Originally Posted by Siempre Viajando

I agree with the first statement. I disagree with the second statement, unless "bobbies" are a sad lot. And I disagree with the third statement.

In general, Chilean police (referred to as "carabineros") not openly corrupt, in the sense that they do not seek out bribes during traffic stops, for instance. In fact if you're stupid enough to offer one up, you're likely to land in a lot of hot water. This sets the carabineros apart from many of their Latin American brethren.

However, the police (and more generally the criminal justice system) in Chile are not necessarily up to the standards of western Europe or Canada and the US. Public funding is relatively low, the police are not well paid and training standards are not up to snuff. There is generally less sense of due process here than we are accustomed to stateside. Moreover, Chile is a small and historically insular society, which means that the entire system tends to be subtly biased against outsiders.

By way of example, if you're driving a rental car and you're in an accident in Santiago, don't necessarily count on fair treatment from the police, especially if the other party is wealthy and driving an expensive car. The carabineros may find it inconvenient to side with you, an outsider, knowing that the other party may have important political connections (just their last name may be enough to alert the carabineros to this).

I don't mean to overstate the problem. Chileans aren't the only people who tend to be biased against outsiders, and by and large this is a safe country in which to travel, and here the system "works", if at times not quite as efficiently as you'd like. And certainly, the overall lack of open corruption is a big plus, both for tourists and foreigners living and working here.

However, as a tourist here you should remember that beneath the modern veil of transparency lies a society that is more Latin than it wants the world to believe.