The Periscope Post

Sebastián Piñera, a billionaire businessman and former senator, was sworn in as President of Chile today, only moments after a powerful 7.2 aftershock rocked the already battered nation and two weeks after the massive 27 February quake.

Piñera, the first elected right-wing president Chile has seen in 50 years, inherits a country rocked to its very core – not only did the 8.8 earthquake and the deadly tsunami it generated devastate Chile physically, but it also unearthed deep seams of social unrest in its aftermath. Though Chile has the lowest poverty rate in Latin America, at around 14 percent, the poor segment of the population has been disproportionately affected by the quake, leading some observers to caution that a “guerra social” could be on the way.

That was seen in the days immediately after the quake: As former President Michelle Bachelet hesitated for 36 hours after the quake to deploy troops to keep order in the damaged cities – likely out of sensitivity to a country’s whose previous experiences with troops in the streets, under dictator General Augusto Pinochet – looters pillaged shops and riotously took to the streets.

With that image fresh in the minds of the people, The New York Times wrote today that right-wing Piñera has before him a unique opportunity, “a freer hand to crack down on delinquency and drug trafficking” and even the chance to “to entomb the ghosts of the former dictator.”

The incoming President now surveys a political and physical landscape dramatically changed, The New York Times reported. No longer is the military an active member of governance, and troops in the streets are no longer cause for fear or a symbol of a brutally repressive administration. At the same time, observers are wary that big business could, in some small way, become a new bully in the administration and that Piñera’s business background could see him favouring private sector business interests and could even pose a conflict of interest if he doesn’t soon leave the management of his business affairs to someone else.

BBC World Service also reported today that Piñera has had to completely revise his initial plans for taking the country forward, in the wake of the quake; the news service reported that the new President will hold his first meetings this afternoon.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported today that conservative Piñera’s inauguration – ending 20 years of Concertacion coalition rule – is unlikely to influence Chile’s stock situation, though he handles the upcoming reconstruction certainly will.