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WELCOME TO ‘THE CHILEAN STRUGGLE’.

Over the last couple of years, we have seen consistent uprisings from the general populations of countries all around the world, demanding that something be done about increasing inequality, corruption, and injustice. In October 2019, the streets of Santiago, Chile, were filled with millions of Chileans protesting against these same issues. What do all these countries have in common, you might ask? Severe neoliberal privatisation and liberalisation programs. 

But protest is not new to the country. Chile has been in a constant state of unrest ever since the overthrow of Salvador Allende in 1973, which was superseded by a neoliberal, military dictatorship, followed by Presidents who promised that the free market would liberate decades of turmoil. In each and every step along the way, Chileans have spoken up against these political administrations, and the harm that their privatisation programs had caused their countries. For decades, students have risen in anger against increasingly expensive education and transportation. Feminists have raised their voices against exploitative gender wage gaps and oppressive abortion policies. Indigenous peoples have stood firm against the land grabbing, genocides and displacement. 

You might therefore refer to October 2019 the last straw. When the government increased metro transportation costs by 30 pesos, the Chilean people, as a collective, in the name of their respective movements as well as in the name of their country as a whole, took a against the extractive institutions that are their governing bodies. 

The aim of this project is to bring to light the struggles of the Chilean people over the past few decades, emphasising that ‘it’s not 30 pesos. it’s 30 years.’ We will take you through a number of different movements, though reminding you that they all stand against the same thing; the exclusionary tactics of the neoliberal regime.

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Minimum wage in Chile is a disgrace – it’s around 193,000 pesos (410 US dollars) a month. The reality in Chile is that it’s impossible to live on that salary.

Worker Raul Albarca to the Equal Times, 2013

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Jonas Sanche - One Shot con Tiano Bless & Rxnde Akozta

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There were an estimated 12 thousand homeless people in Chile in 2013. According to a study conducted by the Ministry for Social Development in 2011, 77 percent of the homeless have jobs.

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Blame the Chicago Boys.

As much as 74 percent of the labour force had less than a complete high school education in 2014. Furthermore, 2/3 out of the 150 universities in the country are for-profit, and the average University course costs 41 percent of the average Chilean salary. 

Although the number of University students almost doubled to 1.2 million from 2005-15, 50 percent of students drop out.

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Credits: Pedro Ugarte/AFP Thousands of people in the streets of Santiago, 2019. 

GDP per person calculated for Chilean men is 28,809 dollars, compared to 15,137 dollars earned by a woman.

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Jorge Martin writes about the 2019 uprising in The Marxist. 

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In our interview with Maria Jesus from Santiago, she explains why we are seeing mass mobilization and protests in Chile today. The protests were not a sudden wave - the Chilean people have been resisting for decades.

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We are subjugated by the rich. It's time for that to end

Chilean protestors in Santiago to The Guardian, 2019

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Chile stands alongside Mexico as the most income unequal country in the OECD.

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We interviewed Cristian Chehade, a Chilean student at UCL, on his thoughts regarding the protests in Chile. 

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We have this diversity in the population, and that was seen in the protests

Our interview with Ana Sepuldeva

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Credits: (Above) Henry Romero/Reuters. Demonstrators are seen near a fire during a protest against Chile’s state economic model in Santiago  (Below) Found at airport.co.za. Women at a Santiago street protest, 2019. Sign reads “We grew tired, we united”

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Our interview with Camila Flores Perez

My name is Camila Flores Perez. I’m a postgraduate student of Political Science at the University of Chile. During a significant part of my teenage years and until now I’ve participated actively in politics and protests, especially since 2011. Now, after the “boom” of October in Chile, I have also been very involved, and I started participating in first-aid help to the protesters that were wounded in mobilizations in Plaza de la Dignidad or Plaza Italia, as it was called before. There, I could see up-close how the state and specifically the police, the Carabineros corps (part of the armed forces dedicated to maintaining order) or the “Pacos” as we call them, exerted disproportionate force, violated human rights as they did during the dictatorship.

The experience doing first aid was very shocking but you could notice a lot of resistance from students, workers… There was also a great deal of help from regular people who brought resources and food to the volunteers when we were there. A very good environment was also created where you could get to know people who think similarly to you, and that are of the opinion that a change is needed in Chile

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Credits: Stringers / Reuters

VIVA LA RESISTENCIA / LONG LIVE THE RESISTANCE. 

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Government crackdown on protests resulted in the most serious human rights violations since the dictatorship. 

Chilean police and military forces have committed human rights violations responding to the protesters. 

“The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented 133 acts of torture and mistreatment, 24 cases of sexual violence and isolated cases of psychological torture, including simulated executions, threats of forced disappearance and threats of rape.”

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Credits: Getty Images/AFP/C. Reyes

“The principle medical organization in Chile announced Thursday that well over 200 people have lost their sight, either partially or completely, due to being shot by pellets fired by state security agents during protests in the South American country.” 

– dw.com