[The issue is whether Chileans will live in a repressive political
structure and exploitative economic model installed by a dictatorship
decades ago, or whether they will choose to start a new and
egalitarian chapter in the history of Chile.]
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CHILE ON A KNIFE EDGE  
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Hugo Guzman
August 29, 2022
Morning Star
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_ The issue is whether Chileans will live in a repressive political
structure and exploitative economic model installed by a dictatorship
decades ago, or whether they will choose to start a new and
egalitarian chapter in the history of Chile. _

FORWARDS OR BACK? People take part in a rally in favour of the
proposed new constitution in front of the National Stadium in
Santiago; and (right) conservative forces demonstrate against the
changes,

 

NO-ONE dares to say with any certainty what will be the result of the
plebiscite on September 4 to approve or reject the new constitution of
Chile.

Despite the fact that in last year’s consultation, 79 per cent of
Chileans voted in favour of a new constitutional text that would leave
behind the institutional matrix imposed by the Pinochet dictatorship,
a similar outcome on September 4 is rather uncertain.

Most of the polls, run by private companies, have rejection as a
vote-winner. At the same time, there has been a massive and extensive
social deployment, rarely seen in this country, in favour of the
approval of the new constitution.

Analysts agree, however, that the vote will be a close one.

Chile is faced with the paradox of having experienced an intense
social revolt and a plebiscite that led to the setting up of the
constitution commission that has drafted a new constitutional text,
only to now find itself in a situation of uncertainty regarding the
final approval of a new fundamental charter.

The September 4 vote will be compulsory for more than 14 million
voters. In recent years, only between five and seven million people
participated in elections, but this doubling of voter numbers has now
introduced an element of speculation about how this large segment of
the population that has not voted for years will vote.

There are a variety of factors that could influence the mood and
willingness of broad sectors of the population to reject the new
constitutional text, starting with widespread fake news,
disinformation and distortions are part and parcel of private media
outlets’ terrorism.

They claim that under new common law houses will be expropriated,
abortions will be possible at nine months, the Chilean national flag
will be changed, the national territory will be fragmented by giving
rights to indigenous peoples, pension money will be taken away and
there will be no freedom of choice in education.

The recurrent theme is that the country will walk the path of the
Venezuelan, Cuban and Bolivian constitutions.

The democratically elected constitutional convention has been
repeatedly accused of lack of experience, low legal and professional
standards and organisational disorder.

Its composition, in which representatives of political parties were in
a minority and a majority representation came from of the social
movement and the regions as well as the indigenous peoples, has been
described as flawed and not guaranteeing a fair result.

It has to be acknowledged that during the drafting process of the new
constitution, there was inadequate information about its content, poor
communication with the population, and the work was not well
publicised, which is crucial if one takes into account that in Chile
more than 80 per cent of the media belong to national and
transnational corporations, all of which are programatically opposed
to the new constitution.

A simultaneous significant rise in inflation and with it a higher cost
of living; violence and instability in the Araucania region — the
nerve centre of the Mapuche protest — the increase in crime rates
and drug-trafficking have had their impact, as have anti-migrant
sentiments.

The Social Democrats, Liberals, Christian Democrats and the former
Concertacion coalition have all expressed their opposition to the new
text — this group defined itself as the “centre-left for the
Rejection” has really taken right-wing positions, calling the new
text variously as “maximalist,” “left-wing” and
“partisan.”

They oppose the abolition of the Senate, criticise the extent of the
rights of indigenous peoples, question changes in the judiciary, claim
there will be no way to finance the social rights that will be
granted, and postulate that there should be another process in which
parliament or a “commission of experts” could play a role.

At the same time a strong conviction exists that finally the proposed
new constitution gives answers to the citizens’ demands of 2019 and
realises the demands of the plebiscite of 2021 to have a new
fundamental charter.

This charter now guarantees social and civil rights; modifies the
privatising and concentrating development model for a sustainable and
equitable one; protects nature and strategic natural resources (water,
copper and lithium, among others); grants rights to indigenous
peoples; supports the rights of women, children and adolescents; aims
to increase the prerogatives of the regions in a path of
decentralisation; and guarantees national sovereignty.

Governance is altered by the abolition of the Senate — replaced by a
chamber of regions, opening up a participatory and far more democratic
system.

Moreover, the two political groupings that bring together the parties
in favour of the new constitution issued a communique a few days ago
that lists constitutional points that could be changed or modified
should “Approve” win.

The Appove campaign is reaching millions of homes and people to
persuade and explain. Public meetings are taking place in hundreds of
thousands of public spaces, to demonstrate how the new Magna Carta
guarantees rights and solutions to the people, to Chilean families,
above all in line with the demands of the revolt of 2019.

The government, by law, is independent — it can only carry out the
campaign to disseminate the new constitutional text and call on
citizens to vote via its information campaign, Chile Vota Informado
(Chile will vote informed).

Naturally the right wing and those in favour of rejection accused
Gabriel Boric and several ministers of “electoral interventionism”
for their willingness to inform and promote the vote. Such laughable
insinuations were dismissed by the autonomous Office of the
Comptroller General of the Republic.

The government has however been proactive in increasing the minimum
wage, delivering a winter bonus that benefited 7.5 million people,
opening dialogue and social support in La Araucania indigenous region,
improving police management in the fight against crime, reducing the
working day to 40 hours a week, preparing a reform of the health
sector and reducing the housing shortage.

The tax system is being reformed, a pension reform project is in
parliament, and the Carabineros federal police (accused of serious
human rights violations) are being reformed.

The Approve campaign is promoted by some 30 progressive, social
democratic, left-wing and liberal political parties, and at least 300
trade union, feminist, student, indigenous, population and
professional organisations, among others.

The worlds of human rights, culture, academia and the intelligentsia
are with Approve. So are, perhaps surprisingly, groups of small and
medium-sized entrepreneurs, alternative and community media and
professional associations such as those of journalists and teachers.

The strength of the Rejection campaign lies in the right-wing and
far-right parties, in the Catholic church hierarchy, in the so-called
“military family,” in liberal social democratic sectors, in the
financial groups that own the AFP and the Isapres — consortiums that
control private pension and health services, respectively — and most
of the media and business associations.

The electoral base of these conservative groupings centres in urban
areas of the capital and rural areas and among those who traditionally
vote for right-wing agendas, with “law and order” being a
favourite.

Whatever the individual case may be, on September 4 Chile is is facing
a strategic and epoch-defining decision that will determine its
future.

Perhaps the main issue at stake here is whether Chileans will continue
to live in the midst of a repressive political structure and an
exploitative economic model installed by a ruthless dictatorship some
four decades ago, or whether they will choose to start a new and
egalitarian chapter in the history of Chile.

_Hugo Guzman is editor-in-chief of El Siglo, the newspaper of the
Communist Party of Chile._

* Chile
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