Chile's Piñera vows to be a "reconstruction president"

Sebastián Piñera promised that he would be Chile’s "reconstruction president" in the aftermath of last month’s ferocious earthquake.

The conservative billionaire was inaugurated as president yesterday and urged his countrymen to “dry our tears and put our hands to work.” As part of the rebuilding efforts Piñera introduced a $30 billion emergency bill that includes subsidies and a $76 handout to the over four million earthquake survivors.

Coincidentally, yesterday’s inauguration ceremonies in the coastal city of Valparaiso were rocked by a 6.9 magnitude aftershock that rattled the nerves of a few dignitaries. That tremor was one of the strongest aftershocks since the 8.8 magnitude quake last month officially killed around 500 people.

Piñera takes office on the heels of Michelle Bachelet who left the presidency with high popularity but also increased criticism over the government’s earthquake response. As Chile’s first right-wing ruler since the late dictator Augusto Pinochet, Piñera will face very close scrutiny:

Right-wing political leaders and the corporate right — of which Mr. Piñera was a part — were protégés of the Pinochet government and benefited generously from its economic model and the privatization of state industries.

While campaigning in November, Mr. Piñera met with about 500 retired military and police officers, at their request. He said he would make sure human rights trials were accelerated and laws would be “correctly applied” — a clear reference to the amnesty law and the statute of limitations on investigations, both of which judges have failed to apply over the past decade.

Some analysts said Mr. Piñera’s honeymoon could be short-lived if he appeared to favor private business interests in the reconstruction effort, estimated to cost at least $12 billion. His choices for governors in Santiago and Maule, in the quake zone, were chief executives of engineering and construction companies.

Image- Al Jazeera English (“Pinera, in red, said he saw people 'in anguish' as he surveyed quake-hit Constitucion.”)
Online Sources- Voice of America, Calgary Herald, New York Times, AP, Xinhua