Historic demonstration in Chile, one million take to the streets against inequality
Rights — di Andrea Barolini
On Friday, immense marches swept through Chile's squares. Calls are mounting to move the climate conference, Cop 25, to another location.
Historic demonstration in Chile, one million take to the streets against inequality
On Friday, immense marches swept through Chile's squares. Calls are mounting to move the climate conference, Cop 25, to another location.
One million people marched in Chile on Friday. It is a historic mobilisation, already described by many in the South American nation as "the largest in history". What is certain is that protests of such a scale had not been seen since the referendum called by dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1988 to seek a further eight-year term.
"No son 30 pesos, son 30 años de abuso"
For a week Santiago has been shaken by a wave of demonstrations to which the government of Sebastian Piñera initially responded harshly, declaring the nation "at war", decreeing a state of emergency, sending the army into the streets and imposing a curfew. In the days that followed, the conservative leader then attempted to partly meet the population's demands with the announcement of a series of social measures.
These, however, were not enough to quell the anger of Chileans. "No son 30 pesos, son 30 años de abuso": it is not over 30 pesos, but over thirty years of abuse that we are protesting, chant the demonstrators in the squares of Santiago de Chile, referring to the proposed increase in metro fares (subsequently withdrawn by the government).
Over the past week trade unions also mobilised, calling a general strike. The governor of the capital region, Karla Rubilar, said she was "moved" by the level of popular participation. This was confirmed by police, who spoke of "more than 820,000 people" on the streets of Santiago — marching peacefully.
Over a million people in Chile took to the streets to demand social and political change - following a week of deadly demonstrations.
Calls launched to boycott Cop 25 in Chile. Bonn and Costa Rica proposed as alternative venues
For his part, Piñera stated that he had "understood the message" of the crowd gathered mainly in Plaza Italia, in the heart of the capital. A heterogeneous movement with no identifiable leaders, which is nonetheless growing in size with each passing day — to the point of raising doubts about Chile's capacity to host two major events scheduled for November and December.
Impactante imagen de la multitudinaria manifestación en Chile que exige la renuncia de @sebastianpinera y este evade esa principal demanda de su pueblo
#MnoalLegadoDePaz
#MnoalLegadoDePaz
First, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, then the United Nations world climate conference (Cop 25). The latter, in particular, is planned for the southern outskirts of Santiago, in an area far from the city centre that is accessible almost exclusively by metro. The metro, however, was severely damaged during the demonstrations of recent days. To date, only three of the six lines are operational, and only a handful of stations are served. The government has explained that it will take at least six months to fully restore the service. During the days of Cop 25, thousands upon thousands of participants will need to be able to travel from the city centre, and the climate marches that are being planned will also need to be managed.
Too many deads already, the army taking over the streets to repress citizens who defend their public services. Fighting for the climate means fighting for a project of peace and social justice. How could the #COP25 be held in Chile? Let’s move it #StandWithChile
Beyond the logistical issues, however, there are those who question whether it is right to hold the summit in a militarised context marked by episodes of extreme violence. The United Nations has announced an inquiry to investigate possible violations of human rights. Numerous French parliamentarians and intellectuals have called for a boycott of Cop 25 in Chile, proposing that it be moved to Bonn, in Germany, where Cop 23 was held. Meanwhile, Chilean deputy Senadora Rincón has called for the conference to be held in Costa Rica, the nation that co-chairs the event.