The story of the 33 miners trapped half a mile under the Atacama desert since early August may not have much of a political edge. But it was a fully global media event, the first other than sport, since 9/11.
Thankfully the themes here were not chaos, terrorism and retribution but courage, defiance and triumph. It was only the same old human story of men who work underground; now and again we are reminded how dangerous and intensely stressful this work is. Often the miners are struggling with company officials on applying minimum safety standards which really are a matter of life and death.
The emotional peak was reached when the second miner to emerge, Mario Sepulveda, celebrated with his colleagues and rescuers. They chanted 'Viva Chile' singing loud and from the gut. Amid all the misery and turmoil we have for once a great story of inspiration and pride. Viva.
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