Synopses & Reviews
Former Chilean president Ricardo Lagos provides a fascinating glimpse inside his country's meteoric rise on the world stage. A leader in the underground resistance movement against Augusto Pinochet and his Dirty War, Ricardo Lagos burst onto the national stage in 1988 when he gave a speech denouncing the dictator, the first of its kind. Revolution soon followed, as Chileans took to the streets to oust a criminal despot and pave the way for democracy. In The Southern Tiger, Lagos chronicles Chile's journey from terror and repression to a thriving open society, and from crushing poverty to one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America. His thrilling stories of surviving Chile's political prisons, standing up to President George W. Bush over the war in Iraq, and rebuilding Chile's education system demonstrate why President Obama recently called Chile 'a model for the region and the world.' As citizens across the globe rise up to demand more from their governments, The Southern Tiger is an inspiring story of political and economic rebirth in the wake of fear.
Synopsis
Ricardo Lagos has been shaping the future of Chile for over five decades. A leader in the underground resistance movement against Augusto Pinochet and his Dirty War, Lagos exploded onto the national stage in 1988 when he gave a speech denouncing the dictator, the first of its kind. Revolution soon followed as Chileans took to the streets in one of the first oustings of a criminal dictator in history. In The Southern Tiger, Lagos shares the story of Chiles journey from terror and repression to a thriving open society during his presidency. Chile has emerged from crushing poverty to become one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America and adopted a centrist government that avoids the hard-line traps on both left and right. Just in time for the current wave of populist uprisings, Chile offers a sustainable political and economic model for new democracies to follow. This is a fascinating look at Chiles rise under a charismatic and visionary leader and its role in todays global community.
About the Author
Ricardo Lagos was president of Chile from 2000 to 2006, and the former UN special envoy for climate change. He has been profiled in media worldwide, including the BBC and The New York Times, and he has lectured at Harvard University, Yale University, Berkeley University (honored with Medal), Vanderbilt University, the London School of Economics, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. He is the former cochair of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington and an editorial board member of Americas Quarterly. Currently a professor at large at Brown University, he lives in Santiago, Chile where he is Chairman of Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo.
Blake Hounshell and Elizabeth Dickinsonare the managing editors of Foreign Policy magazine. They live in New York City.