Why Chile was never a paradise

Frank Pachas
Nov 8 · 4 min read

President Sebastián Piñera keeps saying Chile is “a success story” despite three weeks of social unrest.

Credit: Sebastián Vivallo Oñate/Getty Images

When I was a child, my generation in Latin America was led to believe that Chile was somewhat of a developed country, an oasis in a region usually troubled by extreme poverty, appalling inequality and political crisis. In the early 1990s, while Peru was undergoing the most terrible economic crisis in its republican history, Chile, our closest southern neighbour, was growing and developing fast. We both admired and resented it owing to the fact that they had won the infamous battle of Angamos, one of the many battles of the War of the Pacific, an event still remembered in Peru despite it happening in 1879.

Many Peruvians had no choice but to leave their homeland. Popular destinations of immigration at the time included the United States, Italy, Spain and Chile. The latter choice had to do with the myth we heard by word of mouth and the media. In those years, any place was better than staying in Peru. Chile was one of them. We were told it was a paradise in this troubled region. I visited it once in 2010 and I must admit I was persuaded to believe that.

But the recent events that have taken place in Chile have opened my eyes. Nothing was true. Its success has been mere appearance. The truth is that the reality in Chile is bleak for many of its citizens. Inequality is prevalent and the living conditions for most were reaching the limit. Until the time bomb finally went off.

The social unrest that began three weeks ago was triggered by a slight increase in the ticket price of the Santiago Metro, a means of public transport which is inefficient and time consuming. In Santiago, Chile’s capital, commuters usually spend as long as two hours from work to home back and forth. But the fare increase was the last straw for Chileans, finally provoking their call to action. The people rose up with anger and frustration which had been building for decades as their basic needs such as education and healthcare system became privatised and increasingly unreachable.

Most Chileans need to get a bank loan to attend a university, creating a lifetime debt, as opposed to the upper class. The national average wage is about $550 (£430) a month, so it is very easy for them to fall into constant debts. The poor can easily spend 30% of their income on public transport alone. The middle class feels squeezed as they see the system is impoverishing their way of life. In order to pay back their mortgage, they need to overuse their credit cards, so it is a cycle in which they feel trapped. The future does not look promising to them either as they know they will receive poor pensions after retirement — even after contributing to the pension system for decades.

Violence should never be justified. However, the pressure in which Chileans have been living explains why they have reacted so strongly. Would President Piñera be as optimistic as he sounds if he earned £450 a month? Would he not hate the system if he had to pay large sums of money to attend a university to obtain a degree that he never had to pay for in his youth?

People in Chile are demanding substantial changes in their country, but the president and the authorities do not seem to be listening.

In fact, President Sebastián Piñera has reacted poorly. When people first took the streets, he labelled protestors as “criminals” and then declared “Chile is at war” when people were merely protesting peacefully. Then he sent armed troops, justifying the measure as “a democratic constitutional tool of emergency” which reminded Chileans, especially older ones, of the Pinochet dictatorship. Agitation only worsened, resulting in 20 deaths, multiple arrests, cases of violation of human rights and sexual abuse by soldiers. As protestors couldn’t be silenced, the president decided to backpedal the metro fare increase, but it was too late. Santiago was burning. It is still in flames.

Last week he asked all his ministers to resign so he could reshuffle his Cabinet. He also withdrew the country from hosting two important international summits with the excuse that as a president, he first needs to look after his country. He seemed to be rather ashamed that world leaders were going to see first-hand what is going on there.

Now he has just sent a bill to Congress supporting a raise in the minimum wage, but many think these attempts to quell unrest are only a cosmetic measure. The situation will remain the same for the vast majority unless their voices are heard. They want President Piñera to step down and a new constitution, but he is not listening.

The people are not a priority for President Piñera. He still believes in the Chilean dream. In a recent BBC interview he tenaciously repeated that Chile is “a success story”.

“Thirty years ago we recovered our democracy in an exemplary way. Since then we’ve been able to reduce poverty from 65% to 8%.” Ironically, more than half of the population believes it has been thirty years of living in a third world country with first world costs.

We are fed up with the abuse of power by the government. One percent of our society has the most money and therefore the most power,” says Ariela Contreras, a teacher who does not want to stop protesting until President Piñera resigns.

This has been their situation all along. They were never better off than the other Latin American countries. It was a lie. They were fooled and so were we.

Frank Pachas

Written by

I’m interested in current affairs happening in Europe and Latin America. https://twitter.com/frankplc82

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