WesWorld

Summary

January 9
The German construction equipment manufacturer Maschinenfabrik Gebrüder Hamm AG has signed an agreement with the Sociedad Industrial de San Fernando to establish a construction equipment manufacturer in the city of San Fernando, Chile.

January 21
Air Force chief-of-staff Jeremías Guendalman retired from the Fuerza Aerea de Chile, stepping down from the National Security Council (Cosena) as well. Guendalman was replaced by General Benjamin Kreutzberger, a Chilean Jewish officer from Valparaiso.

January 15
The new heavy cruiser Almirante Latorre was launched today by the ASMAR naval shipyards in Talcahuano.

February 8
Construction began today on the new Pilmaiquén Hydroelectric Plant, a planned 39MW hydroelectric plant.

February 28
With the coming end of the Antarctic summar, Capitan Augusto Pinochet and his team of Antarctic explorers have returned to Chile following a summer at the joint Antarctic Research Consortium (ARC) base at the South Pole.

March 3
The predominantly Bolivian garrison of the CBSAR town of Tarija fell under attack today from Bolivian guerrillas, who attacked an outlying police station, killing six, including one civilian bystander. The rebels appear to have escaped without significant loss, despite pursuit by Chilean and Territorial Army units. Tensions in in Chilean Bolivia are high, as the unoccupied Republic is facing its first elections in several years. This attack breaks a two-year period with minimal guerrilla activity in the Special Administrative Region.

March 16
There's a new sight on the streets of Santiago: buses powered by natural gas engines. Three vehicles have started a working trial in the city.

March 27
Bolivian President Felix Stiles admitted defeat following yesterday's elections in Bolivia, accepting opposition leader René Salinas as the victor of the presidential race. Salinas, who challenged Stiles on a leftist socialist and nationalist platform, has accused Stiles, once a noteworthy general of the Andean War, as being a "puppet of the Chilean and European capitalist pigs." Although Stiles' presidency has been marked by a decrease in perceived corruption, Stiles was hurt by the perception that he was weak on foreign affairs, particularly in response to Chile.

March 28
Destroyers Talcahuano and Abtao departed from base today to begin a training cruise to the Gulf of Paria, in Atlantean territory in the Caribbean.

April 7
Guerrillas struck today against the Chilean Bolivian town of Challapata today, attacking a police station. The police held off the attacking guerrillas, and Chilean Army soldiers responded to the attackers, driving away the rebels. One Chilean soldier and two rebels were killed in the fighting.

April 10
Chilean Army mountain troops ambushed a group of rebels near the Bolivian border, killing twelve. The band is believed one of the groups responsible for the attack on the police station at Challapata.

Wednesday, April 12, 1944
The Cosena (Council of National Security) met today to discuss the rise in guerrilla activity in the Chilean-Bolivian Special Administrative Region. The attacks which occurred on March 3 and April 7, taking place slightly over one month apart, represent the first acts of political violence in the CBSAR since August 1942. Some have speculated that the rise in violence is due in great part to the recent elections in the unoccupied part of Bolivia, which saw former president Felix Stiles replaced by René Salinas, known for his firebrand views regarding foreign policy. The uncertainty of Chile's own presidential and congressional elections, with voting scheduled for December of this year, may also have emboldened the rebels.

Also under discussion by the Cosena are rumours that Italy offered the Peruvian Navy two more used aircraft carriers. An anonymous naval officer commented to this newspaper, "If Peru intends to acquire two further aircraft carriers, it represents an unacceptable rise in their threat level, and we must respond with every tool at our disposal." Other senior officers closer to the government dismissed the threat, noting that the Italian carriers reportedly offered to Peru rank as some of the smallest and most poorly-designed in the world, "representing only a marginal threat to a highly-trained and modernized force such as the Armada de Chile."

Friday, April 14, 1944
The third annual Campeonato Nacional de Rodeo took place today in Rancagua, with a packed stadium of forty thousand fans. Sixty-four contestants took part in the rodeo.

Thursday, April 20, 1944
Jorge Castro, former Chilean ambassador to the League of Nations, was introduced this evening at a Chilean Federalist Party convention as the party's candidate to succeed Edmond Vizcarra as President of Chile. The forty-three-year-old Castro, who recently returned from Geneva, is a native of Osorno, and previously served as a self-employed entreprenuer in southern Chile.

Monday, May 1, 1944
The natural-gas tanker Petrochile Vencedor arrived in Valparaiso today bearing the first cargo of liquified natural gas from Chilean Bolivia, bound for electrical plants in the Central Valley.

Saturday, May 6, 1944
Included among today's graduates receiving their degrees from the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM) is Augustin Fortener, who will receive the honor of accepting the first Doctorate of Physics awarded by a university in South America. The soon-to-be Dr. Fortener will continue at UTFSM, but this time as a lecturer and researcher in applied physics.

Monday, May 8, 1944
The submarine chaser Loa, first in her class, was handed over to the Armada today for her acceptance trials.

Wednesday, May 10, 1944
The Pressed Steel Company, part of British industrial conglomeration Neuffield Group, announced their intention to build or acquire factory space in the region of Santiago.

Sunday, May 14, 1944
A band of nine men believed to be part of a Bolivian nationalist guerrilla movement attempted to cross the border into Chilean Bolivia today near Betanzos, a village near Potosi, where they were arrested by troops of the Chilean-Bolivian police.

Tuesday, May 16, 1944
The Chilean-Bolivian Territorial Police deported the nine men arrested two days ago in Betanzos after a local judge determined the nine men had not committed "any obvious illegal act" aside from crossing a controlled border. The men paid a fine and were turned over to the custody of Bolivian police.

Wednesday, May 24, 1944
The Constelación aircraft company unveiled their latest aircraft, the T3C "Condor Commander", in a ceremony today at their plant in central Chile. The Condor Commander prototype, which first flew last month, is undergoing development as an ultra-light airliner and utility aircraft. Production is expected to start in late 1945 or 1946.

Tuesday, June 27, 1944
Federalist presidential candidate Jorge Castro spoke today at a party convention, rolling out a proposal for an improvement of Chilean Highway 5 (Ruta 5) between La Serena and Puerto Montt. The proposed improvement project is one of the largest highway transportation projects ever proposed either in Chile or in South America, and, if approved, shall establish a 1,500-kilometer long two-lane divided toll highway along the model of the European auto-roads.

Saturday, July 1, 1944
President Edmond Vizcarra and other assorted dignitaries including Admiral Eduardo Moore (Ret.) were present this morning for the keel-laying ceremony of the new naval warship Patria at ASMAR's naval yard in Talcahuano. The Patria, believed by reporters from Janes to be a new heavy cruiser armed with 254mm guns, is expected to complete sometime in 1946. However, reports from the newspaper El Mercurio disagreed, believing that the Patria is in fact designed as an aircraft carrier, and noted the careful efforts by major government and Armada officials to avoid mentioning the ship's type.

Tuesday, July 11, 1944
Minister of Education Gustavo Paredes met today with his Brazilian counterpart today in Vina del Mar to discuss a proposal to create a social sciences institute for Latin America. The two ministers determined to raise support for the idea within their respective governments.

Friday, July 21, 1944
Valparaiso playwright Ignacio Cassab presided over this evening's debut of his fourth play, Para Tumba del Diablo, in Santiago. Cassab's past productions include Los albañiles, which became the most popular South American play to open in 1941.

Monday, July 24, 1944
Valdivia entrepreneur Elías Cárdenas, in conjunction with CORFO (the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción de Chile) announced today the creation of a new firm, Compañía para la Producción y Exportación de Algas or PREXAL. The firm endeavors to use artificial methods to farm edible seaweed such as cochayuyo and wakame for both domestic use and export. Cárdenas noted the current war in Asia has greatly disrupted the regional patterns of supply and demand, allowing for an unprecedented opportunity for foreign suppliers to acquire a market share. Prexal shall begin undertaking operations primarily in the Gulf of Chiloe both by harvesting 'wild' seaweed and establishing dedicated aquaculture beds.

Thursday, July 27, 1944
The Chilean Liberal Party (Partido Liberal) announced today that their candidate for this December's election would be Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Del Campo has previously served as Minister of War and Minister of Home Affairs, and has previously run for the Chilean presidency several times in the late 1920s, and many political observers believe his long government career may be sufficient to win the presidency for the Partido Liberal. Del Campo's only real opponent is Partido Federalista de Chile's candidate, Jorge Castro, former ambassador to the League of Nations for the last three years.

Thursday, August 3, 1944
The Chilean foreign ministry issued a statement today stating their concern about plans proposed in the Bolivian congress for agricultural reform within Bolivia. The proposed law was designed by recently-elected Bolivian president René Salinas to break up the tracts of large "corporate" landowners in the provinces of Beni, Santa Cruz, and Pando. Presidente Salinas established agricultural reform as part of his campaign platform during the Bolivian elections earlier this year. Salinas claims the law will assist in breaking the power of the large "landowner barons", many of whom came to power on the basis of the illegal drugs trade. The Foreign Ministry called the law "ill-advised" and noted it was "likely to produce upheaval in the Bolivian agricultural sector".

Wednesday, August 9, 1944
The Armada de Chile confirmed the purchase of eight destroyers of the Farragut class from the United States. The octet of vessels shall replace the Teniente Aldea class, slated for retirement over the course of the next year. The new vessels will assume the names of the ships they shall replace, and all eight ships will receive a comprehensive reconstruction over the next few years.

Saturday, August 12, 1944
The battlecruiser Cochrane officially completed today at the ASMAR naval yards in Talcahuano. The new vessel will undertake six weeks of builders' trials before being commissioned and heading to the Gulf of Paria for an intensive working-up period.

Friday, August 18, 1944
The Chilean Congress approved a preparatory bill approving funding for the proposed reconstruction of Chilean Route 5 as a controlled-access toll road. The bill creates an organization, the Ruta 5 Management Group, which has authority to draw government-sponsored loans for design and construction work.

Tuesday, August 22, 1944
Presidential candidates Jorge Castro and Carlos Ibáñez del Campo sparred today in a face-to-face debate held at the University of Valparaiso. The debate covered issues of social justice, economic policy, support for the military, and international diplomacy. Radio ADN Chile broadcast the debate across the country.

Thursday, August 24, 1944
The new steamship company Naviera Chilena del Pacífico Ltd announced its registration with the Chilean shipping association. The company has acquired CSAV's old Isla Chañaral (1905) and Incahuasi (1920) coastal tramp steamships, of 1905 vintage, as a short-term loan from Directemar while seeking more modern vessels, expected in 1945.

Tuesday, August 29, 1944
The Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María announced that it would begin construction of a second cyclotron for use by researchers and pharmacists associated with the university's various medical research programs.

Tuesday, September 5, 1944
The FAMAE military arsenal announced that it had received a contract to overhaul and modernize roughly half of the Chilean Army's force of M41 medium tanks. The overhaul will replace worn automotive components, as well as installing a new turret equipped with the Yugoslavian-manufactured M40 75mm cannon. In addition, the petrol engines will be replaced with two turbocharged diesels, of a Skoda design license-built by Terrestre.

Thursday, September 14, 1944
The Ministry of the Interior released a document overviewing a new program to encourage immigration to Chile, particularly to the Magellanes region. The Ministry declared that it would distribute approximately three thousand square kilometers of government-owned land to private individuals, provided they lived on the land for at least five years and made improvements on it. Additionally, money would be made available for loans for tractors and other farming equipment. The Ministry indicated it would advertise the program primarily in Europe and North America.

Monday, September 18, 1944
Chile celebrated today the Fiestas Patrias and its 135th year of independence. President Vizcarra addressed the nation from the La Moneda Palace. The speech is noteworthy as the first time a Chilean president, or indeed head of state of any South American nation, has given a televised address. Following the speech, Vizcarra hosted a dinner at the La Moneda Palace for national dignitaries and foreign ambassadors.

Tuesday, September 19, 1944
The nation observed Día de las Glorias del Ejército, or Army Day, today. Chief among the events was the traditional parade, which saw a marching column from the newly-reorganized 7th Reinforced Regiment "Chacabuco", and a mechanized group from the 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade.

Monday, September 25, 1944
In a special bill, Congress approved a plan by the Chilean Air Force to purchase dradis equipment for the purpose of establishing an early warning and aircraft interception system for the country. Up to this point, dradis has been the sole domain of the Armada, which equipped over sixty percent of the nation's warships with the electronic devices, and has established their own dradis network on the coastline to cover the naval base at Talcahuano. The Chilean electronic manufacturer Sisdef has supplied land-based dradis units to the Armada as well as to the armed forces of the Philippines, but the FACh has never adopted dradis for its own use in the national air defense. In his remarks to the press, Air Force commander-in-chief General del Aire Benjamin Kreutzberger indicated the plan involves the construction of six static dradis sets and eighteen trailer-mobile dradis sets.

Thursday, September 28, 1944
The Pescuara Humboldt firm signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire a fish cannery ship, to be named Estancia, from German shipyards. The new vessel will increase the landings made by Humboldt trawlers.

Monday, October 2, 1944 - El Mercurio
The Chilean Air Force declined to comment on rumors that it was testing a top-secret jet bomber built by ENAER.

Wednesday, October 4, 1944
Construction on a proposed hydroelectric plant at Pullinque, in the Los Rios Region, was approved to begin this summer.

Sunday, October 8, 1944
The Chilean Navy celebrated the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Angamos. The cruiser Constitucion and the heavy destroyers Iquique and Angamos conducted a series of short gunnery exercises and maneuvers at the site of the battle, after which the crews paused for a moment of silence as a tribute to their forefathers who triumphed in the battle. At the naval base at Talcahuano, a similar ceremony was held on the decks of the museum ironclad Huascar, where observers paid tribute to Captains Grau and Prat, who both fell on the ship's deck.

Tuesday, October 24, 1944 - Bolivia
The Bolivian Congress today passed President René Salinas's land reform law despite opposition from the wealthy and conservative senators. The law is designed to break up holdings by large landowners in order to distribute farmland to underprivileged peasants. The law will come into effect in January of 1945.

Saturday, November 4, 1944
The Chilean Navy formally established a patrol and lifesaving station, named Puerto Luisa, on the northern shore of Isla Navarino. Equipment for the lifesaving station and the construction of navigational beacons was landed by the BACh Rancagua.

Sunday, November 12, 1944
A demonstration team from the Royal Yugoslavian Army arrived today in Santiago to demonstrate the M40 antitank rocket launcher to the Chilean Army.

Tuesday, November 14, 1944 - El Sur
CORFO (the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción de Chile) announced the creation of the Aluchile S.A. firm. Aluchile intends to use a five million peso loan from CORFO - the largest loan ever offered by that group - to construct an aluminium smelter in the vicinity of Concepcion. When the facility is completed in mid-1948, the facility shall be able to process approximately two hundred thousand metric tons a year of Brazilian bauxite into aluminium.

Tuesday, November 21, 1944
Bayner Fabricación S.A. of Valparaiso announced that it had formed a strategic partnership with Siemens of Germany in order to undertake licensed construction of walk-behind agricultural tractors, made possible by a financial investment from Siemens. The firm expects to more than double their manufacturing workforce over the next year, and hopes to post a profit exceeding one million pesos for 1945.

Thursday, November 30, 1944
The police station in the CBSAR village of Vitichi (population five hundred) was attacked today by guerrillas who crossed the border from Bolivia in the early morning. The police chief received warning from several locals who had spotted several men outside town behaving suspiciously. Although the attackers attempted to cut the telephone line leading to the town (which only had one telephone), the police had sufficient time to call for reinforcement. A brief gunfight then occurred between the town's six policemen, with the support of three local militia members, and a band of sixteen guerrilla fighters, during the course of which one policeman and one militiaman were injured. The police, outgunned and running short on ammunition, were preparing to pull back when a company of Cazadores from the 1st Reinforced Regiment "Calama", engaged in training CBSAR units in Potosi, arrived by truck. The Chilean troops swiftly counterattacked the guerrillas, killing three and capturing four wounded men, while driving the nine survivors back from the town. An aggressive manhunt over the course of the afternoon resulted in the capture of five more guerrillas, including two sixteen-year old child soldiers from the Cochabamba region.

Monday, December 4, 1944
An official communique jointly issued by the education ministers of the Chilean and Brazilian governments announced the creation of the international Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Latin America Social Science Institute), which shall operate under the auspices of the League of Nation's International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.

Friday, December 8, 1944
A final debate was held between presidential candidates Jorge Castro and Carlos Ibáñez del Campo in Santiago.

Monday, December 11, 1944
Construction crews broke ground today for the new Pullinque Hydroelectric Station project.

Wednesday, December 20, 1944
The Nachipa shipping company (Naviera Chilena del Pacífico Ltd) signed a contract to purchase five ships to replace their short-term fleet. The largest vessel, to be named the Algarrobo, will be placed into service next May. Four other vessels built to a German design - including one vessel to actually be built in Germany - will enter service over the next eighteen months in the coastal trade.

Sunday, December 24, 1944
Elections for President and Congress are held in Chile.

Friday, December 29, 1944
The election commission announced that Jorge Castro has triumphed in the Presidential elections held five days ago. President-Elect Castro will be sworn in on January 12th of next year. The Partido Federalista de Chile additionally managed to hold a majority in the Chilean Congress, although some seats held by weaker candidates were lost.

January 9
The German construction equipment manufacturer Maschinenfabrik Gebrüder Hamm AG has signed an agreement with the Sociedad Industrial de San Fernando to establish a construction equipment manufacturer in the city of San Fernando, Chile.

January 21
Air Force chief-of-staff Jeremías Guendalman retired from the Fuerza Aerea de Chile, stepping down from the National Security Council (Cosena) as well. Guendalman was replaced by General Benjamin Kreutzberger, a Chilean Jewish officer from Valparaiso.

January 15
The new heavy cruiser Almirante Latorre was launched today by the ASMAR naval shipyards in Talcahuano.

February 8
Construction began today on the new Pilmaiquén Hydroelectric Plant, a planned 39MW hydroelectric plant.

February 28
With the coming end of the Antarctic summar, Capitan Augusto Pinochet and his team of Antarctic explorers have returned to Chile following a summer at the joint Antarctic Research Consortium (ARC) base at the South Pole.

Here's a bit of a new idea that I came up with - posting "Top Five" lists for Chile. Basically, show off little tidbits in the country that might not otherwise get into the news or encyclopedia.

So here's the first one... well, two, since they kinda go together.

Quoted

Top Five Most Popular Foreign Countries
Ever since achieving independence, Chile has forged ties with foreign states that run deeper than mere political, military, or economic alignments. These are the nations which Chile holds in high regard.

1. Atlantis
Atlantis was the first nation to recognize Chilean independence, and ever since the Chileans have held high regard for the Atlantean Empire. Over the last century, Atlantis rose to become Chile's largest international investment partner. A full eighty-one percent of adult Chileans identified their view of Atlantis as 'favorable'.

2. Great Britain
The British Empire materially aided the Chilean wars of independence, and a number of the great heroes of Chilean history have British (or Irish) heritage, including Almirante Cochrane and General O'Higgins. British investment in the Chilean economy vies with Atlantean investment for primacy, although this rivalry has faded in recent decades as the United States makes its economic might known. Such has been the influence of Britain and the US that English has become the unofficial second language of Chile, spoken by nearly a third of the country's people. Seventy-nine percent of Chileans viewed Britain in a positive light.

3. United States
US citizens may be surprised that the United States only ranks third in popularity with the Chileans, considering that the Chilean government is strongly modeled on the US. The lower popularity may be due to the traditional US isolationism. It also irks most Chileans that US citizens call themselves 'Americans', as Chileans apply that term to all inhabitants of the Americas. Despite this, seventy-seven percent of Chileans exhibited approval of the US.

4. Germany
There's a strong German minority in Chile, present particularly in the Los Lagos and Los Rios regions. Most of that minority is actually Catholic-German in origin, composed of those who left Europe between the 1860s and 1890s. These immigrants have since become productive and well-regarded citizens of Chile. Seventy-six and a half percent of Chileans viewed Germany with approval.

5. Canada
Foreign observers often think Canada is a strange country for Chileans to think well of, but Chileans tend to regard Canada as a sort of English-speaking cousin; they are both proud regional nations on the border of the Great Powers' spheres of influence. Ultimately, Chileans desire to emulate the successes of their northern neighbors. Sixty-nine percent of Chileans approved of Canada. Noteworthy is the fact that fewer Chileans think poorly of Canada (0.4%) than any other country.

Didn't Make the List
The Philippines, Nordmark, and (perhaps somewhat surprisingly) Japan are fairly well regarded by the Chilean people.

* * * * *

Top Five Least Popular Foreign Countries
Chileans like to think of themselves as a live-and-let-live people, but there are a few countries toward which they express a consistent dislike.

1. Peru
Curiously, Chile and Peru once were allies against Iberian domination, and the Chilean founding fathers strove to free the Peruvian people from tyrrany. Where did this go wrong? During the Pacific War, when Peru concluded a secret alliance with Bolivia against Chile. Over the last twenty years, Peru has been an unstable and sometimes unpredictable factor in the region, building up an army, navy, and air force to intimidate Chile. This was the case in the early 1930s when Chile had to transfer control of Tacna Province to keep them from allying with belligerent Bolivia. Despite political upheavals, Peru continues arming itself at a nearly frantic pace. An astounding eighty-four percent of Chileans dislike Peru.

2. Bolivia
Chilean perception of Bolivia has changed back and forth over the last two decades. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Bolivia was Public Enemy #1 for Chile, a fact reflected in the popular perception of the country. However, following the Andean War and then during the Peruvian Civil War, Chilean opinion of Bolivia changed. Now, Chileans believe that the Bolivian people have been betrayed and oppressed by their leaders, who promise wealth and freedom but only deliver poverty and oppression. Sixty-one percent of Chileans think poorly of Bolivia.

3. South African Empire
Less than a decade after the end of the South American War, Chileans still aren't certain what to think about the South African Empire. Although heavily vilified during the war as Chile supported their alliance-partners Argentina and Brazil, historians now regard this as "The Orange Scare". Fewer Chilean people think poorly of the SAE today (twenty-nine percent) than in 1936 (sixty-two percent), but this drop in disapproval has not translated into actually liking the SAE: the approval rating has only risen one point in the last eight years, to fifteen percent.

4. United States
It's a strange factor of the relationship between Chile and the United States that the US appears on both the Top Five Best Liked and Top Five Least Liked nations. While seventy-seven percent of Chileans liked the US, nineteen percent of adults expressed dislike for the country, citing concerns ranging from economic imperialism to a holdover of distrust from the Huey Long administration.

5. Iberia
Once Chile's imperial master, Iberia is still a country that Chileans love to hate. Chileans have never quite forgiven the Iberians for the 1866 Bombardment of Valparaiso, when the Iberian Navy bombarded the defenseless port city of Valparaiso. However, most Chileans have little real animosity remaining. Twelve percent of Chileans think poorly of Iberia - about the same percentage of people who feel approvingly of Iberia.

Didn't Make the List
India's role in arming Peru, and China's warmongering in Asia, makes these countries somewhat unpopular in Chile.

March 3
The predominantly Bolivian garrison of the CBSAR town of Tarija fell under attack today from Bolivian guerrillas, who attacked an outlying police station, killing six, including one civilian bystander. The rebels appear to have escaped without significant loss, despite pursuit by Chilean and Territorial Army units. Tensions in in Chilean Bolivia are high, as the unoccupied Republic is facing its first elections in several years. This attack breaks a two-year period with minimal guerrilla activity in the Special Administrative Region.

March 16
There's a new sight on the streets of Santiago: buses powered by natural gas engines. Three vehicles have started a working trial in the city.

March 27
Bolivian President Felix Stiles admitted defeat following yesterday's elections in Bolivia, accepting opposition leader René Salinas as the victor of the presidential race. Salinas, who challenged Stiles on a leftist socialist and nationalist platform, has accused Stiles, once a noteworthy general of the Andean War, as being a "puppet of the Chilean and European capitalist pigs." Although Stiles' presidency has been marked by a decrease in perceived corruption, Stiles was hurt by the perception that he was weak on foreign affairs, particularly in response to Chile.

March 28
Destroyers Talcahuano and Abtao departed from base today to begin a training cruise to the Gulf of Paria, in Atlantean territory in the Caribbean.

April 7
Guerrillas struck today against the Chilean Bolivian town of Challapata today, attacking a police station. The police held off the attacking guerrillas, and Chilean Army soldiers responded to the attackers, driving away the rebels. One Chilean soldier and two rebels were killed in the fighting.

April 10
Chilean Army mountain troops ambushed a group of rebels near the Bolivian border, killing twelve. The band is believed one of the groups responsible for the attack on the police station at Challapata.

April 10
A dozen rebels left their camp at dawn, descending the hill with their Mauser rifles slung over their shoulders. A boy in the back of the line led four laden llamas on a rope. Each guerrilla wore wool poncho, a bandolier of ammunition and a machete; but aside from this they had few similarities.

The Chilean-Bolivian border was still ten kilometers north; and the rebels were wary. The Chilean Army, and their minions in the Special Territorial Forces, patrolled the border against them. The precipitous mountain crags loomed overhead like stony vultures. The rebels, keyed up for danger, could easily imagine it full of eyes.

From his hide two hundred meters up the slope, Sergeant Tosca Ranulfo put his eye to the scope of his rifle. Tosca proudly wore the demure shoulder flash of the Ejercito de Chile's Cazadores de Montana, the Hunters of the Mountains. On the breast of his smock he wore the pin of an Army Sharpshooter.

The rebels never learn. Use the same trail too often and we'll get wise to them.

Tosca did not take his eye off the target. "Sixty meters."

Corporal Kearin, Tosca's spotter, whispered into his radio. "On my order, two rounds high explosive."

"Confirm," a distant mortar operator answered cheerily.

Tosca waited as the dozen rebels continued down their path. They were heading back north. Three days earlier, Bolivian guerrillas had murdered a Chilean soldier in town. Tosca didn't know if it was this same band that had done the deed, but Tosca intended to deliver their justice.

The leader paused to wipe sweat from his brow. As he looked back up, frowning at the horizon, Tosca took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and at just the right moment, squeezed the trigger. The automatic rifle barked, and the rebel leader pitched to the ground.

The rebels instantly dove for the cover close at hand. One of them placed his foot into the wire, and three French-made "Leaping Louies" triggered. Small shells, grenade-like, shot a meter into the air before the wire in their tails snapped, triggering the detonators. Four more rebels were killed or mortally-wounded. Another wounded man screamed from cover.

"Mortars, fire," Corporal Kearin ordered.

The pair of company mortars fired their 60mm shells, which tumbled down onto the prepared kill zone with outstanding accuracy. Two detonations echoed through the Andes.

Tosca brought his rifle back into readiness, studying the terrain with a careful eye. Two minutes passed. One of the surviving and apparently uninjured rebels moved behind the cover, barely visible to Tosca's experienced eye, as he tried to spot the Chilean Army snipers in order to return fire.

"Another mortar?" Kearin inquired.

"No." Tosca tried to put himself in the rebels' boots. I'd be moving... there... to peak up and get a look around. Slowly...

A head slowly rose over a boulder. Tosca breathed out and fired, hitting the guerrilla between the eyes.

There were several more minutes of silence. Tosca did not put his rifle down; he heard a wounded man, hidden in cover, still wimpering and thrashing.

A pair of condors began circling overhead.

The noise from the wounded guerrilla rose in volume. Tosca listened carefully. In the crisp mountain air he could hear the man fairly well. He was sobbing, struggling to get out a Hail Mary between his last gasping breaths. Three-quarters of the way through, all sound ended.

One of the condors came in to land. Tosca waited. The condor disappeared behind the rocks. A few moments later, it squawked abruptly and rose on massive wings, taking back to the sky.

A small form darted out of cover, wailing like a mountain spirit. It took Tosca by surprise. On instinct, he aimed and fired. A 6.5mm bullet tore through the small guerrilla's chest, and he stumbled, pitching head over heels down the slope, dust rising in a reddish-orange cloud with every tumble.

Corporal Kearin grunted in surprise. "Good shot."

Tosca finally lowered his rifle. "Thank you."

"That was the boy leading the llamas," Kearin added.

"I realized that after I shot him," Tosca replied quietly. It didn't bother him too much. Another year and the boy would've carried a rifle like the rest of them. He'd seen child guerrillas before; they were usually the most brutal of them all.

"Call for a cleanup squad," Tosca said, watching the condors land. This time they were not disturbed. "It's over."

But it was not over. In fact, it was just beginning.

Top Five Best-Selling Automobiles
The growth of the Chilean middle class, which has expanded from twenty percent of the population in 1920 to forty percent in 1940, has fueled the desire for automobiles, one of the status symbols of membership in the middle class. Although there are an estimated one million middle-class households in Chile, the country has only a quarter million automobiles, approximately ninety percent of which are imported from Europe and North America. The cost of importation means that cars cost 150% as much as they do in neighboring Argentina, which has its own local auto-manufacturing industry. The estimated average age of a Chilean car is twelve years old.

Figures compiled by the Chilean Automobile Association indicate that twenty thousand automobiles were sold in Chile in 1943. Fully half of these cars belonged to one of five types.

1. Ford Fordor Sedan
The Ford Fordor, and it's coupe variant, the Tudor, sold 2,375 units in Chile in 1943, and sales continue to be strong through early 1944. The CAA estimates there are more Fords on Chilean roads than any other brand of automobile, dating back to the Ford Model "T" and Model "A", which competed with the Austen Seven for control of the roads.

2. Plymouth De Luxe Sedan
Plymouth sold a whopping 2,258 De Luxe sedans in Chile in 1943, in its first year of importing directly to Chile. Plymouth is directly challenging Ford for supremacy in the market, and the De Luxe is a clear rival to the Fordor. Plymouth's quality marketing in Chile has been substantially responsible for their strong first year of importing.

3. Terrestre 675 "Geep"
The lone Chilean-manufactured automobile sold on the civilian market in 1943, the Terrestre 675 is cheap, rugged, and equipped with power take-off to run farm implements. Despite these many advantages, the 675 has only two seats and no permanent roof, making it less desirable as a family vehicle. 1,854 were sold in 1943, with a large percentage purchased for use as postal delivery vehicles or Carabineros patrol cars. An enclosed version with a van-like rear compartment is planned for 1945 introduction.

4. International Harvester K-1 Truck
Introduced in 1941, the International K-1 is the vehicle of the "Chilean working man". 1,788 units were sold in 1943, and it competed directly with the indiginous Terrestre 675. Although more expensive, the K-1 has a significantly higher level of "polish", which makes it more desirable for use.

5. Auto Union / Auto-Union Argentinas S.A. Beetle
1,695 Beetles were sold in Chile during 1943, with about half coming from the Auto-Union plant in Argentina, and the remainder being shipped in from Germany. Its inexpensive cost and fairly rugged construction makes it desirable, although it lacks the size of the Fordor and De Luxe. The Beetle sells best in the cities (with 1,400 units sold in only three cities: Santiago, Valparaiso, and Concepcion).

Didn't Make the List
Ford's 1/2 ton truck (introduced in 1944) has nearly outsold the International K-1 during the first quarter of 1944. The K-1 retains the advantage of name recognition and a loyal customer base, but the Ford has leveraged its more widespread sales network.

The Citroën Traction Avant has been a longtime best seller, but aims primarily at the upper class, as well as the richest members of the middle class.

The executives of Auto-Union take some comfort in being in the top-five, but feel that the company should make stronger efforts to market its product in the Chilean market.

The marketing department will target its ad campaigns to make the prospective Chilean auto-purchaser aware of not only the benefits of the VW sedan, but also its Type 75 light utility cousin - aimed at the 1/2-ton pickup segment of the market. A particular campaign will be launched to market the Type 200 Tramsporter multi-purpose vehicle (ie. the Microbus), which might find favor in the up-scale segment of the market as well as appealing to commercial operators (local bus services).

No effort will be spared to increase sales...

A nice little writeup.

Auto-Union Argentinas S.A. would certainly like to add a production licence for the Type 200 Transporter alongside the other Auto-Union products. There is no doubt the South American market for such a vehicle is vast.

Also, though I've not gotten around to mentioning it before, we agreement from Jason General Motors has continued its historic production in Argentina.
The Chevrolet Double Phantom plus Oldsmobile, Marquette, La Salle, Buick and Cadillac models have been made since the late 1920s. The exact models I have not yet determined but probably saloons and the like with some luxury models for the high-end. Vauxhall and Opel models were marketed historically but that makes less sense in WW. So these American marques probably feature more highly in Argentine car sales than in Chile. The 'Geep' sounds like it would be a good vehicle for Patagonian and Andean communities.

There is little doubt that Auto Union would license the Type 200 to its Argentine partners if there was a sufficiently strong business case in favor of it. Negotiations ought to be opened.

Wednesday, April 12, 1944
The Cosena (Council of National Security) met today to discuss the rise in guerrilla activity in the Chilean-Bolivian Special Administrative Region. The attacks which occurred on March 3 and April 7, taking place slightly over one month apart, represent the first acts of political violence in the CBSAR since August 1942. Some have speculated that the rise in violence is due in great part to the recent elections in the unoccupied part of Bolivia, which saw former president Felix Stiles replaced by René Salinas, known for his firebrand views regarding foreign policy. The uncertainty of Chile's own presidential and congressional elections, with voting scheduled for December of this year, may also have emboldened the rebels.

Also under discussion by the Cosena are rumours that Italy offered the Peruvian Navy two more used aircraft carriers. An anonymous naval officer commented to this newspaper, "If Peru intends to acquire two further aircraft carriers, it represents an unacceptable rise in their threat level, and we must respond with every tool at our disposal." Other senior officers closer to the government dismissed the threat, noting that the Italian carriers reportedly offered to Peru rank as some of the smallest and most poorly-designed in the world, "representing only a marginal threat to a highly-trained and modernized force such as the Armada de Chile."

Friday, April 14, 1944
The third annual Campeonato Nacional de Rodeo took place today in Rancagua, with a packed stadium of forty thousand fans. Sixty-four contestants took part in the rodeo.

Thursday, April 20, 1944
Jorge Castro, former Chilean ambassador to the League of Nations, was introduced this evening at a Chilean Federalist Party convention as the party's candidate to succeed Edmond Vizcarra as President of Chile. The forty-three-year-old Castro, who recently returned from Geneva, is a native of Osorno, and previously served as a self-employed entreprenuer in southern Chile.

Monday, May 1, 1944
The natural-gas tanker Petrochile Vencedor arrived in Valparaiso today bearing the first cargo of liquified natural gas from Chilean Bolivia, bound for electrical plants in the Central Valley.

Saturday, May 6, 1944
Included among today's graduates receiving their degrees from the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM) is Augustin Fortener, who will receive the honor of accepting the first Doctorate of Physics awarded by a university in South America. The soon-to-be Dr. Fortener will continue at UTFSM, but this time as a lecturer and researcher in applied physics.

Monday, May 8, 1944
The submarine chaser Loa, first in her class, was handed over to the Armada today for her acceptance trials.

Wednesday, May 10, 1944
The Pressed Steel Company, part of British industrial conglomeration Neuffield Group, announced their intention to build or acquire factory space in the region of Santiago.

Sunday, May 14, 1944
A band of nine men believed to be part of a Bolivian nationalist guerrilla movement attempted to cross the border into Chilean Bolivia today near Betanzos, a village near Potosi, where they were arrested by troops of the Chilean-Bolivian police.

Tuesday, May 16, 1944
The Chilean-Bolivian Territorial Police deported the nine men arrested two days ago in Betanzos after a local judge determined the nine men had not committed "any obvious illegal act" aside from crossing a controlled border. The men paid a fine and were turned over to the custody of Bolivian police.

Wednesday, May 24, 1944
The Constelación aircraft company unveiled their latest aircraft, the T3C "Condor Commander", in a ceremony today at their plant in central Chile. The Condor Commander prototype, which first flew last month, is undergoing development as an ultra-light airliner and utility aircraft. Production is expected to start in late 1945 or 1946.

Tuesday, June 27, 1944
Federalist presidential candidate Jorge Castro spoke today at a party convention, rolling out a proposal for an improvement of Chilean Highway 5 (Ruta 5) between La Serena and Puerto Montt. The proposed improvement project is one of the largest highway transportation projects ever proposed either in Chile or in South America, and, if approved, shall establish a 1,500-kilometer long two-lane divided toll highway along the model of the European auto-roads.

Top Five World-Leading Industries
1. Astronomy
On the Atacama desert at Chajnantor lies one of the foremost observatories in the world, and the largest in the southern hemisphere. The observatory, funded in part by the University of Valparaiso, includes three of the five largest radiotelescopes in the world. Nor is Chajnantor the only world-class observatory in Chile: the observatory at La Silla, also on the Atacama desert, received an award in 1943 for 'Best-Designed Observatory.' Among the notables working at Chajnantor is Irish astronomer Kenneth Edgeworth, who has discovered a disk of icy bodies, the Edgeworth Belt, in the outskirts of our solar system.

2. Electronics
The radiotelescopes at Chajnantor Observatory are one of the many products of the growing Chilean electronics industry. The Chilean parastatal Sisdef (Sistemas Defensas S.A.) has manufactured dradis radio-detection systems since 1937, serving as a plucky underdog in a market dominated by larger manufacturers such as Phillips. Other firms, such as Fabricaciones Militares ("Fabmil"), have recently become involved in electronics manufacture.

3. Natural Gas Powered Vehicles
Although Chile still imports over ninety percent of their automobiles, they lead the world in the manufacture of natural-gas powered vehicles. The availability of relatively cheap natural gas in Chilean Bolivia, and the promise of natural gas to burn cleaner and reduce smog in polluted Santiago, has led Chilean companies such as Austral Obras Mechanias to design and build the world's first natural-gas powered bus, which will soon begin appearing in numbers on Santiago's streets. The company is additionally preparing a kit to replace petroleum-powered engines in standard automobiles. To date, Chile has manufactured more natural-gas powered vehicles than the rest of the world combined. [1]

4. Wine
Chile's wine industry ranks highly on the world market, holding third place behind France and Italy. (Chile and Atlantis have spent the last ten years vying for third place on the international market.) The vast majority of vineyards occur in Chile's Central Valley, where a Mediterranean-like climate exists throughout most of the year. Chile's presence in the southern hemisphere allows for the country to export summer wine (as well as summer fruits and vegetables) while northern-hemisphere wine producers are facing their winter months, thus substantially improving Chile's ability to sell and market their products abroad. Chile's wine industry has existed longer than the country itself: in fact, the oldest business operating in the Western Hemisphere is a Chilean winery in the Central Valley.

5. Shipbuilding
Every year, the Chilean shipbuilding industry launches over one hundred forty thousand tons of civilian and military shipping, for customers both local and international. A majority of this business takes place at ASMAR, originally founded in the 1800s as the shipyard of the Chilean Navy. The company's technically-advanced yards at Talcahuano, Valparaiso, and elsewhere have turned out a variety of innovative ships, including a tanker designed to carry liquified natural gas from Bolivia, a novel car and passenger ferry for the Magellanes region, and the two largest passenger ships on the west coast of South America, the SS Presidente and SS Independencia. Military offerings are no less versatile: ASMAR has sold submarines and minesweepers to Brazil, military tugs to China, and in the 1930s assisted materially in the renovation of a Philippine shipyard. Local manufacturer Austral Maritimas also manufactures Burmeister & Wain maritime diesel engines under license, serving as B&W's South American distributor.



Note [1]: Which doesn't say much...

Saturday, July 1, 1944
President Edmond Vizcarra and other assorted dignitaries including Admiral Eduardo Moore (Ret.) were present this morning for the keel-laying ceremony of the new naval warship Patria at ASMAR's naval yard in Talcahuano. The Patria, believed by reporters from Janes to be a new heavy cruiser armed with 254mm guns, is expected to complete sometime in 1946. However, reports from the newspaper El Mercurio disagreed, believing that the Patria is in fact designed as an aircraft carrier, and noted the careful efforts by major government and Armada officials to avoid mentioning the ship's type.

Tuesday, July 11, 1944
Minister of Education Gustavo Paredes met today with his Brazilian counterpart today in Vina del Mar to discuss a proposal to create a social sciences institute for Latin America. The two ministers determined to raise support for the idea within their respective governments.

Friday, July 21, 1944
Valparaiso playwright Ignacio Cassab presided over this evening's debut of his fourth play, Para Tumba del Diablo, in Santiago. Cassab's past productions include Los albañiles, which became the most popular South American play to open in 1941.

Monday, July 24, 1944
Valdivia entrepreneur Elías Cárdenas, in conjunction with CORFO (the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción de Chile) announced today the creation of a new firm, Compañía para la Producción y Exportación de Algas or PREXAL. The firm endeavors to use artificial methods to farm edible seaweed such as cochayuyo and wakame for both domestic use and export. Cárdenas noted the current war in Asia has greatly disrupted the regional patterns of supply and demand, allowing for an unprecedented opportunity for foreign suppliers to acquire a market share. Prexal shall begin undertaking operations primarily in the Gulf of Chiloe both by harvesting 'wild' seaweed and establishing dedicated aquaculture beds.

Thursday, July 27, 1944
The Chilean Liberal Party (Partido Liberal) announced today that their candidate for this December's election would be Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Del Campo has previously served as Minister of War and Minister of Home Affairs, and has previously run for the Chilean presidency several times in the late 1920s, and many political observers believe his long government career may be sufficient to win the presidency for the Partido Liberal. Del Campo's only real opponent is Partido Federalista de Chile's candidate, Jorge Castro, former ambassador to the League of Nations for the last three years.

Thursday, August 3, 1944
The Chilean foreign ministry issued a statement today stating their concern about plans proposed in the Bolivian congress for agricultural reform within Bolivia. The proposed law was designed by recently-elected Bolivian president René Salinas to break up the tracts of large "corporate" landowners in the provinces of Beni, Santa Cruz, and Pando. Presidente Salinas established agricultural reform as part of his campaign platform during the Bolivian elections earlier this year. Salinas claims the law will assist in breaking the power of the large "landowner barons", many of whom came to power on the basis of the illegal drugs trade. The Foreign Ministry called the law "ill-advised" and noted it was "likely to produce upheaval in the Bolivian agricultural sector".

Wednesday, August 9, 1944
The Armada de Chile confirmed the purchase of eight destroyers of the Farragut class from the United States. The octet of vessels shall replace the Teniente Aldea class, slated for retirement over the course of the next year. The new vessels will assume the names of the ships they shall replace, and all eight ships will receive a comprehensive reconstruction over the next few years.

Saturday, August 12, 1944
The battlecruiser Cochrane officially completed today at the ASMAR naval yards in Talcahuano. The new vessel will undertake six weeks of builders' trials before being commissioned and heading to the Gulf of Paria for an intensive working-up period.

Friday, August 18, 1944
The Chilean Congress approved a preparatory bill approving funding for the proposed reconstruction of Chilean Route 5 as a controlled-access toll road. The bill creates an organization, the Ruta 5 Management Group, which has authority to draw government-sponsored loans for design and construction work.

Tuesday, August 22, 1944
Presidential candidates Jorge Castro and Carlos Ibáñez del Campo sparred today in a face-to-face debate held at the University of Valparaiso. The debate covered issues of social justice, economic policy, support for the military, and international diplomacy. Radio ADN Chile broadcast the debate across the country.

Thursday, August 24, 1944
The new steamship company Naviera Chilena del Pacífico Ltd announced its registration with the Chilean shipping association. The company has acquired CSAV's old Isla Chañaral (1905) and Incahuasi (1920) coastal tramp steamships, of 1905 vintage, as a short-term loan from Directemar while seeking more modern vessels, expected in 1945.

Tuesday, August 29, 1944
The Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María announced that it would begin construction of a second cyclotron for use by researchers and pharmacists associated with the university's various medical research programs.

Tuesday, September 5, 1944
The FAMAE military arsenal announced that it had received a contract to overhaul and modernize roughly half of the Chilean Army's force of M41 medium tanks. The overhaul will replace worn automotive components, as well as installing a new turret equipped with the Yugoslavian-manufactured M40 75mm cannon. In addition, the petrol engines will be replaced with two turbocharged diesels, of a Skoda design license-built by Terrestre.

Thursday, September 14, 1944
The Ministry of the Interior released a document overviewing a new program to encourage immigration to Chile, particularly to the Magellanes region. The Ministry declared that it would distribute approximately three thousand square kilometers of government-owned land to private individuals, provided they lived on the land for at least five years and made improvements on it. Additionally, money would be made available for loans for tractors and other farming equipment. The Ministry indicated it would advertise the program primarily in Europe and North America.

Monday, September 18, 1944
Chile celebrated today the Fiestas Patrias and its 135th year of independence. President Vizcarra addressed the nation from the La Moneda Palace. The speech is noteworthy as the first time a Chilean president, or indeed head of state of any South American nation, has given a televised address. Following the speech, Vizcarra hosted a dinner at the La Moneda Palace for national dignitaries and foreign ambassadors.

Tuesday, September 19, 1944
The nation observed Día de las Glorias del Ejército, or Army Day, today. Chief among the events was the traditional parade, which saw a marching column from the newly-reorganized 7th Reinforced Regiment "Chacabuco", and a mechanized group from the 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade.

Monday, September 25, 1944
In a special bill, Congress approved a plan by the Chilean Air Force to purchase dradis equipment for the purpose of establishing an early warning and aircraft interception system for the country. Up to this point, dradis has been the sole domain of the Armada, which equipped over sixty percent of the nation's warships with the electronic devices, and has established their own dradis network on the coastline to cover the naval base at Talcahuano. The Chilean electronic manufacturer Sisdef has supplied land-based dradis units to the Armada as well as to the armed forces of the Philippines, but the FACh has never adopted dradis for its own use in the national air defense. In his remarks to the press, Air Force commander-in-chief General del Aire Benjamin Kreutzberger indicated the plan involves the construction of six static dradis sets and eighteen trailer-mobile dradis sets.

Thursday, September 28, 1944
The Pescuara Humboldt firm signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire a fish cannery ship, to be named Estancia, from German shipyards. The new vessel will increase the landings made by Humboldt trawlers.

Top Five Largest Cities
1. Santiago Conurbation
Over ten percent of Chileans live in the capital city Santiago, with an estimated population of 1,519 million people. Located in Chile's central valley, Santiago serves as the country's largest industrial region, boasting almost forty-five percent of the nation's manufacturing jobs. The Santiago Airport serves as one of the major entrepots for air travellers from North America. The city possesses a respectable downtown core of late 18th Century and 19th Century buildings, including the La Moneda Palace, the residence of the Chilean president; but a new modern architectural district is growing as well. City leaders anticipate Santiago and its adjoining communities will double in size over the next twenty years. This growth and industrialization has had an effect, though, as coal-burning electric plants and copper smelters have caused a rise of a "London Fog", which is a growing concern to city residents.
Includes: Puente Alto, Maipú, La Florida, Las Condes, San Bernardo, Peñalolén, Santiago, Pudahuel, La Pintana, El Bosque, Ñuñoa

2. Valparaíso Conurbation
Chile's second city, once called "the jewel of the Pacific", has suffered in the decades since the opening of the Panama Canal, which robbed the port of its prime importance as a stopover from the Atlantic to Pacific coasts of North America. Despite this fall in fortunes, 856 thousand people still call Valparaíso and its suburbs home, and the town is slowly starting to reposition itself as both a cultural capital and an industrial center. Valparaíso remains the principle sea-port both of Chile and the western coast of South America, although plans to construct a new high-capacity port in the neighboring city of San Antonio threaten this status.
Includes: Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Concón, Quintero, Quilpué, Villa Alemana

3. Concepcion Conurbation
The city of Concepcion and its suburbs have steadily grown over the last half-century, becoming Chile's second-largest industrial region, centered on everything from shipbuilding to manufacturing. Concepcion's port, encompassed by the suburb of Talcahuano, offers one of the largest sheltered anchorages and the best-equipped shipyard south of San Francisco. With a population of 721 thousand and a high growth rate, Concepcion is poised to soon overtake Valparaíso as the second-largest city of Chile, which experts believe will occur before 1955.
Includes: Concepción, Talcahuano, Chiguayante, San Pedro de la Paz, Hualpén, Penco, Tomé, Coronel, Lota, Hualqui

4. La Serena-Coquimbo
The cities of La Serena and Coquimbo, situated closely together on the north-central Chilean coast, boast a combined population of 157 thousand people. Tourism and agricultural exports provide most of the economic strength of this region, although the city has suffered from several damaging earthquakes over the last decade, as well as a slow population growth rate.

5. Antofagasta
The city of Antofagasta, with a population of 152 thousand, serves as one of the economic strongholds of the Chilean national economy, on the basis of the copper, gold, and phosphates mining activities that take place in the region. The newest resource extraction industry, however, involves natural gas coming by pipeline from southern Bolivia, where it is converted to more widely-used fuels at the new Fischer-Tropsch plant, built with German technical assistance. The growth of the resource industry resulted in high immigration from Europe and North America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, resulting in an unusually diverse population. Although Antofagasta was invaded and damaged by the Bolivian Army during the course of the Andean War, the city has quickly rebuilt its damaged industry and infrastructure.

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Thursday, September 14, 1944
The Ministry of the Interior released a document overviewing a new program to encourage immigration to Chile, particularly to the Magellanes region. The Ministry declared that it would distribute approximately three thousand square kilometers of government-owned land to private individuals, provided they lived on the land for at least five years and made improvements on it. Additionally, money would be made available for loans for tractors and other farming equipment. The Ministry indicated it would advertise the program primarily in Europe and North America.

Several weeks after the announcement of the Ministry of the Interior’s programme to develop the Magellanes region the Commercial Attaché of the German Embassy passes on to his Chilean opposite numbers a proposal from the Siemens concern to undertake the manufacture of its line of walk-behind tractors in Chile for the Chilean and South American export markets. Siemens believes that such equipment – suitably adapted for Chilean conditions – would be of greater utility on smaller farmsteads and in rough terrain, in contrast to larger wheeled agricultural tractors that are better adapted to larger farms on flat ground. Siemens seeks a local partner and offers licenses, technical assistance and an injection of capital to any resultant joint venture.

Ooh, splendid. That offer will be accepted swiftly...

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Ooh, splendid. That offer will be accepted swiftly...

Excellent; I shall leave the details in your capable hands. :D

Monday, October 2, 1944 - El Mercurio
The Chilean Air Force declined to comment on rumors that it was testing a top-secret jet bomber built by ENAER.

Wednesday, October 4, 1944
Construction on a proposed hydroelectric plant at Pullinque, in the Los Rios Region, was approved to begin this summer.

Sunday, October 8, 1944
The Chilean Navy celebrated the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Angamos. The cruiser Constitucion and the heavy destroyers Iquique and Angamos conducted a series of short gunnery exercises and maneuvers at the sight of the battle, after which the crews paused for a moment of silence as a tribute to their forefathers who triumphed in the battle. At the naval base at Talcahuano, a similar ceremony was held on the decks of the museum ironclad Huascar, where observers paid tribute to Captains Grau and Prat, who both fell on the ship's deck.

Tuesday, October 24, 1944 - Bolivia
The Bolivian Congress today passed President René Salinas's land reform law despite opposition from the wealthy and conservative senators. The law is designed to break up holdings by large landowners in order to distribute farmland to underprivileged peasants. The law will come into effect in January of 1945.

Saturday, November 4, 1944
The Chilean Navy formally established a patrol and lifesaving station, named Puerto Luisa, on the northern shore of Isla Navarino. Equipment for the lifesaving station and the construction of navigational beacons was landed by the BACh Rancagua.

Sunday, November 12, 1944
A demonstration team from the Royal Yugoslavian Army arrived today in Santiago to demonstrate the M40 antitank rocket launcher to the Chilean Army.

Tuesday, November 14, 1944 - El Sur
CORFO (the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción de Chile) announced the creation of the Aluchile S.A. firm. Aluchile intends to use a five million peso loan from CORFO - the largest loan ever offered by that group - to construct an aluminium smelter in the vicinity of Concepcion. When the facility is completed in mid-1948, the facility shall be able to process approximately two hundred thousand metric tons a year of Brazilian bauxite into aluminium.

Tuesday, November 21, 1944
Bayner Fabricación S.A. of Valparaiso announced that it had formed a strategic partnership with Siemens of Germany in order to undertake licensed construction of walk-behind agricultural tractors, made possible by a financial investment from Siemens. The firm expects to more than double their manufacturing workforce over the next year, and hopes to post a profit exceeding one million pesos for 1945.

Thursday, November 30, 1944
The police station in the CBSAR village of Vitichi (population five hundred) was attacked today by guerrillas who crossed the border from Bolivia in the early morning. The police chief received warning from several locals who had spotted several men outside town behaving suspiciously. Although the attackers attempted to cut the telephone line leading to the town (which only had one telephone), the police had sufficient time to call for reinforcement. A brief gunfight then occurred between the town's six policemen, with the support of three local militia members, and a band of sixteen guerrilla fighters, during the course of which one policeman and one militiaman were injured. The police, outgunned and running short on ammunition, were preparing to pull back when a company of Cazadores from the 1st Reinforced Regiment "Calama", engaged in training CBSAR units in Potosi, arrived by truck. The Chilean troops swiftly counterattacked the guerrillas, killing three and capturing four wounded men, while driving the nine survivors back from the town. An aggressive manhunt over the course of the afternoon resulted in the capture of five more guerrillas, including two sixteen-year old child soldiers from the Cochabamba region.

Monday, December 4, 1944
An official communique jointly issued by the education ministers of the Chilean and Brazilian governments announced the creation of the international Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (Latin America Social Science Institute), which shall operate under the auspices of the League of Nation's International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation.

Friday, December 8, 1944
A final debate was held between presidential candidates Jorge Castro and Carlos Ibáñez del Campo in Santiago.

Monday, December 11, 1944
Construction crews broke ground today for the new Pullinque Hydroelectric Station project.

Wednesday, December 20, 1944
The Nachipa shipping company (Naviera Chilena del Pacífico Ltd) signed a contract to purchase five ships to replace their short-term fleet. The largest vessel, to be named the Algarrobo, will be placed into service next May. Four other vessels built to a German design - including one vessel to actually be built in Germany - will enter service over the next eighteen months in the coastal trade.

Sunday, December 24, 1944
Elections for President and Congress are held in Chile.

Friday, December 29, 1944
The election commission announced that Jorge Castro has triumphed in the Presidential elections held five days ago. President-Elect Castro will be sworn in on January 12th of next year. The Partido Federalista de Chile additionally managed to hold a majority in the Chilean Congress, although some seats held by weaker candidates were lost.