Ecuador Indigenous Protests Braved ‘War Zone’ to Win People’s Victory, But Anti-IMF Fight Not Over

Mohammed Hamarsha and Cloe Perol. NACLA. October 17, 2019

After 12 days of nationwide unrest, several Indigenous peoples of Ecuador joined by social organizations succeeded in forcing the government of Lenin Moreno into scrapping a presidential decree eliminating fuel subsidies in the oil-producing nation.

The uprising saw thousands of indigenous people marching towards the capital Quito from different corners of the country. They occupied the city and received unprecedented solidarity from local volunteers and progressive universities, while protesters vigorously clashed with security forces for days around the presidential palace and National Assembly.

“You can call it a war zone. It is ugly, ugly, ugly,” said Margarita, a member of the rescue brigade of the Eugenio Espejo hospital in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, attempting to catch her breath. She had just returned to a health care post a few hundred meters away from the frontlines of the clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters.

Her comments came minutes after Ecuador’s president Lenín Moreno decreed a total curfew in the capital and the deployment of the armed forces. The government made the announcement just 45 minutes before the curfew went into effect at 3:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, October 12, a day before the government held talks with Indigenous leaders that ultimately concluded with Moreno agreeing to revoke the decree that sparked the protests.

The unrest in Ecuador started on October 3, when the government announced a set of economic measures known in Latin America as the paquetazo, including the presidential decree 883, which ordered the immediate elimination of decades-old fuel subsidies. The economic package fell in line with recommendations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part conditions of a $4.2 billion in loan agreement struck with Moreno’s government in 2018.

Transport workers launched a nationwide strike before several Indigenous movements joined them, marching to the capital in support of the strike and in rejection of the reforms.

Only a few hours after protest started, Moreno decreed a state of emergency, which suspended civil rights and allowed for military deployment to police the protests.

Two days later, the transport workers lifted their strike after the government agreed to increase public transport prices. However, the Indigenous movements and smaller social organizations around the country vowed to continue their protests.

Realizing his deal with the transport workers’ representatives failed to stop the demonstrations, Moreno issued an executive order that transferred the seat of the government from the capital Quito to the port city of Guayaquil and established a nighttime curfew around strategic state buildings on October 8.

At least seven people were killed in the protests, according to Ecuador’s Ombudsman office, while hundreds were injured nationwide, and reports put the number of those detained at more than 1,000.

“Love, Support, Solidarity”

Amid smoke from tear gas and fires lit up by the protesters, Margarita told us security forces have allowed her and first responders to attend to wounded protesters and police officers.

“On both sides, they are letting us attend to the wounded. They are still humanitarian in that sense,” she said, adding that protesters have been supporting first responders, giving them safe passage, and “protecting” them. “The same also goes for the police. See, so far I have not run into one who would hit me with pellet bullets.”

First responders’ brigades also worked with nurses, doctors, and students from medicine schools in the city to help injured protesters. The volunteer medics were “giving all the support they can” Margarita said.

The medics set up various posts around the site of the protests and roamed the streets wearing white coats and holding white flags to avoid being targeted by the security forces. We approached multiple volunteers for comments, but they declined to answer as only first responders’ brigades were authorized to speak to the media.

Since they started arriving in Quito on October 7, Indigenous communities have occupied the capital’s cultural center known as La Casa de la Cultura and the park adjacent to it, just 900 meters away from the National Assembly. The biggest Indigenous organization in the country, Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), along with other Indigenous organizations, convened assemblies there to make decisions on their demands and next steps, while also planning their marches towards different government buildings.

Away from home and traveling as families and communities with children and elderly people, the thousands of Indigenous protesters organized food, shelter, and medical supplies in and around the cultural center and the park with the help of volunteers and donations from individuals and groups around the city.

“We are receiving the love, support, solidarity of the people of Quito and different provinces of the country who are arriving with medical supplies, with toilet supplies, with water, drinking water,” said a woman volunteering at a donation post as people formed human chains to carry supplies of food, clothes, and mattresses. “We are here with all our heart, with all our feelings of solidarity.”

She explained that people from all Indigenous communities had set up kitchens in order to provide food “for everyone, both on the battlefront, and in the surroundings.”

Meanwhile, students, professional caregivers, and retirees gathered at universities in the capital to look after children, mothers with babies, and elderly people in need of care.

Most participating in the demonstrations spend the night in the cultural center and shelters in several universities in the city such as Universidad Catolica, Universidad Salesiana, and the country’s largest public university, the Universidad Central.

Others have been welcomed into people’s homes in working class neighborhoods such as La Vicentina, where locals provide “spaces for men and women of all ages to spend the night.” The volunteer believes that such “solidarity keeps the Indigenous people in the fight.”

At another entrance of the cultural center, Alicia, 30, was among other volunteers handing over baking soda-soaked cloths, made of torn up pieces of donated clothes, to protesters, so they could brave the tear gas being fired by police just a few hundred meters away.

“I came here today—I left my son at home with my mother—to stand in solidarity with our Indigenous brothers,” Alicia said, adding that she had come with her dad to drop off some donations and ended up staying to help.

Bread and Violence

In a country that has seen very little unrest on a significant scale for the last 12 years, the deaths of seven people in less than 10 days is anything but normal. Alicia said she and many of the volunteers directly blame the Ecuadorian government for the ongoing violence. “We are Ecuadorian people; we are all united in this,” she said. “And many of us are outraged by so many deaths for so much violence, that it is by the state, by the national police, and the military.”

Nevertheless, she argued that members of the police and military are also people who “have parents that are Indigenous, who come from different communities around the country,” and she hoped they would not turn against their own people despite their uniforms and weapons.

During clashes days earlier, protesters were seen throwing water bottles and bags of bread to the police for sustenance, shouting: “This is how your people treat you. Remember it!”

As protests paralyzed the country, police deployed tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons, while sealing off the areas surrounding the presidential palace as demonstrators attempted to reach it. Protesters also briefly occupied the National Assembly on October 8, before security forces removed them.

Most local media outlets were critical of the protests, while the government and its supporters called demonstrators “zanganos,” or lazy, arguing that such mobilizations hinder people’s ability to go to work.

“We are all Ecuadorians. They [the Indigenous people] are our brothers,” Alicia said in response to such arguments. “Thanks to them we have food on our table. They work from dusk to dawn in the field to be able to produce food and bring it to big cities. Without them, big cities are nothing. They are our workforce, not the big companies.”

A People’s Victory

The unrest came to an end Sunday when the government and Indigenous leaders from nations across the country reached an agreement as a result of United Nations-mediated talks. The talks, broadcasted live across the country,  delved into some heated exchanges between the two sides, before negotiators went into an hours-long recess away from the cameras where they forged the deal.

Indigenous leaders agreed to be part of a commission that would come up with a new decree mandating budget cuts in other areas to fulfill IMF obligations imposing austerity measures.In a victory for the popular uprising, President Moreno agreed to revoke his incendiary decree 883 eliminating the fuel subsidies. Indigenous leaders agreed to be part of a commission that would come up with a new decree mandating budget cuts in other areas to fulfill IMF obligations imposing austerity measures.

On Monday morning, the government lifted the state of emergency and the curfew in Quito. In an act of final solidarity and street organization, Indigenous people, along with volunteers and police officers, worked to clean streets and remove roadblocks. Moreno officially revoked the decree later that day.

While many celebrated the Moreno decision as a people’s victory against the IMF, mainstream media and even some progressive outlets outside the country falsely reported that the Ecuadorian government had done away with all austerity measures, with some going as far as saying the deal with the IMF had been dropped altogether.

However, most of the austerity measures in the new economic package, such as reducing vacation time for public sector from 30 days to 15 days, and reducing salaries and labor protections for public and private employees, remain untouched.

The executive now must send those IMF-suggested reforms to the National Assembly for approval. Some also remain on edge recalling that the government had previously said a second economic package would be introduced after the first one was approved.

Some would even argue that the scrapping of the decree was not a real win as the government has made it clear that a new presidential decree concerning the subsides would have to be agreed on as part of the newly created national commission. The United Nations said the new commission was due to meet this week for the first time.

Meanwhile, the country’s Indigenous movements, credited with toppling governments in decades past but notably less powerful and organized in recent years, seems to be refinding its stride and will likely be further empowered by the recent win, even if it was a partial one.

Mohammed Hamarsha is a journalist working for teleSUR English. Cloe Perol is a linguist and freelancer. Both are based in Quito, Ecuador.

President Accused of Fraud in Bolivia Election as He Opens Big Vote Lead

Ernesto Londoño. New York Times. October 21, 2019

LA PAZ, Bolivia — President Evo Morales of Bolivia faced stinging accusations of election irregularities by international observers and violent protests in the streets on Monday as an updated tally of votes cast in the country’s presidential election appeared to give him a big enough lead to avoid a runoff.

With about 95 percent of the votes counted, election officials said Mr. Morales received 46.8 percent of the votes, while his closest rival, Carlos Mesa, won 36.7 percent. To avoid a runoff, the incumbent needed a 10-percentage-point advantage.

Preliminary results released hours after polls closed on Sunday showed a far tighter margin between the two leading candidates, an outcome that appeared to make it certain they would face off in a runoff in December.

Manuel González, the head of the election observer mission dispatched by the Organization of American States to monitor Bolivia’s vote, said on Monday night that he was “profoundly concerned” by the “drastic” reversal in the vote results.

Mr. González, a former foreign minister from Costa Rica, said the vote trend data compiled by the mission’s observers suggested that the two candidates were apart by less than 10 percentage points. He called the tally released on Monday night by election officials “inexplicable” and said it eroded trust in the electoral system.

“It’s essential that the people’s will be fully respected,” Mr. González said.

He said that the O.A.S. intended to issue a comprehensive report on its findings in coming days and that the report would say a second round was warranted.

The damning assessment by the team of observers raised the prospect that a victory by Mr. Morales would be regarded by the international community as illegitimate.

While Mr. Morales’s consolidation of power, and his decision to do away with term limits, have raised alarm at home and abroad, the integrity of Bolivia’s election system has not been seriously called into question since he was first elected in 2005.

The uncertainty over the results opened a new front in the type of violent political unrest that has rocked the region over the past few weeks. Photos and videos of bloodied protesters were posted on social media on Monday night.

Mr. Mesa blamed Mr. Morales for the clashes and acts of vandalism that were spreading late Monday night. Among the most dramatic was a fire that engulfed an election tribunal building in the southern city of Sucre.

“The government, with its decision to again subvert the will of the people, is the only responsible party for the violence that threatens Bolivia,” he wrote in a statement on Twitter.

Many Bolivians were suspicious of the result because election officials halted the updating of vote results for nearly 24 hours. Across the country, people posted videos on social media of scenes that purported to show electoral irregularities, including stashes of ballots and other election materials found in residences and vehicles.

The accusations of fraud created a widespread sense that the president or his allies had worked behind the scenes to rig the vote.

As election officials released new results at a hotel in La Paz giving the president a 10-percentage-point lead, opponents of Mr. Morales angrily changed “fraud, fraud!”

Heavily armed police officers were deployed to the streets, where they clashed with demonstrators on Monday night, according to television news reports.

As acts of vandalism and protests spread across the country, some election teams participating in the vote count said they had suspended their work until order could be restored.

Waldo Albacarrín, a prominent human rights activist and university president, was among those wounded during protests on Monday. With blood streaming from his forehead after he was struck by a tear-gas canister, he said critics of Mr. Morales would remain undaunted.

“These people out here are not going to allow more abuses,” he said in a televised interview.

Mr. Mesa accused the governing party of foul play on Monday as election officials stopped updating the vote count.

“This government is trying to block the path to a second round, which was clearly established yesterday,” Mr. Mesa told reporters.

If there is a runoff, Mr. Mesa would most likely get the backing of rival presidential candidates who participated in the election, so Mr. Morales would face a daunting fight.

Addressing supporters Sunday night, Mr. Morales characterized the result as a major victory and did not concede that there would be a second round.

Gabriela Montaño, Mr. Morales’s health minister, said in a televised interview Monday night that allegations of foul play by the governing party were baseless.

“Nothing could be more false,” she said. She added that the governing party would “wait patiently” for official results. She blamed Mr. Mesa for stoking violence.

Election officials on Monday did not respond to questions about why the vote results had not been updated.

The Organization of American States, which deployed a large team of election observers on Sunday, expressed alarm and called on election officials to explain why they had stopped updating results. Several governments in the region also expressed concern.

Michael Kozak, the top American diplomat overseeing Latin America policy, said Monday night that the United States “rejects the Electoral Tribunal’s attempts to subvert democracy by delaying the vote count and taking actions that undermine the credibility of Bolivia’s elections.”

In a statement on Twitter, he warned that the United States “will work with the international community to hold accountable anyone who undermines Bolivia’s democratic institutions.”

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry also expressed concern over what it called the “lack of response from election officials” about vote counting information.

Mr. Morales, 59, has been in office since 2006, making him the longest-serving head of state in Latin America. His bid for a fourth consecutive term has been criticized at home and abroad as a breach of Bolivia’s democratic rules.

Bolivia’s Constitution, which was passed during Mr. Morales’s first term, says presidents may serve no more than two consecutive terms.

In 2016, Mr. Morales put forward a referendum seeking to do away with that limit and lost by a narrow margin. The following year, however, Bolivia’s Constitutional Court gave Mr. Morales the green light to run again, issuing a contentious ruling that held that term limits infringe on basic human rights.

While Mr. Morales has been recognized for transformational policies that reduced inequality, empowered indigenous people and made Bolivia’s economy an exemplar in the region, many of his fellow citizens now want him gone.

Critics say he has become increasingly authoritarian, accusing him of abusing his influence over the judicial system to intimidate or sideline political rivals. They also contend that the government has wasted money on unnecessary projects, including a new 29-story presidential building, at a time when the economy is showing signs of strain.

Mr. Mesa had earlier noted that election officials had promised to release comprehensive preliminary results promptly after the polls closed.

“The longer it takes to learn the final results, the more chance there will be for manipulation,” he said.

Bolivia: protests mount as electoral body says Evo Morales is close to victory

Mat Youkee. The Guardian. October 21, 2019

Protests have broken out across Bolivia after the country’s electoral authorities said that president Evo Morales was close to winning an outright victory in his bid for a historic fourth term in office.

The country’s electoral body abruptly stopped releasing election returns late on Sunday, prompting opponents to suggest that officials were trying to help Morales avoid a runoff vote.

At that point Morales had a lead of 45.3% to 38.2% over the second-place candidate, former president Carlos Mesa. Late on Monday, the body renewed its count and said that with 95% of votes counted, Morales led 46.41% to Mesa’s 37.06%.

Under Bolivian law, Morales would need a 10-percentage point advantage over Mesa to avoid a second round in December. The official final count is not due for seven days.

In a statement the Organisation of American States (OAS) expressed its “deep concern and surprise at the drastic and hard-to-explain change in the trend of the preliminary results revealed after the closing of the polls” and urged for calm.

Opposition groups have not heeded that call. Mesa, who had warned that the vote could be manipulated to avoid a runoff, called on Bolivians “to conduct a battle in defense of the vote.”

Police opened fire with tear gas as protesters clashed with government supporters outside local offices of the electoral tribunal in the capital La Paz, and the cities of Oruro, Potosí and Cochabamba.

In Sucre the offices were set on fire as videos appeared to show police units abandoning their posts. In Camiri, the centre of Bolivia’s lucrative gas industry, videos showed protestors attacking the offices of the national oil company.

In Santa Cruz, opposition figures called for an indefinite country-wide strike starting tomorrow while supporters chanted “no tenemos miedo, carajo!” (“We aren’t scared, dammit!”).

Stoking the protestors’ anger were videos shared widely on social media which purportedly showed highly irregular electoral processes, including boxes of ballot papers lying abandoned in a La Paz street and piled high in a warehouse in Potosí.

The interior minister, Carlos Romero, accused the opposition of trying to create trouble, warning that “they have to take care of the violence they’re generating.”

Rodrigo Riaza, a research analyst for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said: “If Morales wins outright in the first round, the opposition will double down on their claims of fraud, which they have built up throughout the campaign.”

The US acting assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, Michael Kozak, tweeted: “The U.S. rejects the Electoral Tribunal’s attempts to subvert #Bolivia‘s democracy by delaying the vote count & taking actions that undermine the credibility of Bolivia’s elections.”

Monday’s clashes came amid fresh street violence in neighbouring Chile, and after mass protests in Ecuador and Haiti.

“The region is convulsing. In Bolivia so far there have been tensions but we could go from tension to convulsion if Morales tries to force a victory in the first round,” said Bolivian political analyst Franklin Pareja.

Being forced into a runoff would be “a sharp blow to Morales, whose political success has been impressive and who seemed confident of a first-round win,” said Michael Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based thinktank.

“Morales’s failure to achieve a first-round victory reflects growing concern about a slowing economy, corruption scandals and his determination to pursue a fourth term in defiance of a national referendum and the Bolivian constitution. Many Bolivians are simply weary. If re-elected, Evo will be in office nearly two decades.”

Bolivia under Morales has remained a rare example of stability and growth. The economy has grown by an annual average of about 4.5%, well above the regional average, and the International Monetary Fund predicts it will grow at 4% this year.

But Morales has also faced growing dissatisfaction, especially over his refusal to accept a referendum on limiting presidential terms.

US refusing to cooperate with Colombia in Uribe investigation: report

Jack Norman. Colombia Reports. October 21, 2019

The US government is refusing to cooperate with Colombia’s Supreme Court that is investigating former President Alvaro Uribe on fraud and bribery charges, according to weekly Semana.

Supreme Court magistrate Cesar Augusto Reyes requested the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in August to surrender records of visits and calls made to extradited paramilitary warlords and drug traffickers.

Reyes is verifying whether Uribe’s fixer, Diego Cadena, visited or contacted the extradited convicts who apparently made false claims after Uribe filed allegedly fraudulent criminal charges against opposition Senator Ivan Cepeda.

Additionally, the DOJ failed to facilitate hearings with Uribe witnesses that would allow the court to check the veracity of claims made in letters and videos provide by Uribe’s defense attorneys.

The DOJ refused the request, according to Semana, demanding details about why the Colombian court had concerns about Cadena, a mafia lawyer with four criminal investigations against him.

The Court provided a response, which the DOJ rejected as inadequate, reported Semana.

That second refusal prompted Reyes to write a withering response to the Justice Department on September 27, calling its refusals “disrespectful” to the Colombian court’s “appropriate request.” According to Semana, that letter has not yet been sent.

DOJ refusal to cooperate second this year
The DOJ’s refusal to cooperate with Colombia’s justice system is the second this year.

The first time the Justice Department and Colombian courts clashed involved a controversial US extradition request former FARC leader Jesus Santrich on an unsubstantiated drug trafficking charge.

Colombia’s war crimes tribunal rejected the extradition request after receiving no evidence a crime had been committed and ordered an investigation into the prosecution and DEA agents who apparently were carrying out rogue and illegal investigations.

When the Supreme Court took over the investigation into the US claim, the DOJ again failed to provide any evidence and refused the court to hear their alleged key witness, a DEA informant.

The DOJ is facing mounting allegations that it has become politicized after the election of controversial President Donald Trump in 2016.

This and Trump’s erratic foreign policy have weakened historical ties between the two governments who both are at odds with Congress and the judiciary.

Venezuela's Guaido holds 'exploratory' talks with China, Russia: envoy

AFP. October 22, 2019

Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido has asked China and Russia to help end a political crisis crippling the Latin American country during "exploratory" talks, his diplomatic representative in Brazil said Monday.

Oil-rich Venezuela's economy is crumbling amid a political standoff between leftist President Nicolas Maduro and Guaido, the national assembly speaker widely recognized as the country's legitimate leader.

Teresa Belandria, whom Guaido appointed as Venezuela's envoy to Brazil earlier this year after declaring himself acting president, said the opposition leader has met with various Chinese delegations in the capital Caracas.

Members of his coalition also have had contact with Russia, including in the Brazilian capital Brasilia.

Moscow and Beijing are staunch supporters of Maduro's government.

"These are exploratory contacts in which they have asked (Russia and China) to be part of the solution to the crisis and to become facilitators of the democratic transition process," Belandria told Brazilian and Venezuelan investors in Sao Paulo as she presented the opposition's economic plan in the event of a political transition.

Belandria would not offer more details about the talks or when they were held but said they were expected to "bear positive fruits for the restoration of democracy."

Belandria added that opposition parties had agreed to re-elect Guaido in January 2020 as national assembly leader.

"There's a political agreement between all of the parties to renew Juan Guaido as president," she said, predicting more opposition street protests in November.

Moscow and Beijing have been major lenders to Caracas in exchange for oil supplies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Maduro in Moscow last month, where he reiterated support for his Venezuelan counterpart and called on all sides to end the country's crisis.

Talks between Maduro's government and Guaido broke down in August following the imposition of new US sanctions.

The socialist government resumed talks in September with some minority opposition parties, but only those outside Guaido's coalition.

U.S. allows Chevron to drill for oil in Venezuela for three more months

Timothy Gardner and Makini Brice. Reuters. October 21, 2019

WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday renewed a license allowing Chevron, the last U.S. operating energy company in Venezuela, to continue drilling in the country for another three months through Jan. 22.

The license has been a subject of intense debate within the Trump administration as it pursues a campaign to oust socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Its renewal represented a win by some in the administration, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who see keeping a U.S. company in Venezuela as an asset that could lead to a speedy recovery after any ouster of Maduro.

Other Trump administration officials believe allowing Chevron to stay results in oil output that helps keep Maduro in power by allowing him to pay down debts. Several administration officials favor allowing the license to expire even after Trump’s hawkish former national security adviser John Bolton, who had been an opponent of the license, stepped down last month.

Chevron executives “remain focused on our base business operations and supporting the more than 8,800 people who work with us and their families,” said spokesman Ray Fohr. The company is reviewing terms of the latest license.

The renewal effectively adds no new restrictions, according to a review of past licenses.

Chevron has been in Venezuela for nearly 100 years and has about 300 direct employees there. Its joint ventures with state oil company PDVSA support about 8,800 people. The ventures produce the equivalent of about 200,000 barrels per day of oil, and Chevron’s stake in them recently averaged about 34,000 bpd, the company said.

In January, the United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA in an effort to oust Maduro. But it issued Chevron a six-month license to operate, which has now been renewed for two three-month periods.

Crude oil output in the OPEC nation has dropped from well over 2 million bpd in 2014 to just over 1 million bpd by the end of 2018, the result of lower prices and what critics say is years of underinvestment and mismanagement. Blackouts and U.S. sanctions have accelerated the collapse: The country now produces just 600,000 bpd.

The Treasury Department said the license does not authorize transactions related to shipments of diluents, which Venezuela needs to thin its heavy oil for processing.

The license also covers oil field service companies Halliburton Co, Schlumberger, GE’s Baker Hughes and Weatherford International. All have largely halted operations in Venezuela because of the instability.

“President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election bid could make future extensions increasingly difficult,” said Kevin Book, an analyst at ClearView Energy Partners. “The White House may see a strong stand against Maduro as a way to appeal to Latino voters.”

"We Can't Remain Indifferent": Chile Trade Unions Call for General Strike in Support of Student-Led Uprising

Eoin Higgins. Common Dreams. October 21, 2019

As protests against the Chilean government continued Monday, trade unions across the South American country called for a general strike to support demonstrators drawing attention to the nation's high cost of living, inequality, and injustice.

"We can't remain indifferent to the social movement out there," Escondida Union No. 1 president Patricio Tapia, whose organization voted to stop work at the Escondida copper mine for 10 hours Monday night or Tuesday morning, told Bloomberg Monday. "Something's not right with this country and 14-year-olds were the first ones to say so—now it's workers' turn to say enough is enough."

The movement began with high schoolers protesting subway fare hikes but exploded across the country over the weekend to encompass a wide array of issues after a police crackdown on the teenagers drew widespread anger and outrage.

As Common Dreams reported, billionaire right-wing President Sebastián Piñera has declared a state of emergency over the protest movement and, on Saturday, tried to defuse the situation by suspending the fare increase.

A number of unions said Sunday they were calling for a general strike in solidarity with the burgeoning protest movement.

"Sebastián Piñera does not understand the underlying reasons for the widespread citizen protest throughout the territory," the unions said in their declaration of intent to strike. "With his attitude it is clear that he is not in a position to continue directing the country."

Protester Constanza Gonzalez told the BBC that the unrest is based in long simmering resentment.

"I think people are angry and this was a thing that had been coming for quite a long time," said Gonzalez.

Professor Richard D. Wolff tweeted that the protests were the natural outcome of an unstable system.

"Deepening inequalities in all capitalist economies over recent decades (first neoliberalism and now neo-protectionism) produce predictable explosions," said Wolff.