NEWS CENTER – Although Sunday night’s result was expected, since the polls pointed to an “aprobate” defeat for a new Chilean constituent that would replace the country’s current constitution – which is the one formed during Pinochet’s military dictatorship, which created an extensive neoliberal project under the patronage of the US.
The new constitution presented points such as:
- End of the Senate – The current constitution divides Congress between the House of Representatives and the Senate. The latter can enhance the work of the deputies. The proposed Constitution eliminates the Senate and creates two Chambers of “asymmetrical” power: a House of Representatives for making laws and a House of Regions only for laws regarding regional agreements, without the weight that the current Senate has had until now.
- Indigenous justice systems – the 1980 Constitution makes no reference to original peoples. The new text proposes autonomy for the indigenous people, recognizing 11 peoples and nations, but does not allow an attack on the “unique and indivisible” character of the Chilean State. Among the most controversial points is the recognition of indigenous legal systems, but with the proviso that they must respect the Constitution, international treaties, and that the Supreme Court will have the last word.
- Gender equality – The proposed Constitution defines Chile as a parity democracy, in which women will occupy at least 50% of the positions in the powers and organs of state.
- Abortion: The 1980 Constitution protects the life of the unborn. In the new text, the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy has been included.
- Health insurance – Today, all formal workers must obligatorily allocate 7% of their salary to health care. It is possible to opt for a totally private plan, but this monthly payment often does not fully cover the expenses incurred by an illness. The proposal establishes that the mandatory health expenses must be 100% destined to the public system. People will also be free to contract a private plan.
- Pensions – Since the 1980 Constitution, pensions have depended exclusively on worker contributions to private pension funds that pay pensions below the minimum wage of $400 and are 60% less than the last salary. The proposal proposes a public Social Security System, financed by workers and employers.
Because of this, it had become known as the “most progressive constitution in the world.”
HOW IT GOT TO THE POINT WHERE THEY ELECTED A NEW CONSTITUTION
In late 2019 Chile rose up in struggle after high school students protested yet another increase in public transportation fares, in a short time of protests the revolt spread and deepened into a revolt against the reality of the Chilean state system itself. Seen by the western world as the example country of Latin America, Chile has always had barbaric neo-liberal policies which resulted in an extremely unequal society. According to Jose Miguel Ahumada, a political economist and associate professor at the University of Chile, the country is “one of the most unequal countries in Latin America”. As described by The Washington Post, while the last three decades of neoliberal policies made Chile “one of South America’s wealthiest countries, with inflation under control and easy access to credit”, they also “created stark economic disparities and strapped many Chileans into debt”. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) states, that 1% of the population in Chile controls 26.5% of the country’s wealth, while 50% of low-income households access 2.1%. Additionally, according to National Statistics Institute of Chile, while the minimum wage in Chile is 301,000 pesos, half of the workers in that country receive a salary equal to or less than 400,000 pesos.
The protests quickly grew to enormous proportions and clashes with then-President Sebastián Piñera’s police left at least 11,000 injured and 28,000 arrested. During the protests it had been widely reported that women had been harassed and raped in their confinements. The height of the conflict was in October 2019 when Piñera declared a state of emergency and military personnel were seen on the streets…a scene not repeated since the infamous 1973 military coup. On 25 October 2019, over 1.2 million people took to the streets of Santiago to protest against social inequality, demanding President Piñera’s resignation, in what was called as “The biggest march of Chile” as an answer to the Curfew.
Youth played a crucial role in the uprisings, local organizations and popular struggle in this process. It was with the youth protests that the uprising broke out, and with their historic resistance that the countless marches were able to take place despite police attacks. It was the youth who clamored and shouted for a new Chile, one that respects differences, original peoples, gender equality and conditions.
It was clear that with popular organization and persistence much could be achieved, and it was with this mentality and feeling that Gabriel Boric capitalized his votes within the left and was elected president by a congress that could support him. The constituent commission was established and presented as the solution for a radical structural change in the country’s reality. However, it is clear once again that, within capitalist modernity and its tentacles of Leviathan, the changes aspired to by the people will not happen by legalistic means…
In addition to the Boric government’s own culpability for its neoliberal policies – very similar to Pinera’s, by the way – the propaganda apparatus against the constituent did not let up, and with the spread of thousands of fake news reports and big international newspapers like the Washington Post positioning themselves against the proposal, it was possible to organize and gather the rejection votes around this propaganda.
It is essential that those people who have mobilized and occupied the streets, created community organizations and systems, social centers, projects of popular power, remain organized and prepared?the worst consequence of this coup against the democratic forces of Chile will be the lack of hope that it will create in that part of the population and a practice that will remain based on a constitution from the worst period of Chile. The slogan “Chile will be the tomb of neoliberalism” proves to be even closer to the original “Madrid will be the tomb of fascism” said during the social revolution in Spain in 1936. It is clear that to destroy neoliberalism and its inhuman practices, the People’s Revolution is necessary.
