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When General Augusto Pinochet strengthened his control over Chile, in 1980 he introduced a new constitution that opened up a liberal market policy, privatizing schools, hospitals, roads, and water. Ten years later, Pinochet was forced to resign after a referendum, but his constitution survived. Not even when Chile was ruled by socialist leader Michelle Bachelet for two terms did it change the constitution. Pinochet’s constitution outlived democracy.
The neoliberal economy made Chile the richest country in South America and the only country on the continent to become a member of the OECD. The price paid is that Chile has become the most expensive country to live in in South America, with one of the lowest pensions on the continent. Extensive social protests began a year ago, eventually leading the country’s right-wing president Sebastián Piñera to surrender. To calm the mood in the country, he called a referendum to draft a new constitution.
The yes side is called I approve (I approve) and according to the opinion institute Data Influye has the support of 69 percent of the voters. The No page, called Reject (decline), has only 18 percent support. Despite the advantage, the yes has fought to the end to mobilize more voters.
– We have established contacts, summoned various organizations. We have a permanent invitation to social organizations and other independent organizations, says Beatriz Sánchez, leader of the left-wing Frente Amplio party, to the newspaper La Tercera.
She believes that Pinochet’s constitution turned Chile into an experimental workshop of neoliberalism. Now he wants Chile to become the workshop of democracy.
– There is probably nothing more democratic than discussing a new constitution that takes into account all aspects of society, Beatriz Sánchez said in an interview with DN this spring.
No page, which is represented by the Chilean employer CPC, among others, does not believe that it is necessary to rewrite the constitution. In contrast, the side of the no proposes several reforms.
“Congress has the potential to implement reforms in a more efficient, faster and safer way,” Juan Sutil, president of the employers’ association, told Radio Duna.
He warns that a two-year job to draft a new constitution puts the country’s future at stake and criticizes Michelle Bachelet for not raising the country’s pensions when the price of copper was at a record high during her first term.
At first it was intended that the referendum would take place on April 26, but due to the corona pandemic, it was postponed until Sunday. Some have criticized the fact that Chile, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, continues to hold the referendum. To date, 13,500 have died in the country and according to a survey, 51 percent of the population believes that the spread of the coronavirus will increase due to the vote. Another concern is that the Carabinieri, Chile’s military police, will attack the protesters on the side of the yes who are expected to gather after the vote in Plaza Italia, which the protest movement renamed Plaza de la Dignidad, the Plaza of Dignity.
During the 12 months of social protests, the Carabinieri are accused of having committed more than 8,500 abuses. It is suspected that the military police, among other things, used a strategy to target the eyes of the protesters. During four months of protests, 460 people were shot in the eye, which the Chilean medical association considers a world record for mutilations.
