now can speak if they wish. I keep myrnstubborn analogy to myself, but for mernthere remains some subterranean part ofrnthe Chilean soul in this, an opening up,rnan emergence from the time of troubles.rnArc Chile’s troubles over? Of coursernnot; nobody’s troubles are ever going tornlie over. But 22 years after Allende andrnthe Marxists departed and six years afterrnPinochet gave up the leadership, lifernseems reasonably buoyant. Obviously,rnmost Chileans don’t live like those in thernsuburbs of Santiago, Providencia, andrnLas Lconcs, for example. Given thatrncomparison, most people in the Statesrndon’t li’c like those in Beveriv Hills (andrnare glad of it). Yet, e’en in remote southernrnfarm towns like Coyhaique, there is arnbustling, healthv rhythm. Far out on thernperimeter of Santiago, rampant newrnbusiness construction is much in evidence.rnThe “underclass” of Chile is proportionalh’rnlarger than in the States, but thernpolitics of class envy are as prevalentrnas thc- are here at home. Further, thernawareness of this difference in classrnseems to be a dominant theme or backgroundrnfor much of Chilean fictionrnand theater. Certainly this is truernof Donoso’s fiction; Fm thinking ofrnCoronation and This Sunday. Carolarn0arzun, of Catholic University and arncritic for E/ Mercurio, assures me this isrnalso true in the theater. Egon Wolff is arncase in point, hi plays like The Invaders,rnor Paper Flowers, the street hustlers invadernand take over the homes of the welloff,rnsort of like Lenny Bernstein havingrnan “at home” for the Black Panthers. Asrna matter of fact, the balance is so tippedrnas to reduce the middle class to a stereotvpc:rnmeaningless, anxious lives filledrnonl- with material things and unhappincss.rnThe beggars and street hustlers arernalwas ery clever, witty, energetic, andrnself-assured.rnWolff is in his 70’s, whereas MarcornAntonio dc la Parra is a younger playwright,rnat one time part of a group calledrnthe “New Generation.” His theater isrnmuch different from Wolff’s realism,rnfilled instead with ghosts and grotesquernfantas’. Yet, even here, as in Every YoungrnWoman’s Desire, the smart lower-classrnthief in’adcs a middle-class woman’srnapartment and transforms a mousy, repressedrnvoung woman into a ‘amp whornultimately kills him. The dynamics ofrnParra’s work are more complex pcdiapsrnthan Wolff’s, but the tumultuous,rnthreatening social upheaval is always inrnthe background.rnAnother member of the New Generation,rnPablo Hunccus, is Chile’s leadingrnsocial critic. Like Parra (who is trained asrna psychotherapist), Hunccus has anotherrnprofession besides writing, namely sociology.rnTrained at the Sorbonne, he was arnprofessor at Catholic University when inrn1983 he was dismissed, charged with “inappropriaternresearch” for writing thernantinuclear book Lo Impensable (ThernUnthinkable). The university was underrndirect control of the military. Earlier, inrn1980, he was fired from his weekly columnrniir the Santiago dailv La Tereera forrnbeing critical of Pinochet, and a collectionrnof his essays was temporarily bannedrnby the government. While we sat on therndeck of his beautiful mountainsidernhome overlooking Sairtiago, he remarkedrnthat the role of social critic was actuallyrnclearer then than now. “Everyone knewrnwho the enemy was then; now that ‘therngood guys’ are in power, we are justrnsupposed to be quiet.” He was equallyrncritical of the Allende government in therneariy 1970’s.rnOn my last day, I met with Mario Arnello,rna lawyer who has lived close to thernmain currents of Chilean political life forrnmany years. He was a member of the formerrnNational Party, founded in 1966 ofrnthe Conservative and Liberal parties,rnand followers of the conservative JorgernPrat, hi the last two big elections of thern60’s, the Nationals had joined withrnthe Christian Democrats to win big.rnAs I said earlier, the trouble started inrnthe 1970 election. The Christian Democratsrnnominated a candidate when thernNationals considered not much betterrnthan Allende. Mr. Arnello, teacher andrnalso poet (he has written a book-lengthrnpoem, Pedro de Valdivia, An Epic of thernFoundation of Chile), told me that thernhistory of the Allende debacle could berntraced to its step-by-step destruction ofrnthe country’s democratic institutions.rnAllende had never intended to live up tornthe “Statute of Guarantees” that hernsigned as the price for Christian Democratrnsupport. Further, the ChristianrnDemocrats had never demanded thatrnAllende agree to the right of property.rnMr. Arnello had invited Senator FranciscornPrat to join us, and he came later tornour little session. Senator Prat, a tall,rnhandsome man with brilliant blue eyes,rnrepresents the IX Region of Araucania,rnwith its capital in Temuco. His greatgreat-rngrandfather was Arturo Prat, thernChilean naval hero whose martvrdomrnduring the War of the Pacific is rememberedrnon May 21 as Navy Day. SenatorrnPrat claims to occupy a little “island” inrnthe National Renovation Party. His positionrnis, as I understand it, to come togetherrnwith those of similar beliefs in therncountry outside the party as well as in,rnand not focus on strategies that will keeprnthe RN members in the “Club,” the politicalrnand business leaders who governrnChile regardless of party membership.rnWhen asked the biggest problem facingrnChile today, he said it was unemployment.rnUnlike the United States,rnwhere many of the “unemployed”rnwouldn’t work even if offered a chair atrnI larvard, the unemployed here do wantrnwork, better work, and are very industrious.rnThe dynamics of Chile and the Statesrnare different, but Chile is moving upwardrnand onward. Southern Chile andrnthe entire Pacific coast arc absolutelyrngorgeous, giving our own Rockies andrncoast a run for their money; the peoplernare vital, vivacious, friendly; and if yourntry out the language, you will not get arnsneer as you might from the Frogs on thernother side of the Channel. Go see forrnyourself. As the end here comes closerrnand you wish to move your assets “offshore,”rnChile might just be an answer.rnBe sure to bring your fly rod.rnWilham Mills is a novelist and poetrnwhose latest work of fiction is Propertiesrnof Blood {University of Arkansas Press).rnSend change of address on this form withrnthe mailing label from your latest issue ofrnCHRONICLES to:rnSubscription DepartmentrnCHRONICLESrnRO. Box 800rnMount Morris, Illinois 61054rnNEW ADDRESSrn0rnVrnOCTOBER 1995/41rnrnrn