Behind the headlines!

Good Day Readers:

Anna Maria Tremonti host of CBC Radio's daily national current affairs program The Current interviewed an American media specialist about yesterday's coverage of the Chilean miners rescued. In particular he noted how perfectly chorographed and orchestrated it seemed to be as though made for television then going on to draw a parallel with Hollywood producer Billy Wilder's 1951 movie, Ace in the Hole starring Kirk Douglas and Jan Sterling. Trailer shown above.

Next we wondered who is Chilean President Miguel Juan Sabastian Echenique constantly at the rescue site to greet each miner as he arrived at the surface?

Born in 1949 he was elected President in March of 2010. Turns out he has his Ph.D read on.

One year after his birth, Piñera's family moved abroad to Belgium and later to New York City where his father was the Chilean ambassador to the United Nations. Piñera returned to Chile in 1955 and was enrolled in the Colegio del Verbo Divino ("Divine Word High School") from which he graduated in 1967.

Piñera then matriculated at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile to undertake his undergraduate degree in Economics from where he graduated in 1971 and was awarded the Raúl Iver Oxley Prize given to the best overall student of each class.

Piñera continued to study at Harvard University on a partial Fulbright Program for his postgraduate studies in economics. During his time at Harvard, Piñera and a classmate co-authored an article titled, "The Old South's Stake in the Inter-Regional Movement of Slaves" for the Journal of Economic History. He also worked as a teaching fellow during 1975 and 1976. After three years at Harvard, Piñera graduated with both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics. His thesis was titled, "The Economics of Education in Developing Countries." Piñera returned to Chile in 1976.

As for the seemingly effortless panache and pizzazz with which the coverage unfolded once again read on - note our emphasis.

Piñera owns 100% of Chilevisión, a terrestrial television channel broadcasting nationwide, and to avoid a conflict of interests, it has been recently announced it will be acquired by Time Warner. Piñera also sold its 27% of LAN Airlines in several rounds between February and March 2010 and holds 13% of Colo-Colo, a football (soccer) club; among other minor stock positions in companies such as Quiñenco, Enersis, and Soquimich.

Piñera has built an estimated fortune of 1 billion USD as of March 2009, according to Forbes magazine. His wealth is greatly due to involvement in introducing credit cards to Chile in the late 1970s and his subsequent investments, mainly in LAN Airlines stock. President Piñera acquired shares of the formerly state-owned company from Scandinavian Airlines in 1994 as part of a joint venture with the Cueto family. (Wikipedia)

Now for the not so good.

In 1982, an arrest warrant was issued against Piñera. He was accused of violating the Banking Law during his time as general manager of the Bank of Talca. Piñera spent 24 days in hiding, while his lawyers appealed the order. A writ of habeas corpus was first rejected by the Appeals Court, but then approved by the Supreme Court acquitting Piñera.

In July 2007, Piñera was fined approximately 680,000 USD by Chile's securities regulator (SVS) for not withdrawing a purchase order after he allegedly received privileged information (an infraction similar to insider trading) of LAN Airlines stock in mid-2006. Piñera denied any wrongdoing and asserted that the whole process was part of a political attack to damage his image. He did not appeal stating that the court process could take years and interfere with his intention to run again for president in late 2009. Later that month, he resigned from the boards of LAN and Quintec. (emphasis ours - Wikipedia)

Lost amid yesterday's drama was the fact the Chilean mining industry hardly has a stellar safety record. Since 2000 an average of 34 miners have died every year in industrial accidents.

Sincerely/Clare L. Pieuk

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Chilean mine safety under scrutiny
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Associated Press

Chile's president announced the San Jose mine, pictured, would be closed and investigated. (Canadian Press)

Chile's president says the mine that trapped 33 workers will close forever, and is vowing to create safer conditions for those in the country's biggest industry.

Officials at the copper and gold mine that partially collapsed in August, stranding the miners, will be forced to answer why it was allowed to operate at all. President Sebastian Pinera seemed unequivocal after Wednesday's rescue about the fate of the San Jose mine.

"This mine will definitely never open again," he said after a dizzying day in which the miners were pulled to safety through over 600 metres of rock in a narrow escape chute.

Pinera also said the conditions that allowed the accident "will not go unpunished. Those who are responsible will have to assume their responsibility."

Pinera said the rescue would end up costing "somewhere between $10 [million] and $20 million," a third covered by private donations with the rest coming from state-owned Codelco — the country's largest copper mining company — and the government itself.

A perfect rescue

Initially, officials said it might be December before the men could get out. Once the drill that opened the escape shaft pierced the men's subterranean prison, they estimated it would take 36 to 48 hours to get everyone out. The actual time: 22 hours 39 minutes. The only real glitch was indeed minor - it became a bit difficult to open and close the escape capsule's door as the day wore on, said Laurence Golborne, Chile's mining minister.

Rescue worker Manuel Gonzalez was the last person to get back to the surface, leaving behind an empty, wrecked mine early Thursday morning. Gonzalez waited alone in the mine 26 minutes while the escape capsule went up and came back down for him. He spoke by phone with rescuers at the top, joking that he was praying the capsule showed up.

A video feed showed him gesture triumphantly, then bow before making an awkward climb into the capsule, drawing cries of "Careful! Careful!" from those at the surface. Then he strapped himself in and shut the door before disappearing up the shaft.

The August 5 collapse brought the 125-year-old San Jose mine's checkered safety record into focus and put Chile's top industry — mining accounts for 40 per cent of the Chilean state's earnings — under close scrutiny. Many believe the collapse occurred because the mine was overworked and violated safety codes.

The families of 27 of the 33 rescued miners have sued its owners for negligence and compensatory damages.

Also suing the San Esteban company is Gino Cortez, a 40-year-old miner who lost his left leg from the knee down a month before the latest accident as he was leaving the mine after his shift and a rock fell on him. He contends he was hurt because the mine was short on the metallic screens that protect miners from such collapses.

Pinera said in the coming days he will be offering a new proposal for better protecting Chilean workers.

After the collapse, he fired top regulators and created a commission to investigate both the accident and Sernageomin, the industry's regulatory agency. Some action was swift: the agency shut down at least 18 small mines for safety violations.

"The mine has been proven dangerous, but what's worse are the mine owners who don't offer any protection to men who work in mining," said Patricio Aguilar, 60, of nearby Copiapo, during celebrations of the meticulously executed rescue.

Despite advances in technology, mining remains a dangerous profession in the smaller mines in northern Chile, which employ about 10,000 people.

Since 2000, about 34 people have died every year on average in mining accidents in Chile — with a high of 43 in 2008, according to Sernageomin data.

© The Canadian Press, 2010