Chile Warms Up to U2

Mon., Feb. 27, 2006 11:50 AM PST by

Another day, another piece of hardware for the U2 trophy case.

The Grammy-winning rockers were doubly honored in Chile over the weekend, with the band receiving accolades from Amnesty International and Bono picking up the country's top cultural prize.

Fresh off his latest Noble Peace Prize nomination, Bono was awarded the Neruda Prize in Santiago Sunday, named after native son and celebrated poet Pablo Neruda.

"He moved me very much," Bono said of his medal's namesake during a ceremony at the La Moneda presidential palace.

The award, given to the singer for his artistic and cultural contributions to the country, was handed out by departing President Ricardo Lagos, who also awarded Bono a charango, a traditional Andrean lute-like instrument.

"When we were talking before, Bono told me that one must study throughout one's life," Lagos said. "So for his next concert here, I hope he's learned to play the charango."

The Dublin-based quartet was in Chile for the South American leg of its How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb tour, for which they played a single, sold-out show Sunday night.

But not before collecting more hardware.

The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton and longtime manager Paul McGuinness joined Bono in receiving Amnesty International's annual Ambassadors of Conscience Award Sunday. The tongue-twisting accolade was awarded by President-elect Michelle Bachelet, the country's first female leader, at a backstage ceremony before the group's concert at the national stadium.

The band was honored for using its music and celebrity cachet to champion human rights causes for two decades and counting.

"You are a reminder to all of us that the world is not changed only by politicians and governments," Bachelet told the group. "The world is changed by all of us."

The presentation of the award was of particularly poignancy for the do-gooder group. The national stadium had a previous incarnation as a detention center for political prisoners, including Bachelet, and the toll of human rights abuses committed by the government continues to weigh heavily on the locals. It's an issue Bono addressed while receiving the award.

"There are still people in this country that are silent and they are sick with their secrets...and I would just say to them, this is the moment, the beginning of the new Chile to set yourself free from those secrets and come forward," he said.

After the concert, Bono continued his goodwill tour by meeting with relatives of political dissidents who disappeared under the decades-long dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

U2 kicks off the Australia leg of their world tour next month.

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