One representative was named to the Council because he defected with his MIG fighter plane 20 years ago. Other members were previously political prisoners or exiled dissidents.

Marco himself was elected deputy on the Socialist ticket, but he defected when the party denied him the chance to contest Frei s nomination in a primary. With this unique mix of insider knowledge and outsider status, and a freshness that both main candidates lack, Enríquez Ominami has gone farther than most observers predicted.

In Afghanistan s Helmand Province, 2,000 Taliban fighters were rounded up and vetted by ISAF forces, only to be abandoned after the initiative was not supported by Afghanistan s central government. In Khost, dozens of former Taliban members from the Tribal Areas defected, promising to lay down their arms in exchange for only to be given nothing.