Elections in Chile
Bachelet’s coronation
ON THE evening of December 10th thousands of Chileans were glued to the box, watching the dramatic final match of their football championship between Universidad Católica and the wonderfully named O’Higgins of Rancagua. After the final whistle (O’Higgins were crowned champions for the first time in their 58-year history), coverage switched to the second presidential debate between Evelyn Matthei and Michelle Bachelet (pictured left and right respectively).
Most will have reached for the off-switch. The truth is that for most Chileans, this weekend’s election run-off is a bit of a bore. It’s not that they don’t care about their country’s future.
Canada's Arctic claim
Is Santa Canadian?
WHEN Russia made a big show of placing a Russian flag on the seabed at the North Pole in 2007, Canada’s then foreign minister Peter MacKay huffed that “this isn’t the 15th century” and countries couldn’t just go around the world planting flags and claiming territory. Yet in a move worthy of a medieval monarch, John Baird, the current foreign minister, announced on December 9th that the North Pole was Canadian. The government has instructed its scientists to provide the data to prove a claim described by Mr Baird as big and bold. (The prime minister’s parliamentary secretary went further still, asserting in the House of Commons that Santa Claus was Canadian.
Looting in Argentina
Law and disorder
AT AN official celebration of 30 years of Argentine democracy in Buenos Aires on December 10th, President Cristina Fernandez was the picture of jollity, waving merrily to the regional governors in the audience. In the provinces they run, there is less to smile about. Argentina has been scarred by seven consecutive days of looting in disturbances that have claimed 12 lives so far.
The looting began on December 3rd in Cordoba, Argentina’s second-largest city, when the provincial police force went on strike to protest against low salaries and poor working conditions.
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