Adventures in Latin America - Chile Blog Review

This is a review of Catherine's blog, Adventures in Latin America

Catherine's blog about Chile is the only one that won't damage your IQ. I'm serious. Pretty much all other Chile blogs, mine own included -- maybe it's just something about most blogs in general -- but they leave me feeling kinda dirty, or reduced somehow. I don't know why. Perhaps it's highly personal nature of blogs, their sickly, oily attempts at the "literary", their unnecessarily combative nature, pseudo-intellectualism, their presumptuousness in going around and reviewing other blogs, as if they were the favorite blog on some subject, or another. Anyway Catherine deftly slides past all of that, and writes an academically inspired blog about Latin American politics that is engaging, refreshing and well written.

Paradoxically, however, while she doesn't damage her readers' intelligence, she insults mine.

Yet recent developments suggest a brighter future for female heads of state in the Southern Cone. (The Southern Cone refers to southernmost countries of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, which look like they form the bottom part of an ice cream cone.)

Yet for some reason this insult is like water off a duck's back. Perhaps it's because she's found a way to be totally unpatronizing when she writes it, or the rest of her writing is just very straightforward so it doesn't matter.

Another qualm I have is how she calls La Tercera "Chile's Best Newspaper". Okay, I'll admit that's the paper I always ask for at the kiosk, but still it's a conservative opol in the Mercurio/Tercera duopoly. There's gotta be better papers representing more ideological diversity in Chile...or are there?

Anyway, Catherine tackles the issue of female presidency in Latin America, and is really clearcut and insightful:

But Bacheletismo isn’t about defeating your opponents with verbal swordplay. It’s all about horizontal leadership and understanding the concerns and emotions of Chilean citizens. The recent Chilean presidential election can be summed up in one sentence: Chileans no longer wanted a father but a mother to run their national household.

I would add, "because they're total mama's boys!" ...but there you have it: Catherine doesn't say that, and that's why her blog is good.

Fwiw, she also wrote a cool piece on Bachelet for the Chile Information Project when I was pretending to work for them. Looks like she recently arrived in Santiago, so we can expect some more great blogging that won't make you stupid.

Do you agree? What do you think about Catherine's blog? Write a review of "Adventures in Latin America" in the comments below!

Once you're done, you check out more Chile blog review.