News round-up, Monday, February 13, 2023
Quote of the day…
We’re experiencing a mental health crisis. Approximately 15.5% of the global population is affected by mental illnesses, and those numbers are rising. Although there are many who require treatment, more than 50% of mental illnesses remain untreated. In the United States, one in five adults suffers from some form of mental illness. Every 40 seconds one person dies from suicide and for every adult who dies from suicide, there are more than 20 others who have attempted to end their life. The ramifications of this go beyond our families and cultures as mental health also has a tremendous economic impact for the cost of treatment as well as the loss of productivity.
Forbes by Bernard MarrDespite all its problems, Latin America has much to contribute in a troubled world. The far West, as Alain Rouquié called it, has medium development, decisive environmental resources in relation to climate change and natural resources that can contribute exponentially to the information age and digitalisation. Making them count requires a long view and a strategic capacity that we see little of in our rulers at the moment. A change of course is essential if we want to make an impact in the 21st century.
Ernesto Ottone (Valparaíso, 1948) was among those who rejected the proposal for a new Constitution in the plebiscite on 4 September, like 62% of Chileans. "I reject it because I am convinced that it is the best way for a good Constitution", he told EL PAÍS before the referendum.Most Read…
What’s Going On Up There? Theories but No Answers in Shootdowns of Mystery Craft.
The U.S. and Canada are investigating three unidentified flying objects shot down over North America in the past three days. Militaries have adjusted radars to try to spot more incursions.
NYT by Julian E. Barnes, Helene Cooper and Edward WongThe countries warn the EU against an overhaul of the energy market in “crisis mode”.
The European Commission is drafting an overhaul of the EU’s electricity market rules with the aim of better cushioning consumer bills ahead of fossil fuel price spikes and avoiding a repeat of the surge in electricity wort sparked by cuts in Russia’s gas supplies last year.
Ukdaily.news by Mia GordonChile faces largest wildfires since 2017
In DepthFires fueled by drought and heatwaves killed 24 and destroyed 373,000 hectares since February 1.
LE MONDE BY FLORA GENOUX (BUENOS AIRES (ARGENTINA) CORRESPONDENT)"The time will come when President Boric will have to choose between reform or re-foundation".
This Chilean sociologist, with a communist past and key advisor to the government of socialist Ricardo Lagos, says that a change of course in Latin America is indispensable "if we want to influence the 21st century".
EL PAÍS BY ROCÍO MONTESArgentina will receive a million-dollar investment to facilitate the export of gas from Vaca Muerta to Brazil and Chile.
CAF - Development Bank of Latin America - will provide 540 million dollars for the construction of a gas pipeline network. Its vice-president, Christian Asinelli, defends the use of natural gas in the region as a "just transition energy".
El País by LORENA ARROYO
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Seafloat-hybrid-power-plant
Armando Rodriguez, Seaboard CEO for the Dominican Republic, concludes:
“We are very excited about this project because it will be a big benefit to the community in terms of the environment and the employment we will provide to the area.
Cooperate with objective and ethical thinking…
What is Artificial Intelligency?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer or a robot controlled by a computer to do tasks that are usually done by humans because they require human intelligence and discernment. Although there are no AIs that can perform the wide variety of tasks an ordinary human can do, some AIs can match humans in specific tasks.
The Incredible Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Now Used In Mental Health
Forbes by Bernard MarrStigma
Stereotypes surrounding those with mental illnesses prevent patients from seeking the help they need. According to a World Health Organization study, 30 to 80 percent of those with mental health issues don’t seek treatment. It’s common to hear stereotypes about people with mental health issues like they’re dangerous, incompetent, or responsible for their illness.
We’re experiencing a mental health crisis. Approximately 15.5% of the global population is affected by mental illnesses, and those numbers are rising. Although there are many who require treatment, more than 50% of mental illnesses remain untreated. In the United States, one in five adults suffers from some form of mental illness. Every 40 seconds one person dies from suicide and for every adult who dies from suicide, there are more than 20 others who have attempted to end their life. The ramifications of this go beyond our families and cultures as mental health also has a tremendous economic impact for the cost of treatment as well as the loss of productivity.
The critical shortfall of psychiatrists and other mental health specialists to provide treatment exacerbates this crisis. In fact, nearly 40% of Americans live where there is a shortage of mental health professionals; 60% of U.S. counties don’t have a psychiatrist. Those that do have access to mental health professionals often forgo treatment because they can’t afford it. Those with depression visit primary care physicians an average of five times a year versus three times for those who don’t have it. Others seek help in emergency rooms which are more expensive. More than $201 billion is spent on mental health annually making mental health the most expensive part of our healthcare system after knocking out heart conditions for the honor.
Examples of current uses of AI in mental health
Researchers are testing different ways that artificial intelligence can help screen, diagnose and treat mental illness.
Researchers from the World Well-Being Project (WWBP) analyzed social media with an AI algorithm to pick out linguistic cues that might predict depression. It turns out that those suffering from depression express themselves on social media in ways that those dealing with other chronic conditions do not such as mentions of loneliness and using words such as "feelings," "I" and "me." The team's findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, but after analyzing half a million Facebook posts from people who consented to provide their Facebook status updates and medical records, they were able to identify depression-associated language markers. What the researchers found was that linguistic markers could predict depression up to three months before the person receives a formal diagnosis. Other researchers use technology to explore the way facial expressions, enunciation of words and tone and language could indicate suicide risk.
In addition to researchers, there are several companies using artificial intelligence to help tackle the mental health crisis. Quartet's platform flags possible mental conditions and can refer patients to a provider or a computerized cognitive behavioral therapy program. Ginger’s contribution is a chat application used by employers that provides direct counseling services to employees. Its algorithms analyze the words someone uses and then relies on its training from more than 2 billion behavioral data samples, 45 million chat messages and 2 million clinical assessments to provide a recommendation. The CompanionMX system has an app that allows patients being treated with depression, bipolar disorders, and other conditions to create an audio log where they can talk about how they are feeling. The AI system analyzes the recording as well as looks for changes in behavior for proactive mental health monitoring. Bark, a parental control phone tracker app, monitors major messaging and social media platforms to look for signs of cyberbullying, depression, suicidal thoughts and sexting on a child’s phone.
These are just a few of the innovative solutions that support mental health.
4 Benefits of using AI to help solve the mental health crisis
There are several reasons why AI could be a powerful tool to help us solve the mental health crisis. Here are four benefits:
Support mental health professionals
As it does for many industries, AI can help support mental health professionals in doing their jobs. Algorithms can analyze data much faster than humans, can suggest possible treatments, monitor a patient’s progress and alert the human professional to any concerns. In many cases, AI and a human clinician would work together.
24/7 access
Due to the lack of human mental health professionals, it can take months to get an appointment. If patients live in an area without enough mental health professionals, their wait will be even longer. AI provides a tool that an individual can access all the time, 24/7 without waiting for an appointment.
Not expensive
The cost of care prohibits some individuals from seeking help. Artificial intelligent tools could offer a more accessible solution.
Comfort talking to a bot
While it might take some people time to feel comfortable talking to a bot, the anonymity of an AI algorithm can be positive. What might be difficult to share with a therapist in person is easier for some to disclose to a bot.
Obstacles to overcome
While there is great promise for using AI to help the current mental health crisis, there are still obstacles to overcome. There are significant privacy concerns as well as making people comfortable and willing to accept various levels of being monitored in their day-to-day lives. In addition, there is no regulation for these applications, so it is advised that any app be used in conjunction with a mental health professional. As AI tools are created, it is essential that they are protocols in place to make them safe and effective and built and trained with a diverse data set, so they aren't biased toward a particular population.
Overall, AI has the promise to provide critical resources we need to overcome our mental health crisis.
Ernesto Cardenal’s Prayer for Marilyn Monroe
She hungered for love and we offered her tranquilizers.
For her despair, because we’re not saints psychoanalysis was recommended to her...
One of Latin America’s most acclaimed poets, he wrote verses that offered a cosmic fusion of spirituality, politics, science and history, while appearing at frequent lectures and readings that made him a kind of international ambassador for Nicaragua.
Father Cardenal drew few boundaries between his callings. The son of a wealthy Nicaraguan family, he fought with a revolutionary group in his late 20s, then emerged as a leading proponent of liberation theology, which emphasizes Jesus’s message to the poor and oppressed.
The washington post By Harrison SmithMarch 2, 2020Ernesto Cardenal’s Prayer for Marilyn Monroe
Lordreceive this young woman known around the world as Marilyn Monroe
although that wasn’t her real name
(but You know her real name, the name of the orphan raped at the age of 6
and the shopgirl who at 16 had tried to kill herself)
who now comes before You without any makeup
without her Press Agent
without photographers and without autograph hounds,
alone like an astronaut facing night in space.She dreamed when she was little that she was naked in a church
(according to the Time account)
before a prostrated crowd of people, their heads on the floor
and she had to walk on tiptoe so as not to step on their heads.
You know our dreams better than the psychiatrists.
Church, home, cave, all represent the security of the womb
but something else too …
The heads are her fans, that’s clear
(the mass of heads in the dark under the beam of light).
But the temple isn’t the studios of 20th Century-Fox.
The temple—of marble and gold—is the temple of her body
in which the Son of Man stands whip in hand
driving out the studio bosses of 20th Century-Fox
who made Your house of prayer a den of thieves.Lord
in this world polluted with sin and radioactivity
You won’t blame it all on a shopgirl
who, like any other shopgirl, dreamed of being a star.
Her dream just became a reality (but like Technicolor’s reality).
She only acted according to the script we gave her
—the story of our own lives. And it was an absurd script.
Forgive her, Lord, and forgive us
for our 20th Century
for this Colossal Super-Production on which we all have worked.
She hungered for love and we offered her tranquilizers.
For her despair, because we’re not saints
psychoanalysis was recommended to her.
Remember, Lord, her growing fear of the camera
and her hatred of makeup—insisting on fresh makeup for each scene—
and how the terror kept building up in her
and making her late to the studios.Like any other shopgirl
she dreamed of being a star.
And her life was unreal like a dream that a psychiatrist interprets and files.Her romances were a kiss with closed eyes
and when she opened them
she realized she had been under floodlights
as they killed the floodlights!
and they took down the two walls of the room (it was a movie set)
while the Director left with his scriptbook
because the scene had been shot.
Or like a cruise on a yacht, a kiss in Singapore, a dance in Rio
the reception at the mansion of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor
all viewed in a poor apartment’s tiny living room.The film ended without the final kiss.
She was found dead in her bed with her hand on the phone.
And the detectives never learned who she was going to call.
She was
like someone who had dialed the number of the only friendly voice
and only heard the voice of a recording that says: WRONG NUMBER.
Or like someone who had been wounded by gangsters
reaching for a disconnected phone.Lord
whoever it might have been that she was going to call
and didn’t call (and maybe it was no one
or Someone whose number isn’t in the Los Angeles phonebook)
You answer that telephone!(Translated from the Spanish by Jonathan Cohen)
The Pentagon and intelligence agencies have intensified their study of unexplained incidents near military bases in recent years.
Image: Germán & CoWhat’s Going On Up There? Theories but No Answers in Shootdowns of Mystery Craft.
The U.S. and Canada are investigating three unidentified flying objects shot down over North America in the past three days. Militaries have adjusted radars to try to spot more incursions.
NYT by Julian E. Barnes, Helene Cooper and Edward WongPublished Feb. 12, 2023WASHINGTON — If the truth is out there, it certainly is not apparent yet.
Pentagon and intelligence officials are trying to make sense of three unidentified flying objects over Alaska, Canada and Michigan that U.S. fighter jets shot down with missiles on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The latest turn in the aerial show taking place in the skies above North America comes after a helter-skelter weekend involving what at times seemed like an invasion of unidentified flying objects.
The latest object had first been spotted on Saturday over Montana, initially sparking debate over whether it even existed. On Saturday, military officials detected a radar blip over Montana, which then disappeared, leading them to conclude it was an anomaly. Then a blip appeared Sunday over Montana, then Wisconsin and Michigan. Once military officials obtained visual confirmation, they ordered an F-16 to shoot it down over Lake Huron.
There are two big questions around the episodes: What were the craft? And why does the United States appear to be seeing more suddenly, and shooting down more?
There are no answers to the first question yet. American officials do not know what the objects were, much less their purpose or who sent them.
For the second, it is not clear if there are suddenly more objects. But what is certain is that in the wake of the recent incursion by a Chinese spy balloon, the U.S. and Canadian militaries are hypervigilant in flagging some objects that might previously have been allowed to pass.
After the transit of the spy balloon this month, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, adjusted its radar system to make it more sensitive. As a result, the number of objects it detected increased sharply. In other words, NORAD is picking up more incursions because it is looking for them, spurred on by the heightened awareness caused by the furor over the spy balloon, which floated over the continental United States for a week before an F-22 shot it down on Feb. 4.
“We have been more closely scrutinizing our airspace at these altitudes, including enhancing our radar, which may at least partly explain the increase in objects that we’ve detected over the past week,” Melissa Dalton, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs, said at a news conference on Sunday evening.
American officials have not completely discounted theories that there could also be more objects, period. Some officials theorize that the objects could be from China, or another foreign power, and may be aimed at testing detection abilities after the spy balloon.
The object spotted approaching Lake Huron on Sunday was flying at 20,000 feet and presented a potential threat to civil aviation, so President Biden ordered it shot down, U.S. officials said. It had an octagonal structure with strings hanging off but had no discernible payload, they added.
U.S. and Canadian officials say the objects shot down on Friday and Saturday were also flying lower than the spy balloon, posing a greater danger to civilian aircraft, which prompted leaders to order them destroyed. Those two objects were flying over parts of Alaska and the Yukon that have few residents, and the third object downed on Sunday was over water, so risks posed by falling debris were minimal, they said.
The spy balloon that drifted across the United States flew much higher, at 60,000 feet, and did not pose a danger to aircraft. But any falling debris could have hit people on the ground, Pentagon officials said.
Throughout the weekend, officials said they were still trying to determine what the three objects were. The first, a Defense Department official said, is most likely not a balloon — and it broke into pieces after it was shot down on Friday. Saturday’s object was described by Canadian authorities as cylindrical, and American officials say it is more likely it was a balloon of some kind. Sunday’s object appeared unlikely to be a balloon, one official said.
NORAD radar tracked the first two objects for at least 12 hours before they were shot down. But Defense Department officials have never said whether they picked the objects up on radar before they neared American airspace. One official said it is unclear what keeps the objects aloft.
U.S. officials said they are reviewing video and other sensor readings collected by the American pilots who observed the objects before their destruction. But the exact nature of the objects, where they are from and what they were intended for will not be confirmed until the F.B.I. and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have the chance to thoroughly examine the debris, officials said.
Asked during a news conference on Sunday whether he had ruled out extraterrestrial origins, Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the commander of the Air Force’s Northern Command, said, “I haven’t ruled out anything at this point.” But in interviews Sunday, national security officials discounted any thoughts that what the Air Force shot out of the sky represented any sort of alien visitors. No one, one senior official said, thinks these things are anything other than devices fashioned here on Earth.
Luis Elizondo, the military intelligence officer who ran the Pentagon’s U.F.O. program until 2017, concurred. But he said that the Biden administration must find a way to balance vigilance over what is going on in the skies above America against “chasing our tail” whenever something unknown shows up — a tough task, he said.
For years, adversaries have sent low-tech gadgets into the skies above the United States, Mr. Elizondo said.
“What’s happening now is you have low-end technology being used to harass America,” he said in an interview. “It is a high-impact, low-cost way for China to do this, and the more you look up in the sky, the more you will see.”
At the urging of Congress, the Pentagon and intelligence agencies have intensified their study of unexplained incidents near military bases in recent years. The studies on what the intelligence community calls unidentified aerial phenomena have pinpointed previously undetected efforts to conduct surveillance on American military exercises and bases. Many of those unexplained incidents have been balloons, and some of them are now believed to be attempted surveillance activity by China or other powers, both using balloons and surveillance drones.
In a public report released last month, the intelligence community said that of 366 unexplained incidents, 163 were later identified as balloons. A related classified document whose findings were reported this month by The New York Times said at least two incidents at U.S. military bases could be examples of advanced aerial technology, possibly developed by China.
“We can now assess flight patterns and trajectory in a much more scientific way,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who wrote the recent legislation mandating greater internal military reporting and analysis of aerial phenomena, leading to more documentation of sightings. “You need to know who’s using the technology and what it is.”
The most alarming theory under consideration by some U.S. officials is that the objects are sent by China or another power in an attempt to learn more about American radar or early warning systems.
A senior administration official said one theory — and the person stressed that it is just a theory — is that China or Russia sent the objects to test American intelligence-gathering capabilities. They could be sent to learn both how quickly the United States becomes aware of an intrusion and how quickly the military can respond to such an incursion, the official said.
American officials are united in their belief that the spy balloon that transited the United States was a Chinese machine meant to conduct surveillance on American military bases. Officials said it was unclear if China had complete control of the balloon during its whole journey. But officials said China did have at least a limited ability to steer it, and the balloon maneuvered on Feb. 3 before it was shot down the next day.
Another American official said the Chinese spy balloon was equipped with a self-destruct mechanism, but Beijing did not use it, a potential sign that Chinese officials wanted to continue to collect intelligence, even after it was discovered.
The disclosure of the balloon by the Pentagon on Feb. 2 led to a public diplomatic crisis between China and the United States. Beijing said it had the right to respond further. On Sunday, a Chinese newspaper reported that local maritime authorities in Shandong Province on the east coast had spotted an “unidentified flying object” in waters by the city of Rizhao and were preparing to shoot it down. State-run news organizations reposted the information.
If any of the devices destroyed in North America over the past three days were Chinese, it would amount to a major provocation on the heels of the spy balloon, one reason some officials said not to jump to the conclusion that the objects are surveillance devices sent from Beijing.
Officials in Beijing seem to want to limit tensions over the spy balloon, suggesting to some U.S. officials that the latest objects are less likely to be deliberate Chinese provocations or tests.
Pentagon officials have been raising flags about deficiencies in North America’s aging warning systems, radar and sensors.
Speaking last year at the Aspen Security Conference in Colorado, General VanHerck said that the United States had struggled to detect certain intrusions, what he called “domain awareness challenges.” General VanHerck said the NORAD radars could not adequately detect hypersonics and other threats.
But, he also said, the United States and Canada were investing in new over-the-horizon radar to better identify potential threats, as well as artificial intelligence systems to help pick out possible intrusions.
“I’m very encouraged with where we’re going,” General VanHerck said last July, “but we still have some challenges to work on.”
Image: Germán & CoThe countries warn the EU against an overhaul of the energy market in “crisis mode”.
Ukdaily.news by Mia Gordon
February 13, 2023
The European Commission is drafting an overhaul of the EU’s electricity market rules with the aim of better cushioning consumer bills ahead of fossil fuel price spikes and avoiding a repeat of the surge in electricity wort sparked by cuts in Russia’s gas supplies last year.
The seven countries, led by Denmark, said in a letter that the existing market design in Europe had encouraged lower electricity prices for years, helped expand renewable energy and ensured that enough electricity was produced to meet demand and avoid shortages.
“We must resist the temptation to kill the golden goose that has been our single market for electricity for the past decade,” said Lars Aagaard, Denmark’s energy minister.
Countries said there was some room for improvement, especially given the surge in electricity costs over the past year. However, any changes must ensure the market continues to function and incentivize massive investments in renewable energy, they said.
“Any reform that goes beyond targeted adjustments to the existing framework should be underpinned by an in-depth impact assessment and not adopted in crisis mode,” reads the letter to the Commission, seen by Reuters.
Other countries, including Spain and France, are pursuing deeper reforms. Spain has proposed a switch to longer-term fixed price contracts for power plants to try to limit price spikes.
The seven countries said in their letter that related schemes – such as Contracts for Difference (CfDs) – could play a role, but they should be voluntary, focused on new renewable energy and still “responsive” to the market.
Electricity industry lobby group Eurelectric has also warned against making CFDs mandatory as it could undermine competition in the electricity market and discourage investors.
In their letter, the seven countries supported an idea already discussed by the Commission to make it easier for consumers to choose between electricity contracts with fluctuating and fixed prices.
However, they pushed back another Commission proposal to extend a temporary EU measure reclaiming windfall revenues from non-gas generators.
“That could jeopardize investor confidence in the investments needed,” the countries said in the letter, citing EU estimates that hundreds of billions of euros in renewable energy investments are needed annually to help countries convert from Russian fossil fuels get off.
The fire in the vicinity of the city of Dichato, in the south of Chile, on February 10, 2023.
Image: Le Monde by JAVIER TORRES / AFPChile faces largest wildfires since 2017
Le Monde by Flora Genoux (Buenos Aires (Argentina) correspondent)Published on February 12, 2023 In DepthFires fueled by drought and heatwaves killed 24 and destroyed 373,000 hectares since February 1.
Helpless firefighters standing in front of a wall of flames, inhabitants trying to smother the blaze with buckets of water, a line of fire, visible from the sky, advancing relentlessly over the forest... The violent fires that have been raging in Chile since February 1, in the middle of the southern summer, are delivering their share of apocalyptic images.
The so-called south-central region of the country – the provinces of Maule, Nuble, Biobio and Araucania, located some 280 km South of Santiago – saw thousands of hectares destroyed.
The toll as of Friday, February 10, stood at 24 dead, 1,250 homes wrecked and more than 2,000 being taken care of by health services. In total, more than 373,000 hectares were blown by the disaster. The country is witnessing the worst fires since 2017 during which 467,000 hectares disappeared.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric spoke earlier this week of "very difficult days" while the fires had already been active for a week. He called for the cooperation of all institutions including the private sector.
"In five days, we are seeing a burned area equivalent to two years of fire," Carolina Toha, minister of the interior, said on Monday. This week, more than 5,600 Chilean firefighters continued to fight the flames, with the support of international organizations.
Argentina, Mexico, but also Spain or the United States sent material and human rescue teams. France announced on Tuesday it was sending 80 firemen and rescue workers. The day before, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter: "The Chilean people can count on the support of France to fight against this plague."
The European Union also announced it was sending over firefighters, doctors and experts. "No matter how many planes or how much money is dedicated to fighting the fires, they have become uncontrollable," Roberto Rondanelli, a meteorologist at the University of Chile, said. On Friday, 321 fires were still active. The experts are clear: The origin of the fires is above all human, whether criminal or accidental. "There is a legitimate suspicion related to the intentionality [of the fires], which is under investigation," Boric said on Wednesday. At least 28 people have been arrested.
However, a series of factors explain the speed and intensity of the fires. First, there is climate change, the vehicle for a historic "mega-drought" in Chile which has been ongoing for about 13 years.
The drought is reflected in a historic rainfall deficit of 30% over the period 2010-2019, according to a report by Chile's Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2). In the last 50 years, maximum summer temperatures increased by 0.43°C per decade, the CR2 wrote in a note last week.
"All events with temperatures above 40°C have occurred in the last decade," it said. Regions afflicted by the fires were experiencing a heatwave with temperatures sometimes exceeding the 40°C threshold.
An alert for high temperature ran until Saturday for an area encompassing more than 900 km from North to South, from the Coquimbo region to Nuble.
Pine and eucalyptus trees as far as the eye can see
"There is also a strong accumulation of combustible material," Miguel Castillo, a forest engineer at the University of Chile said. Pine and eucalyptus trees are planted as far as the eye can see by the wood industry.
An engine for the regional economy, the idea was encouraged under Chile's military dictatorship (1973-1990). The industry is confronted with territorial conflicts involving part of the indigenous Mapuche population who claim ancestral lands held by forest owners.
In 2022, exports from the wood sector amounted to €6.5 billion according to the Chilean Forestry Institute, amounting to more than 111,000 jobs.
However, pine and eucalyptus are exotic trees that require more water than endemic species. They dry up the waterways that could serve as a natural barrier to the flames. "With high heat, they also tend to dry out faster than endemic trees. Therefore, they burn more and facilitate the spread of fires, a phenomenon also reinforced by their density," Rondanelli said.
The winds that blew over the region over the past few days contributed to the spread of the fires. "It is absolutely necessary to rethink the productive system by planting endemic trees. After the great fires of 2017, where there were endemic trees, pine and eucalyptus trees were planted instead," said Rondanelli.
Despite a smaller amount of hectares burned this time (the great fires of 2017 resulted in the death of 11) the country is mourning more deaths. "This is related to the number of outbreaks which are more numerous and scattered. This represents a greater challenge in terms of coordination, prioritization and access to areas to be evacuated," Castillo said.
The proximity of tree plantations to residential areas is also blamed for the higher number of deaths. In 2014, a proposal to modify forest regulation was presented by Alejandro Navarro who was then a leftwing senator of the Biobio region.
It provided for a minimum distance of 500 meters between plantations and residential areas or roads. In 2015, another parliamentary initiative encompassing the previous text also proposed banning new plantations of "highly combustible" species. This time, the legislation did not go through.
As the smoke from the fires reaches as far as the capital, Santiago, CO2 emissions generated by the fires are triggering concern. With the risk of more episodes of this magnitude in the future, the fires "may become one of the most important causes of greenhouse gas emissions in the country," according to the CR2.
In 2017, fires alone accounted for 90% of total emissions in a baseline year, 2016. They also pose a great threat to biodiversity, Maisa Rojas, minister for the environment, said.
Faced with the emergency, the Chilean government announced a series of aid mechanisms destined for the residents of the affected regions. On Friday, authorities ordered a curfew to prevent possible looting of evacuated homes.
Germán & Co
"The time will come when President Boric will have to choose between reform or re-foundation".
This Chilean sociologist, with a communist past and key advisor to the government of socialist Ricardo Lagos, says that a change of course in Latin America is indispensable "if we want to influence the 21st century".
El País by ROCÍO MONTESSantiago de Chile - 11 Feb 2023 Ernesto Ottone (Valparaíso, 1948) was among those who rejected the proposal for a new Constitution in the plebiscite on 4 September, like 62% of Chileans. "I reject it because I am convinced that it is the best way for a good Constitution", he told EL PAÍS before the referendum. With a communist past until the end of the 1970s - he was a world leader of his youth - the sociologist was a key strategic adviser to the government of the socialist Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006). He is an intellectual who looks to the public rather than a politician who looks to books. In his latest publication, Crónica de una odisea, del estallido social al estallido de las urnas, he describes the last three years in Chile as a "turbulent, unstable and tense period, very different from the one that has accompanied the country's progress since the return to democracy". In this interview, conducted in his flat in Providencia, in the Chilean capital, in the middle of summer with the city empty, he analyses the political scene facing Chile in 2023.
Question: What has happened in Chile since the plebiscite of 4 September, when 62% of voters rejected the proposed new constitution?
Answer. September 4 was not a triumph of conservatism over change, as was perceived by some observers outside the country, but it was the return of history. The compulsory vote showed a more complete Chile, not only that of the mobilised forces, and produced a result that stunned the government.
Q. What was the text that was rejected like?
A. The text that the constitutional convention presented to the plebiscite was a mixture of constitutional text and partisan political programme, which hurt representative democracy and the balance of power and which artificially exacerbated the issue of nationalities. This was not accepted by Chileans who want a new constitution that reflects a social, modern, democratic and inclusive state. Chileans do not want to replace the authoritarian traces of the past with new authoritarian dangers.
Q. How did President Boric's government, which was for the alternative that lost, stand after the referendum?
A. President Boric weakened his authority and his role as head of state by merging with that project. Partly because he partially shared it, I believe, and partly under pressure from the ruling group around him, which in truth represents only a minority sector, I fear, of those who brought him to the government, because the rest were reformist voters who voted against the extreme right candidate in the 2021 presidential elections. Today the government has included sectors of the traditional left, which occupy important positions that help to contain the excesses of doctrinarism and imperfection, although they do not always succeed in doing so.
Q. Chile is making a second attempt at a new constitution. Do you think this is necessary?
A. Yes, of course. Chileans rejected a text, not the idea of a new Constitution that has greater legitimacy, that responds to the challenges of the 21st century, that frames a social state and that protects individual liberties and encourages greater inclusiveness. I believe that the newly initiated new process, with greater institutional thickness, will be able to achieve a Constitution acceptable to the vast majority of the country.
Q. 2023 will be a difficult year for Chile, with an economic recession...
A. The situation is difficult for this year, not only in Chile, but in the whole world. It will require a lot of political capacity, you can't keep taking one step in one direction and another in the opposite direction. The time will come when President Boric will have to choose between reform or refoundation.
Q. The president has very high disapproval, 66%, according to the latest Cadem. How do you overcome this bad moment of popularity?
A. He will only be able to recover from his high level of disapproval if his ability to govern improves, if he generates broad agreements on economic and social problems in the fight against crime, on changing the tax system and improving the pension system, on the functioning of the education and health systems in a non-traumatic way. In short, if it is dominated by a state vocation that has so far appeared only intermittently.
Q. This year, Chile commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 1973 coup d'état. How do you see Chile on this date?
A. Chile has no room to increase its internal conflicts and generate a more polarised situation. The commemoration of the 1973 coup d'état should be read as a national decision never to repeat that tragedy. This requires first and foremost a well-functioning democracy. It must be commemorated in a sober, profound and historic way. The "never again" and the republican character that marked the 30th anniversary 20 years ago, in 2003, when Chile was moving forward in all areas, must be present.
Q. Are you one of those who believe that the far right is growing stronger in Chile and that it has presidential options?
A. For that to happen there would have to be a collapse of the traditional right and a predominance in its electorate of those who most yearn for authoritarianism. The rebirth of reformist centre and centre-left forces would have to fail and the more extreme sectors of the radical left would have to predominate. This could generate in the country a demand for authoritarianism at any price, led by the extreme right. I hope that this does not happen, that the gods do not blind the democrats. But to avoid such tendencies, realism, political generosity and deep democratic convictions are required.
Q. While this is happening in Chile, how do you, a sociologist who made a career in ECLAC, see the rest of Latin America?
A. Latin America is one of the regions hardest hit by this sad and fragmented phase of a globalisation in decline. There is no longer one dictatorship in Latin America, but three. There are countries with a strong democratic degradation, others with inconsistent democracies, within a short period of time there have been two attempted coups d'état and democratic institutions have been weakened in general.
Q. We are in a violent region...
A. We make up 8.6% of the world's population, but one third of the world's crimes - excluding war crimes - are committed in our region. After the end of the economic boom between 2003 and 2013, the economy began to fall, and the poverty and equality indicators, which had indicated progress in the right direction, began to go back in the wrong direction. This situation will be very difficult to reverse with the current economic situation. Citizen demands have no capacity to respond and the fragility of democracies is spreading.
Q. Are we facing a pendulum swing to the left, considering the sign of several Latin American governments?
A. There is the illusion of a pink tide, but it is very heterogeneous and probably volatile. In general, elections tend to be won by those in opposition. The danger of the spread of authoritarian populism of different signs is just around the corner. But this is not an inevitable fate as in the Greek tragedies. It does, however, require a gigantic effort.
Q. Where should this effort be focused?
A. Resuming economic growth, generating a productive transformation that adds value to our generous natural resource base. Modernising our states and democratic institutions, enhancing cooperation between the public, private and civil society sectors, and relaunching efforts to achieve greater levels of equality and poverty reduction by prioritising public policies and creating a progressive fiscal pact. Combat organised crime through coordinated intelligence, preventing the development of corruption and better management of mega-cities. Overcoming the region's invisibility in the world, the absence of a single voice to put forward its interests, and avoiding the ideologisation of regional organisations that are often linked to discourses of the past that are alien to the current reality.
Q. Do you see any room for optimism?
A. Despite all its problems, Latin America has much to contribute in a troubled world. The far West, as Alain Rouquié called it, has medium development, decisive environmental resources in relation to climate change and natural resources that can contribute exponentially to the information age and digitalisation. Making them count requires a long view and a strategic capacity that we see little of in our rulers at the moment. A change of course is essential if we want to make an impact in the 21st century.
Source: El PaísArgentina will receive a million-dollar investment to facilitate the export of gas from Vaca Muerta to Brazil and Chile.
CAF - Development Bank of Latin America - will provide 540 million dollars for the construction of a gas pipeline network. Its vice-president, Christian Asinelli, defends the use of natural gas in the region as a "just transition energy".
El País by LORENA ARROYO
01 FEB 2023
For more than a decade, Vaca Muerta has represented a hope for Argentina's battered economy that has yet to materialise. The 30,000-kilometre field in Patagonia makes Argentina the country with the second largest shale gas resources in the world. But getting it out and transporting it has proved a complex task since exploitation began in 2012. Now, a new investment agreement has rekindled the hopes of those hoping for a definitive take-off of the field.
Economy Minister Sergio Massa announced last week that he had reached an agreement with CAF - Development Bank of Latin America* to finance a gas pipeline that will facilitate exports to Chile and Brazil. "It will be 540 million dollars to build the La Carlota-Tío Pujio gas pipeline, the Reversal del Norte and the compressor plants," the minister said on his Twitter account. The investment, which will be approved in March by CAF's board of directors, foresees the construction of kilometres of pipelines to transport gas from Vaca Muerta, in the west of the country, to Santa Fe, in the northeast. This, the minister said, would increase "the possibilities of gas export volumes" to neighbouring countries.
According to Reuters, with these works the country expects to be able to reverse the energy balance deficit of $5 billion recorded in 2022 and achieve a surplus of about $12 billion in 2025. "From the point of view of the country's productive activities, obviously developing the potential of Vaca Muerta is very important for the economy," acknowledged CAF vice-president Christian Asinelli in an interview with América Futura. The official stresses that the work to be financed by the multilateral organisation will be beneficial for the region's energy integration and will reduce Argentina's dependence on current imports of Bolivian gas.
A "just transition energy"
"With this infrastructure work, what is being done is to connect the gas from Vaca Muerta with a section of a gas pipeline that will allow gas to be taken from the south of the country to the north," he explains. In addition, "with a series of investments in five gas conversion plants", it will be possible to link these gas pipelines with Bolivia to send gas to Brazil, on the one hand, and to the north of Chile, on the other. According to his estimates, if everything goes according to plan, the construction of 132 kilometres of pipelines and the reconversion of the five plants that would allow gas to be transferred from northern Argentina to Bolivia could be ready in less than two years.
Faced with criticism from some sectors that natural gas is not a clean energy - since it emits methane, one of the gases that contributes most to climate change - CAF defends its use as a "transition energy" towards a green matrix through fair processes that benefit the region's population. "For countries like Argentina, it is a fair transition energy," Asinelli points out. "For Latin America and the Caribbean, what we need is to look for spaces that improve, from an environmental point of view, but without forgetting the people, the needs, social growth and the reduction of poverty," he adds, pointing out that in the region there is a "different consensus than in Europe" on energy issues.
"Gas for us is a transitional energy that will help us to achieve the standards of the sustainable development goals, but through a process that is fair for our countries, where we can use our natural resources by lowering the amount of emissions, that is, by stopping using coal plants and using gas, which is clearly an energy that pollutes much less. It is not the ultimate goal, but it is the path that can lead us towards what we call a just transition, where the human and social aspects are not forgotten either," he adds.
Asinelli recognises that those who make public policies have to find a balance between benefiting populations, caring for people and making the right decisions to care for the environment, a task that, he says, "is sometimes not easy". In this sense, the CAF official stresses that the decision to invest in Vaca Muerta has been taken after analysing the previous environmental impact studies and that the disbursements will be made as the work progresses: "I believe that this process of using gas as a transition energy, if it is done well, will clearly bring more development, which is what we are looking for".