To date, I've visited over 100 and lived in seven; it's one way to fill those idle hours. It's no coincidence that I'll be coming out with a considerably expanded, revised, and updated edition of my first book, The International Man, in the near future. And Chile will be included this time.

When I visit a country, my idea of seeing it doesn't have much to do with museums, churches, and tourist gift shops-at least, after the first day. The way to get to know a country and its people is by becoming proactive, and by logging time with lawyers, stock brokers, real estate brokers, political pundits, business people-and even a few cab drivers.

As late as the 1940s, Chile was still considered an advanced, First World country (as were Argentina and Brazil); then politicians got the notion the country could afford regulation, welfare, and the taxes to pay for them, and it was all downhill from there. A climax was reached with the election, in 1970, of Salvador Allende, a hard-line Marxist who was well on his way to turning the country into a replica of Cuba when, in 1973, he was assisted in shedding this mortal coil by General Pinochet, and perhaps the American CIA. This became a cause celebre for leftists around the world, and Chile rose from mere obscurity to recognition as a pariah, in a class with South Africa and Taiwan.

It's true that Pinochet wasn't exactly Mr. Nice Guy as he proceeded to cleanse the Chilean gene pool of at least several hundred leftists; but the toll was much less than often accompanies violent changes of government in the Third World. Pinochet's real crime in the eyes of the media was, of course, his freemarket economic orientation, which resulted in a genuine boom. In a way, the Allende years were a blessing in disguise for the Chileans; perhaps they needed to see a demonstration of socialism so real and graphic that the country would be cured of further large-scale attempts at social engineering for at least a full generation.

More than most economies in the world, Chile's is fairly undiversified. Mining is by far the biggest industry, generating half the country's foreign exchange in a typical year. After mining, it's agriculture, forestry, and fishing-all primary, commodity-based extractive industries.

I presented the case for investment in Brazil in the December 1989 issue; there are lots of similarities with Chile- relative insulation from the world economy, expansion from a low base, low labor and land costs. But Chile has at least three additional advantages:

1) It has a small (13 million), generally well-educated, and ethnically homogeneous population. The average Chilean is a mestizo, and there's no structural underclass, unlike most places where the pure-blooded Spaniards are on top, and the Indians and blacks are cemented to the bottom. Argentina and Uruguay are two more exceptions, but only because there are no Indians or blacks.

2) Unlike any other country in Latin America that comes to mind (with the possible exception of Paraguay), bribery and corruption are both rare and frowned upon. You wouldn't, for instance, dream of slipping a fat bank note into your credentials when you're stopped by the police; in Mexico, you wouldn't dream of not bribing them.

3) Far more important than anything else, a sine qua non, is that Chile is a fairly open economy, certainly the most open in South America, and one of the most open in the world. It's far from a libertarian paradise, with marginal income tax rates approaching 50% and an 18% value-added tax. But it compares favorably with the competition at the moment, and things seem to be improving further, not backsliding.

The Central Bank inflates the currency at a fairly consistent 20% per year, which means that the value of the peso has collapsed from 39 to the dollar in 1979 to 380 today, but it's been a controlled collapse. And since there are no foreign exchange controls, and interest rates are free, the middle class has been able to build capital.

The results have been good, despite the problems. Exports rose from $8.3 billion in 1990 to $9.3 billion in 1991. Foreign debt has dropped to 65% of GDP at the end of 1990, down from 68% in 1989, and 116% in 1986. As a result, Chilean debt trades at 90 cents on the dollar, compared to only 31 for Brazil, 38 for Argentina, and 64 for Mexico. Unemployment is only 6.7%, the standard of living is high and clearly improving. Not bad for a one-time banana republic basket case.

The way I see it, the trend is up in Chile (as with most of Latin America to varying degrees) for the foreseeable future.

What is the most practical way of participating in the growth of this country? There are several logical ways:

1) Buy real estate. When I visited Chile in 1980, 1 spent some time with a wealthy local at his house in one of Santiago's most fashionable suburbs. The house was typical of those owned by the upper classes in a Third World country; large, lots of handcarved fittings and furniture, swimming pool, tennis court, extensive landscaping, etc. At the time, it was worth about $25,000; today it's worth well over $1,000,000. The zinger is that in 1973, before Allende joined the ranks of the departed, the owner would have been happy to take $25,000. That's pretty much the story for land throughout the country: it's appreciated vastly over the years, and real bargains are long gone.

That's not to say I think it's overpriced for what you get; comparable properties, like meals in the restaurants, are still probably half what they'd be in the U.S. But real estate is selling for roughly its utility value; the risk/reward ratio isn't what it was back in the 70s, and those are the kind of things I'd rather draw your attention to. Entirely apart from the fact you'd be well advised to spend a good bit of time on location before making a commitment.

2) Get into business. That basically contemplates moving there, but there are plenty of opportunities. One of the things that jumped out at me was the low number of cars on the streets of Santiago, and the near-total lack of them on the highways outside. Your first reaction is: "Great! This is like California, but without the cars!" Exactly. The auto population is reminiscent of the U.S. in the early 50s, with all the correlary implications. One lady I know has cut a deal with Texaco to set up a string of gas station-cum-convenience stores, which is a perfect way of capitalizing on the trend. If you get on a plane, go down and spend a few weeks there, you'll see plenty of opportunities of that nature.

3) Buy into the Chilean stock market. There are many object lessons to be had from developing markets (although the Santiago Bolsa has been around for almost 100 years). I'd like to cover the Bolsa next month, if only because there's a convenient way to participate in it, the Chile Fund (CH, $26). Unfortunately, I don't think I can give this fund the kind of unreserved buy that served us so well on Brazil Fund last year, and Korea Fund before that---despite the fact Chile Fund is selling at a fair discount to assets.

4) Buy shares of a foreign company with major interests in Chile, but whose shares aren't traded in Santiago, and therefore can be had at more reasonable levels.