Thursday, November 14, 2019
Military Coup in Bolivia 'Has Been Consummated,' Says Evo Morales as Right-Wing Senator Declares Herself President in Defiance of Constitution
Jake Johnson. Common Dreams. November 13, 2019
Bolivian Senator Jeanine Añez, a leader of the nation's right-wing opposition party, declared herself interim president of the country Tuesday night despite lacking the constitutionally required number of lawmakers to approve her appointment.
"I assume the presidency immediately and will do everything necessary to pacify the country," declared Añez, who has a history of racist attacks against indigenous Bolivians.
As CNN reported, members of former President Evo Morales' leftist party did not attend the session Tuesday, leaving "the legislative chamber short of the legal minimum number of lawmakers required to appoint her."
Morales, who resigned Sunday under threat from the Bolivian military and police forces, tweeted late Tuesday that "the most crafty and disastrous coup in history has been consummated."
"A coupist right-wing senator calls herself president of the Senate and then interim president of Bolivia without a legislative quorum, surrounded by a group of accomplices and led by the armed forces and the police that repress the people," said Morales, who accepted asylum in Mexico.
According to the New York Times, "the military high command met with Ms. Añez for more than an hour at the government palace Tuesday night in what her aides described as a planning session to keep the peace. At the end of the meeting, pictures were released of the senior officers saluting Ms. Añez."
Earlier Tuesday, thousands of Morales supporters marched in opposition to the coup:
The Guardian reported that hundreds of Morales backers rallied near the Bolivian assembly building late Tuesday to denounce Añez's assumption of the presidency as illegitimate.
"She's declared herself president without having a quorum in the parliament," Morales supporter Julio Chipana told The Guardian. "She doesn't represent us."
‘I Assume the Presidency’: Bolivia Lawmaker Declares Herself Leader
Clifford Krauss. New York Times. November 13, 2019
LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia’s political crisis took a dramatic turn on Tuesday when a leading lawmaker stepped forward and claimed the presidency, even as the country’s ousted leader urged his supporters in the legislature to battle on from his exile in Mexico.
“I assume the presidency immediately and will do everything necessary to pacify the country,” the lawmaker, Senator Jeanine Añez Chavez, told members of the assembly.
But with supporters of the ousted President Evo Morales refusing to take part in the legislative session, it was not immediately clear whether Ms. Añez’s declaration would move the country away from conflict, or headlong into it.
Minutes after she spoke, Bolivia’s highest constitutional court issued a ruling that backed her assumption of power. She was the highest-ranking politician in the line of succession after Mr. Morales and other top officials stepped down.
The country had been without a leader since the resignation on Sunday of Mr. Morales, Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, who came to power more than a decade ago as part of a leftist wave that swept Latin America.
It seemed uncertain that Ms. Añez would be able to calm the tense and deeply polarized nation. Shortly after her announcement, members of Mr. Morales’s party said they would hold another legislative session on Wednesday to nullify her decision.
Mr. Morales denounced Ms. Añez’s move as illegitimate. saying on Twitter that she had acted “without legislative quorum, surrounded by a group of accomplices and supported by the armed forces and the police, which repress the people.”
A former media executive and leader of a conservative coalition, Ms. Añez said before she declared herself president that she would lead a transition focused on selecting an honest electoral commission and holding elections as soon as possible.
“This is simply a transitory moment,” she said earlier Tuesday. “There is an urgency.”
Fireworks echoed across La Paz, Bolivia’s largest city, and in other major urban centers. But at the same time, the police used tear gas to disperse furious crowds of Mr. Morales’s supporters who were gathered in downtown La Paz.
Mr. Morales’s abrupt departure had come after the armed forces sided with protesters who accused him of rigging an election to stay in power. Mr. Morales, who was granted refuge by Mexico “for humanitarian reasons,” has described his ouster as a coup.
On Wednesday morning, the streets of La Paz were quiet, as normal bus and hospital service resumed. Schools remained closed, but businesses began to reopen in most major cities and traffic thickened.
But tensions were building, with Morales supporters who still have a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly promising an attempt to nullify Ms. Anez’s self-proclaimed presidency.
Supporters of Ms. Anez have set up barricades in recent days around the assembly’s plaza, along with the national police, and it remained uncertain whether they would even allow the Morales party lawmakers to enter the building.
Mr. Morales had called a morning news conference in Mexico City in which he was expected to repeat his biting attacks on Ms. Anez’s sudden climb to power and to signal what kind of tactics he expected his followers to take against the new government.
Some political and legal analysts said the steps taken by Ms. Añez and the assembly members present for her announcement were extraordinary but necessary, because members of Mr. Morales’s party had boycotted the scheduled session at which they were to select a new president.
“Añez, along with congressmen of both chambers, are abiding by their constitutional duties and are taking measures to secure the constitutional succession of power,” said Carlos Aramayo Raña, a Bolivian political scientist.
“Politically speaking, what is the alternative, Bolivians fighting each other?” Mr. Aramayo Raña asked. “Who will take responsibility for the blood that will be spilled?”
But after a month of unrest and strikes, many Bolivians expressed hope that Ms. Añez’s proclamation would bring back normality. In the city Cochabamba, in central Bolivia, the new president’s controversial proclamation was greeted with a visible sigh of relief, if not mass celebration.
Empty streets almost immediately began to slowly fill with cars and bicycles, and local residents began dissembling the barricades they had put up in protest over Mr. Morales’s re-election, diligently sweeping up the debris into garbage sacks.
About 100 opposition protesters waving flags converged on the city’s central square to celebrate. Some set off fireworks or honked from their cars and motorbikes.
Ms. Añez’s proclamation, however, has not put an end to sporadic political violence and opportunistic looting unleashed by Mr. Morales’s resignation. Local news outlets reported several chicken farms around Cochabamba were looted early on Wednesday.
Hours after the swearing-in ceremony, New York Times reporter watched about 20 motorbike-riding civilians armed with metal pipes and chains travel out of Cochabamba’s main police station, as police officers saluted them and gave thumbs up on the way out. The riders did not carry any political affiliation, but Cochabamba’s Police Headquarters had flipped to the opposition last Saturday, triggering a national wave of police mutiny that brought Ms. Añez to power.
While Ms. Añez’s supporters remained firmly in control of central Cochabamba, Bolivia’s fourth-largest city in the Andean plateau, Indigenous groups loyal to Mr. Morales camped out on the approaches to the city. Clashes between both parties’s armed bands and security forces left at least a dozen people injured here Tuesday, including three from gunshot wounds.
Earlier on Tuesday, in a rapid-fire series of tweets, Mr. Morales had urged members of his coalition to continue blocking efforts to nominate an interim leader.
He congratulated the legislators for not showing up at the session at which his resignation would have been formally accepted, and Ms. Añez recognized as the country’s interim leader. He said they were “acting with unity and dignity to reject any manipulation by the racist, coup-mongering and traitorous right wing.”
This frustrated many of the legislators who wanted to move forward.
“Today, they have to understand that the most important is Bolivia, not Evo Morales,” one opposition lawmaker, Luis Felipe Dorado, said of the president’s supporters. “Evo Morales is gone from the country, but they continue to obey him, not the will of the country.”
On Monday, as looting and violence spread across several cities, Ms. Añez at first appeared rattled, sobbing as she called for calm. But by the evening, she was projecting strength, and demanding that the army accept the national police’s call to jointly patrol the streets of La Paz to restore order.
The army quickly responded, sending troops into the streets and setting up defensive positions around vital infrastructure like electricity and waterworks.
The military high command met with Ms. Añez for more than an hour at the government palace Tuesday night in what her aides described as a planning session to keep the peace. At the end of the meeting, pictures were released of the senior officers saluting Ms. Añez.
Bolivians appear sharply divided in their views — and in their hopes for the future.
When Mr. Morales was first elected in 2006, he became the first Indigenous person to lead Bolivia, a nation in which two-thirds of the population are Indigenous. In the Plaza San Francisco in La Paz, street vendors, most of them Indigenous, overwhelmingly expressed support for him.
“Evo was the best president we ever had,” said Rosario Siñane, 39, who was selling individually wrapped candies. “Now we have no more hope.”
José Ariel Blanco, the 25-year-old owner of a stationery store two blocks from the legislature, said he was thankful for Mr. Morales’s achievements — chief among them, tackling the racism that the Indigenous had suffered for centuries.
“My grandmother couldn’t walk into a bank in her Indigenous clothes until Evo became president,” he said. “Now she can, and that won’t change.”
But he said Mr. Morales went too far in bending the rules of democracy. “The Venezuelan and Cuban models don’t work over time,” he said.
Down the street from Mr. Blanco’s store, Victor Huancollo, a 24-year-old computer science university student, stood guard at a makeshift barricade intended to keep supporters of Mr. Morales from approaching the legislature. He was hopeful that new elections would be held in a few months, he said, and that “a transparent president who is not corrupt will emerge, not like what we had over the last 14 years.”
On Tuesday morning Mr. Morales was met by Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign minister, at the presidential hangar of Mexico City’s main airport.
In comments to the news media, Mr. Morales remained defiant, vowing to continue his involvement in politics and his fight for social justice, Bolivia’s Indigenous populations and the poor.
“Our sin is that we are ideologically anti-imperialist, but this coup won’t make me change ideologically,” he said.
Mr. Morales, who was flanked by Bolivia’s former vice president, Álvaro García Linera, also thanked his hosts, the Mexican government.
“We are very grateful to the president of Mexico, because he saved my life,” he said.
Mr. Morales left office after weeks of growing unrest over a disputed presidential election and after the military indicated it would support the people in the streets who were calling for him to step down.
In his audio message, which was released by the Mexican news media and broadcast in Bolivia, Mr. Morales called on the military to “stop the massacre.” Photographed draped in a Mexican flag aboard a Mexican Air Force plane, Mr. Morales also told his supporters, “We’ll work together for Bolivia.”
At a news conference on Tuesday morning, Mr. Ebrard, the Mexican foreign minister, said his government had encountered numerous difficulties in securing permission to land its plane in Bolivia to retrieve Mr. Morales, and in getting cooperation from other countries in the region to facilitate the plane’s return to Mexico with the former Bolivian president aboard.
Among the obstacles, he said, the government of Peru had forbidden the plane to land on Peruvian territory to refuel during its return trip, and Ecuador had blocked passage over its territory, forcing the plane to take a path over the Pacific Ocean.
That further delayed Mr. Morales’s arrival in Mexico City.
Spain police say ex-Venezuelan spy chief Hugo Carvajal is missing
Al Jazeera. November 12, 2019
Venezuela's former military intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal has gone missing in Spain days after local media reported a Spanish court had agreed to extradite him to the United States on drug trafficking charges.
"They are currently looking for him," said a spokeswoman for Spain's national police on Wednesday, referring to Carvajal, also known as El Pollo (the chicken).
Judicial sources said police had gone to his house in Madrid after Friday's court decision but could not locate him.
Carvajal's lawyer Maria Dolores de Arguelles told AFP news agency she had "not been informed" they were going to rearrest him, adding that she did not know his whereabouts.
In mid-September, Spain's National Court had rejected a US extradition request, instead, ordering the release of Carvajal, who served as intelligence chief under the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
His release followed five months in provisional detention after being arrested in Madrid in April.
But the court reversed that decision on Friday after accepting an appeal from the public prosecutor's office, although full details of the ruling have not been made public.
On Monday, Carvajal denied the reports, saying that he was never "notified of any official resolution".
"In light of the rumours in the press, my lawyers went to the National High Court on Friday and on Saturday and they are also checking the official notification system constantly. As of now, neither my lawyers nor myself have been officially notified of any official resolution on my case," Carvajal said in a Twitter post.
Carvajal was stripped of his rank by the administration of President Nicolas Maduro after coming out in support of Juan Guaido as Venezuela's acting president in February, and calling on the military forces to break ranks and to allow a shipment of humanitarian aid to Venezuela.
He then fled by boat, in a 16-hour journey, to the Dominican Republic in March, before relocating to Spain in April.
Carvajal has long been sought by US Treasury officials who suspect him of providing support to drug trafficking activities of the FARC group in Colombia.
In an indictment filed in New York in 2011, Carvajal was accused of coordinating the transport of more than 5.6 tonnes of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006 that was ultimately destined for the US.
The US also said Carvajal formed part of a drug cartel known as Los Soles, which not only wanted to enrich its members "but used cocaine as a weapon against the United States due to the adverse effects of the drug on individual users".
If convicted, Carvajal could face between 10 years and life in prison, the US Justice Department said in April following his arrest.
Venezuela's former military intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal has gone missing in Spain days after local media reported a Spanish court had agreed to extradite him to the United States on drug trafficking charges.
"They are currently looking for him," said a spokeswoman for Spain's national police on Wednesday, referring to Carvajal, also known as El Pollo (the chicken).
Judicial sources said police had gone to his house in Madrid after Friday's court decision but could not locate him.
Carvajal's lawyer Maria Dolores de Arguelles told AFP news agency she had "not been informed" they were going to rearrest him, adding that she did not know his whereabouts.
In mid-September, Spain's National Court had rejected a US extradition request, instead, ordering the release of Carvajal, who served as intelligence chief under the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
His release followed five months in provisional detention after being arrested in Madrid in April.
But the court reversed that decision on Friday after accepting an appeal from the public prosecutor's office, although full details of the ruling have not been made public.
On Monday, Carvajal denied the reports, saying that he was never "notified of any official resolution".
"In light of the rumours in the press, my lawyers went to the National High Court on Friday and on Saturday and they are also checking the official notification system constantly. As of now, neither my lawyers nor myself have been officially notified of any official resolution on my case," Carvajal said in a Twitter post.
Carvajal was stripped of his rank by the administration of President Nicolas Maduro after coming out in support of Juan Guaido as Venezuela's acting president in February, and calling on the military forces to break ranks and to allow a shipment of humanitarian aid to Venezuela.
He then fled by boat, in a 16-hour journey, to the Dominican Republic in March, before relocating to Spain in April.
Carvajal has long been sought by US Treasury officials who suspect him of providing support to drug trafficking activities of the FARC group in Colombia.
In an indictment filed in New York in 2011, Carvajal was accused of coordinating the transport of more than 5.6 tonnes of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006 that was ultimately destined for the US.
The US also said Carvajal formed part of a drug cartel known as Los Soles, which not only wanted to enrich its members "but used cocaine as a weapon against the United States due to the adverse effects of the drug on individual users".
If convicted, Carvajal could face between 10 years and life in prison, the US Justice Department said in April following his arrest.
Venezuela embassy in Brazil occupied by Guaidó supporters
AP. November 13, 2019
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A group of people backing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó have occupied the nation's embassy in Brazil's capital, Brasilia.
An official from President Nicolás Maduro's government says a group of some 20 people forcibly invaded the embassy early Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak publicly.
The Venezuelan representative to Brazil named by Guaidó says that embassy employees opened the gates to let sympathizers in.
Brazil and more than 50 other nations recognize Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president.
Some 20 Brazilian military police officers are outside the embassy, and others are within. Wednesday is the first day of the Brazil-hosted summit for BRICS nations, which also include Russia, India, China and South Africa.
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A group of people backing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó have occupied the nation's embassy in Brazil's capital, Brasilia.
An official from President Nicolás Maduro's government says a group of some 20 people forcibly invaded the embassy early Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak publicly.
The Venezuelan representative to Brazil named by Guaidó says that embassy employees opened the gates to let sympathizers in.
Brazil and more than 50 other nations recognize Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president.
Some 20 Brazilian military police officers are outside the embassy, and others are within. Wednesday is the first day of the Brazil-hosted summit for BRICS nations, which also include Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Neighbours meet to plot path out of Chile crisis amid exasperation at elite
John Bartlett. The Guardian. November 12, 2019
In the dappled shade of Santiago’s Parque Almagro, hundreds of Chileans sat immersed in conversation, reflecting on the past, present and future of their country.
As strikes and protests continue across the country, tens of thousands of people have attended spontaneous town hall meetings to seek a way out of more than a month of sometimes violent political unrest.
“These past weeks have been physically and emotionally exhausting,” said Florencia Olivares, 27. “We have been protesting every day, choked by teargas and not knowing how this might end, but seeing people come together to discuss a better future gives me hope.”
As President Sebastián Piñera wavers between attempts at conciliation and promises of further crackdowns, many Chileans have given up waiting for the government to offer solutions – and are instead taking it upon themselves to address the causes of the crisis.
Self-organised events, known as cabildos, have been held the length of the country – and even hosted as far afield as the UK, Australia and Canada.
At the recent gathering in Parque Almagro, the hum of conversations lulled only for a volley of whistles and jeers directed at a passing police van, caked in paint and peppered with indentations from earlier clashes.
According to organisers, this event was held to keep environmental matters on the agenda after the cancellation of the COP25 climate change summit which had been due to take place in Santiago. (It will now be held in Madrid.)
The global climate summit and the Apec convention – which was due to be held this week – were both cancelled as the government struggled to contain social unrest that has claimed more than 20 lives, according to the latest figures from Chile’s human rights institute.
A total of 5,696 people have been detained in the disturbances and 2,009 hospitalised – more than half of whom were injured by firearms. The institute is also compiling 283 legal cases relating to allegations of homicide, torture and sexual violence levelled against the police and military.
But as the violence continues, more than 15,000 people have attended 450 cabildos across Chile, according to Unidad Social, a national alliance of 115 unions and other civil society groups which has been providing guidelines for the cabildos and recording the results.
Almost every social group, profession and academic discipline has organised cabildos targeting specific areas of reform. An event organised by Colo-Colo, one of Chile’s biggest football clubs, attracted 1,500 people to their Monumental stadium in the capital.
“Anyone can arrange a cabildo – irrespective of their politics, religion or social group,” says Camilo Mansilla, who is part of Unidad Social’s organisational committee.
“The legacy of the [Pinochet] dictatorship and subsequent governments was to create a political class that has not been able to respond to our demands, so we are organising ourselves to regain sovereignty over our communities and territory.”
The meetings’ conclusions are non-binding, but a team from Unidad Social is sifting through proposals from each cabildo – and so far, the most common demand is for a constitutional assembly to draft a new constitution.
Chile’s current constitution was devised by dictator Augusto Pinochet’s trusted advisers and ratified by a questionable 1980 referendum.
Although it has been reformed several times, it still places heavy emphasis on private property but makes no mention of environmental protection – nor does it enshrine the right to water or housing – making it a symbolic target for protesters seeking to address the neoliberal model at its core.
A recent poll showed that 78% of those surveyed were in favour of a new constitution, while politicians from across the spectrum have come out in support of reform, which would require two-thirds of both the congress and senate.
However, the government has said it plans to reform the constitution through congress rather than convening a constitutional assembly – as the opposition and civil society had been demanding.
Many protesters say civil society needs to participate directly.
“We need to replace the constitution and the people want to play an active role – but we just can’t do that without a constitutional assembly,” said Olivares. “If we want to see real change, it’s now or never.”
In the dappled shade of Santiago’s Parque Almagro, hundreds of Chileans sat immersed in conversation, reflecting on the past, present and future of their country.
As strikes and protests continue across the country, tens of thousands of people have attended spontaneous town hall meetings to seek a way out of more than a month of sometimes violent political unrest.
“These past weeks have been physically and emotionally exhausting,” said Florencia Olivares, 27. “We have been protesting every day, choked by teargas and not knowing how this might end, but seeing people come together to discuss a better future gives me hope.”
As President Sebastián Piñera wavers between attempts at conciliation and promises of further crackdowns, many Chileans have given up waiting for the government to offer solutions – and are instead taking it upon themselves to address the causes of the crisis.
Self-organised events, known as cabildos, have been held the length of the country – and even hosted as far afield as the UK, Australia and Canada.
At the recent gathering in Parque Almagro, the hum of conversations lulled only for a volley of whistles and jeers directed at a passing police van, caked in paint and peppered with indentations from earlier clashes.
According to organisers, this event was held to keep environmental matters on the agenda after the cancellation of the COP25 climate change summit which had been due to take place in Santiago. (It will now be held in Madrid.)
The global climate summit and the Apec convention – which was due to be held this week – were both cancelled as the government struggled to contain social unrest that has claimed more than 20 lives, according to the latest figures from Chile’s human rights institute.
A total of 5,696 people have been detained in the disturbances and 2,009 hospitalised – more than half of whom were injured by firearms. The institute is also compiling 283 legal cases relating to allegations of homicide, torture and sexual violence levelled against the police and military.
But as the violence continues, more than 15,000 people have attended 450 cabildos across Chile, according to Unidad Social, a national alliance of 115 unions and other civil society groups which has been providing guidelines for the cabildos and recording the results.
Almost every social group, profession and academic discipline has organised cabildos targeting specific areas of reform. An event organised by Colo-Colo, one of Chile’s biggest football clubs, attracted 1,500 people to their Monumental stadium in the capital.
“Anyone can arrange a cabildo – irrespective of their politics, religion or social group,” says Camilo Mansilla, who is part of Unidad Social’s organisational committee.
“The legacy of the [Pinochet] dictatorship and subsequent governments was to create a political class that has not been able to respond to our demands, so we are organising ourselves to regain sovereignty over our communities and territory.”
The meetings’ conclusions are non-binding, but a team from Unidad Social is sifting through proposals from each cabildo – and so far, the most common demand is for a constitutional assembly to draft a new constitution.
Chile’s current constitution was devised by dictator Augusto Pinochet’s trusted advisers and ratified by a questionable 1980 referendum.
Although it has been reformed several times, it still places heavy emphasis on private property but makes no mention of environmental protection – nor does it enshrine the right to water or housing – making it a symbolic target for protesters seeking to address the neoliberal model at its core.
A recent poll showed that 78% of those surveyed were in favour of a new constitution, while politicians from across the spectrum have come out in support of reform, which would require two-thirds of both the congress and senate.
However, the government has said it plans to reform the constitution through congress rather than convening a constitutional assembly – as the opposition and civil society had been demanding.
Many protesters say civil society needs to participate directly.
“We need to replace the constitution and the people want to play an active role – but we just can’t do that without a constitutional assembly,” said Olivares. “If we want to see real change, it’s now or never.”
Chile enters 26th day of protest with strike, huge marches
Patricia Luna. AP. November 12, 2019
SANTIAGO, Chile — Protests against social inequality continued for a 26th day with huge demonstrations across Chile and a national strike that brought much of the country to a standstill Tuesday, while the value of the national currency fell to a record low.
Thousands of people marched peacefully in Santiago, congregating in the central meeting place of Plaza Italia waving the flags of Chile and the Mapuche indigenous group, with whistles and music rising in the air. After nightfall, the demonstrators lighted up the gathering with cellphone screens and green laser light.
But groups of hooded protesters in the capital also fought with police, who responded with water cannons and tear gas. A church in the Lastarria tourist district was ransacked and set on fire Tuesday night, and there were reports of looting at restaurants and shops.
The strike drew widespread participation across the country, generating a holiday atmosphere in many cities. Classes were canceled and some government offices scaled back their services. Some shop and restaurants also were looted.
The coastal city of Valparaíso ground to a halt, with government offices and public and private transport shut down. Protesters threw rocks at some shops in the morning, prompting many to remain closed, while hooded agitators erected barricades and looted. People hurled rocks at the Hotel O’Higgins, an iconic building in Viña del Mar, and ransacked one of the main grocery stores.
Large demonstrations also occurred to the south, in Concepción, where a government building was evacuated after a fire broke out. In Antofagasta, in the north, barricades impeded traffic, while in Punta Arenas, in the Patagonia region, hundreds of people took to the streets to express their anger.
Silvia Silva, a demonstrator in Santiago, called the strike “historic” and one that “will mark a before and after in our country” as Chileans continue to push for a new constitution drawn up with the direct input of citizens.
“No more abuse. Today we are saying enough, in the most peaceful way possible, to politicians and to those who are in charge of drafting laws in our country,” said Luis Casas, who was at her side.
Karla Rubilar, the government spokeswoman, said, “A strike is not the road forward.”
Chile is one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America, but it is also one of the most unequal, with a swath of basic services privatized.
A student protest over rising subway fares Oct. 18 has grown into a broad movement demanding reforms to education, health care and pensions. It has been a mostly peaceful movement, though there have been violent clashes between demonstrators and police. Twenty people have been killed and the National Institute of Human Rights in Chile has documented more than 2,000 injuries.
The government of President Sebastián Piñera has responded with a package of social improvements, and on Sunday announced a plan to overhaul the constitution that was enacted during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. But Piñera’s proposals have not appeased protesters, who demand a bigger role in reformulating the country’s legal principles.
The demonstrations have had an economic cost, too. The National Chamber of Commerce Services and Tourism of Chile estimates up to 100,000 jobs could be lost.
On Tuesday, the Chilean currency continued its downward slide, hitting a record 800 pesos per U.S. dollar. Prior to the demonstrations, it had hovered around 700 to 720 pesos. It closed Tuesday at 781 pesos.
Treasury Minister Ignacio Briones said the depreciation “is a sign of the instability that we are experiencing.”
SANTIAGO, Chile — Protests against social inequality continued for a 26th day with huge demonstrations across Chile and a national strike that brought much of the country to a standstill Tuesday, while the value of the national currency fell to a record low.
Thousands of people marched peacefully in Santiago, congregating in the central meeting place of Plaza Italia waving the flags of Chile and the Mapuche indigenous group, with whistles and music rising in the air. After nightfall, the demonstrators lighted up the gathering with cellphone screens and green laser light.
But groups of hooded protesters in the capital also fought with police, who responded with water cannons and tear gas. A church in the Lastarria tourist district was ransacked and set on fire Tuesday night, and there were reports of looting at restaurants and shops.
The strike drew widespread participation across the country, generating a holiday atmosphere in many cities. Classes were canceled and some government offices scaled back their services. Some shop and restaurants also were looted.
The coastal city of Valparaíso ground to a halt, with government offices and public and private transport shut down. Protesters threw rocks at some shops in the morning, prompting many to remain closed, while hooded agitators erected barricades and looted. People hurled rocks at the Hotel O’Higgins, an iconic building in Viña del Mar, and ransacked one of the main grocery stores.
Large demonstrations also occurred to the south, in Concepción, where a government building was evacuated after a fire broke out. In Antofagasta, in the north, barricades impeded traffic, while in Punta Arenas, in the Patagonia region, hundreds of people took to the streets to express their anger.
Silvia Silva, a demonstrator in Santiago, called the strike “historic” and one that “will mark a before and after in our country” as Chileans continue to push for a new constitution drawn up with the direct input of citizens.
“No more abuse. Today we are saying enough, in the most peaceful way possible, to politicians and to those who are in charge of drafting laws in our country,” said Luis Casas, who was at her side.
Karla Rubilar, the government spokeswoman, said, “A strike is not the road forward.”
Chile is one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America, but it is also one of the most unequal, with a swath of basic services privatized.
A student protest over rising subway fares Oct. 18 has grown into a broad movement demanding reforms to education, health care and pensions. It has been a mostly peaceful movement, though there have been violent clashes between demonstrators and police. Twenty people have been killed and the National Institute of Human Rights in Chile has documented more than 2,000 injuries.
The government of President Sebastián Piñera has responded with a package of social improvements, and on Sunday announced a plan to overhaul the constitution that was enacted during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. But Piñera’s proposals have not appeased protesters, who demand a bigger role in reformulating the country’s legal principles.
The demonstrations have had an economic cost, too. The National Chamber of Commerce Services and Tourism of Chile estimates up to 100,000 jobs could be lost.
On Tuesday, the Chilean currency continued its downward slide, hitting a record 800 pesos per U.S. dollar. Prior to the demonstrations, it had hovered around 700 to 720 pesos. It closed Tuesday at 781 pesos.
Treasury Minister Ignacio Briones said the depreciation “is a sign of the instability that we are experiencing.”
Chile workers unions strike in support of ongoing protests
Sandra Cuffe. Al Jazeera. November 12, 2019
Antofagasta, Chile - Workers across key sectors in Chile went on strike on Tuesday in support of ongoing protests against the country's political and economic model.
An alliance of dockworker, mining sector, construction, education, government employees and other union federations gave Chilean President Sebastian Pinera an ultimatum last week: either respond to demands in five days or deal with a nationwide work stoppage. Pinera did not respond.
The unions presented demands related to wages, pensions, and union organising. But their primary demand is the same collective call uniting protests across Chile: a new constitution, drafted by a constitutional assembly with broad involvement.
"We have never had a constitution with citizen participation before," said Pamela Pasache, a local leader of a Ministry of Education workers' union in Antofagasta, in northern Chile.
The government on Sunday announced its support for a new constitution, but the process would take place in congress, which is not what protesters have been demanding. On Tuesday, 14 opposition political parties from across the ideological spectrum rejected the government proposal and expressed support for a constitutional assembly.
"This is the moment for change. The citizenry is tired of the political class, of not being heard or valued," Pasache said.
After Tuesday's strike action was initially called by a handful of union federations, energy, petroleum and copper sector unions announced they would participate. Santiago airport workers, Valparaiso metro workers, agro-industry unions, and others also joined.
Protests, barricades and road blockades began before dawn Tuesday in many parts of the country. Mass demonstrations, marches, and blockades were ongoing up and down the 4,270km (2,653 miles) length of Chile by the afternoon.
"This is not about a union movement, or any one social movement," Eduardo Rojas, an Antofagasta dockworker union leader, told Al Jazeera.
"The people of Chile as a whole have taken to the streets to protest. That is why it is massive," he said at a plaza where thousands of people were protesting, with thousands more on the way.
Peso slides
The alliance of unions that initially called for Tuesday's strike have proposed 500,000 Chilean pesos ($635) for both the monthly minimum wage, which is currently 301,000 pesos ($386), and the minimum monthly pension payment. The proposals have widespread support among protesters.
Last week, Pinera announced a bill to guarantee a monthly minimum wage of 350,000 pesos ($444), but unions quickly pointed out the measure, aside from falling far short of demands, is, in fact, a government subsidy, not a true wage increase. The government would pay the difference to workers earning between 301,000 and 350,000 pesos.
Following the unrest, the government reduced its economic growth projections for this year. Its initial forecast of between 2.4 and 2.9 percent growth has dropped to between 1.8 and 2.2 percent, Chilean Minister of Finance Ignacio Briones announced on Twitter last week.
The Chilean peso on Tuesday dropped to an historic low of 800 pesos to the dollar before recovering slightly.
Briones reportedly warned of "grave consequences" for the economy and urged Chileans to help the country return to a sense of "normality".
Workers participating in the strike actions on Tuesday hail from some of the most powerful sectors of the Chilean economy: mining, manufactured goods, and agriculture. The country's economy relies heavily on natural resource and other exports, and therefore relies on port operations, noted Rojas, the union leader.
"This is our third work stoppage since protests began," he said.
"Ports are paralysed from Arica to Punta Arenas," he said. "Other ports that are not part of the Chilean Dockworkers Union have also joined in."
Boycott on the table
The International Dockworkers Council warned an international solidarity boycott is on the table. Representing more than 125,000 dockworkers on five continents, the council expressed concern in a statement last week about police violence against Chilean protesters and dockworkers, in particular.
"Should the repression against the dockworker family intensify, we will initiate an international boycott of cargo from ships coming from the Republic of Chile," the council said.
At least 23 people were killed during the first three weeks of the crisis, including five by military and police forces. Thousands of protesters have been detained and wounded, including more than 180 with severe eye injuries from rubber and metal projectiles shot by police.
Many groups on Tuesday demanded an immediate halt to repression along with a systemic transformation.
Chile needs radical change, and people are demanding popular participation in a constitutional assembly to create a new constitutional framework to enact that change, said Alejandro Garcia, a leader of the Antofagasta local of AnfuCultura, a Ministry of Culture workers union.
"Clearly, people do not agree with the measures the government has announced," he told Al Jazeera.
"This is a call for permanent pressure," he said. "We must not relinquish the streets."
By Tuesday afternoon, a union-led march to Antofagasta's Sotomayor plaza, renamed Plaza of the Revolution by protesters, was peppered with union, Chilean, LGBT pride, and indigenous Mapuche and Aymara flags. Hours-long marches were on their way from northern and southern areas of the Antofagasta region, and Rojas expected the crowd in the plaza to double in size by nightfall.
"This is going to multiply," he said. "We want to demonstrate that unity is strength."
Antofagasta, Chile - Workers across key sectors in Chile went on strike on Tuesday in support of ongoing protests against the country's political and economic model.
An alliance of dockworker, mining sector, construction, education, government employees and other union federations gave Chilean President Sebastian Pinera an ultimatum last week: either respond to demands in five days or deal with a nationwide work stoppage. Pinera did not respond.
The unions presented demands related to wages, pensions, and union organising. But their primary demand is the same collective call uniting protests across Chile: a new constitution, drafted by a constitutional assembly with broad involvement.
"We have never had a constitution with citizen participation before," said Pamela Pasache, a local leader of a Ministry of Education workers' union in Antofagasta, in northern Chile.
The government on Sunday announced its support for a new constitution, but the process would take place in congress, which is not what protesters have been demanding. On Tuesday, 14 opposition political parties from across the ideological spectrum rejected the government proposal and expressed support for a constitutional assembly.
"This is the moment for change. The citizenry is tired of the political class, of not being heard or valued," Pasache said.
After Tuesday's strike action was initially called by a handful of union federations, energy, petroleum and copper sector unions announced they would participate. Santiago airport workers, Valparaiso metro workers, agro-industry unions, and others also joined.
Protests, barricades and road blockades began before dawn Tuesday in many parts of the country. Mass demonstrations, marches, and blockades were ongoing up and down the 4,270km (2,653 miles) length of Chile by the afternoon.
"This is not about a union movement, or any one social movement," Eduardo Rojas, an Antofagasta dockworker union leader, told Al Jazeera.
"The people of Chile as a whole have taken to the streets to protest. That is why it is massive," he said at a plaza where thousands of people were protesting, with thousands more on the way.
Peso slides
The alliance of unions that initially called for Tuesday's strike have proposed 500,000 Chilean pesos ($635) for both the monthly minimum wage, which is currently 301,000 pesos ($386), and the minimum monthly pension payment. The proposals have widespread support among protesters.
Last week, Pinera announced a bill to guarantee a monthly minimum wage of 350,000 pesos ($444), but unions quickly pointed out the measure, aside from falling far short of demands, is, in fact, a government subsidy, not a true wage increase. The government would pay the difference to workers earning between 301,000 and 350,000 pesos.
Following the unrest, the government reduced its economic growth projections for this year. Its initial forecast of between 2.4 and 2.9 percent growth has dropped to between 1.8 and 2.2 percent, Chilean Minister of Finance Ignacio Briones announced on Twitter last week.
The Chilean peso on Tuesday dropped to an historic low of 800 pesos to the dollar before recovering slightly.
Briones reportedly warned of "grave consequences" for the economy and urged Chileans to help the country return to a sense of "normality".
Workers participating in the strike actions on Tuesday hail from some of the most powerful sectors of the Chilean economy: mining, manufactured goods, and agriculture. The country's economy relies heavily on natural resource and other exports, and therefore relies on port operations, noted Rojas, the union leader.
"This is our third work stoppage since protests began," he said.
"Ports are paralysed from Arica to Punta Arenas," he said. "Other ports that are not part of the Chilean Dockworkers Union have also joined in."
Boycott on the table
The International Dockworkers Council warned an international solidarity boycott is on the table. Representing more than 125,000 dockworkers on five continents, the council expressed concern in a statement last week about police violence against Chilean protesters and dockworkers, in particular.
"Should the repression against the dockworker family intensify, we will initiate an international boycott of cargo from ships coming from the Republic of Chile," the council said.
At least 23 people were killed during the first three weeks of the crisis, including five by military and police forces. Thousands of protesters have been detained and wounded, including more than 180 with severe eye injuries from rubber and metal projectiles shot by police.
Many groups on Tuesday demanded an immediate halt to repression along with a systemic transformation.
Chile needs radical change, and people are demanding popular participation in a constitutional assembly to create a new constitutional framework to enact that change, said Alejandro Garcia, a leader of the Antofagasta local of AnfuCultura, a Ministry of Culture workers union.
"Clearly, people do not agree with the measures the government has announced," he told Al Jazeera.
"This is a call for permanent pressure," he said. "We must not relinquish the streets."
By Tuesday afternoon, a union-led march to Antofagasta's Sotomayor plaza, renamed Plaza of the Revolution by protesters, was peppered with union, Chilean, LGBT pride, and indigenous Mapuche and Aymara flags. Hours-long marches were on their way from northern and southern areas of the Antofagasta region, and Rojas expected the crowd in the plaza to double in size by nightfall.
"This is going to multiply," he said. "We want to demonstrate that unity is strength."
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