Lectures: 213
Sebastián Piñera Echeñique —do you remember him?— announces that he will have an “active role” in the new constituent process, although “not from the front line.” Terrifying, to use only one word, which is often used after an earthquake, tsunami or a mega fire. As in recent days the news has been infested with entertainment and gossip, due to theft of watches and clandestine events in the wrong bedrooms, the resurrection of Sebastián Piñera stirs up politics. It brings airs of distant nostalgia, when the protests in the streets paralyzed the country. Those who idolize him, rescued him from the pantheon of oblivion. In a merciful deed, they picked up the scattered, yellowed bones of him and brought them back to life. They are not remains of dinosaurs, as many think or blessed. Apparently, Piñera is not yellow, however, he leans towards that fashionable color. He gives prestige to belong to a group of wayward intellectuals, coming from the rosy left.
That absence and silence of the former president’s policy, nobody had noticed, because we are a country where ingratitude prevails. The eclipse of the elusive banker, financier and magnate Piñera was beginning to be a reality. Not a whim, in a country that strives to reinvent itself and get out of the mess. Many saw him enjoying his oasis, located in deep Chile; and now they must admit that the man, thanks to his chorus and licking ass, wants to suck again, the udders of power. Of course, supported by the medium-sized sheep, eager to climb and improve the name. Nostalgia moves mountains and changes the course of rivers, even if their waters are private. So much absence and longing in between, have disturbed his idle tranquility. Doesn’t he deserve it? He longs to serve again the oligarchy, his long-awaited home, since when he rode his bicycle down Pedro de Valdivia avenue.
This character, as president of Chile, who traveled to China accompanied by members of his family, to do private business, knew how to take advantage of the situation. When he went to a meeting, he appeared with his children. When he went to visit his employer in the US and pay homage to his master, he showed President Donald Trump a printed piece of paper, where Chile was listed as one more star of the empire. They both patted each other on the back and the alliance between patron and tenant was resealed. They say that Trump rubbed his bunions on the legs of his chair so as not to crack up with laughter. Submission or the attitude of someone who wants to be the funny man in the palace? Servility? Craving gaga? Add what you think.
On another occasion, he asked the surprised Barack Obama, president of the USA, if he could sit in the chair that exists in the oval office and is used by the president. Obama responded with a somewhat forced smile and Sebastián Piñera sat in the armchair, although he omitted to put his furry paws on the desk. What would he have proposed to Queen Elizabeth of England if he had met with her? In any other country, they ask her to resign for such nonsense. In Chile, she even forgives dictators. Where does this spirit of submission and infantilism come from? Playing the jester or believing yourself to be funny, without being so, is typical of arrogant people.
And to think that Chile was beginning to forget this soap opera character, whose tours of president on two occasions convulsed the country. Sebastián Piñera could not resist the temptation to return to politics. To set up again, in the Alameda de Santiago corner of Ahumada, his folding table, covered with a green tablecloth. There, dressed as a charlatan, he will sell trinkets, ointments and elixirs to combat baldness, the evil eye and the sorrows of love. Now, if he’s in the mood, he’ll see the Tarot. Not everyone has such an entrepreneurial spirit, which this comic operetta character has plenty of.
By Walter Garib
