The evolution of the Chile protests

It has been more than a month since the protests in Chile started and the unrest in the country is still latent.

Everything started the 4th of October after an increase of 30 pesos of the metro ticket at peak travel times-the fourth price rise in two years-which provoked the unrest specially of the Chilean working class.

The country’s public transport system is one of the most expensive worldwide and more than half of the population lives on £500 or less a month, thus most of them spend a quarter of their income just in transport. The transporter minister responded to the Chilean’s complains by saying: “those wishing to pay a lower fare should simply wake up earlier”. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Students started protesting at the metro stations by the evasion of the ticket fare in order to represent the unrest of their families. After two days of manifestations, the president sent the police forces to control the situation. The reaction of the police, who started attacking and shooting at the students, instead of easing the protests, increased the riots. This situation caused a big impact in the Chilean society and motivated the wider population to come out onto the streets to fight for their rights.

The 19th of October the president declared a state of emergency and sent the military to control. This incident triggered memories of the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in 1973, which lasted 17 years and was known worldwide because of its attempts against human rights.

 Elderly people were affected the most, a demonstrator expressed “I fought in the 73 and I never thought I would have to do it again”.

What are Chileans fighting for?

“It is no longer about the 30 pesos fare increase, but about the near 30 years of injustices”. This is one of the most common slogans seen during the manifestation and refers to the fact that since the end of the dictatorship many structures and conditions remained totally unchanged.

The neoliberalist system enforced during Pinochet’s regime have contributed to the free reign in the past decades of Chilean economic policy. Chile has been often considered to be Latin America's most stable country and as an example to follow. Despite this, the truth that lies behind the development of the country indicates that Chile is one of the most unequal countries worldwide and this reality can be seen by Chileans on a daily basis. For instance, most of the schools and universities of the country are financed privately and the quality of public schools is very poor. Moreover, long waiting lists in the public health care means that many people die waiting for an appointment and treatment.  Most of the private services can be used just by a small privileged group and for the rest of the population the low wages pair with high living costs, which explains why Chilean household debt is the highest in Latin America.

Chile is the only country whose water remains private, and it is provided to Chileans at prices like those in European countries. This leaves an open door to private companies that have drying up the rivers, leaving Chilean farmers without food provisions and job.  All this factors that form the foundation of the mass protest in Chile also explain the mistrust towards the political and economic elite that for a long period have not been able to improve the precarious conditions.

Chileans displeased with the national media

Younger generations are no longer intimidated and refuse to surrender. One of the main issues of the conflict is the censorship and fake news practiced by the main communication newscasts. Recently the Chilean school of journalism called Chileans to report a video shared by TVN, one of the main news channels in Chile. The video shows a woman setting on fire bank, fire which later was proved to be a mounting. The main accusations made by the Chilean protesters is that television channels and national newspapers just show biased reports and focus on the violence and destruction of a few. In addition, they believe the media portrays an image of a normalized society, and do not show the peaceful demonstrations that continue, especially in the capital where marches gather more than 1.2 million people in the plaza every day, something that has never been seen before.

A protester in Santiago de Chile holding a banner that says: “turn off the TV because it lies”

Most of the citizens agree by saying that they have been protesting peacefully for a long time, but nobody payed attention to them until they escalated.

Mainly major institutions have been targeted for attacks, especially supermarkets, pharmacies and the AFP-Chile’s private pension system-. Protesters argued to be fed up with the abuse and exploitation of the system. Pharmacies sell medications at profits margins of up to 80%. Medications that are unaffordable for more than a million of elderly people retired, who live with a pension lower than the minimum wage, in many cases as reduced as just a third of it. This situation has led to an increase of 17% in elderly suicides in the last few years.

Instead of watching the news, citizens are now using social media to report and share what it is really happening in the country. There even are videos shared online showing police themselves setting fires and committing looting in order to cause further escalation and legitimate the excessive use of violence.

Can Chile still carry the title of a liberal democracy?

One of the main demands made by the citizens was a new constitutional assembly, as the current constitution was imposed during the dictatorship and makes almost impossible to change the policies in order to let the government participate more in public matters. Thanks to the demonstrations, there is going to be a national referendum to create a new constitution and finally change the one imposed by Pinochet. However, people also call for Pinera’s resignation. They expressed that the abuse and human rights violations committed by police and military forces cannot be ignored.

Violence towards children and adolescents, torture, sexual abuse and violence based on sexual orientation are some of the situations still happening every day from part of the armed forces. The number of those killed, raped or tortured is much higher than officially confirmed as to date and are being investigated by the UN commission. The INDH has already reported 93 cases of sexual abuse, mainly from part of the police. One of the victims confirmed to be sent to a police station where police officers forced her to undress and do squats. Valeria Serrano, a 21-year-old student expressed: “It happens every day, you can be striking peacefully and suddenly police come with pressurised water and tear gas, no matter if families are there. You can see kids crying to their mom because they can’t breathe. In that situation you have to just run because if they catch you don’t know what they can do to you”.

21 years old Chilean Gustavo Gatica, who lost both eyes while taking photographs in one of the demonstrations.

On the other hand, more than 200 people has had eye damage or lost the sight one or both eyes. This is a worldwide record and has never been recorded in the history before. The victims affirm that it is not a coincidence and the police officers that shot pointed straight into their eyes.

The name of the main plaza in Chile has been changed from “Plaza Italia” to “Plaza Dignidad” which means dignity, and it says, “here and in other places the police shot to the eyes of its own people”.

A social revolution

Chile has worked as an example for many South American countries that express to “feel trapped with neoliberalist political system” and now are protesting for similar issues, demanding more equality and higher living standards. In addition, we can see messages of support from different countries and recreating ways of manifestation.

Chilean women performing anti-rape song they created, that becomes international feminist anthem.

 Notwithstanding with the abuses people remain positive and hoping for a change. In this month people agree to have a better quality of life and more time to spend with the family, as they tend to finish their shifts earlier due to the manifestations. In relation to this, a message was shared by one retail shop staff member: “We are closing at 19:00 pm, and we have had as good sales as a month ago when we closed at 21:30 pm. People are getting used to the opening hours and to do things earlier. The best thing is that I can go home and see my daughters awake”.

Protesters also agree to feel a sense of fraternity during the demonstrations. Valeria Serrano expressed: “if something happen to you strangers will come to protect you, now we all take care of each other. During every demonstration there are people on the streets giving away free food and lemons to take care of the people affected by the tear gas”.

Protesters offering free hair cuts to elderly people

Indigenous communities, who tend to be separated from the rest of the citizens also joined the manifestations

It is an historical event, in which for the first time in the country people gathered to protests for their rights, no matter the ethnic, social class or political wing.