compare to the fashion-mall cigar storesrnin Tucson, Arizona. Second, althoughrnthe Coffee Revolution is several years offrnat this point, there may be rewards forrnearly entrants; Au Bon Pain has alreadyrnmade a tiny beachhead in Santiago, butrndemand remains to be created in a nationrnthat lives in the extremes of Nescafernand espresso. Third, I hope that there isrnmoney to be made by disrupting the annoyingrnmonopoly in maritime touristrntravel between Puerto Montt and pointsrnin the Far South. Fourth—a challengernfor big-thinkers—would be to generaternan exchange market for commoditiesrntytdoeHmm^rnChronicles magazinernaccepts advertising fromrnreputable book publishersrnand distributors and fromrncompanies sellingrneducational and culturalrnproducts compatible withrnthe magazine’s purposernand standards. Althoughrnwe try to verify claimsrnmade by advertisers,rnpublication of an ad doesrnnot in any way constituternan endorsement.rnChronicles ADVERTISING DEPT.rn934 N. MAIN ST.,ROCKFORD, IL 61103rn815-964-5813rnand commodity-derivatives; such marketsrnare technically allowed by law, butrnnone (other than a gold exchange) havernstarted up since the financial-marketrnwipeout in the early 1980’s.rnIn general, the country appears to bernmoving steadily forward at around sixrnpercent GDP growth per annum, with infrastructurerncontinuing to modernize.rnMany economists attribute this rapidrnand steady growth to the high level of domesticrnsavings created by the nation’srnsystem of private retirement insurance.rnIn a neat case of historical symmetry,rnChile, which was the first country in thernWestern Hemisphere to create a SocialrnSecurity System (1924), in 1981 becamernthe first nation in the hemisphere to privatizernits system. Faced with the imminentrnbankruptcy of its social insurancernpyramid scheme (sound familiar?),rnChile replaced withholding taxes withrnmandatory contributions to individualrnretirement accounts managed by privaterninvestment companies (AFPs). The designerrnof the AFP system, former LaborrnSecretary Jose Piiiera, is now workingrnwith the Cato Institute in Washington,rnD.C., to promote a similar reform of thernAmerican system. The irony of this isrnnot lost on Chileans.rnOnly seven years this side of a 16-yearrnmilitary dictatorship, Chile is very muchrna political frontier. Nearly every Chileanrnsounds optimistic about the prospectsrnfor democracy, but Pinochet continuesrnto loom in the background as commander-rnin-chief of the armed forces, and uneleetedrnsenators continue to hold nine ofrnthe country’s 47 senate seats. As it is, thernprincipal conservative party, RenovacionrnNacional, and the main right-wing coalition.rnUnion por Chile, are being tornrnapart by divisions over constitutional reformsrnthat would alter the juridical contoursrnof the military’s relationship to therncivilian authorities.rnWhen I asked Chileans about the historyrnof the Pinochet regime, most peoplernsaid something like this: 1) the regimernwas reprehensibly brutal, but the radicalrnleftists brought it on themselves by underminingrnthe constitution; 2) the countryrnis democratic now, with a good economy,rnso we should be honest about whatrnhappened but not dwell on it to thernpoint that we get bogged down and forgetrnto move forward. (For a nuanced versionrnof this thesis, read the commentariesrnof author Jorge Edwards in hisrn1994 collection, El Whisky de los Poetas.)rnMany Chileans I talked to had little tornsay about the dictatorship, and describedrnthemselves as “apolitical.” But as myrnfriend Jamie, who is in Santiago writingrnhis history dissertation, explained, to bern”apolitical” in today’s Chile usuallyrnmeans being a tacit Pinochet supporter.rnStill, it is not difficult to find bitterrnanti-Pinochet sentiment—just visit anyrnuniversity other than the UniversidadrnCatolica.rnThe Frei government continues tornprivatize state-held companies and runrnan orderiy fiscal ship. Further, the politiciansrnof the ruling center-left coalition,rnthe Coneertacion, appear to be restrainedrnin their policy tinkering by arn(sometimes grudging) respect for thernneoliberal policies that have put Chilernahead of its neighbors according to mostrnindices of social and economic welfare.rnStill, the temptation—noble or otherwisern—to find political solutions to thernproblems of the poor remains. WhilernChile’s private retirement insurance systemrnis not under attack (despite a year ofrnbad returns for the AFPs), the ISAPRErnsystem—a medical savings accountrnanalog—may be undermined by plansrnto require all workers to contribute tornthe public health system. And, in a recentrnpoll, Socialist Party public worksrnminister Ricardo Lagos beat out all otherrnnational political figures by wide margins.rnIt will remain to be seen how the dividedrnright responds as the center-leftrnmounts future assaults on the edifice ofrnneoliberal policy. Although its currentrnsynthesis is overwhelmingly neoliberal,rnChilean conservatism in the 20th centuryrn—from Francisco Encina to MariornGongora—has rarely been more than anrnuneasy ally of free-market liberalism.rnAs the modern world comes pouringrnover the Andes and washes up on thernbeaches of its long Pacific coast, Chilernmay eventually lose many of its morernfrontierish elements. In any case, it remainsrnat present an exceptionally comfortablernplace to travel, thanks to helpfulrnand friendly people, low prices, lowrncrime, and low levels of official corruptionrn(which have given it a reputation asrnthe “South American Prussia”). And,rnwhile it’s too early to predict a trend, Irndid meet several Americans down therernwho had moved to Chile to work, winter,rnand retire. I understand their enthusiasm.rnTom ]enney is a freelance writer living inrnArlington, Virginia.rn38/CHRONICLESrnrnrn