Mood:
loudTopic: election Oz 2007
I met Miriam (not her real name) in 2003 in person when she visited Sydney from another part of Australia. She immigrated from a well to do middle class family in Chile in 1989.
A political sophisticate she was also too left wing for her Christian Democrat or even Pinochet leaning family. The black sheep you might say.
And she taught me some things like a big sister mentor. One was as an ecologist to make more enquires about the Pudu, a small deer type of native animal of Patagonia that she was worried about becoming extinct: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pud%C3%BA
Two: Phillip Ruddock had changed after 20 plus years as a moderate in the Liberal Party out of career frustration, that is had sold his soul for a ministerial portfolio.
Three: As advised by her well connected, conservative family, her sister in fact, the most dangerous time for progressives under a dictatorship is the very time one thinks to relax. In her case it was the announced re establishment of democracy with general elections in 1990 in Chile.
Her sister said to her: This is when Pinochet's thugs know their time is running out. They have a window to 'even scores' , 'exact revenge' and in that country kill their enemies. My source took it to heart. She had spent time in gaol. She told her political mentor who scorned the warning as exagerated. He was executed and she lives in Australia today with family.
Of course this is not Pinochet's Nazi regime in Chile. It's Iraq war swaggering John Howard. But there are echoes of familiarity with this story, republished in full on Melbourne Indymedia from the ezine crikey.com.au yesterday 9th Jan 2007:
Crikey amplifies Howard deregister of 19 political parties SAM editor 2007-01-10 11:46 AM
As stated as often as possible this is the 'killing season' politically as Howard's cronies see their window of power closing up to the next election: Stephen Mayne has some chilling comments here about the state of our democracy when this story didn't rate a mention in the Big Media. Strong work by Mayne here from the 9th January ezine, republished here in the public interest to oz indy readers via MIM.
