Chile Independence Day

On Chilean Independence Day tradition the President, military elite, and other high government officials attend church at the Metropolitan Cathedral on the plaza square. The appearance of the president comes with much fanfare. Two regiments of Chilean soldiers marched and paraded around the square. One of the regiments dressed in grey ceremonial uniforms with black boots. Their shiny grey helmets eerily resembled those worn by the Wermacht soldiers of Germany in World War II. While the band played patriotic music, I perched myself on a monument and had a perfect view of the plaza. Sure enough, President Ricardo Lagos arrived in an open-air limo. Lagos stood in the back seat of the convertible wearing a grey suit with a broad, red, white and blue ribbon, waving to the crowd. As the motorcade turned the corner it passed just a few feet from my camera.