海角大神

President聽Sebastian Pi帽era returned to the shuttered San Jos茅 mine to remember the spectacular rescue of 33 trapped workers聽that marked the high point of his presidency. On the third anniversary of the rescue, he opened a museum on the site and聽said the rescue changed the meaning of 鈥渢he Chilean way.鈥�

鈥淏efore, the Chilean way meant something half-baked and improvised. It transformed into doing something with faith, unity, and hope,鈥� President Pi帽era told a crowd of 300 on Sunday, including 13 of the miners who spent 70 days a half-mile below the surface.

With just months聽left in his term, Pi帽era sought to recapture some of the聽magic of 2010, when government-backed聽teams saved the miners and demonstrated Chile鈥檚 toughness, dedication, and technical聽competence.鈥�聽鈥╓ith presidential elections just a month off, Pi帽era is consolidating his own legacy and that of his聽conservative ideals in a聽country that has long distrusted the political right.

Pi帽era is barred by the constitution from running for immediate reelection. His ideas face a challenge as the聽conservative presidential candidate in聽next month鈥檚 election, Evelyn Matthei, has聽so far struggled to gain traction against popular ex-president Michelle Bachelet.鈥�聽

Ms. Matthei is favored by 23 percent of voters, Reuters reported last week, citing a poll by Ipsos. Ms. Bachelet, who left office four years ago and is now permitted to run again, had 33 percent support. Seven more candidates divided up the rest of respondents' support, according to Ipsos.

Pi帽era聽won election thanks in part to voter fatigue with the moribund聽Concertaci贸n, a group of聽center-left parties that governed for 20 years聽after the fall of dictator聽Augusto Pinochet. A billionaire executive, academic, and senator, Pi帽era was the first conservative candidate to win the presidency since 1958.

Before he could take聽office, however, the country was shattered by an 8.8-magnitude earthquake 鈥� his聽swearing-in was interrupted by an aftershock.聽He spent his first months focused聽on the thankless task of recovery.鈥�聽

When a mine聽collapsed near the city of Copiap贸 in August 2010, public pressure from relatives of the trapped miners prompted Pi帽era to mount a rescue effort.聽 The 70-day rescue attracted worldwide attention and made聽Pi帽era a star, with his approval rating rising to 63 percent, from 46 percent three months earlier, according to pollster Adimark GfK.

Pi帽era traveled the world聽showing off rescue souvenirs but the glow soon dimmed.聽Within a year, Pi帽era鈥檚 approval fell to 27 percent as he聽was blamed for the firing聽of the popular coach of the national soccer team聽and students marched in the聽country鈥檚 biggest wave of demonstrations since聽the Pinochet era, demanding聽better-funded, higher-quality education.

Sunday's visit was the third time he marked the anniversary here in the Atacama desert, 500 miles north聽of the capital,聽Santiago.

鈥淧inera did take a great political risk with the miners, as it could have gone horribly wrong, and it paid off,鈥� says Robert Funk, director of the Center for the Study of Public Opinion at the University of Chile. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 his entrepreneurial style.鈥�

Asked if Chileans still care about the mine rescue, Mr. Funk said: 鈥淣o.鈥�

Pi帽era has since recovered聽some support, but hasn鈥檛 since exceeded 40 percent approval, according to聽Santiago-based Adimark.鈥�聽

Pi帽era has never attracted much support from the left-wing Concertaci贸n coalition, and has alienated some members of his own conservative coalition, known as the Alianza. Like the US Republican Party, Funk says the Alianza is now divided聽between hard-liners and moderates, with Pi帽era taking heat from more right-wing conservatives.

Mine safety

Beyond his political ups and downs, Pi帽era鈥檚 policies have gotten less attention. Before the 33 miners were even brought to the聽surface, he pledged聽to increase attention to reducing workplace injuries.

The effort was worthwhile, Mining Minister Hern谩n de Solminihac said Saturday in an interview with 海角大神. The government boosted the number of mine inspectors from 17 to 65, trained 6,000 workers in mine safety, and brought oversight to 1,600 unregulated mines, Mr. de Solminihac says.

鈥淟ast year was the year with the fewest fatal accidents in all our country鈥檚 history,鈥� Pi帽era said at the mine Sunday.聽 Industrial accidents聽declined in many industries in 2012 compared to 2011,聽Chile鈥檚 social security聽supervisor says.

Regardless of the success, neither聽former labor minister and presidential candidate Matthei nor front-runner Bachelet have聽made workplace safety a campaign issue.鈥�聽

One outcome of the 2010 rescue was that the mining minister at the time, Laurence Golborne, became the most popular member of the cabinet and was boosted to the ranks of possible presidential candidates. He was widely credited for spending hours with worried family members. After he started to campaign for president, the company he used to聽run, Cencosud, was convicted of聽abusive credit practices and fined $70聽million. Mr. Golborne himself was accused of failing to disclose聽wealth he had stashed in offshore聽accounts and he dropped out of the race鈥�. But when he showed up at the museum inauguration on Sunday, he received hearty applause.

There have also been ongoing personal dramas. Jorge Galleguillos, who was among the mine survivors, said he has been unemployed since the accident.聽 Ricardo Ben铆tez, head of the foundation that represents the 33 miners, said that many of the men continue to face psychological repercussions.

While the government鈥檚 efforts to prevent accidents have been widely praised, the allocation of blame has been criticized. The owners of the San Jos茅 mine were released from any criminal responsibility in August, and they have yet to be held liable in civil cases.

Pablo Rojas, who returned to work as a miner despite the 2010 ordeal, says the government has done a lot and cut the number of accidents, but he鈥檚 not taking any chances.

鈥淚 knew this mine was unsafe but I worked here because they paid a bit more,鈥� he said. "Where I鈥檓 working now is a safer mine"