Chile fares better than Chile after earthquake

In contrast to Haiti, Chile was not plunged into chaos after being hit by a major earthquake, writes the daily De Morgen, commenting that the credit goes to the country's stable democracy and orderly administration: "Haiti has got rid of the hated Docs [dictators Jean-Claude and François Duvalier] and their macabre Tonton Macoutes [Militia of National Security Volunteers], but despite that democracy was never really able to take root there, to say nothing of a politically stable regime or an economic system favourable to growth and prosperity. The same is not true of Chile. So it is not the case that the so-called 'poor' continents are condemned to poverty in their entirety. Chile proves that some countries can put their years of tears and poverty behind them faster than others. ... Haiti is the paradigm of a failed state. Not so Chile. Chile has a parliamentary democracy, a regulative state apparatus and a market economy. Chile is no land of milk and honey, but Chilean society can bear the brunt of a shock, even one measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale."

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