My Homeland...My Family

CONVOCATION CEREMONY. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

2011-05-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

COMMENCEMENT SPEECH BY MR. ELIODORO MATTE LARRAIN, MBA 1972.
CONVOCATION CEREMONY.
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS.
JUNE 15, 2008.

I know that today is a very emotional and exciting day for you. I congratulate you.
I envy the changes, the discoveries in the personal, the familiar, and yes, the business and career lives that lie before you.

I hope that they bring you as much or more than the last 35 years have generously brought me and my family. While today is about the future for you, today brings back some very emotional and moving memories of the past for me.
This week, I flew back to Chicago, for only the second time since entering this MBA program in the American Fall of 1970. That voyage was accompanied by unexpected baggage, some of the most painful and hopeless thoughts I have ever experienced.
I didn’t know it, but the antidote to those thoughts and fears lay in the halls of this institution.
Walking again through the walkways and the classrooms and seeing the faces of both those learned and those learning brought back an echo of what Chicago ignited within me those many years ago. The University of Chicago gave to my mind, to my soul and to my spirit the ideas and commitments that infused, that changed my life and my business, and that were to change most of all, my country.

Today, I want to talk about Chicago’s two simple but invaluable gifts: a singular idea and a focused commitment. I know that you have learned many important and great tools. Some will help you all your business lives, some will grow outdated by your next job interview. I hope to impart to you an appreciation for the power than an idea can have to
change your life and the lives of those around you.
To begin with, a little context. Start with me as I leave my homeland, Santiago, Chile, on my journey to Chicago in September of 1970. It was a day of emotion, sadness, and even depression. Like yours, I suspect, my family came to see me off.
However, the joy of their company was tempered and bittersweet. I never expected to see my country again.
You see, 10 days before, Salvador Allende had been elected as the new president of Chile with only 36% of the vote. I saw in the future a wave of wrenching change. I expected that Chile’s history would be written with the script of Cuba’s socialism: a descent into greater poverty, increased government control, less personal freedom, less personal and collective opportunities.
At Chicago, however, I arrived to unexpected intellectual ferment, the impact of professors like Merton Miller, Gene Fama, Rudy Dornbusch, and many others. I was exposed to the defining philosophies and economic concepts of what was to become known as the Chicago School. And I was about to join the ranks of those who became known across Latin America as the Chicago Boys.

This ferment, this stimulus changed my life, the life of my family, and clearly the
future of Chile.
The idea was, and is, startlingly simple: a categorical support for a free society, believing, as history has shown, that the establishment of an open and competitive economy not only drives the development of both, capital and jobs, but also, and critically, it drives people’s expectation for choice and the freedom to make these choices. The second critical element was commitment. It was not enough, it is not enough to just debate. At some point, all the debate, all the learning have to transform the grit inside you into a commitment to action.

The first impact of this challenging environment was profoundly personal. My depression and sadness were transformed into excitement and into hope. I rose from a rather ordinary Industrial Engineering student in Chile into a rather successful student in Chicago’s MBA program. In 1972, at the end of my two years, I received a very flattering job offer to stay in the US.
But Chicago had given me the hope and the courage and the tools to believe in change. Even though Chile was becoming all the things I had feared, I returned.
The economy was in absolute chaos, inflation was 500% a year, the government deficit was a quarter of GNP, government fiat (money is established by government decree) and ownership had replaced competitive private businesses. In concrete terms, you could stand in line for hours to buy bread that wasn’t there. Chile was frozen.

Yet I returned. Chicago had emboldened me. I was reunited with my family, in my homeland. The only job I could take was a teaching position at the Universidad Catolica. In 1956, Catolica and the University of Chicago had created an ongoing exchange program and since that time it had become the gathering place of the Chicago Boys.

A year later, in 1973, Allende´s government was overthrown. The military which had led the overthrow did not have an economic philosophy; they were primarily anti-communist and clearly trying to save the country from the destructive path it was on. But they saw that the economic ways of Allende were a disaster. They also understood that the historical economic approaches of the ruling classes in Latin America were built on practices of big government and protected markets, ideas that were a practical and theoretical failure. Into that breach stepped Professor Sergio de Castro, a PHD from Chicago and a disciple of Milton Friedman. He was also a father figure to us Chicago boys. He and a group of other young professionals, mostly Chicago trained published a document, “El Ladrillo”. (In English the title would translate as “The Brick”).

And it was a brick. It shattered the glass around the Chilean establishment. It was a revolutionary document, stating the simple idea: that freedom and competitive markets were the path for change and development.
And because “The Brick” offered an alternative to the failed ways practiced by most Latin American regimes, the military junta gave the ideas from “The Brick” and the University of Chicago a chance. The Chicago boys were brought into the government, at every department, at every level and given a mandate to build from the ground up a free market system that would revitalize Chile.
There were many ups and downs along the way, and perhaps you may remember some awfully sad situations. There is no time to go into that history but let me note in particular two transformations.

First, Chile went from decades of stagnation to arguably the most progressive, most successful, and fairest economic environment in Latin America. This transformation was underway before Reagan and Thatcher made free markets an international model.
Second, and more significantly, the Chicago school (and the Chicago boys) believed that a free market model would drive demand for more democratic choice in the broader political environment. And they were right. In 1989 the Chilean people democratically removed the military from the control of the government. Even though the center left has been in power for the last 18 years, every relevant political party has accepted the free market approach that we learned here. That is a remarkable political and democratic accomplishment.
So now, you have heard what Chicago did for my personal life and for my county. But this is the Business School. So how did Chicago impact my business? My company, CMPC, is 88 years old. Our sales total 3.5 billion dollars a year and we employ 12000 people directly. For most of its existence, CMPC had focusedon wood, pulp and paper products in Chile. After I served three years as CFO of the Chilean Health Ministry, my father brought me back to the family company.
Just as Chicago had prepared me to help Chile move to a market-based vision, it prepared me to transform CMPC from a local company, operating in a protected national market to an international business that is comfortable working in a global market, within a competitive business environment. More than 70% of our business is now global, not Chilean. Our largest customer is China; our second largest is the US. We do business in over 50 countries. We are the second largest forestry, pulp and paper company in Latin America, and in Chile, perhaps the most admired public corporation.
But we have also transformed the way we do business, becoming a rather unique company in the global forest products sector. We have integrated sound business practices with sound environmental policies. Today, 100% of the wood consumed by our industrial operations comes from man-made, renewable, fast-growth plantations. We have planted more than 1.3 million acres mostly on exhausted agricultural land sites, rejuvenating that land and allowing us to protect Chile’s incredible natural forests. Chile now has more than 20% of its territory protected in National Forests and Parks. The USA, in comparison, has only 11% of its land protected.

If you are thinking of a graduation present, think about visiting us in Chile. We combine an incredible dramatic landscape with a vibrant economic and political environment.
There is a great deal more I can talk about, but I am not here to tout my business. I am here to remind you of our shared heritage; of the heritage that the University of Chicago gave me. The heritage of an idea that lifted my life, transformed my country, renewed my family’s business. And a faculty and a spirit that imbued me with the commitment to take that idea and play a role in remaking all those wonderful things we call life.
As such, I will leave you with one final, lasting, impact of both the University of Chicago and its ideas. An institution that symbolizes the power of uniting the idea and personal commitment: it is CEP.

CEP is a private, non-partisan, non-profit, think tank, known as the Centro de Estudios Públicos: the Center for Public Studies. It was founded in 1980 as a gathering place where the thoughtful and creative political, sociological, and economic questions could be pursued outside the press of government institutions. I believe that it eased the way for the transformation of Chile to a land that embraced both free markets and free political thinking.
I have been lucky enough to serve as its Chairman. The ideas to which I have been exposed to through its economic, environmental, creative, artistic, and sociological programs, have helped change me and my business for the better.
And the same is true for many others throughout Chile. CEP continues to focus the rethinking and refreshing of our national political and economic climate.

As a final note, and I know this is very Chilean, but I think very important: I must talk about my family. In my country, the family is the cornerstone of our culture. I learned everyday that I was with my father, a truly extraordinary man who built much of the foundation of our company and who introduced me to economic liberalism and political tolerance. I also learned from my mother who kept intact the traditional and religious values of the family that are center to Chilean life and who taught me a social conscience. And of course, my return to Chile brought me to Pilar, the remarkable woman who has been my wife and partner for almost 30 years. Together we have raised three children and they are our heritage.

You leave here with what I believe to be one of the most treasured degrees across our globe. But you also leave with more. You leave here with an idea; I hope you leave here with a commitment: a commitment to transform your life, and the lives of those around you. The world awaits you. I salute you.

Gracias y nos vemos. En Chile

The Voices Within Me

2011-05-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

Estefenia Hermosilla
The dominance of the Inca, the free spirit of the Mapuche, and the bravery of the Spanish conquistador are intertwined deep beneath my skin, making up the blood that pulses through my veins.

On the outside I may not resemble the mixture that lives rooted inside of me, yet it’s there yearning to be acknowledged. The legacy of my ancestors has been passed on from mother to daughter and father to son from generation to generation and has reached my ears through my own parents.

I am like the rings on a tree bark ready to reveal a story of the past; all one must do is cut me open and listen to the words of my parents’ echoing voices inside me.

My mother’s sweet, soft voice resounds inside of me. The stories of her past and her struggles are deeply embedded within me. All I need to do is close my eyes and release the voice of my mother within me so that it can be heard:

I am Maria Bethsabe Tapia a mestiza mother of two daughters, Estefania and Carolina. I come from an extremely different world than the one my daughters are growing up in. I was born in the beautiful jungle of Satipo, Peru, however was raised in the capital of Lima because my father’s occupation was very unstable and required him to constantly travel. That left my mother in charge of caring for her seven children, and the house, and managing a way to make ends meet. Seeing my mother struggle to keep the family together inspired me to seek a better life for all of us.

I came to the United States in search of an opportunity to help my family, leaving behind my beloved homeland and feeling lost in a new world with different beliefs and ideas. I spoke no English, had no job, and did not have much family to support me. Much like my indigenous ancestors years before, I felt forced to adapt to new customs and ideals. Deep inside I knew it was something that I had to do in order to give my family a better future.

Although I felt lost in this new world, it was here that I found Luis, the love of my life and father of my kids. In him I saw someone who I could trust to be my rock, someone whom I could build a family with despite the differences we had. Luis and I worked hard to give our daughters a range of opportunities. I brought my mother and father to this country so my daughters could learn firsthand about where they came from. I did everything in my power to keep the Peruvian culture alive in my children.

At first, Estefania was reluctant to soak up everything being offered to her by her grandparents. Every time someone mispronounced her name, a cloud of shame would come over her. Why couldn’t she be named something normal like Samantha or Tiffany? Those names were common and could be pronounced easily, while hers was long and hard to say. When someone would question where she was from, she longed to be able to say one word, one word that would explain it all. Instead she felt stuck between her two halves. Why couldn’t she just be Mexican like everyone else who spoke Spanish? Nothing made sense to her, and so she began to reject everything about the Peruvian culture. She refused to speak Spanish, eat Peruvian food, and say she was Peruvian. She spoke only English, ate pizza and hot dogs, and claimed she was American.

I knew Estefania would eventually come to her senses so I tried not to pressure her. As time went on and she got older, she realized it was impossible to reject something that was so embedded in her being. She learned to embrace her Peruvian culture rather than be ashamed of it. She learned to be proud of her Incaic heritage and make it a part of who she is.

The sound of strength and pride echoes inside me. To some this sound may be intimidating at first, but to me it is the most nurturing sound of all, the voice of my father. My father’s story of bravery and resistance has remained a part of me and can easily be heard if you listen carefully enough.

I am Luis Hermosilla, born in the city of Santiago, Chile to two very young teenagers. I was abandoned by my mother when I was 4 years old because she felt she was not able to raise my brother and me well enough. At that time my father was working in the United States sending home as much money as he could. I was raised by my grandparents but longed to have a mother and a father to watch me grow. The natural beauty Chile has to offer always amazed me. As a kid I would spend most of my day outdoors admiring nature and all it has to offer, just like my ancestors had done years before.

At age 12 I was forced to leave my homeland and move to the United States with my dad. I began school here and was made fun of because I could not speak English and because I was different. No one here understood my culture and I refused to assimilate and forget about where I came from. I wanted to share with my children the stories of my childhood and to share with them the pride that came along with being Chilean. I wanted to be there for my children to nurture them and to give them all the love they needed to grow and succeed.

When I met Maria Bethsabe I knew that my wish of having the family I never had would come true. She understood what a struggle it was to come from a different world and she valued my culture as much as she valued hers. We wanted our daughters Estefania and Carolina to grow up knowing about their past but yet being able to form their own identities. I shared all that I had learned about my heritage with them so that they could find a piece of themselves in the Mapuche people of Chile.

Seeing my daughter Estefania struggle to find herself reminded me of the position I was in when I first immigrated to the United States. Coming from a different country to the United States, it is very easy to give in to the dominating culture and assimilate to a completely new way of life. However, I decided to remain firm and hold on to my roots and knew that although Estefania was going through a tough time, she would as well. She had been raised with the Peruvian and Chilean traditions and values and never questioned them until she was faced with the outside world. She felt different and isolated and wanted to assimilate but remained strong in the end. She learned to be proud of the mixture inside of her and appreciate her uniqueness.

Growing up as an individual with a mixed heritage was a struggle, very hard for me to overcome. Amado Padilla in his study, examines bicultural social development among Latino youth. He states:

"As native-born Americans they are exposed to many of the social forces that ensure their enculturation
as Americans. However, many are pulled back toward the culture of their parents and grandparents who expect their children to demonstrate loyalty to their cultural roots." (Padilla 11)

Juggling various cultures at the same time was a challenge that I had to face. Being able to find myself and claim my identity was not easy and I constantly felt lost between the American culture I faced outside my home and the Peruvian and Chilean cultures which were so dominating inside my home. However, I was able to find a piece of myself in all the cultures that surrounded me and make them a part of who I am today.

My parents lives have helped me understand my past so that I can better understand who I am and what role I am meant to play in this world. My mother has taught me how to remain strong even when the road gets tough. She has demonstrated how much the Peruvian culture means to her and how important it is for us to take part in it as well. My father’s firm resistance against assimilation has taught me to never back down or reject any part of myself even if it is not the norm. He has showed me to be proud of who I am and not be something I am not. In order for our past to live on we must embrace it and let it be heard.

Fuente