How are Chile and Latin America faring in the global economic downturn?
BACHELET: For us, this economic crisis was no surprise. You need strong markets, but the market can not do it alone; this crisis shows the necessary role that state policies must have in overseeing financial markets and economies as a whole. We also need to restructure the Bretton Woods institutions, the IMF and the World Bank, created in a different era. They need not just a new influx of funds, but new strategies and a reform in governance, such as giving more representation to the developing countries they serve. Chile has a sound macroeconomy. When Chilean copper prices were high, we created a countercyclical fund to protect pensions and other social programs. This has powered $4 billion to fuel the economy and create jobs. We expect to create in the coming months around 200,000 new jobs. But the slowdown in worldwide growth will seriously affect the region. [In the future,] we cannot repeat the errors of the Washington consensus, when countries in the region grew and did not redis
