Trapped Chilean miners

[skdadl]

Alex is up! And Alex is rilly glad to see his wife. Like, rilly rilly rilly.

[brebis noire]

On my son's classroom wall, there's a picture of one of the miners. I wonder if it's Alex; he's very photogenic. 
 
ETA: I'm sorry, that was lookist of me. I've just seen all of their faces on the NYTimes, and they're all beautiful.
 
It's wonderful what peaceful engineering projects can do; it kinda gives a person hope for the human race.

[skdadl]

Yes, Alex is quite cute, as is his wife -- he's 31, we read, so they're youngish. Mario, who preceded him, is 63.

The cutest of all, though, is the guy who stands with each wife during the last minutes that each miner is being raised, sort of preparing her. Ooh -- whoever he is, he's nice.

I think they have a hospital on site -- I'm having trouble figuring out the transition, but I believe it's right there, and they get each guy into it quite quickly.

[lagatta]

rI couldn't stay up to watch - remember it is freezing in here because of the reno work - waking up to building noise and SO HAPPY that so far all the miners have emerged safe and sound.

Pinera is a rightwinger and no friend of the working class to put it mildly, but the spotlight on these men is raising world awareness of the conditions miners endure.

Another guy emerging right now!

We remember all the miners who weren't so lucky in Chile and everywhere from Cape Breton to Wales to China or South Africa. Glad to hear Sepulveda speak out for mine safety.

[skdadl]

Here's Jorge, 56, who has apparently been unwell. He's separated from his wife, is being met and hugged by another man, maybe a brother?

[skdadl]

Edison is on his way:

Edison Peña Villarroel, 34, will be the 12th man to emerge. A big Elvis fan, he seemed to be the most depressed of the miners in the first video recording, saying he wanted to get out immediately. His girlfriend, Angelica Alvarez, 43, got him the job at the mine. She has three grown-up children by her late husband and a three-year-old daughter from a relationship before meeting Edison. Downcast he may be, but he is also among the fittest. He has been jogging for an hour a day.

ETA: And Edison is up.

Pinera and Morales are hogging the picture.

ETA: Carlos is on his way up. Carlos apparently has a bad temper. Well, who wouldn't?

ETA: And up goes Victor, who is apparently known as the poet of the group.

ETA: Here comes a second Victor, different Victor, this one apparently a historian.

[Boom Boom]

I hope this is a wake-up call for the mining industry worldwide. Why did it take 69 days to get this rescue operation mobilized? Why do mining companies not have this equipment on standby at every mine, for goodness sake?  I hope there's a mining union in Chile and they unite to demand changes.

[lagatta]

Miner 16 is up;  Daniel Herrera Campos.

Boom Boom, there is a long history of trade union and political struggles by miners in Chile, and they played an important role in the deep social change during the Allende presidency, but there was also ferocious oppression. There has been a tentative rebirth of the workers' and social movements in Chile as a new generation unscarred by the dictatorship comes to the fore; I hope this will spur such movements rather than legitimizing Pinera, a plutocrat with no real interest in workers' rights.

[Boom Boom]

Yes, I know some of the history - especially with Allende. I saw an American flag in the background during the CBC coverage of this rescue, and was reminded of American interference in Chile. I hope the upcoming generation in Chile don't get swayed by the propaganda that is sure to emerge from this rescue by the ruling classes.

[sparqui]

I hope all these men recover fully from this but it really is heartening to see them saved and reunited with their loved ones.

In honour of these brave Chilean miners:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agUQI3nPr_4&feature=related
Every Chilean knows these words:
I go                           Voy
I come back                Vengo
I climb up                   Subo
I climb down               Bajo
What’s it for               Todo para qué
Nothing for me            Nada para mi
They are from “A Miner’s Song” written by political martyr Victor  Jara in 1961. It’s now the anthem of the 33 miners trapped below ground  in that copper and gold mine in Northern Chile. They can’t be freed for  months and are subsisting on morsels of food and rationing their minds  in a regime of self imposed tasks, cleaning, walking, talking. Trying  to create a structure to a life in the dark below ground. The song has  a famous, if sobering, stanza: I am a miner, I go to the mine, I go to  death, I am a miner. “A la muerte voy.” The people of Chile know what  is at stake here and it’s partly why the whole nation is down by that  mine imagining what they might be doing if they were in this dark place  cut off from everyone they love, from life itself.
 http://www.thetakeaway.org/blogs/takeaway/2010/aug/25/miners-song/

[lagatta]

Miner 17 is up - a majority of the lads...

Sparqui, that is wonderful. What a lovely song, simple enough for Spanish-language teachers to use for beginner students - I'll pass it on to some friends who teach the language. They include a Chilean and an Argentinean.

[skdadl]

It's a majority of the miners, but they've sent a number of rescuers down, three last night before the first miner came up, and then you can sometimes see someone in the capsule when it's going back down.  I don't know how many in total there would be, but all of them are working down there to the end.

Just before we see the capsule emerging from that little hole, we can see the engineers gather around the hole and begin to call out the freed man's name. Sometimes someone reaches in and knocks on the top. The engineers are amazing for their patience.

[skdadl]

Some English wag has tweeted: "Imagine being trapped underground for a couple of months then coming out and having to hug David Cameron."

[Boom Boom]

The Chilean mining minister was just interviewed, and, among other things,  acknowledged that old mining regulations need to be updated and the population educated about mining.

[Toedancer]

Sparqui, that is wonderful. What a lovely song, simple enough for Spanish-language teachers to use for beginner students - I'll pass it on to some friends who teach the language. They include a Chilean and an Argentinean.

I second that! Thanks sparks.