Chile Forum

Sorry, I have not been updating much this afternoon. I had a meeting a few hours outside of Temuco. We have however been sending emails and having phone conversations all day with the people in Futa that have evacuated and are now getting situated in various places around Southern Chile. Most are in Puerto Montt currently, and now that it seems everyone is kind of settling in for the long haul some sort of coordination seems to be occurring.

There is a pay pal account button floating around somewhere, that I am trying to track down for donations. We are still trying to get someone to put up an official bank account.

The vultures are circling:

We are seeing signs that the buzzards are starting to circle. I got an email today from someone offering $20,000 US for a tourism business in Futa that was listed for 100 million pesos saying something to the effect that, "because of the volcano you will no longer have tourist ..." (Think it was from Argentina, but not sure).

We want to do everything we can to protect the people in Futa while they are in such a vulnerable state.

So we have a new plan. We are going to be offering free legal aid to all the people from the area that need it. My wife is going to round up volunteers from the two law schools in Southern Chile she teaches at among the law students and professors to help, and our staff will coordinate.

I am sure at some point, there may be people that need to sell. Perhaps many at below the former market price, but right now is not the time for the leaches to suck the good people of Futa dry. We just want to buy them some time, and help them make well informed decisions when they do.

At this point, we are urging everyone we know in the area to not do anything yet; especially something they may regret for the rest of their lives if things turn out to be not nearly as bad as they seem. It just too early to tell.

Those that feel they have no choice and must sell to live type situations we want to help them do some damage control and do it right. Perhaps rather than selling everything, sell a few hectares to get by and hold on to the rest until it is completely clear that there is no hope. At least see if we can help them find some options.

What we are most concerned about right now are people signing desperate contracts at notaries all over Chile, and not understanding fully what the contracts mean. Right now no one can register properties, because the registry is closed in Chaiten.

So, in all our running around like Chickens with our heads cut off ( Ouch, sorry about that Vicki), we decided we would be most effective doing what we do best.

For the time being we are no longer going to represent new foreign buyers in Palena. We are going to represent the people of Futa that need it. We will put the word out to those that have been relocated, and we will be running a broadcast on the regional radios.

There was just a story on the news about how the Carabineros in Chaiten are refusing the president's orders for everyone to evacuate. There are still people in the town that refuse to leave, so they are refusing to leave because they need to take care of them. The President said that order meant everyone, and the head of the Carabineros said, "I have authority over my men, not the president". Which is sort of true.

Again, the Carabineros prove to be one of the most dedicated police forces in the World.

A BIG HOO-RAH for the Carabineros here, and in Chaiten. Awesome guys who work in sometimes incredibly difficult weather and terrain. I cannot say enough good about the guys we've met here.

I've added some pictures from the last couple of days. Yes, we are dragging our feet in leaving. I don't know what else to say!

Thanks to everyone, especially to our Emergency Response Team, Charles and Zandra, for updates, advice and help. Attorneys often get a bad rap, but sometimes you have the pleasant fortune to meet one who really defines what an attorney should really be (in your dreams), and that is the kind of person Zandra Valenzuela is. A priceless facilitator, and trusted friend. And not just in disaster situations, but in the everyday "git-er-done" sense. She and Charles both are representative of our experiences here in Chile.

And so it goes....

Vicki

Now, I don't know, I don't know where I'm a gonna go
when the volcano blow.
Let me say it now,
I don't know, I don't know where I'm a gonna go
when the volcano blow.

Ground, she movin' under me.
Tidal waves out on the sea.
Sulphur smoke up in the sky.
Pretty soon we learn to fly

[Chorus:]
Let me hear you, now
I don't know, I don't know where I'm a gonna go
when the volcano blow.
Let me hear you now.
I don't know, I don't know where I'm a gonna go
when the volcano blow.

My girl quickly say to me,
"Mon you better watch your feet."
Lava come down soft and hot.
"You better lava me now or lava me not.

[Chorus]

No time to count what I'm worth,
cause I just left the planet Earth.
Where I go I hope there's rum.
Not to worry mon soon come.

[Chorus]

But I don't want to land in New York City,
I don't want to land in Mexico.
I don't want to land on no Three Mile Island;
I don't want to see my skin a-glow.

Don't want to land in Comanche Sky Park,
or in Nashville, Tennessee.
I don't want to land in no San Juan airport or
the Yukon Territory.

Don't want to land no San Diego.
Don't want to land in no Buzzards Bay.
I don't want to land on no Ayatolla.
I got nothin' more to say.

xxx

I see it has made it to the front page of google news today under world news.

here is the morning photos from the NASA sat as it passed by.

http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/showall.php

It reaches all the way to the Alantic now, but seems to have drifted north more.

If you look close at the high res photos, you see there are many valleys South of Futa that it looks like it has missed, and now it is heading more North. Hopefully it will stay there.

Breaking news:


The government has filed a judicial action to force the evacuation of the remaining people in Chaiten, allowing them to enforce with the military the evacuation of Chaiten and the area around the volcano. We are still trying to figure out what that means. I guess there a lot of people in the mandatory evacuation zone that are not leaving, and because of the constitutional safe guards there are limits to what the president can force on people.

Zandra Valenzuela our resident legal expert says it is the first time it has ever been done in the history of Chile.

well! to state the obvious those who chose to remain must bear some responsibility for those who stay to protect them. Its a bitch!