With "the 33" Up and Out for 1 Year, Chileans Tweet to Tell Gov. to Get a Move On

13 Octubre 2011

Twitter users are calling upon the government to reignite the spirit of that coordination effort. They say politicians needs to unite once again to fix problems plaguing Chile.

Katie Manning >
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Thousands flocked to the city center of Copiapó, Chile today. They gathered to remember the incredible rescue one year ago of 33 miners trapped underground for 69 days. Many more typed their respects using online media. Twitter users are calling upon the government to reignite the spirit of that coordination effort. They say politicians needs to unite once again to fix problems plaguing Chile.

Harking back to the national feeling of togetherness from October 13 of last year, Chile’s President Sebastian Piñera (@sebastianpinera) tweeted:

“The 33 miners were taught a great lesson in the difficult moments of unity and solidarity are key to overcoming adversity."

Gonzalo Maza,(@tengochicle) wrote that the government should do just that to work with Chile’s protesting  students. Their progress is creeping forward considering the speedy government action during the rescue according to Maza. He tweeted:

“A year ago, the government made extraordinary efforts to rescue the miners. Now, they don’t have the capacity to move a centimeter for the students.”

Twitter user,  Don Gato (@rhon2008), thinks that attention should be focused on mining disaster stories sans photogenic happy ending. He tweeted:

“27 miners have died this year in accidents, apart from the 33. It was used publicity for the government without resulting in any laws of protection.” 

Jorge Añez (@Jorge_Anez) remains less than impressed with the government’s efforts to improve working conditions. He tweeted:

“Spectacular rescue, but it didn’t spawn a change that we’d hoped for in the working conditions #mineros #chilenos”

But the national solidarity Chile felt for its 33 fellow countrymen, forced to overcome the unthinkable, hasn’t evaporated on FaceBook.  The “Fuerzas Hermanos Mineros de la Mina San Jose, de Copiapo” FaceBook page still boasts 52,429 fans. “Yo tambien apoyo a los 33 mineros Chileons atrapados” survived this year's FaceBook spring cleaning. It still has 87,695  “likes.”

While politicians and visitors laid down the first rocks of a new memorial reservoir today, social media users pitched in their two-cents about where, how and why the government needs to construct new policies.

 

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