Chile has woken up

Protests in Chile 2019: a protocol from the semester abroad

Tuesday, 22.10. I'm sitting on the grass in front of my shared flat in the spring sunshine (pretty strong thanks to the ozone hole) and looking through the fence of our apartment block down onto Viña del Mar, which has been my home for the past three months now. Viña is a peaceful seaside resort with 333,000 inhabitants between the capital Santiago de Chile and tourist destination Valparaíso. Right now I should actually be at university, but today my courses are beside the point: since the weekend, Chile has been in a state of emergency due to protests, including nightly curfews – today from 18:00 to 06:00. The city still lies peacefully below me; a typical cold breeze brings the smell of the sea with it. Only the barking of the street dogs, which I'm used to by now, sounds more nervous than usual. Now, at half past five, the so-called cacerolazos begin with their rhythmic tock-tock-tocktock-tock, a loud form of protest in which solidarity is expressed by drumming on pots and pans even from high-rise buildings with those who take to the streets during the collective house arrest. Police vans and military vehicles drive through the city whilst protesters undeterred erect barricades made of burning cardboard and branches. Alongside peaceful marches there are looting and violent clashes with the police. However, the majority of protesters are armed at most with placards and pots, whilst President Sebastián Piñera deploys tanks against them.

As can be seen on the Tagesschau amongst others, the trigger for the unrest was a price increase in Santiago's metro from 800 to 830 pesos, equivalent to four pence. After students called for mass evasión (fare evasion)[1], protests have been taking place across the country since 19 October. But this increase of 30 pesos was merely the straw that broke the camel's back. The protesters carry signs: "No son 30 pesos, son 30 años" – it's not about four pence, but about the last 30 years. By this they mean the phase of democratisation after the dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet, with the cacerolazos having lamented Chile's misery for some time. Originally they are a conservative weapon from the time of the world's first democratically elected socialist president: Salvador Allende. Opponents banged on empty pots to complain about food shortages. Allende was deposed in 1973 by a coup d'état by the military junta around Pinochet. There followed 17 years of oppression and human rights violations[2] – and at the same time Chile's economic rise as South America's economic miracle. Following the ideas of the so-called Chicago Boys[3], neoliberalism was introduced: pension and healthcare systems, even water was privatised. The boom came, but only for a few: social inequality is large today. Young people born after the dictatorship are now lamenting the consequences and are fed up with assigning blame (depending on political persuasion) to Pinochet or Allende. They hold the governments since 1990 accountable for leaving many problems unresolved in the process of democratisation. The movement unites diverse political convictions: Mapuche, rainbow and Chilean flags are waved, a Fridays for Future group is there. People sing protest songs from the seventies and eighties. Piñera's declaration of a state of emergency is only possible under the constitution, which like the economic system still dates from Pinochet's time – the military presence must seem to the older generation like a shadow of the past.

Monday, 28.10. The ten-day state of emergency ends today, and university begins again – but only for non-native speakers, who take extra courses independently of the Chileans. How the semester will end for my Mexican flatmates remains uncertain. In the meantime, the situation has normalised somewhat, so you can shop again without queuing in front of the supermarket. We meet at a panel discussion with three professors at the university. Whilst those in charge have so far simply forbidden us from participating in demos, the three take a surprisingly positive stance towards the situation – my history professor even speaks of the "privilege of experiencing this historic time". The international students are nonetheless divided on whether, as foreigners, one has no place at protests, or should support their fellow students. These debate offline and online about the situation, about the necessity of violence, about police brutality. Chile was long considered safe, peaceful, European – it is for those who can afford it.

At the marches, dignidad, dignity, is demanded for all: a new constitution without Pinochet's shadow, Piñera's resignation, a new pension system, cheaper medicines and higher wages. In Chile the minimum wage is 301,000 CLP (approx. €360), whilst the cost of living is comparable to Germany. Meanwhile, 50% of people live on less than €500 a month. If one does a bit of maths like scientist Scott Reynhout[4], it works out for example: if someone travels twice daily by metro to work, that person spends one-sixth of the minimum wage on transport. By comparison: in New York it's five per cent. The population's discontent is intensified by the political elite's lack of understanding of their outrage. Piñera's rhetoric of "Estamos en guerra" and his harsh crackdown contribute to escalation in looting and vandalism. Meanwhile, his wife compares the protests in a leaked audio to an "alien invasion" – she has since apologised; protesters now dress up as aliens. A reaction from Economy Minister Fontaine also causes an outcry: according to him, metro users should simply get up half an hour earlier to use the cheaper morning tariff. Bizarre as these statements seem, they reveal the alienation of a political elite from the general public.

Monday, 04.11. Update. Today there's an earthquake in Viña and people take it with humour: perhaps the earth is trembling because of the jumping protesters. "Whoever doesn't jump is for coal" is what they say here, namely: "él que no salta es paco" – whoever doesn't jump is a police officer. Complaints about the crimes of the carabineros are getting louder: there is talk of several deaths, mistreatment, some have lost eyes from rubber bullets. To me as a European, even the constant use of tear gas and water cannons seems excessive. Last week Piñera dismissed several ministers and cancelled the world climate conference in Santiago. Despite everything, more and more people are joining the protests: mine workers, doctors, even my lecturer is there. On Saturday, Santiago saw the largest demonstration since 1990 with 1.2 million participants. Wednesday, 13.11. Whilst the protests continue, my reporting ends here. Yesterday a call was made for a paro nacional, general strike: again classes fell away because no buses were running; in Viña there were demos, road blockades and riots. This morning on the way to university, the smell of tear gas still stubbornly hangs in the air, eats into the mucous membranes of passers-by and is topic number one of conversation. The empanada seller just says matter-of-factly that yesterday they must have used "something extra strong" and asks whether I don't want to go back to Germany. A court in Santiago allowed a lawsuit last week for human rights violations against Piñera. When you see what people here do to themselves almost daily on the street, it's clear that the latest increase in the minimum wage of about €55 is not enough to appease the protesters. Many Chilean media outlets, mostly owned by the upper class, report rather one-sidedly, which unfortunately is often adopted in Germany. This report can and will be no more "objective", but enable a new perspective on the lesser-known aspects of what is happening. How things will proceed remains to be seen.

Veronika Erl

The Spanish evasión evasión also means tax evasion – which the President himself practised for years. Piñera is one of the richest men in the country. See https://www.scottareynhout.com/blog/2019/10/20/ the-recent-historical-background-to-the-2019-chilean-protests-nye5s.

[2] People allowed (alleged) dissidents to disappear, be tortured and murdered; relatives of desaparecidos are still searching today for the remains of their relatives, for example as seen in the documentary "Nostalgia for the Light" (2010) by Patricio Guzmán.

[3] Film recommendations on this: Carola Fuentes: "Chicago Boys" (2015), Naomi Klein: "Shock Doctrine" (2009).

[4] On the website scottareynhout.com, Reynhout, a geologist from the USA living in Chile, explains historical connections to the current situation in an illustrative and above all in English manner. You can read more about the demands here.