The Great South American Hope
We're spotlighting Chile in this special issue for five reasons. First, South America in recent years has not received much attention from the U.S. press, including WORLD. We hear reports about Asia's population, Europe's history, and Africa's famines. Children know something about Australia because of The Crocodile Hunter and North America because it's home. But South America, neither success nor disaster, gets little journalistic respect.
Second, Chile is worth a particular look because it's the one major country in South America that is stable. Oil-rich Venezuela is divided between those who love its Marxist would-be dictator, Hugo Chavez, and those who hope to leave him in the dust. Inflation-poor Argentina is living through financial chaos in which some have lost their lives' savings and others their jobs. Big Brazil's Oct. 27 election handed power to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose policies are likely to lead to increased poverty. Chileans, though, have reduced taxes and tariffs and enjoyed economic progress. Now that Chile has cut poverty from 45 percent to 21 percent, the average Chilean
