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Shelby McDonald

Mr. Phillips

AP Language and Composition

13 December 2019

Crisis in Chile

Pots and pans are banging together, slogans for changes are chanted, grocery stores are

looted, and fires burn: these are the streets of Chile. Currently, Chileans are experiencing

unaffordable healthcare and education, wealth inequality, and stand-still salaries accompanied by

a quickly growing cost of living. Many citizens are struggling below the poverty line while the

stark opposite, the top 10%, are thriving. The growing divide between the people and the

government, through the denial of the legitimate concerns of the people has also contributed to

this issue. Perhaps the most detrimental factor in this recipe for disaster is the remnants of the

communist regime of Pinochet from the 1900’s that is still in Chile’s constitution today. The

event that catalyzed this already growing distrust and conflict was the raise in subway fares

issued by the current government. The citizens continue to protest because of underlying issues,

such as wealth inequality, executive indifference and imbalance of power concerning

constitutional infrastructure, that have resulted in their deepening resentment for the government.

A rise in subway fares initiated the protests in Santiago, Chile. The demonstrations

started among University students who swarmed the subway stations without paying the elevated Commented [1]: lowercase u, university

subway fare. They continued to vandalize the walls and chant demands and slogans for change.

The majority of protesters since then have been college and high school age students, but

protestors of all ages have participated. According to the National Statistics Institute, “Half of

Chile’s workers earn $550 per month or less, making public transportation a significant
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expenditure for many who live and work in the capital (Krygier and Bartlett). Under the elevated

subway fares, ticket prices reached $1.16, an all time high for the region. Statistically, under

these conditions, a family living on minimum wage will have to put 1/16 of their monthly

income solely towards public transit (Armus). In addition, a study by Diego Portales University

says that most citizens of Chile spend up to 7% of their salary on transportation costs, the ninth

highest in the world. These statistics present a hopeless reality for many Chileans. With more

than half the population barely surviving on low wages, this increase in subway fares will prove

to be crippling (Arrigada).

The rise in subway fares was just a catalyst for the protests, wealth inequality and Commented [2]: protests. Wealth inequality

increasing cost of living have been ongoing issues for the people of Chile. The protest started in

the capital of Santiago but have not spread to 5 other cities. Widespread incidents of looting

grocery stores and subway stations and buses set ablaze have led the President to declare a state

of emergency. Activist groups in Chile are calling for a nationwide demonstration and the

country is fearing for the worst (Bonnefoy). An advocate in the protests, the Head of the

Federation of Students at the University of Chile, Emilia Schneider, tweeted “The anger that

keeps people in the streets is a model that privatizes and profits from all aspects of our lives, the

rise of tickets was just the drop that spilled the glass” (Krygier and Bartlett).

In what was once considered one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America, citizens

are extremely angry because of a steadily rising cost of living and growth in inequality among

the classes. Healthcare and education have become privatized, leaving many citizens unable to

pay for necessities for overall well-being. In addition, shrinking pensions and increases in

electricity along with subway fares, directly contributed to the eruption of protests (Krygier and

Bartlett). Along with high with transportation costs, Chileans are now struggling to put food on Commented [3]: omit second with.
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the table for their families as a result of rising prices and stagnant wages. The economic issue has

now trickled down into a bitter social issue that demands to be addressed. Historically, Chile has

had just electoral democracy and stable economic growth with long-standing political parties that

generally cared for the well-being of the people. But as of recently, Chile is experiencing the

unaffordable healthcare and education, wealth inequality, and stand-still salaries that accompany

a quickly growing cost of living, which can be attributed to the wealthy politicians that control

the government. (Troncoso and Becerril).

The worst pitfall of Chile is its outdated constitution, that was written under the

communist regime of Augosto Pinochet. Even though today Chile is a democracy, the remnants

of the monopolicity and oppression of the communist government still exist. Chile has also had

traditional political parties since the authoritarian government in the 1970's that has contributed

to the growing divide between the people and the government. Professor of Political Science at

the University of Diego Portales in Santiago, Rodrigo Troncoso, says that “The constitution itself

makes any significant attempt at reform impossible, with supermajority requirements over a

bicameral system”. He goes on to include that any wish to overturn this system requires support Commented [4]: ."

from parties supported by the military regime (Troncoso and Becerril). Government corruption

and the continual use of the constitution from the authoritarian Pinochet has left the government

with absolute decision making power, extrinsic to the Democratic system. For example, an

independent committee solely decided to increase the subway fare, and as outlined, this decision

is final and not overtunable by the President or congress (Arrigada). A Chilean activist, Cepeda

Beccar said, “Our constitution today is the heritage of neoliberalism in Chile, dating back to

Pinochet...to change things fundamentally we need to cut those roots. We need to create new

rules of the game” (Tharoor).

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The idea that the protests and accumulation of unrest among the people of Chile was

caused solely by the rise in subway fares is one of ignorance that disregards years of rising cost

of living, growing economic equality and a widening disconnect between the people and the

government. Yes, it is impossible to discount the effect of the subway fare raise on the people,

but that was simply the spark that lit the flame. Years and years of social and economic

inequality building under a constitution written during communist rule clearly contributed to the

outrage against the government. All these issues came to a head when University students

executed the first demonstration in the subway station in Santiago. As they spray painted walls

and lit subway cars on fire, their passion for the cause burned and will continue to burn for many

months as the protests continued. The president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, denounced the

protests on the radio when he said “This desire to break everything is not a protest, it's criminal”. Commented [5]: said,
Commented [6]: ."
He has yet to address the concerns raised by the people, but has continued to denounce the way

the citizens carry out their protests in the subways. He is ignoring the bigger issue and

minimizing this extensive problem to one small incident: the rise in subway fares. There were

many things that contributed to the demonstrations in Chile, to attribute the cause to one event

would be ignoring years of inequality building up to this point.

In Chile, with President Pinera failing to address the concerns of the people over political Commented [7]: Piñera

and economic inequality, the mistrust builds. He uses the military to suppress demonstrations

and bashes the methods people use to protest instead of directly addressing the concerns and the

reasons they are protesting ("Chile President Declares State Of Emergency After Violent

Protests"). The citizens continually demonstrate their concern over rising subway fares,

expensive healthcare and education, an authoritarian constitution and large wealth inequality, but

have yielded little to no results. First off, the government needs to affirm the concerns presented
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by the people. Action also needs to be taken to amend the constitution and consider solutions to

the economic crisis. This crisis in Chile follows the eruption of many other countries in South

and Central America, over the same concerns. It is necessary to ask the question how to address

the citizens concerns, fix the problem and prevent it from happening in other places around the

world.

Works Cited

Armus, Teo. "'We are at war': 8 dead in Chile's violent protests over social inequality."

Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2019. Gale In Context: Global Issues. Web. Accessed 2 Dec.

2019.

Arriagada, Ignacio Moya. "Once an oasis of stability, Chile now burns; OPINION." Globe &
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Mail [Toronto, Canada], 26 Oct. 2019, p. O8. Gale In Context: Global Issues. Web.

Accessed 2 Dec. 2019.

Bonnefoy, Pascale. "State of Emergency in Chile As Violent Protests Spread." New York Times,

20 Oct. 2019, p. A10(L). Gale In Context: Global Issues. Web. Accessed 2 Dec. 2019.

"Chile President Declares State Of Emergency After Violent Protests." International

Business Times [U.S. ed.], 19 Oct. 2019, p. NA. Gale In Context: Global Issues. Web.

Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

"Chile protests resume, demonstrations crimp economic growth." Bahrain News Agency, 5 Nov.

2019, p. NA. Gale In Context: Global Issues. Web. Accessed 4 Dec. 2019.

Tharoor, Ishaan. "The anti-neoliberal wave rocking Latin America." Washingtonpost.com, 29

Oct. 2019. Gale In Context: Global Issues. Web. Accessed 3 Dec. 2019.

Krygier, Rachelle, and John Bartlett. "Chile is the latest Latin American country to erupt in

violent protest. Here's why." Washingtonpost.com, 21 Oct. 2019. Gale In Context: Global

Issues. Web. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

Troncoso, Rodrigo Espinoza, and Michael Wilson Becerril. "Chile will never make progress

under Pinochet's constitution." Washingtonpost.com, 29 Oct. 2019. Gale In Context:

Global Issues. Web. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.