How To Say Sorry

This has nothing to do with the point of the post but if you want to learn how to say sorry in Spanish, click here for a free Spanish lesson.

Now, back to business:

Canadians are looking for a retraction and apology from Bachelet, soccer guy Harold Mayne-Nicholls' arguably disingenuous apology not enough, perhaps just because he doesn't rank like a president. Bachelet called the Toronto Police's use of force "unjustified," and the Toronto police have now shown that it was justified. That's how this Edmonton Sun editorial starts off, and how others have been backing up their requests for an apology.

My stance on it is prolly open to liberal interpretation, I have repeatedly said an "independent" investigation is what you should wait for before calling foul, and that hasn't really happened yet. On the other extreme I've also kinda said that one of the players' ill-spoken admission of his team members' wrong-doing, punching an officer in the face, "proves" that the force was justified.

Maybe it doesn't "prove" it, but it sure as hell tips the meter toward the "justified" end of things. What it certainly does prove, along with the results of the Toronto Police's investigation, is that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet spoke to soon, and for that she should apologize, even if she or whoever wants to take the investigation further.

Although there's a shitload of evidence showing that the officers acted correctly, I think Chile still has a right to call for an independent investigation if they even want to. While probably right, I don't exactly agree with many Canadians' judgment that the case is closed because an internal police department investigation proved no wrong doing on the part of the police. Yes, they handled it a whole lot more professionally than the Chileans, but it's still partial.

Apart from that, I think it's a decent editorial because it raises some interesting questions about Bachelet's cynical populism and its international diplomatic implications:

Indeed, whenever Bachelet is mentioned as a tough leader who fights for the downtrodden, do not be surprised to read a sentence about how she talked tough against a brutal Toronto police force, if the comments are not officially and formally retracted.

Another interesting connection:

Two days before the soccer incident, Harper was in Chile where he and Bachelet signed the Canada-Chile Partnership Framework, which will deepen and expand relations between the two countries.

The incident at BMO stadium alone would not have significantly impacted on that pact, but Bachelet's outburst did, in fact, sour the new-found relationship.

As in pisco sour? Or the tart sourness of champagne bubbling forth at the corporate offices of Barrick Gold in Santiago?

At this point it just seems like Canadian populism that would drive Harper to demand an apology, he and his Barrick buddies depend dearly on Chile's whorish compliance, which as Hernán pointed out Bachelet is still being vague about, her decision about lifting Canadian trade tariffs or whatnot will impact the severity of environmental damage being wrought by Pascua Lama, whatever humans can do at this point. Anyway, it might not be in Harper's best interest to demand an apology, he'll have to weigh this one.

In fact, it makes me wonder about the juxtaposition of Bachelet's quick and fiery accusations and Harper's cool and collected "wait for the investigation, no further comment" response. Is that a reflection of a bunch of hot headed Latins banging up against the skeptical frigidity of a British Commonwealth? A presidenta working the feelings of her uneducated masses while her Canadian counterpart speaks to a more rational class of soccer fans and political junkies? Or does it simply betray the power dynamics at play? I don't have a profound understanding of this, but a quick glance shows me that Chile is where Pascua Lama is. I'd suspect that Canada needs Chile a lot more than Chile needs Canadá.

Bachelet might not "apologize", expressly. Canada might turn its blind black eye to the whole mess if trade tariffs are slashed, at least, the Canada that matters. That Canada needs only one kind of "apology". Harper can demand a soccer apology, not get it, and still win an election. If she's smart, Bachelet won't give that apology, "her people" won't be humiliated. They'll just end up be missing a glacier or two.

That never lost an election before.