The protests began in Santiago after the government proposed increasing the price of the Metro fare. 25 October. Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP
The 11th of September is remembered as a painful day for thousands of Chileans. The beginning of a 16 year long dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet; where people were tortured, freedom was repressed, thousands of people disappeared and Salvador Allende, the first Socialist President elected democratically in the world in 1970, died due to the military coup. Chile is now facing a similar situation: it is not yet classified as a dictatorship, but it opened old scars and harrowing memories. Usually known as one of the most stable countries in Latin America, the country has been paralyzed by a month of protests by people fed up with the status quo; an authentic social explosion. Protests erupted on October 6th, initially against a metro fare hike, but turned into general discontent. Chile has awakened, the people’s rebellion against decades of abuse of power has begun.
The increase of the metro fare was the straw that broke the camel’s back after so many years of abuse. The protesters also pointed out low salaries and pensions, high costs for education and health care and a wide gap between the rich and poor in a country dominated by elite families. The regularity of protests increased on October 18th, as President Sebastian Piñera decreed a State of Emergency, giving the command of Santiago to General Javier Iturriaga and taking the military to the streets to instill fear, as well as declaring night-time curfews. Crime and vandalism were unleashed. On October 19th, the government decided to suspend the increase in public transportation fare, in an attempt to dim the light shone on all other social issues for which protesters were fighting, however, the demonstrations kept on going.
Santiago woke up with military trucks and army deployment only to face popular strikes, an unprecedented measure in democracy. Many protesters stated: “if the government wanted to impose fear, the opposite occurred. They robbed us so much that they stole our fear”- that is one of the slogans that fills improvised banners. Some 20,000 police and soldiers have been deployed in the city, using tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators. These repressive measures have led to the detention of hundreds of people, many of them injured.
Discontent has increased throughout the last few weeks, with many issues added to the list of rightful demands. This is due to Chile’s precarious pension system, impunity in the face of tax evasion and an outdated privatized water system that was established in the constitution of 1980 during the dictatorship. Despite Chile being known as one of the most stable countries in Latin America, in reality, it makes the top three in most unequal countries in terms of access to education, alongside the United States and Peru, according to the OECD report of 2016 (Diario Uchile, 2016). Furthermore, according to the Gini index, the most widely used international measure of inequality, Chile ranks as one of the most unequal countries among a group of 30 of the world’s wealthiest nations (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, BBC News, 2019).
The current government’s attempts of forceful repression and criminalization of social movements is concerning. The press is only showing the riots and avoids giving a complete image of the protests: the police injures people, tear gas is thrown, and bullets are shot. No matter what, we are still standing up: this government will not succeed in frightening its people.
The high levels of repression in Chile led to a dispatch released by the New York Times on November 10th that stated “It’s Mutilation: The Police in Chile Are Blinding Protesters”. Since the protests started, a large number of people have been shot in the eye by police pellet guns. Christopher Madrid, a 25-year-old student, was shot on October 21st by a Chilean police officer as he was marching in a protest in central Santiago. “The soldier was about 40m away. He looked at me and fired”, said Madrid to a journalist of The Guardian as he was waiting in a decrepit health clinic where dozens of gunshot victims were being treated. The reaction that followed this report was expressed all over social media, with many posts saying “Living in Chile costs an eye on the face”.
Meanwhile, in the streets the shootings have not ceased, as protesters continue being shot and ending up with many of their eyes shattered. The rubber bullets and the buckshot don’t kill, but they pierce the eye. All the patients have a low chance of regaining vision, that’s why many of them are blind now.
“It’s Mutilation: The Police in Chile Are Blinding Protesters”. 10 November. Photograph: The Dispatch/ The New York Times
Regarding the reports of violence and irregular detentions; the National Human Rights Institute said 535 people have been injured so far and the police forces have made 2,410 arrests throughout the country- 200 of which involved minors (INDH, The Guardian, 2019). The INDH confirmed that it was compiling 55 legal cases related to five homicides and eight instances of sexual violence involving both police and military agents.
After several weeks of protests all along Chile, in the early hours of November 15th, a historic agreement was reached at Chile’s presidential palace. After nearly a month of resistance from President Sebastian Piñera, party leaders agreed to a nationwide plebiscite in April 2020, in which Chileans will be asked if they want a new constitution and how they would like it to be drafted. The deal may open up a path for Chile to move beyond the dictatorship-era that has become the fight’s core during the protests.However, the struggle continues in full development by questioning the whole inheritance of the dictatorship. After many years, society has come together to claim for all the injustices they have silenced and suffered for decades.
Even here in Tanzania, where I am studying, I feel the struggle that millions of Chileans are going through. I can’t stop thinking that I should be with my people, fighting for what is right. As I can’t, I made my mission to inform people from different countries about what is happening in my homeland.
This social revolution is the response to several decades of injustice due to looting, abuse and exploitation of the working class. People have protested for several weeks now and because of the perseverance and courage of Chileans, in addition to the international pressure, important solutions have been achieved, such as the decision of writing a new constitution. However, the protests won’t stop until the battle is over and won. This reminds me of the last words of the President Salvador Allende before he died: “I am certain that the seed which we have planted in the good conscience of thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled forever. They have the strength and could dominate us, but social processes can be ceased neither by crime nor force. The history is ours, and the people are the ones that create it”. His prophecy is fulfilled. The wide Alamedas* have been opened and through them the free men and women who rebel against the system that oppresses them.
The most massive peaceful protest in the history of Chile. 26 October. Photograph: El Diario de la República
*Alamedas: A tree-shaded promenade or public park.
References:
The Guardian. (2019, October 24).Chile protests: UN to investigate claims of human rights abuses after 18 deaths. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/24/chile-protests-human-rights-un-investigation
UN News/ Diana Leal (2019, November 8). Violence can never be the answer: UN rights experts condemn excessive force during Chile protests. Retrieved from: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1051011
Foreign Policy/ John Bartlett (2019, November 15). Chile’s Protesters Have Won a Path to a New Constitution. Retrieved from: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/15/chile-protests-constitution-politics-latin-america/
The Guardian/ Michael Safi (2019, October 25). Protests rage around the world – but what comes next? Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/25/protests-rage-around-the-world-hong-kong-lebanon-chile-catalonia-iraq
Brent McDonald, Miguel Tovar and Armando de la Cruz (2019, November 10). ‘It’s Mutilation’: The Police in Chile Are Blinding Protesters. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000006795557/chile-protesters-shot-eye.html
CNN/ Carmen Aristegui (2019, November 15). El contexto en el que Chile perfila una nueva Constitución. Retrieved from: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/video/chile-crisis-protesta-constitucion-violencia-derechos-humanos-gobierno-carmen-aristegui/
Reality Check/ BBC News (2019, October 21). Chile protests: Is inequality becoming worse?. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50123494
The Guardian/ Jonathan Franklin (2019, October 27). Hundreds shot and beaten as Chile takes to the streets. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/27/chile-hundreds-shot-and-beaten-street-protests
El País/ Rocio Montes (2019, October 21). Piñera, tras las protestas que han dejado al menos 13 muertos: “Estamos en guerra”. Retrieved from: https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/10/21/america/1571627404_171893.html
RadioUchile (2016, February 10). Chile, Perú y Estados Unidos: los más desiguales en educación de la OCDE. Retrieved from: https://radio.uchile.cl/2016/02/10/chile-peru-y-estados-unidos-los-mas-desiguales-en-educacion-de-la-ocde/
The Guardian/ Daniel Gallagher (2016, September 15). The heavy price of Santiago’s privatised water. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/sep/15/chile-santiago-water-supply-drought-climate-change-privatisation-neoliberalism-human-right
El Mostrador (2019, November 10). “It’s Mutilation”: el crudo relato del New York Times sobre el explosivo aumento de traumas oculares por disparos de Carabineros. Retrieved from: https://www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/multimedia/2019/11/10/its-mutilation-el-crudo-relato-del-new-york-times-sobre-el-explosivo-aumento-de-traumas-oculares-por-por-disparos-de-carabineros/
Photograph: Pedro Ugarte, AFP/ Aristegui Noticias (2019, October 25) Así se han vivido las protestas en Chile|Galería. Retrieved from: https://aristeguinoticias.com/2010/multimedia/asi-se-vivieron-las-protestas-en-chile-galeria/
Photograph: The Dispatch/ The New York Times (2019, November 10). “It’s Mutilation: The Police in Chile Are Blinding Protesters”. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000006795557/chile-protesters-shot-eye.html
You can also go and check out this article in the amazing journalistic platform "Stehind" -Stories Behind the News, started by a group of students from UWC Dilijan: http://www.stehind.com/chiles-awakening-protests-against-dictatorships-inheritance/
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