Strike of truckers continues in Bio Bio region (South of Chile)

 

The demonstrations of the truckers continue, mainly on routes 5 South (which includes the Santiago-Concepcion section) and 160. It should be noted that yesterday afternoon the representatives of the truckers met with government delegates in search of reaching an agreement and be able to finish strike. However, during the night the truckers reported that they would not end the strike until the armed forces guard the highway.

In relation to the same topic, please note news from a local newspaper:

Despite the fact that five groups of truckers accepted an agreement with the government, to put an end to the mobilizations that the unions maintained due to the latest attacks that cargo drivers have suffered in the South Macrozone; this Friday some truckers continue on strike.

The presidential delegate of Biobío, Daniela Dresdner, had indicated on Thursday afternoon that “we have reached an agreement with the different organizations with which we began to talk since Sunday. Today we are reaching this agreement that will allow us to advance in the solutions to the underlying problems, which are the security problems, but also to ensure some conditions for the families and for all the people who are and have been in danger”.

However, a group of transporters maintain the mobilizations and as a result Route 5 (main Chilean highway) is cut off at Duqueco (Los Angeles, Bío Bío Region) with a path enabled in each direction of Route 5 for the transit of minor vehicles, small trucks, buses and transportation of essential goods in general.

Specifically, the transporters indicated that they have a condition to stop the mobilizations on the routes: while the constitutional reform that would allow an intermediate state is worked on and enacted, they request that the State of Constitutional Exception be resumed in the area to allow the presence of the Armed Forces as a result of the acts of violence.

In this regard, the president of the Federation of Freight Transport Workers, Eriberto López, mentioned that "in the document -in its first paragraph- it never speaks of an agreement, it speaks of proposals, but here today to get out of this, while the enactment of the law, we came out with a State of Constitutional Exception and it will depend on their speed so that this State of Constitutional Exception lasts as little as possible”.

"The State of Constitutional Exception is the necessary guarantee that would be needed to finish the strike," López said.

In addition, the leader added that "this is still an intermediate state because according to our vision and according to the vision that the country has, a State of Siege should be decreed in the area of ​​the forest macrozone."

In a public statement, the Federation of Transport and Forest Unions (Fetracarfor) expressed “absolute distrust of the political class in this country. Permanently, all sectors have shown their indolence and little will to solve the problem of violence that affects the workers and families of the southern macro zone”.

In the letter, the carriers added that they feel "helpless and completely abandoned by the authorities."

Terrorist attack in the South Macrozone

In the statement, the union warns that, if "the State of Exception is not implemented immediately in the southern macrozone and the Province of Arauco", they will remain mobilized on the routes.

The National Confederation of Truck Owners of Chile (CNDC), reported that this day they will hold a "Regional Meeting of Truckers" in the city of Concepción, where they will discuss the agreement reached with the government.

Through a statement, published this morning on its twitter account, the union announced that the agreement seems to them an "advance" but they assure that "there is a lack of law that protects highways and works."

Regarding the creation of the intermediate states, the Minister of the Interior, Izkia Siches, assured this morning that "we have been analysing different measures to be able to advance in the protection of the roads, as well as the support of our Armed Forces."

And in that sense, she affirmed that a project is being prepared to replace the one that is already in a mixed commission, with different characteristics from the critical infrastructure project presented during the previous administration.

On this, from the Fetracarfor union, they described as "insufficient the constitutional proposal of an intermediate state, since we will not know how long this will be processed in Congress and if in the future it will prevent us from freely demonstrating on the highways of the south", they wrote in a statement.

Source: La Tercera

The issues that distance Chileans from the Constitutional Convention

Surveys in recent weeks have shown that the majority of Chileans are against many of the positions that the Constitutional Convention has taken and approved, which is currently drafting a text that will be voted on in a plebiscite set for next Sep.4th 2022.

This is how 5 of the best-known companies in the statistical field (CADEM, Feedback, Pulso Ciudadano, Criteria and Tu influyes), have registered a slight or great support for the option to reject the draft constitutional text that is being drafted.

Legal Pluralism

72% were against that persons from indigenous peoples being tried by courts other than the Chilean ones, and on the contrary, 81% supported that everyone respond to the law under the same conditions.

Property

Other issues consulted are related to the concept of ownership, for example, what should happen in the event of an expropriation by the State of a person or company, where 75% support the idea that the affected party be compensated with the market value. The issue has not yet been defined in the Convention, but so far it has been agreed to pay "a fair price", a rather ambiguous expression when we think of what the State must pay for an expropriated asset.

Pensions

In relation to pensions, the Convention has already approved the creation of a Social Security System, but leaves the definition of what the model will be to the State. What is already known is that the current government is in favor of a pay-as-you-go system and against the current individual capitalization system that now exists in Chile.

The non-expropriation of the funds was one of the issues raised and widely voted on in citizen participation consultations, however this was rejected by the Convention.

Additionally, the citizenry has an almost unanimous position, where 94% agree that the ownership of current and future pension funds be guaranteed and that they also remain inheritable to the beneficiaries of the pensioner.

Regarding who manages the savings, the result is also clear, 91% want to have the option of choosing who manages their funds, a public or private entity.

Exit Plebiscite Perspective

When asked: Would you vote to approve or reject the Constitution proposed by the Constitutional Convention in the exit plebiscite in September of this year?

The option Rejection of the new Constitution (46%) remains for the fifth consecutive week over Approval (36%).

18% do not know or do not respond. In relation to the main options, 10 points is a statistically significant difference.

* Source: Pulso Ciudadano Survey - UDD, CADEM survey & El Mercurio

Constitutional Convention and Yellows for Chile

Many things have happened in recent months in the Constitutional Convention that began its work on July 4th, 2021.

It took three months to draft the General Regulations of the Convention and in the same month of October 2021 the constitutional debates began in the commissions created to deal with different issues.

In February, the Constitutional Convention approved an article of the new Constitution that declares Chile as a "regional, plurinational and intercultural State" during the vote they take to determine the norms that the Magna Carta will include.

"Chile is a regional, plurinational and intercultural State made up of autonomous territorial entities, within a framework of equity and solidarity among all of them, preserving the unity and integrity of the State," indicated the article approved by 112 votes in favor, 34 against and 2 abstentions.

The new article changes the definition of "unitary State" that is indicated in the current Chilean Constitution that was implemented in 1980, during the government of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

The proposal exceeded 2/3 of the vote, the minimum required to be included in the draft of the new Constitution that must be voted on in a mandatory plebiscite in which the population of Chile will decide whether to approve or reject it. If rejected, the current Magna Carta approved in 1980 will remain.

The Convention also approved other paragraphs in which it defines the territorial organization of the State "in autonomous regions, indigenous territorial autonomies and special territories." It also promotes the "cooperation, integration and development" of the regions, and defines criteria for the creation of regional entities that will rule in those areas.

The constituents approved 10 articles dealing with justice issues; among them, changing the name of the Judiciary to Justice Systems, and another article that guarantees that all bodies and persons involved in judicial processes must ensure equality, parity, and a gender perspective. The latter has caused a lot of concern since it would be annulling the principle of equality before the law.

The Constitutional Convention began its task on July 4th, 2021 and has a maximum term of nine months, extendable for three more, to conclude its task of giving Chile a new Constitution.

Yellows for Chile

Since the voting began in the plenary session of the Constitutional Convention in Chile, a group of academics and former ministers, mainly from the Center Left, have reacted to some ideas that are quite far from what the majority of Chileans expected from this new project.

This group of personalities who has achieved growing support has even announced a movement, which they have baptized "Amarillos por Chile", managing to gather signatures and support, all from various positions in politics, education, culture and governments of different democratic tendencies. "The spirit that must prevail in the Convention must be that of dialogue, conversation, truly listening to those who think differently," they say in their letter, led by Cristián Warnken, the columnist and former television presenter.

Over time, it has been confirmed that some constituents support very radical ideas such as dissolving the three powers of the State (Executive, Legislative and Judicial) to create a Plurinational Assembly.

Said initiative contemplated excluding the following groups from the right to vote in the base assemblies: owners of large companies, bankers and speculators, the high hierarchy of the church, the officers of the Armed Forces and the management of large companies.

Fortunately, sanity prevailed and this idea was rejected by a large majority. However, there are many other initiatives that put our current republic at risk.

You might also be interested in: The Socialist Experience in Chile 

Yellows for Chile: a new movement is born made up of more than 70 personalities, including national prize-winners, academics, economists and former ministers of the Concertación (centre-left political group) organized in response to the danger of the "refounding" of Chile " right from the start".
"The great tragedies in our continent and in the entire world have occurred when we yellows have been silenced or have not raised our voice with sufficient conviction," says the founding document of this new citizen movement in one of its paragraphs.

The group's manifesto argues that there are refoundational spirits expressed especially in the Constitutional Convention. Faced with this, the subscribers suggest, it is necessary to raise "the voice" in favor of "dialogue and conversation."

"Many of the proposals that have emanated from the commissions and some of those that are already reaching 2/3 in plenary are turning on the alert signal among those of us who do not want the deconstruction of Chile, nor its dismemberment, nor its refoundation from scratch. ", they pose. "The spirit that must prevail in the Convention must be that of dialogue, conversation, truly listening to those who think differently."

They add that the yellows are "a silent majority in the country," who want "reforms, not revolution, not an inharmonious or biased Constitution, but a new balanced Constitution." That constitutional proposal, they argue, should move away from the "failed experiments of other Latin American countries." Instead, it should reconcile "order with freedom, change with stability, as one of our intellectual fathers of the country, Andrés Bello, dreamed and thought."

Support the initiative

There are also a number of economic figures who were authorities during the Concertación governments, such as former Finance Ministers Alejandro Foxley and Andrés Velasco; the former president of the Central Bank and former Minister of Economy José De Gregorio; and other former ministers such as Alejandro Ferreiro, Vivianne Blanlot, Ignacio Walker, Jorge Burgos, René Cortázar, Mariana Aylwin, Jaime Campos, Isidro Solís, Pedro García, José Joaquín Brunner and Enrique Krauss.

The list also includes representatives of Congress. Among them are the outgoing DC senator Carolina Goic, the incoming ex-DC deputy Andrés Jouannet, and former senators such as Soledad Alvear, Eugenio Tuma, Hernán Vodanovic and Fulvio Rossi.

The professor and poet Cristián Warnken Lihn comments that the group is made up mostly of people from the center and center-left, who do not want the country to be thrown overboard, but rather to make changes: but well done. This is not a political party, it is an open, citizen movement of very diverse people with no hidden agenda."

The following are excerpts from the "Amarillos por Chile" manifesto. The complete version can be reviewed at the end of this article, with the list of the 75 subscribers and their call for adhesions:

The denomination "yellow" emerged a long time ago in our country as an insult to those who were in favor of change, but in a gradual and responsible manner, and preferred the path of reforms to that of revolution, that of dialogue with those who think differently than the idea of ​​turning the political adversary into an enemy to be destroyed. In the midst of the refoundational euphoria that wants to start from scratch, it is usual for the voice of the yellows to try to be silenced, and radicalism and maximalism seem much more attractive than prudence and realism. But in the desire for social transformations, there is not only the impulse towards the impossible (typical of utopias), we yellows feel the passion for what is possible, which consists in doing things well done, achieving the necessary changes without destroying what is good, betting for a better future without thinking that you are starting from scratch.

The great tragedies in our continent and in the entire world have occurred when we yellows have been silenced or have not raised our voices with sufficient conviction (as in the face of the legitimization of political violence, for example), making us feel self-conscious before those who shout more and build a version of reality as a Manichaean story, dividing the world into good guys and bad guys and offering simplistic solutions to complex problems.

Many of the proposals that have emanated from the commissions and some of those that are already reaching 2/3 in plenary are turning on the alert signal among those of us who do not want the deconstruction of Chile, nor its dismemberment, nor its refoundation from scratch, but a new beginning that collects the best that we have all built together in these decades and improves in an efficient and intelligent way what needs to be improved.

For this, the spirit that must prevail in the Convention must be that of dialogue, conversation, truly listening to those who think differently.

In this sense, the attempt by some radicalized factions of the Convention to ignore, and even erase, a significant political sector of the country (the center-right), as the maximalists of that time tried to do in the 1980 Constitution, is a huge political mistake. We must not forget that this sector obtained a very important vote in the last legislative election and 44% in the presidential election. Can a viable Constitution be made without including or listening to that sector, as if it did not exist? Proposing an exclusive constitutional text that was not born from genuine dialogue and listening also to the minority would be a pyrrhic victory that would not ensure a long life for said Constitution and would only help to polarize the country even more.

The "yellows" have always existed. We are -so we believe- a silent majority of the country. We demonstrated in the recent presidential election and with our vote we forced the extremes to moderate. This country is -deep down- more yellow than it seems. He wants reforms, not revolution, not an inharmonious or biased Constitution, but a new balanced Constitution, that gathers the best of our own institutional tradition (and not the copy of failed experiments in other Latin American countries), that manages to reconcile order with freedom , change with stability, as one of our intellectual fathers of the country, Andrés Bello, dreamed and thought.

We yellows have decided to raise our voice to contribute to this fundamental crossroads of our political and institutional history. We are here to support any initiative that goes in the direction of balance, moderation, common sense, unrestricted respect for Democracy (without surnames), the Rule of Law, freedom and also the promotion of social rights, reforming and improving both the market and the state. And we will loudly raise our voice against any attempt to lead us down the wrong path to repeat failed refoundational experiments in all parts of the world. Against any type of enlightenment, we reaffirm our trust in the light of dialogue and reason, which made it possible for this country to exist as a country and for democracy to re-emerge after the long night of intolerance and dictatorship.

This is our first statement, but it won't be the last. We want many Chileans who today feel politically orphaned to know that we Yellows are here and now, at this decisive moment in our history. We invite all free and democratic spirits to join this initiative without complexes, fear or mistrust. This is the time for courage, not cowardice or resignation.

Manifesto "Yellows for Chile"

Mario Waissbluth

For his part, academic Mario Waissbluth (professor at the University of Chile) mentions that the convention has exceeded the issue of indigenous rights, since this group is a minimal percentage of the population of Chile and it seems that the Constitution is designed only for them, where they are assigned excessive participation and rights.

This is exacerbated by the excessive representation of parties of the most radical left.

Along these lines, Waissbluth maintained that the "plan is to start making specific observations on specific articles of the Constitution and not only to criticize, but also to counter-propose."

"What we have agreed upon is that we are going to have a communications group, and a technical group that from now on will begin to analyze article by article, give an opinion and make a counterproposal and spread it through all the channels that we can".

At the time of publication of this article, the group has already achieved more than 22,000 adherents.

Source: Pauta, Amarillos por Chile and author's notes

Constitutional Convention in Chile

This historic constituent process began on November 15th, 2019 when the majority of the political parties with representation in Congress reached an agreement to start the path towards an eventual new Constitution.

This implied a plebiscite so that the citizens, when asked "Do you want a New Constitution?", decide between two options: I approve or I reject to start this process of drafting the new Constitution and how the body that would draft it would be made up.

The Convention, made up of 155 elected members, will have 9 months to present a new constitutional text, which may be extended for 3 more months, in a single opportunity. In this way, in mid-2022, the country will experience a new exit referendum to approve or reject the new Constitution.

Plebiscite and its results

On Sunday, October 25th, 2020, the plebiscite that began this constituent process was held, which generated the following results:

78.27% of the citizens who voted in the Plebiscite, approved to start the process of drafting a new Constitution, while the body in charge of doing so will be the Constitutional Convention (made up exclusively of popularly elected members), which was imposed on the Mixed Convention option (made up of elected members and sitting parliamentarians) for 78.99%.

After the Plebiscite of October 25th, 2020, the election of the 155 members of the Constitutional Convention was held on May 15th and 16th, 2021, whose installation was finalized on July 4th, 2021.

Composition and remuneration

The Constitutional Convention was elected according to the same districts used for the election of Deputies (28 districts) and according to a proportional system. In that election, special rules were applied to facilitate the participation of independents and to ensure a gender balance between elected men and women. In addition, thanks to a constitutional reform, 17 seats were reserved for representatives of indigenous peoples.

The members of the Convention will receive a monthly remuneration of 50 monthly tax units (app USD 3,450), in addition to the allowances established in the Convention Regulations.

Organization and role

The Constitution states that the Convention will have a President and a Vice President, both elected by an absolute majority of the members of the Convention, as well as a technical secretary made up of people of proven academic or professional suitability. Then, it will be up to the Convention itself to establish the operating rules.

The exclusive purpose of the Convention is to draft and approve a new Constitution, so it cannot intervene or exercise any other function of other bodies or authorities.

In addition, in the drafting of the new Constitution, it must respect the character of the Republic of the State of Chile, its democratic regime, the final and enforceable judicial decisions, and the international treaties in force ratified by Chile.

It has been said that the new Constitution will be written from a "blank page." This means that the Convention must write a new constitutional text and not an amendment to the current Constitution.

Quorum of 2/3

The Convention must approve the norms of the new Constitution and their voting regulations, by a quorum of two thirds of its members in office, since the objective is to generate a high degree of consensus in the constitutional text that will be proposed to vote in the plebiscite of the year 2022.

The convention must draft and approve a proposed text of the new Constitution within a maximum period of nine months, counted from its installation, a period that can be extended for an additional three months, but only once.

👀 You may also be interested in: Crisis in Chile: What has changed after a year of social protests ?

Exit plebiscite

Once the work of the Convention is concluded, it must deliver its proposal to the President of the Republic, who must call a new plebiscite, to be held sixty days after the call is published. In this plebiscite, suffrage will be mandatory and there will be a fine of 0.5 to 3 monthly tax units (app USD 35 to USD 210) for people authorized to vote and who do not. 

The vote will have the following text: "Do you approve the text of the New Constitution proposed by the Constitutional Convention?" Under the question raised there will be two horizontal lines, one for each of the voting options: "Approve" and "Reject".

Approval or rejection of the new Constitution

If approved: The President of the Republic must convene the Plenary Congress so that, in a public and solemn act, it is promulgated and sworn or promised to respect and abide by the New Constitution. Said text will be published in the Official Gazette within ten days after its promulgation and will enter into force on that date.

If rejected: The 1980 Constitution and its reforms remain (without prejudice to the reforms that the National Congress may incorporate as it has done so far).

Can the convention modify the 1980 Constitution?

Its function will be to draft a new constitution project and it will not be able to make changes to the current constitution.

As long as a possible new Constitution does not come into force, the 1980 Constitution will continue to function fully, without the Convention being able to deny it authority or modify it.

Constitution of 1980

After the Military Coup of September 11th, 1973, the Constitution of 1925 was suspended by the Government Military Junta headed by General Augusto Pinochet and a new institution was created. For this, a Commission for the Study of the New Constitution was appointed, made up of seven members.

The Constitutional Draft was delivered in 1978 for review and in 1980, after a second review by the Governing Board, a text of 120 permanent and 29 transitory articles was approved.

This Constitution was approved by a plebiscite on September 11th, 1980, although the absence of electoral records and the restriction of public liberties put the legitimacy of the results in question. Subsequently, on October 21st, 1980, the 1980 Constitution was promulgated and two days later it was published in the Official Gazette, although it would only enter into force 6 months after its plebiscitary approval, that is, on March 11th, 1981.

Constitutional reforms

They were turbulent years in our country politically and socially. Prior to the 1989 parliamentary elections, the Coordination of Parties for Democracy and the right-wing parties agreed on a package of 54 reforms to the 1980 Constitution, which was approved in a plebiscite on July 30th, 1989.

In addition, since 1990, the year of the return to democracy with the assumption of the presidency of Patricio Aylwin, there have been a series of reforms and modifications to this Carta. In fact, until October 2020, the Constitution has been amended 52 times, being modified 257 articles in total.

Source: Library of the National Congress of Chile and notes of the author.

Mechanisms of Constitutional Change in the World

The international experience of the constituent processes shows different mechanisms that have been used for the elaboration of Constitutions, depending on the political circumstances, the political institutional traditions of each country and also on the mechanisms that the same current Constitutions contemplate for said process.

The different mechanisms that have been used worldwide for the discussion and drafting of a new constitutional text are described below.

1) Legislative Power, this name is used to refer to those cases in which the main body in charge of preparing and approving the new constitutional text is the congress or parliament. Parliamentarians can participate in their entirety (Brazil 1988, El Salvador 1992, Korea 1987) or a special commission of parliamentarians can be formed to draft it. The countries that have done so under this last procedure are: Bolivia in 1994, Nicaragua 1995, Angola 2010, Croatia 2000, Greece 1975, Poland 1997, Czech Republic 1993.

2) Constituent Assembly or National Constituent Assembly, is a collegiate body made up of a group of citizens elected by popular vote to exclusively discuss and design a new text and constitutional order and not to exercise legislative powers.

In recent times, the trend has been that the constitutional texts decided and approved by constituent assemblies have been ratified by the citizens through a referendum.

It is the longest way because previously a consultation is needed to decide who are its members and, later, another to approve the text. However, the process has the support of the population, in times of change.

Once they have prepared their work and the constitution enters into force, after approval, their election is without effect and in charge of the legislative power constituted in the last election.

National Congress building, located in the city of Valparaiso, Chile

3) Constituent Commission or Commission of Experts. This type of mechanism refers to those cases in which the institution in charge of the discussion of the contents and the elaboration of the new constitutional text corresponds to a group of experts and persons considered notable in a given society, which generally includes lawyers and / or other professionals related to the area of ​​constitutional law or social sciences.

These could be national and / or foreign experts, and even members of different branches of the State. Unlike the Constituent Assembly, the commission is made up of people appointed and not elected by popular vote.

That designation is usually made by the executive power. The constituent or expert commission is given the power to discuss the contents of the new fundamental carta and the preparation of the text thereof, which must then be ratified, either by the authority or bodies that appointed it, by the legislative power, by the citizens through a plebiscite or referendum, or by more than one of them.

Constitutions synthesize rules and norms that order the social and political coexistence of a community. Until recently, legal theory stated that the longevity of these normative bodies was an essential characteristic of democratic societies, however, comparative studies from the social sciences show that total changes to constitutions occur much more frequently than anticipated.

In fact, between 1947 and 1989, 139 countries wrote new constitutions, while 100 countries did so between 1990 and 2015; And although there are centuries-old constitutional texts, the average longevity of a constitution is only 19 years when we evaluate the behavior of the group of countries in all regions of the planet (Ginsburg, Melton and Elkins, 2010).

 

Furthermore, while in much of the twentieth century the total constitutional changes were linked almost exclusively to changes in the political regime as a result of civil wars, foreign interventions, popular uprisings or institutional collapse, today the number of democracies that decide to promote processes of constitutional change without this being linked to a change of regime (as in the cases of Iceland and Colombia).

Of the 95 constituent processes analyzed between 1947 and 2015, in 25 cases (26%) a constituent assembly was elected to draft the new constitutional text, in 20 (21%) the parliament in office was appointed, in another 9 (10%) a Congress was elected with a specific constituent mandate, in 34 cases (36%) the responsibility was handed over to a commission of experts, and finally 4 (4%) used other mechanisms and in three cases no data was available (3%) .

When we analyze the changes that have been occurring over time, we see that the prevalence of the different mechanisms has changed according to the periods. While between 1947 and 1965 the most used mechanism was the constituent assembly, between 1966 to 1999 expert commissions were used with greater frequency.

In this decade, the constituent assemblies have once again become the predominant mechanism for promoting constitutional changes; used in 7 of the 17 countries that have changed their constitutions between 2000 and 2015.

In relation to the constituent assemblies, it is observed that there is no single model. However, in all the cases analyzed it is a representative institution, similar to a parliament, but which differs from the latter in that it has a specific constituent mandate.

The cases of constituent assemblies analyzed have on average a total of 195 members, with 1 representative for every 250 thousand inhabitants.

Factors to consider in the election of a Constituent Assembly in Chile

As you may know, today (Oct.25th, 2020) in Chile there is a vote to approve or reject the drafting of a new Constitution, which would replace the one created in 1980 under the Military Government of President Augusto Pinochet.

It will also be chosen between two options of bodies that can draft it, a Mixed Constitutional Convention (made up of 50% of parliamentarians and 50% of citizens elected by popular vote) and a Constitutional Convention (made up of 100% of members elected by popular vote).

The risk of the creation of a constituent assembly, similar to the one formed in countries like Venezuela, is that being a body with binding powers, it could make major changes to the laws and institutions in force based only on a circumstantial majority.

CADEM survey conducted between October 9th and 11th, 2019

Without considering that the social demands observed in the massive demonstrations of October 2019, had more to do with improving pensions, education, health, work or attacking crime, rather than making changes or drafting a new Constitution.

The call for a Constituent Assembly at a time of social tension may not be very appropriate. On the other hand, those who promote it with the greatest emphasis (Communist Party and Broad Front) belong to a sector with minimal national representation and with objectives far removed from the interest of citizens.

Until the moment of publishing this article, great interest in attending to vote has been seen in the Chilean population, we hope that the results will serve to appease the spirits of the most radical sectors and carry out the reforms that are needed and thus improve the model which has allowed us to grow in the last decades.

 

Data from the document: Mechanisms of constitutional change in the world - United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

Crisis in Chile: What has changed after a year of social protests ?

Social protests October 2019

Different experts estimated that the Chilean social outbreak was in a "pause" while the country was in quarantine, with the possibility that the protests would be reactivated if the political class did not openly condemn the episodes of violence.

  

It has been 12 months since one of the biggest political-social crises in the history of Chile began. On the political spectrum, the center-right government of Sebastián Piñera has sought to appease the demands of the citizenry with his proposals, including a reform of the Chilean pension system (the so-called AFPs, private system), to which a new Fund of Collective and Solidarity Savings would be added, of a state nature, among other novelties.

For their part, both the ruling party and the opposition continue to campaign for and against a new Constitution, which will be decided in a referendum to be held on October 25th. Despite the fact that an agreement was reached to draw up a new Magna Carta, both political sectors do not seem to have the support of the public, who are crying out for structural changes in the system.

There is no consensual diagnosis of the causes of this social outbreak, nor of its solutions.

La Moneda - Government Palace

Neither the government nor the opposition have a very clear understanding of this phenomenon. An attempt has been made to advance in this, the political world promoted a new Constitution, but the violence continued in the streets for several months before the pandemic, so it is not known if this will be solved.

On the other hand, the Government has tried to increase social spending, improve pensions, give aid bonds and that has not reassured the people either.

The president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, as well as the Congress have a very poor approval of the citizenship according to the latest polls, mainly due to some corruption scandals, crisis of representation and a tiredness of the political parties that were one of the main reasons for this crossroads.

Although the Chilean social outbreak began with many adherents in the streets throughout the country, as the weeks went by, the protests lost intensity and this was reflected in a drop in the number of people attending the marches, as well as in the rejection of events of extreme violence.

* You might be interested in:

https://csachannel.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-riots-that-shook-chile.html

The Socialist Experience in Chile (Part II): I am not the President of all Chileans

The first weeks of the Popular Unity government had the euphoria of the new, shocking announcements and emotional phrases.

Everything seemed to start well, in his first press conference as Head of State, Allende stated: "I am not in this position to perform miracles, I am in this position to teach people to work on the basis of planning their economy and contributing their sacrifice and heroism in daily effort ".

In a massive act held at the National Stadium, Allende stated: "I make the phrase of Fidel Castro my own, in this government you can put your feet, but never your hands. I will be inflexible in the custody of the morality of the regime."

Interior Minister José Toha announced that the Mobile Group of Carabineros had been dissolved, as part of the 40 measures promised. Posters during the campaign featured pictures of police beating women and students.

The decree stipulated that the troops of the disappeared Mobile Group would become members of the Prefecture of Special Services. Toha told reporters: "We are sure that the policies of the popular government will make unnecessary the existence of police groups that have to confront the population.

Months later it would be the same staff of the former Mobile Group (now the Prefecture of Special Services) which, following orders, would arrive equipped with gas masks and shields to dissolve demonstrations using luma batons and tear gas.

On the other hand, children from a distant northern mountain school who had never seen the sea before, would spend two weeks in the Presidential Palace in the city of Viña del Mar.

Allende expressed his displeasure that some union leaders came to La Moneda and treated him as "Excellence." Then I declare: I am not just another president, but rather I am the first president of a popular, national and revolutionary government that opens the way to socialism. Furthermore, I am not His Excellency the President of the Republic, but rather I am the Comrade President.

In all official correspondence the expression "sir" was deleted and replaced by "comrade". Imperceptibly there was discrimination between those who could be called "comrade" and those who were "sir." Thus, little by little the Popular Unity was dividing the Chileans into two groups that would become irreconcilable: those who belonged to the Popular Unity and those who were not. The "comrades" and the "sirs".

Three months after starting his mandate, Allende declared in Valparaíso: "I am not the president of the socialist party, I am the president of the Popular Unity. Nor am I the president of all Chileans. I am not the hypocrite who says it, no. I am not. I am not the president of all Chileans.

But it was not these words that made the most bitter impression. In an interview made by the French Marxist ideologue Regis Debray and which was reproduced by the Mirista (MIR - Revolutionary Left Movement) and pro-Castro magazine Punto Final. He asked him how he had accepted the Statute of Constitutional Guarantees. Allende's response was: I accepted it as a tactical necessity to assume power. The important thing at that time was to take over the government.

His words reflected a certain political cynicism. He had accepted the statute as an indispensable requirement to obtain the presidency. He had never intended to comply.

Chilean families saw the ghost of hunger arise. Grocery stores were empty
 and modest people lined up in vain to try to get what they needed to eat.

Other events began to reveal a new phase in Allende's personality. The politician who reached the presidency was forced to do what Popular Unity determined. This was made up of 6 collectives, but there were only two strong parties: the Socialist and the Communist, which looked aggressive, although from the outside they affirmed their granite revolutionary unity.

A Senator from the Popular Unity (Alberto Jerez, from the Christian Left) confided that on one occasion he could not help but express his bitterness for the stubborn and harsh way in which socialists and communists wanted to impose their points of view on Allende. He interrupted the Popular Unity meeting in La Moneda shouting: Do you want to tell me who the hell is the President of the republic and is in charge here?

This resulted in several spectacular announcements made by Allende that were subsequently not carried out.

The total shortage of products was a reflection of reality, the economic
 chaos was suffocating Chile, while inflation grew at an impressive rate.

On December 30th, 1970, Allende spoke on the national radio and television network announcing: "Within eight days I will send a bill to Congress to nationalize all the banks."

The initiative never reached parliament.

The legal loopholes were beginning. Every law had an escape door.

With a legal subterfuge, CORFO bought the titles of the private shareholders
and the commercial banks were passed to the State. The Popular Unity
parties installed Managers and Directors in their administration.

Hence, with the current "bourgeois laws" Popular Unity could gradually establish socialism in Chile, stepping on tiptoe to prevent the jealous constitutionalists from giving the cry of alert.

In the case of the banks, why go to Congress where the Popular Unity did not have a majority? It is true that the Christian Democracy had expressed its approval, but it also spoke of banks as worker companies.

The best thing was to nationalize them all without consulting Congress. How? The law that created the Corporation for the Promotion of Production (CORFO) empowered this company to acquire shares in some companies. That provision could be used to buy shares in all banks. The day that it could have acquired half plus one of those shares without Congress passing a law; the banks would pass into the hands of the state.

CORFO, lacking its true role, dedicated itself to buying shares in all banks. These shares were not even listed on the stock market. They were offered a part in cash and the rest in bonds payable over several years.

The same system of purchase of shares of the banks, began to apply CORFO in the industries. The state was swallowing companies without the need for law.

To the 45 companies that would be nationalized, others were added, not knowing if that amount would be the final one.

But as this was very onerous, an alternative was established: to produce labor disputes that forced businessmen to sell at any price. The CUP (Popular Unity Committee) of the industry workers helped that aim.

All in all, 1971, the first year of the Popular Unity government was prosperous. Everyone earned more, everyone spent more, and lived better.

Chileans were unaware that this feast had a bitter price: they were wasting the reserves accumulated by the country for years.

The procedure used by the Popular Unity to achieve the "redistribution of income"
-according to its representatives- was the uncontrolled issuance of paper money.
This generated a rise in inflation and the appearance of the black market.

To cover the fiscal deficit and the commitments derived from the generous increases in wages and salaries, banknotes began to be printed.

The 1971 emission reached 20,000 million escudos (a million dollars at that time), which represented an increase in the emission of 132.7 percent. But the money printing machine was just working. In the last year of the Popular Unity, it would exceed that figure ten times (216,000 million escudos in eight months).

The political dividend of this artificial bonanza was that Allende, who had obtained 36.3% of the vote, saw his strength increased to 49.5% in the municipal elections. Now he was on an equal ground with the opposition.

Government of Jorge Alessandri (Right): 1958-63 
Government of Eduardo Frei (Christian Democrat): 1964-69
Government of Salvador Allende (Left): 1970-73 

That the economy collapsed, that industries died, that inflation devoured wages and salaries, was part of a strategy destined to reduce to zero that "capitalist society" and in its ruins begin to build the new socialist economy.

Another adverse factor was added: the brain drain began. In the fiscal bodies, in the companies that were nationalized, the professionals and technicians who were not from the Popular Unity were fired or had their lives made impossible, labeling them reactionaries and saboteurs.

Engineers, doctors, biochemists, biologists, civil builders, architects, had to leave Chile.

Eduardo Simián, the engineer who made the first oil spout in Chile, was given forty-eight hours to leave his post. He was immediately hired by Ecuador.

You might be interested in the first part of this article: The Socialist Experience in Chile - Part I

* Information based mainly on the work by Hernan Millas and Emilio Filippi "Anatomy of a Failure".