Chile chooses to change the hyper-liberal Constitution approved by Pinochet. The yes to changes wins indisputably with 78% of the votes

Chile reborn: good 7.5 million citizens yesterday in the referendum they said yes to the possibility of modify its constitution which was drawn up during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, and do it in an assembly of 155 members wholly elected by the people. After the victory of No, which in the 1988 plebiscite allowed to end the dictatorial regime peacefully, yesterday was a Yes (Approve) that marked another important chapter in the country’s history. He has reaped 78 percent of the vote. A victory that was in the air and that everyone expected, but not so overwhelming. The turning point comes in exactly one year since the beginning of social protests, left on October 18, 2019 when some students jumped the subway turnstiles against the increase in ticket prices.

The victory was celebrated yesterday with parties and dances everywhere and especially in the capital Santiago, in Baquedano square, renamed Plaza Dignidad after last year’s protests. A collective of artists projected the giant writing ‘Reborn’ (it is reborn in fact) in the Telefónica tower, which dominates the square. The right-wing government, led by Sebastian PiñeraWhile waiting for an affirmative victory, he was impressed by its size. Although ten ministers were in favor of a new constitution, in fact, key government figures had spoken out in favor of, including the interior ministers and the prime minister’s spokesman. The president chose to deliver a sober speech, noting that “this is a triumph of all Chileans who love democracy and peace and who should fill us with hope. Citizens and democracy triumphed. It is the beginning of a path that we all must travel for a new Constitution for Chile, which must be a framework of unity and stability for the future ”.

The following steps – Now, after the victory, we are already looking at what will come next. The next April 11, 2021, on the occasion of the administrative elections, Chileans must elect the members of the Constituent Assembly based on a criterion of gender equality and with a representation of delegates from the indigenous people. The Constituent Assembly will begin its work in May 2021 and the result of your work will be presented by a ratification referendum Popular government scheduled for the second half of 2022. If approved, the new Constitution will come into force immediately, automatically replacing the previous one. Therefore, for the first time, women will be able to participate in the drafting of the Constitution, and this also thanks to the struggle of Feminist movement grown over the past two years. From protests against sexual abuse and harassment in schools and universities, to students who jumped the subway turnstiles and finally with the group of Theses, and its performance “The rapist is you”, which went viral all over the world that made women around the world scream and dance against sexist and state violence.

The country of the Chicago school “experiment” – The question now will be to change a constitution based on a model that has allowed Chile to be called that in the last 30 years. “Switzerland of South America”, at the cost of a level of social inequalities among the highest in the world. The Chilean constitution in fact, fully accept the teachings Chicago school hyper liberal led by the economist Milton Friedman who personally attended Augusto Pinochet to dispense his suggestions. Friedman’s theories were also inspired Margaret Thatcher me Ronald Reagan. But if in other places this “extreme” approach has been softened by the opposition and pre-existing welfare structures, in Chile, with the favor of a dictatorship, these principles have been taken to the extreme. also privatizing education, social security, health. There has been much debated over the years whether one of the most liberal constitutions in the world, which replaced the socialist approach of Salvador Allende, President assassinated on September 11, 1973 During the US-backed coup, it proved to be a factor in the country’s economic growth. The most recent analyzes tend to consider that the Chilean hyperliberal experiment failed substantially.

The resistance of the extreme right – “The political agreement is to write the Constitution on a white sheet, to start from scratch, but each new article will have to be approved by two thirds of the constituents. This will not make it easy to reach an agreement on the most divisive issues, ”he explains to fattoquotidiano.it Martin Loo Gutierrez, professor of administrative law at the Catholic University of Valparaíso. “For this reason it is more than likely that what is written is a Minimalist constitution, with broad understandings about the most general pillars, but without touching the most conflictive aspects, which are those that concern the economic model of the state, which now we would like more marked by European-type welfare state “, follow. Now the struggle of the parties, formally dismissed by the Constituent Assembly, passes precisely to the election of who will write the new constitutional text. “Theoretically, any citizen can stand as a candidate, but it is difficult for an independent person, without the support of a party, continues Loo Gutiérrez, to succeed.

That is why the far-right party Udi (Independent Democratic Union), will do everything possible to incorporate its members and not alter the current constitution model. A model that was later implemented and not modified by the center-left parties that have governed the country for 30 years, and that they will have to try to regroup under a common program, given that in yesterday’s vote they arrived in no particular order. The leader of the left party Broad Front, Beatriz Sanchez, called for unity and the construction of a majority to give Chile the strong change that the country needs, “with quality education, public health, a new pension system, social housing and the right to a happy life.” Yesterday’s vote, however, gives an injection of confidence and enthusiasm more than ever necessary after a very difficult year for the country, between protests and social conflicts and the crisis triggered by the pandemic, with a confinement of more than 4 months .

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