A dozen police officers, kept warm by an open fire, gathered in a school courtyard around one of the few operating TV sets in downtown Constitucion late on Friday to watch a telethon aimed at raising funds for their quake-hit country.
The 24-hour event was broadcast live from a theater in Santiago and hosted by the Chilean-born Don Francisco, a popular variety show host with the US Spanish-language network Univision.
The officers, known as Carabineros, were from a police school in Santiago who were rushed to this seaside resort town south of Santiago to help quell the looting that followed the massive magnitude 8.8 quake that struck the region one week ago. They were staying at a school next to the main town square.
“I want to ask you with all my heart to reach into your pocket for a donation,” said Soledad Onetto, a reporter from Channel 13 who Don Francisco interviewed.
Onetto gave a live report on how the country was recovering, speaking from a street nearby with collapsed walls and dangling wires in the background.
A tsunami that followed the earthquake slammed Constitucion’s waterfront, destroying seaside homes and businesses and sweeping a still unknown number of victims to sea.
Many of the roughly 800 quake victims were from the Constitucion area.
Don Francisco said that the theater where the show was held had a smaller crowd than usual — and with strong quake aftershocks still common in central Chile, he also mentioned that the building was earthquake-safe.
The officers perked up when Don Francisco introduced outgoing Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Bachelet rallied Chileans, urging viewers to “join in helping those most in need.”
The UN leader began by praising Chile’s quick response to the Haitian earthquake last month.
“Now it is only natural that the international community should stand with the Chilean people in its time of need,” he said, with the host translating into Spanish.
He also mentioned the most affected Chilean town, including Constitucion, affectionately known locally as “Consti.”
One of the officers, Corporal Milton Munoz, had a lump in his throat after Bachelet and Ban spoke. When it comes to responding to the earthquake “there are no political differences,” he said. “Here we’re all together.”
But many Constitucion residents missed the show because power has not been fully restored to much of the city.
A large number of them also do not know the extent of the destruction: Hundreds have fled to the town’s hillside neighborhoods, and fearful of more quakes and another tsunami, have not returned.
BEYOND WASHINGTON: Although historically the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises, Jakarta has been trying to diversify its partners, an analyst said Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto would seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts said. Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta. “It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter
US ELECTION: Polls show that the result is likely to be historically tight. However, a recent Iowa poll showed Harris winning the state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris courted voters angered by the Gaza war while former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump doubled down on violent rhetoric with a comment about journalists being shot as the tense US election campaign entered its final hours. The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president frantically blitzed several swing states as they tried to win over the last holdouts with less than 36 hours left until polls open on election day today. Trump predicted a “landslide,” while Harris told a raucous rally in must-win Michigan that “we have momentum — it’s
TIGHT CAMPAIGN: Although Harris got a boost from an Iowa poll, neither candidate had a margin greater than three points in any of the US’ seven battleground states US Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in the final days before the election, as she and former US president and Republican presidential nominees make a frantic last push to win over voters in a historically close campaign. The first lines Harris spoke as she sat across from Maya Rudolph, their outfits identical, was drowned out by cheers from the audience. “It is nice to see you Kamala,” Harris told Rudolph with a broad grin she kept throughout the sketch. “And I’m just here to remind you, you got this.” In sync, the two said supporters
Pets are not forgotten during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, when even Fido and Tiger get a place at the altars Mexican families set up to honor their deceased loved ones, complete with flowers, candles and photographs. Although the human dead usually get their favorite food or drink placed on altars, the nature of pet food can make things a little different. The holiday has roots in Mexican pre-Hispanic customs, as does the reverence for animals. The small, hairless dogs that Mexicans kept before the Spanish conquest were believed to help guide their owners to the afterlife, and were sometimes given
RSS