Chilean Government Battles to Survive: BuzzFlash's Man in Chile on Ongoing Nationwide Protests Against Austerity

October 30th 2019

Chile (Rodriqo Vera)

By Jonathan Franklin

BuzzFlash Note: This is the second article chronicling the massive anti-austerity uprising in Chile. You can read the first article here.

After 9 days of massive street protests, Chile on Monday seemed even farther from a solution to the political upheavel sweeping this nation that just weeks ago was hailed as “an oasis” amidst the turmoil in the streets of South America.

With an approval rating nearing single digits, Chilean President Sebastían Piñera on Monday scrambled to salvage his tottering government. After firing his entire cabinet over the weekend, President Piñera – a businessman worth US$2.8 billion and listed by FORBES as #804 among the world’s wealthiest individuals – was widely criticized for his extended absences during the 10-day crisis. Though few wager it will happen, the once unthinkable is now openly debated: Will Piñera resign?

In addition to the march by more than 1 million Chileans on Friday, Piñera now faces efforts by opposition lawmakers to charge him for human rights violations during the street protests. Critics of the president in the Chilean Congress seek to accuse President Piñera as being responsible for the deaths of protesters after he suspended the constitution and sent thousands of military troops into the streets. 

Piñera has been widely criticized for declaring “we are at war” and posing in front of a roomful of soldiers as he announced the military crackdown. While Piñera sought to portray himself as a capable commander-in-chief, the scenario backfired spectacularly as Chileans throughout the nation rejected what -- for many -- were scenes reminiscent of the 17-year brutal rule of Army General Augusto Pinochet.

Social media streams over the weekend were filled with images of security forces beating Chilean citizens. Human Rights groups on Monday demonstrated in front of the Supreme Court and demanded stricter limits to the crowd control tactics used by security forces that thus far have led to more than 1,000 Chileans injured and more than 100 partially blinded after being shot in the eye.  “We condemn the grave human rights violations being committed in multiple places across Chile,” began an open declaration signed by 150 Chilean law professors. “We demand that the right of protestors be respected,” read the letter released on Monday that called for  “an active and responsible dialogue, in good faith, to create pathways to solutions.” 

But police commander noted that hundreds of police officers were also injured – including those burned by Molotov cocktails thrown by protesters. Police were often overwhelmed in efforts to control massive looting and destruction as more than 100 supermarkets were destroyed as well as numerous subway stations, pharmacies and banks. Hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure has now been incinerated. On Sunday in the port city of Valparaiso a massive and peaceful protest was followed by a determined effort by crowds to storm the Congress and either burn it to the ground or occupy the seat of government.  

“What we need now is a government that reacts, that looks for a way to understand what the community is proposing,” said Ivan Flores, President of Chile’s lower house of congress in a radio interview. Referring to the move to charge Piñera with crimes or remove the president, Flores declared, “it’s not the moment. Decapitating the government now? Who will we be able to converse with? Right now, for example, all the cabinet members have resigned. With whom do we advance?”

Despite numerous representatives of the Chilean left now holding positions of power in the Chilean congress, not a single progressive political party has harvested benefits from the uprising. A "Peace March" organized by pro-Pinochet politician José Antonio Kast scheduled for Sunday was cancelled. “For the people who are marching, the entire political class from right to left is guilty. They are seen as the ones with all the privileges. Thus, they are invalid,” said Pablo Zeballos, Founder of iTask Consulting, a Latin American risk analysis firm with Headquarters in Chile.  “The challenge for the government in these mobilizations will be to maintain and advance with ‘normalcy’ in the next few days, to advance with a new social contract and a political solution,”  said Zeballos. “These massive marches create a unification, a union, of those who feel rejected, and for that reason the time to find a political solution is closing.”

Jonathan Franklin is The Guardian reporter in Chile. He writes about Chile, crime and human rights. His latest book, 438 Days, chronicles the saga of two fisherman lost at sea for more than a year. He can be followed on Twitter at @FranklinBlog and on his website, JonathanFranklin.com

Posted with permission of the author