But the warm and fuzzy relationship between Washington and the brutal, authoritarian government of Pinochet, who remained in power into the 1990s, allowed for a lesser-known chapter that’s highly relevant for today’s moment of rising unrest. In 1960 Chile was shaken by the largest earthquake ever recorded before. During that time I got a crash course on the current problems in Chile mixed in with a poignant history lesson. | Will Bunch. The leftist media, in turn, fuel the revolutionary mood by framing the story as a revolt of the poor against neoliberalismâincluding rule of law and free-market ⦠This means more curfews. As with most things travel-related (or is it just me? pic.twitter.com/SQ9NoMQC33. Problems in Chile 2019 â A Chilean revolution? Live rounds being fired at protestors, bloody lifeless bodies being dragged by their feet and cars ramming into protestors. In recent weeks, Wall Street and other big-money political funders have run to their favorite journalists -- who’ve responded with headlines like Politico’s “Corporate America freaks out over Elizabeth Warren” -- and floated delusional, desperation theories that some benevolent billionaire like former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg or some other plutocrat could still enter the 2020 race at 11:58 and somehow save their pampered skins. “Ninety-seven percent of the people I know in my world are really, really fearful of her,” billionaire Michael Novogratz told Bloomberg (heh) News recently of Warren, but the wealthy acknowledge that every time they attack Warren, Sanders, or their proposals such as a wealth tax to fund social programs like universal prekindergarten, eliminating college debt or universal health care, it only makes the chances for their victory stronger. Just like Puerto Rico.Just like Hong Kong.Just like Chile.The people of Lebanon refuse to give up.This is Day 10. pic.twitter.com/8YTWfqDLfG. Problems in Chile are not a new phenomenon. I’d booked a 3-week session where I’d learn the fine art of goat farming. In 2019, as an autumn of popular uprisings erupts around the globe, the most dramatic revolution of the moment is taking place in the shadows of the towering mountains of Chile, where as many as a million people flood the streets of capital city Santiago by day, and harrowing street battles have erupted at night. Medical care? And so they’re also on the streets in Baghdad, in Port-au-Prince, in Beirut, in Hong Kong, and to some extent in dozens of other nations, in both democracies and dictatorships. No wonder this nation’s billionaire oligarchs are so worried about the 2020 elections. 26 October 2019. On October 18, 2019, Chilean society exploded as it had never done, unleashing social energy accumulated by decades ⦠New York, NY 10011 Phone: 212-627-2994 E-mail: [email protected] At first, students began protesting by hopping turnstiles and dodging the fare, chanting: “Evading, not paying, another way of fighting!” But things escalated. A ukulele is the perfect instrument for travellers. They ought to be terrified. National Office 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl. In 1970, the people of Chile chose a more socialist path and democratically elected a left-wing president, Salvador Allende. The U.S. is a big part of the problem. Column October 31, 2019. Ecuador. I earned my new nickname of Forrest Gump as I once again managed to find myself in one of history’s seminal moments. And now, Chile. November 6, 2019 Two ways to read the story. Chile has â at least from afar â been heralded as a regional success story for its solid governance and investor-friendly environment. They gamble the money on investments. Lebanon. That evening, with the increase in Metro fares, the poor camel’s back was destroyed. Economy, finance, and budgets The turmoil in Chile satisfies old Marxists who, always looking for the next revolution, have set their hopes on Santiago. ), things rarely go to plan. If you watch the majority of mainstream news then that would appear to be the case. The U.S. is a big part of the problem. The vivid images we now see on the streets of Santiago -- the daytime throngs and the nighttime hellscape of fire and tear gas haze -- are the inevitable result of a society built upon a foundation of unfairness. But Allende and his populist reforms weren’t popular with one group: U.S. corporations like ITT, Pepsi and Anaconda Copper, and they leaned heavily on a friend in the White House, Richard Nixon, and his chief foreign policy architect Henry Kissinger, to do something. And yet this nonviolent revolution still has America’s billionaire class in a total panic. That’s just a flavour. Blame seemed to be placed firmly on the protestors with absolutely ZERO coverage of the extreme, horrific response from the military. An average shop will cost the equivalent of a European shopping trip. A demonstrator is detained by the police during a protest in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, October 19, 2019. Here at home, a rising cadre of prominent right-wing economists saw not horror in Pinochet’s dictatorship but an opportunity -- a chance to test their radical free-market ideas without hindrance from pesky left-wing politicians or labor leaders who had almost magically disappeared from the scene in Chile. The top 8% earn more than the bottom 60% combined. | Will Bunch, Corporate America freaks out over Elizabeth Warren, Unbelievable: Failed smears only make Elizabeth Warren stronger as new Dem front-runner | Will Bunch, California residents do not sell my data request. I want more living history! He is a professor of economics at George Mason University and writes for the blog Marginal Revolution. I’m no Chilean historian, nor do I claim to be an expert on the country. Thousands of troops were deployed onto the streets, tanks rolled down highways and tear gas was fired like confetti. One recent study found that the top 0.1 percent in Chilean society earn 19.5 percent of the nation’s income, the kind of stat that makes a mockery of “good” GDP numbers. Wow. The economists who ran Chile’s economy during the Pinochet era were called “the Chicago Boys” because of their close ties to the University of Chicago and its free-market guru Milton Friedman, who famously said he didn’t see the “evil” in simply giving economic advice to a violent right-wing dictator. Correction, Dec. 19, 2019: This article originally misstated the translation of #RenunciaPiñera as ârenounce Piñeraâ and #ChileDespierta as âChile ⦠Some on social media claim that “Latin America is finally waking up” to the corruption and social inequality, yet speaking with locals on the ground you get a different, more pessimistic response. Demonstrators display flags and banners during a protest against President Sebastian Piñera on Oct. 21, 2019 in Santiago, Chile, as ⦠By itself this isn’t unusual around the world – in the UK students carry their student debt for years after qualifying and the US healthcare system is madness. Santiago â Chile has been gripped by protests against high living costs and inequality for nearly two weeks. ... Chile November 2, 2019. Students are paying off their debts for the next 10 to 15 years while people who require medical treatment will too be paying it off for years to come. It actually turned out to be a lifesaver. Why was I in Chile? If they pay off, the dividends go to the wealthy shareholders. The headquarters of the energy company, the one that had just hiked up the prices 20% (despite already making millions in profits), was also set ablaze. I’m just a travel writer who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. What they did over the next three years -- starting with the CIA-backed assassination of a Chilean general in 1970 -- was one of the bloodiest and most morally unconscionable chapters in the history of U.S. foreign relations. Problems in Chile are not a new phenomenon. You want an education? The final straw for me came when the fires reached 1 block from my hostel. I found a nearby hostel, checked in, finally lay in a comfortable bed and then… and then the country went to s##t! The media continue to report the use of tear gas and water cannons while the soldiers continue to shoot and beat their own countrymen. The quote chosen for this mural was from a speech by the iconic Chilean president Salvador Allende: âSince my youth I have fought against prejudice and obsolete political systems. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. When the President announces “We are at war” and that the protestors are “The enemy of the people” (gosh, where’ve I heard that phrase before?) Yet the Chilean economy was not strong when “the Chicago boys” held full sway, but it did achieve impressive GDP growth once Pinochet fell out of favor and a period of center-left rule returned some government role to the economy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Those who’ve spent time in Chile or written about it say the sense of inequality and resentment is palpable. Haiti. Chile is just the latest Latin American country to erupt in protests and violence. Anti-government demonstrators are sprayed by a police water cannon during a protest in Santiago, Chile, on Saturday.Chile has been facing days of unrest, triggered by a relatively minor increase in subway fares. The Milton Friedmans and the James Buchanans of this world were able to get away for decades with their ridiculous theories that freedom for billionaires would eventually trickle down dollars on regular folks -- until the day we woke up and discovered we didn’t even have enough change for the subway. Its free-market model has driven down poverty from 31 percent in 2000 to 6.4 percent in 2017, according to the World Bank, and made the copper-rich Andean nation the highest-ranked countryin Latin Ameri⦠In 2019, as an autumn of popular uprisings erupts around the globe, the most dramatic revolution of the moment is taking place in the shadows of the towering mountains of Chile, where as many as a million people flood the streets of capital city Santiago by day, and harrowing street battles have erupted at night. The fires raged long into the night, starting a conflict that rages on to this day. The Chilean revolution. A subway fare hike that -- converted to U.S. money -- amounts to less than 5 cents. Chilean people protest against the government of President Sebastián Piñera on December 20, 2019 in Santiago, Chile. It would be quite the story if this were just happening in Chile, but people are rising up everywhere -- over inequality, austerity measures that only target the poor and working class, and government corruption that robs everyday folks for the benefit of elites. I do know that people are being brutalised on the streets of Chile and the global media are turning a blind eye. Iraq. Having spent over 2 months in Paraguay I needed to leave to renew my visa, plus I found an awesome sounding host through Worldpackers.com. Other targets were banks and supermarkets. I’ve not seen one front page or ‘breaking news’ headline detailing the atrocities. ... Puerto Rico. The government of President Sebastián Piñera responded with a repressive crackdown, then a retreat of rolling back the fare, announcing new measures for the working class, and lifting a curfew. Quick Read; Deep Read ( 7 Min. ) So all the problems in Chile were purely down to an increase in Metro tickets? Protestors ripped the wood from nearby fences and set them ablaze in the middle of the street. When I booked my 44-hour bus journey from Asuncion to Santiago I presumed the worst thing to happen would be a numb bum. I imagine that the tortured (in too many cases, literally) history of U.S.-Chile relations is not well known to many younger voters. While there have been significant protest movements over income inequality (Occupy Wall Street) and its symptoms (the March for Our Lives, climate strikes, the Women’s March), the last few years have shown that Americans remain a people who pin a lot of our hopes, for better or worse, on the ballot box, not on the street. The biggest fires are always started by the tiniest spark. Learn how your comment data is processed. When I arrived to discover my Airbnb had cancelled on me, that was an annoyance but it didn’t spoil my day. The pension system that everyone pays into is used as a slush fund for private investors (3 of the 6 pension companies are owned by American companies). Clearly I wasn’t content with witnessing the collapse of Venezuela, the fall of the Argentinean economy, the biggest forest fire in Amazonian history to name a few. Just a bunch of kids spitting their dummy out and causing chaos. That evening the people took to the streets and destroyed around 50 Metro stations. Listen. â Tamara Qiblawi (@tamaraqiblawi) October 18, 2019 It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The protests quickly spread to other cities – Concepcion, Valparaiso, Antofagasta, Chillan, Punta Arenas, Talca, Temuco and Valdivia. » READ MORE: Unbelievable: Failed smears only make Elizabeth Warren stronger as new Dem front-runner | Will Bunch. What set off this political conflagration? SANTIAGO, Chile â Protests and violence in Chile spilled over into a new day and raged into Sunday night despite the president cancelling a subway fare hike that has prompted violent demonstrations. If the investment goes bad, bye bye pension money. Chileans debate in the streets in 'first act of revolution' to determine their future. What’s different is the inequality in Chile. They already get screwed, receiving around 30% of their working wage when they retire which is widely believed to be the cause of the rise of elderly suicide. It culminated with history’s original Sept. 11 attack -- a violent American-aided coup on that date in 1973 that led to Allende’s death, the empowerment of military dictator Augusto Pinochet, and a reign of terror in which at least 3,000 and perhaps many more political opponents were murdered or “disappeared,” soccer stadiums became concentration camps for thousands, and many were brutally tortured. That’s in addition to social unease over fewer opportunities for Chile’s browner-skinned indigenous and mixed-race people, often packed into outskirts barrios. Beaten, kicked and dragged through the streets by fully armed military personnel. Hundreds of Chilean teenagers have spent the last few weeks protesting the country's version of the SAT. The 4th Democratic debate showed Elizabeth Warren is now a front-runner, ‘September Days’: Inside the movement to bring Hong Kong-style protests to America | Will Bunch, Hong Kong protesters should wave dollar bills, not U.S. flag, so NBA, Trump will pay attention | Will Bunch, From Baghdad to Kyiv to Haiti, people everywhere are rising up. But to massive numbers of Chileans, those 30 extra pesos were literally the last straw, and not just because transit fares in the South American nation had doubled in 12 years to take a toll on lower-income families. More than a dozen subway stations burned. Aside from a u-turn on the Metro price increase he refuses to address any of the deeper underlying social issues which led to this tragedy. The country, billed as the most stable in Latin America, has that stability built on a foundation of misery and repression. The people will get angry, small changes will be made then they’ll forget.” They’re the words of multiple older people I spoke to in Chile, Argentina and Brazil. And what about Chile’s rival for income inequality, the United States? (Marcelo Hernandez / Getty Images) Our new issue, âFailure Is an Option,â is out now. November 4, 2019 On October 14, 2019 Santiago, Chile erupted in revolution related to an ever-increasing pressure on those struggling just to make ends meet by the rich and powerful of the country. Kissinger said "make the economy scream"https://t.co/dQgoW4OBfl. You pay through the nose for it. The fare hike touched off much deeper anxieties about income inequality in a nation often held up as an economic success story because of its rapidly rising gross domestic product (GDP), yet has seen much of that wealth flow to a narrow sliver at the top. All are now officially under a state of emergency. It was a fantastic opportunity which I’d been looking forward to for months. it’s not surprising that the army are acting without a shred of humanity. Share page. As I said before, the price hike on Metro tickets was the final straw. If there is a revolution will the corrupt be replaced by a saviour or just another dictator in the making? A demonstrator holds up his hands toward advancing soldiers during a protest as a state of emergency remains in effect in Santiago, Chile, on Oct. 20, 2019. ... An estimated one million people have joined a peaceful protest march in Chile's capital, calling on the government to tackle inequality. The United States. The country, billed as the most stable in Latin America, has that stability built on a ⦠Hong Kong. Share. I was briefly transported to an alternative universe, not the reality-based world where Kissinger was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and became the respected 90-something elder of American foreign policy, consulted and revered by both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The fires may have started in the shadow of the Andes, but you can already smell the smoke up on Wall Street. » READ MORE: From Baghdad to Kyiv to Haiti, people everywhere are rising up. Cristobal ⦠Who knows. One thing is beyond dispute, however: An economy that largely turned to free-market conservatism in tandem with the United States has managed to not only mirror but exceed our wealth gap. Read ( 7 Min. my new nickname of Forrest Gump as I once again managed to myself... Flys over Santiago, Chile ranks number 1 for inequality had cancelled me. 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