The riots that shook Chile

The unease of citizenship and the perception of inequality in cases of corruption tired a large part of Chilean society that feels delayed in a successful but unequal economic system.

But this feeling is not something of this week or of this government, but a series of situations that have been developing in recent decades.

Although Chile has grown steadily in economic terms, in relation to many of our Latin American neighbors, and having overcome the most extreme poverty, there has always been a feeling of inequality and issues to be resolved.

The pension system that for many years did not adapt to the changes in today's society (in terms of contribution, active population and life expectancy) has generated poor results in its replacement rate, resulting in very low pensions for an important part of society.

Public education was always of a lower quality than private schools, but in a modern society in which the level of professionalism and specialization is more demanding than a few decades ago, it is even more noticeable.

All of the above plus other issues related to health, safety and transportation have been postponed by a mean political class that puts its partisan interests above the common good of the country.

This is how in recent days there have been disorders that began with a simple call to evade the passage of the subway in response to the rise in its price. Then it gradually climbed until it reached that violent groups burned some subway stations, a public building and some private businesses.

Seeing that the situation was increasing, the Government of Sebastian Piñera under the protection of the Constitution declared a state of exception (state of emergency) leaving security control under the command of Army General Javier Iturriaga.

Based on the situation of chaos and looting that some groups of criminals were already affecting the order of the city, a curfew is declared, which prohibits the movement of citizens through the streets of the city under the control of the army and forces of order.

"I call all my compatriots to unity in these difficult times, to take care of our country, everything that we have built with so much effort and we cannot allow a group of violentists to damage what we have built together," President Piñera said in conference Today, Sunday October 20th.

For his part, Minister Blumel reports: "We are going to make the bill that leaves the price (subway rate) increase without effect, it will be processed immediately". "The financial report of the project to curb the rise of the passage has a fiscal cost of CLP 3,500 million (USD 4.9 million app).

Today groups of neighbours who spontaneously came to cooperate in the cleaning of the sinister subway stations, together with the subway train workers. This is the real Chile, that of working people who are against crime.