Clichés about Chile

I've asked many people around me (family, friends, colleagues from France...) what they know about Chile. Or maybe I should say: what they think they know. Cause most of them have a wrong idea about this country. Let's correct the most common clichés I've heard about Chile:

• Chile IS NOT an exotic country: The climate is very different all across the country: in the north, the Atacama is the dryest desert in the world. In the center, where half of the Chilean population lives (Santiago, Valparaiso, Viña del Mar: my region), there is a mediterranean climate. More in the south it gets colder and rainy (oceanic climate), and in the far south of Patagonia, it's almost a polar climate. Of course, there are exotic fruits such as papaya or mango, as well as cactus and palms, but nor jungles neither tropical landscapes. Because Chile is stuck betweem the high Andes and the cold Humboldt's stream in the Pacific ocean, that provide a climate quite different from the rest of South America.
  
  
• Chile IS NOT a Third-world country: It's a developing country, the richest in South America. Chilean people are, for instance, more involved in new technologies than French people (in my opinion). Whereas it's one of the country in the world with the biggest deferencies between the rich (quite few but really rich and powerful) and the poor (about 20% of the population, according to oficial datas).
  
  
• Chile IS NOT a dictature: Although Pinochet just died one month ago, I bet many people still think there is no stability in this country. This is absolutely wrong. Pinochet lost the elections in 1989, and since then a left-center coalition rules Chile through a stable and free democratic system.
  
  
• Chile IS NOT a coffee producer: Many people think it is, because most of south-american countries (Brasil, Colombia, Venezuela...) are very imporant producers. But it seems that the very specific chilean climate doesn't allow the production of coffee.
  
  
• Chile IS NOT the godfather of chili con carne: This very famous dish is even hard to find here: it comes from the south of the USA, mainly Texas and New Mexico. Chili is the name of the spice, it's not related to the country.