cancer and had come back to Chile, but decided to stay in one of his other houses. He heard about the coup, heard that the President (very close friend) had died and that many of his friend had been taken as prisoners, and 12 days after the coup he died.

[Matz]

cool, I didn't know it went down like that, brave guy. Somebody should do the same to that punk in North Korea. But there probably aren't that many televised political debates happening overthere

well kim jong il is dead now. who knows how crazy his son will be.

I know, it's his son I'm referring to. From what I hear this guy's worse than his father.