Chile: A personal account of the Demonstrations of 2019
This is a summary of a fairly long letter sent to us during the past holidays about the situation in Chile. It is from a long-time friend of ours who is German and lived in Chile for decades, both in Santiago and Valparaiso, in their summer and in Germany in their summer months. We have known her for some 20 years. She is in her 70's, a Ph.D Anthropologist scholar and thus a good observer. She was in Chile, specifically Valparaiso. from October until after the holidays. Her email was dated December 22, 2019.
I have summarized her letter, below, which she sent in German. Since Google does not do a uniformly good translation, Carrol translated the letter also for this summary, and we used both. We wrote the summary in the order our friend wrote it, keeping the structure of her letter, and trying to keep the tone of her letter. We have used quotes where we are quoting her directly.
Here is the summary (not including personal information):
She says that everything revolves around the “...dramatic events in this country, I would have never thought there were so many people prepared to use violence here”. Although many of you (recipients of this letter) probably do not closely follow events in Chile, she found that balanced reporting on the events was hard to find. Many journalists are not actually present and so report on what they heard and what they think has happened, without actually being on the scene.
But to be sure, she says, “we also are groping in the dark”, and have no idea of what will happen each day.
Often the “Ascensores” (cable cars in Valparaiso) are closed, there are national strikes closing everything each day, sometimes for security reasons things are closed. However, in the early morning, it is usually safe to go out for walks and for shopping, which she did regularly. For those who live up on the tops of the hills in Valparaiso, it means climbing long stairs—that used to be fun in Valparaiso, exploring the town anew.
It seems safe to say that the initial spark in Santiago on the 18th of October, was systematically planned and only needed a trigger like that of the subway (Metro) fare increase. Almost at the same time, 14 (she thinks) Metro stations were torched and destroyed in Santiago.
Valparaiso, as the seat of parliament, was probably the worst affected, as were surrounding areas of both Santiago and Valparaiso. In Valparaiso, she was “horrified” to discover the following morning, the devastation around the area of Condell and Bellavista streets (in the center of town). From her house she saw a column of smoke that morning from the Mercurio (newspaper) building. Another historical building's interior was completely burned out along with all the small shops on its first floor: all that was left were the blackened balconies, sheetmetal, black holes where the windows were—a grey ghost. With every step she took, she saw more devastation. The Bellavista Metro station, the Lidl supermarket destroyed, broken traffic lights, “...and that was only the beginning”. Insides of large historic buildings were burned and with them the small shops on the first floors. It went on continuously—another street, another site vandalized.
There was a lot of plundering and looting. Whole families with huge bags and often nice cars were waiting opportunistically at those looting spots.
The initial demonstrations lit a powder keg. Ever larger crowds formed, from the rightly discontented population demonstrating peacefully for varied purposes. “But all these marches ended in violence”. Masked anarchists mingled with the peaceful people who were shouting slogans and became heated. They were mostly gathered in front of the Congress Building. Then there were clouds of tear gas. And then it started: businesses were looted and it appeared to be somewhat systematically—Green Cross pharmacies, supermarkets but also many small retail shops. To date, most of those shops are barricaded, large telephone companies closed. What is open has lines of people in front of tiny, guarded doorways. Windows and some doors of the banks that are still open are protected by steel plates.
In the morning you could go out without being disturbed, and shop in the still peaceful, previously notorious harbor district, which was full of vegetable stands, a German-born butcher, bakeries—all just a district away from the Congress Building.
“Wild conspiracy theories made the rounds that I prefer not to go into. Small videos, often full of hate and violence, often with false information, spread like wildfire.” There were calls to meetings via the internet phones which everyone has. There were charges against police officers who injured protesters, forced girls to take off their clothes, but also there were Molotov Cocktails thrown at police officers (just last Wednesday on in her neighborhood).
There were some bad injuries from special rifles with rubber bullets from the police which led the people to have little respect or deference for the police. The result of that was that the police officers in some areas were afraid to intervene for fear of being attacked from windows above, from slingshots, incendiary bombs and so forth. “I think the rubber ammunition is now banned because it is said to have contained lead”.
There was also at least one farcical incidents: As a hundred demonstrators met peacefully on the beach in Renaca, the local population called in the “yellow vests” (violent protesters). They awaited the “rebellion” with baseball bats and golf clubs, but soon realized that they had stepped into a “bowl full of fat” and withdrew. But this also ended with looting and torching a shrine.
An American from some religious group which had settled in Chile, and who had already been harassing student protesters, came by and, out of a car, shot into a crowd and killed a student.
There were impressive photos of thousands of marchers on the coastal road from Vina to Valparaiso. It was a tremendous movement that made politicians think. It would appear that something is happening with the politicians, but is not clear yet if actions will be followed by deeds.
In the meantime, there has been some disillusionment. This is due to the robbing and arson that has particularly hurt poor people. Small shop owners have lost their livelihood, better-off entrepreneurs and the City have fired quite a few people. The Mayor, who campaigned on a substantial increase in the minimum wages for urban employees, was subsequently mocked because he could not finance this promise. At the same time, tourist oriented businesses are whining about the missing tourists.
In an astonishing development, interesting and well organized neighborhood groups are meeting in “cabildos” and “assambleas”, often as part of cultural events, to discuss a new constitution and to educate themselves politically. That is filling a great need since most people are lacking that information: most do not have knowledge of the current constitution, which has been adapted over the years, but still carries the “Pinochet” label.
On December 15th, there was a citizen survey across the city. The vast majority voted for a constitution to be shaped by the people, rather than by the parliamentarians. Results also showed that the majority wanted improved education and health systems, higher pensions and raised minimum wages. Only a minority campaigned for cheaper Metro fares.
What has shocked us most is the never ending vandalism and this immense potential for violence. One wonders if this is the new reality. Does this come from the brutality on TV, the violent games on the internet that even the youngest children seem to consume uncontrollably. “Sometimes I think that we grandmas and grandpas should protest against it. I often hear: 'That has always been there'. But mankind has learned. Are we experiencing a turn for the worse?”
Instead of talking about the beautiful Chilean landscapes, the pleasant personal encounters and the helpful people—all available in abundance in Chile—you have this very pessimistic newsletter. There is a veil of restlessness and fear over everything. What is the future going to look like? A Chilean Bolsonaro or Maduro? Many believe that it will work out by March and April before the elections.
The above is a representation of a personal account originally in German and interpreted by Carrol Benner Kindel and Karl K.Kindel. Any errors are ours.
March 2, 2020