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Written by Alexa Shaffer, Public Policy Major & Nicolas Morales, Social Psychologist

When a state of emergency was declared in San Bernardo, a county south of Santiago, Chile, people responded by streaming into the streets to protest peacefully. Their indignation was palpable and their demands numerous. The phrase ‘Chile Despertó’ is a hymn of ecstasy that people are chanting and singing; ‘Chile woke up’ is emblematic of the moment.

„Willing to fight”

Not only is Chile aware of the injustices it’s suffering, but it is also willing to fight collectively for its own equality. Over three weeks after the declaration of a state of emergency, the protests have sustained almost daily. Not just in San Bernardo, but in towns and cities across all of Chile.

Understanding what is going on in Chile can be difficult from outside the country, and thus many people continue to ask why Chileans are protesting.

To those from other countries in the region that are living their own political crisis, such as Venezuela and Bolivia, Chile’s reality may seem much more stable, and even more attractive, than their own countries. They may have looked at Chile as an example of what to strive for in the region.

To put it into perspective, the minimum wage in Chile is 26 times greater than the minimum wage in Venezuela.

In Bolivia they are currently fighting for democratic elections, while Chile has had democratically elected presidents since 1990.

Peru and Argentina are also facing political crises that are destabilizing the countries.

To industrial countries in Western Europe and the United States, the ongoing protests may seem rife with civil disobedience and vandalism because that is how much of international and national media have portrayed the protests. While there have been acts of looting and burning, the instances of peaceful protests are much more numerous.

To Chileans with little connection to the lives of the majority of the country, the protests are a nuisance. They are surprised that some of their neighbors are banging pots and pans, that there are protests in their neighborhood for the first time and that their right-wing president is proposing to raise their taxes.

To the Chileans protesting, to the millions of people in Santiago that have joined the massive marches and the other millions that are protesting across the country, this has been a long time coming. Decades in the making. Protestors are calling Chile’s 30-year-long democracy a farce.

Who would want to live as a debt slave?

Many of the social problems that Chile faces are similar to those of other countries: high-cost of healthcare, education, retirement and stark stratification among social classes regarding wages, access to basic services, housing availability. There are some problems that are particular to Chile, such as the privatization of water and pensions. However, most of what Chileans are fighting for today are the social realities of many other countries as well.

What is it that makes Chile different then? Why are people unwilling to accept the system they live under?

Chile is a relatively small country of 18 million people with a history of citizen-led

movements that have brought about profound social change. Most recently, the student movement of 2006 caused the creation of new legislation that responded to some of the student’s demands. However, the new legislation was not considered an adequate solution to their demands and five years later students across the country took to the streets again to demand quality and gratuitous public education for all.

The student movement succeeded in positioning citizens’ right to a quality, public education in the national discourse (Revolución Pingüina, Universidad de Chile, 2016).

Chile lived through 17 years of military dictatorship that ended in 1990.

Since the termination of the dictatorship there has been a succession of both progressive and conservative democratically-elected governments. In spite of Chile’s last 30 years of democratic rule, the current Constitution was created and ratified during the dictatorship in 1980, and few changes have been made to it since. Specifically, constitutional reforms were made in 1989 and amendments were passed in 2005 (Constitution Net). Many of the demands that are currently made by protestors require a new Constitution, and thus the Asamblea Constituyente is a term mentioned frequently. An Asamblea Constituyente is a Citizens’ Assembly that brings together representatives of civil society whom discuss, revise and propose a new Constitution (Asamblea Constituyente Chile).

According to the Social Thermometer, an October 2019 survey found 75.7% of the population trusts in an elected Asamblea Constituyente to redact a new Constitution

(Termómetro Social, Núcleo Milenio en Desarrollo Social y el Centro de Microdatos de la Universidad de Chile).

Although Chile’s minimum wage is higher than other countries in Latin America, it is not a living wage. The cost of a basic food basket containing the protein, carbohydrates, fiber and minerals that an adult needs make up 32.9% of the total minimum wage (Picodi, 2019). The cost of public transportation, the topic that initially sprung protests and fare evasions in Santiago, makes up 13.8% of a person’s minimum wage when used twice a day during the peak commute schedule (El Dinamo, 2019). Nineteen percent of wages pay for health, pensions and unemployment insurance.

The $142.50 that are left over are used for large expenses like rent and education.

As mentioned before, both water and pensions are privatized in Chile. Chile is the only country in the world in which water is in the hands of a private company. Regarding pensions, Chileans are obligated to affiliate with a private pension company, called AFPs, and contribute 10% of their gross salary. In turn, the AFPs invest the pensions in the stock market.

Chile has stark inequality. Among the countries that form part of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Chile has one of the highest levels of income inequality. In 2017, 50% of the households with the lowest wages possessed 2.1% of the nation’s wealth, whereas the wealthiest 1% of Chileans possess 26.5% of the nation’s wealth (Panorama Social de América Latina, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean-CEPAL, 2018).

This leaves Chile with a tremendous opportunity and an incredible responsibility. This could be the moment that sparks positive change in the lives of many, the moment when a profound social transformation can happen. The world has its eyes on Chile, many are in awe and confused as to what is truly going on, while in Chile the situation couldn’t be more clear: ‘Chile woke up’.

It all began the week of October 14th when high school students in Santiago organized to evade metro fares due to a 30 Chilean peso fare increase.

Students led one week of large-scale evasions at different metro stops throughout the city that were met with police repression. On Friday October 18th, students were joined by other citizens whom were in favor of lowering the metro fares, but were also ready to protest a host of other grievances. A mass fare evasion, where hundreds of people jumped the metro’s turnstiles, occurred along with the burning of several metro stops.

The same day of the mass fare evasion, October 18th, a state of emergency was declared and the following day, October 19th, the first government imposed curfew was instituted.

On Monday October 21st a general strike was declared by civil society. The curfew continued for six nights straight and the general strike continued for six days until the state of emergency was lifted on Saturday October 26th. The longer the state of emergency lasted the more protests ignited. The daily curfew provided even more impetus for people to manifest their distress through protests.

„We are not at WAR, we are UNITED”

When Piñera declared a state of emergency, imposed a nightly curfew and stated that the country was at war, Chileans responded with a rotund: “we are not at war, we are united”. In addition to the protests in the streets, ‘cacerolazos’ are heard from homes and plazas. A ‘cacerolazo’ is a way of protesting that requires a few domestic items, typically a pot and a wooden spoon, banged together to make noise. The use of the cookware symbolizes a lack of resources in the home.

Beyond the protests and ‘cacerolazos’, many collective activities have taken place that are strengthening community bonds and solidarity. Assemblies, town halls and participative forums are held in plazas, community centers and schools; communal potlucks are shared among neighbors and strangers; free cultural events are raising awareness and inspiring hope. Chile’s 16 regions have all been mobilized in this movement, responding in unison, and reminding everyone of the typical Chilean expression that says: ‘Chile is not Santiago’.

From within a protest held on the second day of the state of emergency a towering voice stood out: “They’re killing us, they shoot at us without reason, they want to silence us making us disappear the same way they did 46 years ago.” The year mentioned, 1973, marks the beginning of Chile’s 17 year-long military dictatorship.

The sound of helicopter blades rotating in the air, the presence of tanks and soldiers on the streets and an empty city after the hour of curfew strikes are all reminiscent of the dictatorial rule under Augusto Pinochet’s mandate. Over the past few weeks, these sensory triggers have retraumatized many Chileans who lived through the dictatorship, either in Chile or in exile. For those who were born after the dictatorship, many of the same triggers activate a deep-seated fear, learned from their family’s own trauma.

Further activating people’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and intergenerational trauma are the state imposed human rights violations harrowing Chile since the state of emergency was initially declared. There is a real fear that people may end up wounded, detained or deceased after participating in a protest. A young adult from San Bernardo described his experience at the protests, “we helped children and senior citizens make their way out of clouds of tear gas.

We lifted teenagers and adults hit by metal and rubber pellets from the street.”

In low-income sectors, people have been disproportionately impacted by the repression.

Depending where you live, things can appear to be relatively normal or complete chaos. San Bernardo is a living example of this, it is the Chilean county with the most amount of people living below the poverty line (CASEN 2006). Citizens, including children, have witnessed, recorded and reported the abuse and violence unleashed by the government. An eight-year-old from San Bernardo shared her experience, “I saw when my uncle was shot inside his house, it was the military, I didn’t know what was happening and my mom took me to another room.”

Killing people

Testimonies, like the former, were gathered at a school in San Bernardo. They give voice to the narratives of those who have been traumatized by this crisis. Children have had to hide out in their homes: a six-year-old said, “my mom hid me in a room while the military was throwing firecrackers, she told me to hide under the bed”. They have borne witness to repression and violence. A nine-year-old shared, “They took my dad in a police van. They hit him and didn’t let him leave. I shouted out of fear and my brother wouldn’t let me leave the house”. These are images that are permeated in their young minds that may cause an onset of PTSD.

Severe human rights violations have been reported, according to Jaime Bassa, a constitutional lawyer.

When presenting to the Senate Human Rights Commision Bassa stated, “Today what we are witnessing on the streets is state violence de facto.” Between October 17th and midday November 8th 4,364 people have been detained, 1,915 people have been wounded, and 5 people were killed by military officers on active duty (Instituto Nacional de Derechos Humanos).

The overall death count during the state of emergency, reported by the Chilean Office of the Attorney General (Fiscalía), is 23.

During Chile’s 30 year-long democracy there have been instances of repression by the police, particularly during protests and mass fare evasions. However, past levels of repression under democratic rule have never been as pronounced as they are today. Chile’s National Institute of Human Rights has presented 283 judicial actions, specifically for homicide (5), sexual violence (52), forms of torture and cruel treatment (192), among other reasons. Today the judicial actions against police officers for torture amount to 50% of all the actions for torture presented since the

establishment of the Institute of Human Rights in 2010 (Instituto Nacional de Derechos Humanos).

Amnesty International, Office of the Attorney General and University of Chile’s Legal Defense, among other entities have received hundreds of reports from civilians regarding violations of human rights. UN human rights experts have condemned the government’s excessive and indiscriminate use of force during protests and before detention (United Nations). Even with these instances documented and legal actions taken, the government still won’t cede to the social demands and solutions to structural changes that are necessary to begin to ameliorate inequality in Chile.

On the evening of the fifth day of nationwide protests, Chilean President, Sebastian Piñera, responded with a proposal to increase the minimum wage, increase the income taxes of the wealthiest, a reduction in salaries and allowances of members of Congress, and a reduction of the price of medication, among others. These proposals, however, were not enough and people continued to organize, protest and vocalize their discontent on a national level, calling Piñera’s proposal ‘migajas’, crumbs.

After eight days the state of emergency was lifted, however the protests were nowhere near coming to an end. The sentiment was, and continues to be: we will protest until living is worthwhile, ‘hasta que valga la pena vivir’. The hike of 30 pesos to the metro fare represented only one of the many abuses that the Chilean government has imposed upon citizens. Initially a fare increase sparked millions to demonstrate, whether it be in the streets or from their homes as part of the ‘cacerolazo’. Now people are also vehemently protesting Piñeras response to the movement and the human rights violations that have occurred.

Today there is a real opportunity to make a lasting change to the structure of the country, and improve the ways in which the majority of the country lives. The world should look to Chile as a model of what can be achieved when political parties and individualism are set aside. Today Chile is mobilized by the desire to be represented by a government that cares about the well-being of its people, by a dream of equal access to resources and opportunities, by a longing for a sustained sense of community and solidarity, by the indignation of the abuses endured for decades.

Chile as it is today, will never return to the way it was at the beginning of October before the protests began.

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