New leader pledges to reconstruct Chile
Source: Agencies |
March 13, 2010, Saturday
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CALLING on Chileans to dry their tears and get to work to rebuild the nation after a devastating earthquake, new President Sebastian Pinera is already setting an example.
Meeting late into the night with his ministers after a day when repeated earthquakes shook up inaugural ceremonies, the new president vowed "to work without rest" on relief and reconstruction, introducing his first proposals to the congress yesterday morning.
Pinera promised that Chileans could sleep soundly, confident "a government team will be working so you and your children can have a better dawn."
The emergency bill would create subsidies and tax-deductible donations and provide one-time cash handouts of US$76 each to 4.2 million survivors in need, he said. Pinera's staff already has been lobbying opposition law makers for the package, and Congress prepared to move quickly.
Pinera repeatedly urged Chileans to display courage in his first appearances as president. But a series of aftershocks on Thursday persuaded many Chileans to run for the hills and stay there.
The tremors also caused worry during the inaugural ceremonies inside Chile's congress in coastal Valparaiso, rocking a massive light fixture that many feared would crash on presidents and dignitaries. Colombia's Alvaro Uribe briefly walked out during one of the aftershocks, while outgoing President Michelle Bachelet seemed unperturbed even as a nearby flower arrangement rocked back and forth.
Then the 60-year-old Pinera strode in smiling, and a steely calm prevailed until oaths were sworn and the audience headed for the hills, joining a crowd outside that was already evacuating, following the navy's tsunami warning.
The roller coaster of an Inauguration Day, with more than a dozen significant aftershocks rocking central Chile, amply demonstrated Pinera's challenges after last month's magnitude-8.8 quake, one of the biggest in modern history.
Chile's first elected right-wing president in 52 years now promises to be the "reconstruction president."
"Let's dry our tears and put our hands to work," Pinera said. "I am sure that just as we have done so many times, the Chilean people will rise up to this challenge."
Meeting late into the night with his ministers after a day when repeated earthquakes shook up inaugural ceremonies, the new president vowed "to work without rest" on relief and reconstruction, introducing his first proposals to the congress yesterday morning.
Pinera promised that Chileans could sleep soundly, confident "a government team will be working so you and your children can have a better dawn."
The emergency bill would create subsidies and tax-deductible donations and provide one-time cash handouts of US$76 each to 4.2 million survivors in need, he said. Pinera's staff already has been lobbying opposition law makers for the package, and Congress prepared to move quickly.
Pinera repeatedly urged Chileans to display courage in his first appearances as president. But a series of aftershocks on Thursday persuaded many Chileans to run for the hills and stay there.
The tremors also caused worry during the inaugural ceremonies inside Chile's congress in coastal Valparaiso, rocking a massive light fixture that many feared would crash on presidents and dignitaries. Colombia's Alvaro Uribe briefly walked out during one of the aftershocks, while outgoing President Michelle Bachelet seemed unperturbed even as a nearby flower arrangement rocked back and forth.
Then the 60-year-old Pinera strode in smiling, and a steely calm prevailed until oaths were sworn and the audience headed for the hills, joining a crowd outside that was already evacuating, following the navy's tsunami warning.
The roller coaster of an Inauguration Day, with more than a dozen significant aftershocks rocking central Chile, amply demonstrated Pinera's challenges after last month's magnitude-8.8 quake, one of the biggest in modern history.
Chile's first elected right-wing president in 52 years now promises to be the "reconstruction president."
"Let's dry our tears and put our hands to work," Pinera said. "I am sure that just as we have done so many times, the Chilean people will rise up to this challenge."
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