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No one could imagine in October 2019 that the skirmishes of the secondary schools against an increase from 800 to 830 pesos in the Metro passage were going to lead to a crisis without parallel in Chile and shake the foundations of the most stable country in the region.
Thousands of people occupied Plaza Italia for weeks, considered the “ground zero” of the outbreak, to protest against the Government and inequality, shouting “Chile woke up” the “It’s not 30 pesos, it’s 30 years.”
The roundabout was the scene of festive rallies, but also bloody battles against the security forces, with fires and looting, which left some thirty dead and thousands of wounded.
With the arrival of summer and the pandemic, the square gradually emptied, but people have returned to the streets as the anniversary of the revolts and the historic plebiscite of October 25, in which the Chileans will decide whether to replace the current Constitution, inherited from the military dictatorship.
Here is a review of the most important dates of the 12 most arduous months in the recent history of Chile:
– He October 18 several Metro stations are burned in Santiago and the building of the power company Enel and a branch of Banco de Chile burn. President Sebastian Piñera decrees the state of emergency and takes the military out to the streets.
– On the 19th, the excesses spread to Valparaíso. The Army decrees the curfew for eight days, something unprecedented in democracy.
– In some controversial statements, Piñera says on the 20th that Chile was “at war against a powerful enemy”.
– Parliament approves the 21 cancel the increase in the price of the Metro ticket.
– More than 1.2 million people take Santiago on the 25th, despite the fact that Piñera announces measures such as increasing the minimum wage or reducing the salary of parliamentarians. It is the highest concentration in 30 years.
– The 28th, Piñera changes eight of his 24 ministers, including Andrés Chadwick (Interior), while the dead reach 20 and various international organizations announce visits to the country.
PLEBISCITO AS DEPARTURE
– President Piñera cancel the APEC forum and the UN summit against climate change. Chile stays too without the final of the Copa Libertadores.
– He central bank announces the 13 a injection of 4,000 million dollars, after the peso has been in free fall for several days and the Government opens to draft a new Constitution, since the current one has been in force since the dictatorship and is seen as the origin of inequalities.
– The ruling party and the opposition agree on November 15 to call a plebiscite in April 2020 over a new constitutional text and what kind of body should write it.
– On the 20th, the collective Theses interprets for the first time “A rapist in your way”, which weeks later becomes a global feminist anthem.
– Gustavo Gatica November 26 becomes the first protester to go blind after receiving buckshot to the face.
– The weight keeps plummeting and the issuer intervenes on the 28th with an amount of up to 20,000 million dollars.
– On December 11, the Congress disqualifies Chadwick from holding public office for five years for his management of the outbreak.
– The deputies reject the next day a political trial against Piñera for human rights violations committed in the crisis, while the He-she-it denounces the 13 the high number of eye injuries in protests.
CONVULSE AND PANDEMIC FESTIVAL
– On February 23, the International Festival of Viña del Mar, with tough clashes between agents and protesters.
– On March 3, the first case of Covid-19 in Chile.
– Five days later, hundreds of thousands of people commemorate International Women’s Day in Santiago.
– On March 18th, Chile closes borders and schools and prepares for a lockdown which will run until September.
– Congress approves March 24 postpone the plebiscite to October 25 by the health crisis.
– Between April and May, several “protests against hunger” in Santiago to ask for help during the pandemic.
– On July 23, Congress approves a long-awaited law to early withdraw the 10 percent of pension funds.
– On September 25, the campaign for the plebiscite begins Y the last two Metro stations that were closed open since the beginning of the crisis.
– On October 2, a carabinero throws a 16-year-old teenager into the Mapocho River from the Pío Nono Bridge and the protests are stoked.
– International Amnesty (AI) asks the Prosecutor’s Office on the 14th to investigate the high command of the Carabinieri for “allowing” human rights violations.
– A massive concentration in Plaza Italia is expected for this October 18.
