Chile's relationship with the British, written in a Beatles bar

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Right now I am in a Beatles bar which I passed by chance when desperately looking for a cup of tea. The walls and tables are all decorated with newspaper headlines about the Beatles. There are posters of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, red buses and the British flag. After having being on the Beatles tour in Liverpool with Noriko I am now more of a fan than before. I brought postcards, keyrings and fridge magnets of red buses and post boxes from the UK to give out to any friends I meet in South America. At a push I would give out postcards to the Argentinians but no way could I give out keyrings with red buses and red post boxes. To Argentinians these are the cotroversial symbols of the Falklands, but Chileans would accept either gift and here is why…

They seem to be quite big fans of the British, especially in Valparaiso, a nearby artists town by the beach which has a massive British influence. I will investigate this soon. There are signs of similarities here with the UK. I am not sure if tea drinking came from the British??? but they follow the afternoon tea ritual. During the dictatorship, towards the end of Pinochet’s reign when he became very ill he was sent to hospital in the UK with the support of Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the UK at the time. This was a major factor in Pinochet not ever having faced his war crimes when he was alive, as by the time he returned to Chile he was considered to be too ill to stand trial in court and thanks to Thatcher justice was delayed. This could be a reason why some Pinochet supporters here in Chile are fans of the UK, but I ask myself if this is the case there must be a lot of people with opposite political views (socialists) here who hate the British.

I have heard about quite a few Chilean members of the Aristocracy having being educated in the UK ?? but I'm not sure of the facts. Yesterday whilst having lunch I met an elderly Chilean couple, the man being 90. They were sitting on the table next to me and engaged me in conversation. The lady told me that their grandchildren were both studying at university in the UK on an exchange year. She told me how she loves to visit the UK, that her and her husband had travelled the world together and went on frequent holidays. I thought to myself 'how enriching it must be for a couple to have travelled so much together, still being together today and having essentially developed each other through taking on adventures together.'

I asked what their secret was to a long-lasting marriage.

She smiled and said ‘This man has had endless patience with me.’

And her husband said nothing and just smiled as if her statement was definetly true. I understood then that this was another of the countless moments when he was having to have patience with her.

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