Pinochet Admits He Did It.

This still does not let the United States and the CIA off the hook. And Pinochet made no apology. Nor did he take personal responsibility for ordering the assassination of Salvador Allende.

In fact he was unrepentant saying he did it for the good of the country.

Gen. Augusto Pinochet took full responsibility for the first time Saturday for the actions of his 1973-90 dictatorship, which carried out thousands of political killings and is blamed for widespread torture and illegal imprisonment.

According to an official report, 3,197 people were killed for political reasons under Pinochet, including more than 1,000 who were made to disappear. Thousands more were illegally imprisoned, tortured or forced into exile.

Pinochet is currently under indictment in two human rights abuse cases and for tax evasion, and has scores of others criminal suits pending, filed by victims of abuses or their relatives. Until now, the courts have dropped the charges against him citing his poor health.

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Pinochet, Chile, USA, CIA, Allende, coup, human-rights, murder, torture,

THEY VOTE THEIR CLASS INTEREST

'Fear of communism,' why Chile's rich vote right

THE CHILEAN BOUGEOISIE (1%)
 

FAR RIGHT CANDIDATE KAST

LEFT WING Chilean presidential candidate Gabriel Boric gestures during his closing campaing rally in Santiago on December 16, 2021 (AFP/MARTIN BERNETTI)

Mariëtte Le Roux
Fri, December 17, 2021

In Santiago's upper-class neighborhood of Lo Barnechea with its Ferraris, mansions and luxury retailers, 51.68 percent of people voted for far-right, neoliberal candidate Jose Antonio Kast in Chile's first presidential election round in November.

It is one of two neighborhoods out of dozens in greater Santiago where Kast, an apologist for Chile's brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet, amassed more than half the votes out of the seven candidates then in the race.

His rival in Sunday's runoff, leftist lawmaker Gabriel Boric, won the most neighborhoods, mainly in middle-class areas, but did not break the 50-percent ceiling in any of them.


Kast's defenders are vociferous in Lo Barnechea. The neighborhood is notable for also having gone against the stream last year to vote "No" in a referendum on whether Chile should approve a new constitution to replace the one enacted under Pinochet.

"One of the most serious issues is that it (the left) endorses violence," said entrepreneur Sergio Adauy, 52, referring to anti-inequality protests and clashes with the police in 2019 that caused dozens of deaths.

The resulting "uncertainty and fear" risks causing an outflow of capital, he said.

According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the top one percent of the population of Chile holds a quarter of the wealth.

- More money, more fear -

Kast is against marriage for same-sex couples and is anti-abortion. He is also a defender of Pinochet and the neoliberal economic system he left behind.

The candidate wants to cut taxes and social spending, contrary to Boric -- who wants to increase them and represents a leftist alliance that includes Chile's Communist Party.

For 53-year-old teacher Maria-Luisa Galleguillos, another resident of Lo Barnechea -- an area with golf and equestrian clubs some 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of central Santiago -- Kast will "give us security."

"I have children who recently started working. I want that they can live in their country, that they don't need to go to other countries to work," she told AFP at an up-market mall.

She said Kast's image has suffered due to "misunderstandings" spread by a "leftist" media, and explained she was grateful to Pinochet for making Chile a relatively rich country in Latin America.

"If it wasn't for Pinochet... we would have been like Venezuela today," Galleguillos said.

There is "much, much, much fear of communism here," said Francisca Olivares, 48, a lawyer who told AFP she was "an exception" in Lo Barnechea for not supporting Kast.

In the neighborhood there is "more money, therefore there is more fear of losing it," she said.

"We are an extremely divided country in terms of class. And that generates a lot of fear of the other, a lot of hatred of the other."

- Class divide -

In the neighborhood of Nunoa in Santiago's voting district 10, where Boric had his highest first-round turnout with 39.4 percent, voters say they are driven by civil rights and social equality.

Chile's social uprising was sparked in late 2018 by a rise in the price of metro tickets, but soon transformed into a revolt against the country's status as one of the most unequal countries in the world.

Nunoa resident Karla, 25, who did not wish to give her full name, said she supports Boric because of "what he stands for in terms of rights, social equality."

The student said she is particularly concerned about Chile's private pensions system, which costs workers an arm and a leg, yet leaves them with little to retire on.

But for Adauy, the entrepreneur, more accessible healthcare, education and fairer pensions, amount to handouts and are harmful to the economy.

He referred to the hardship Chileans suffered -- partly due to US economic blockades -- under the rule of Salvador Allende, Latin America's first elected Marxist president who was ousted by Pinochet in a coup d'etat.

"I think it is better to have a debit card than a ration card, which is what we had under the government of Allende," he said.

mlr/bfm

After referendum rout, Chile leader pursues quest for new constitution


Paulina ABRAMOVICH, Paula BUSTAMANTE
Mon, September 5, 2022 


President Gabriel Boric vowed Monday to press ahead with efforts to replace Chile's dictatorship-era constitution, hours after voters rejected a first draft in a setback to his leftist reform agenda.

Boric, 36, met the rejection by 61.8 percent of voters with "humility," he said, while adding there was "latent discontent" against deep-rooted social inequality in the country.

Sunday's "No" majority vote -- by a far larger margin than projected by pollsters -- was the latest in a wave of recent political and social showdowns in the country.

It started with protests in 2019 for a fairer, more equal society, which led to a referendum in 2020 in which 80 percent voted for replacing the constitution.

A left-leaning convention was elected last year to do the drafting work, and in December, Boric took office after beating a right-wing rival by campaigning against Chile's neoliberal economic model -- protected by the constitution.

The constitution, which dates from the rule of dictator Augusto Pinochet, is widely blamed for making companies and the elite richer at the expense of the poor, working classes.

Among the proposals that proved most controversial, the text would have entrenched the right to elective abortion and guaranteed stronger protections for Indigenous rights.
- Try again -

After the overwhelming rejection, Boric called on politicians to "put Chile ahead of any legitimate differences and agree as soon as possible on the deadlines and parameters for a new constitutional process."

He invited party representatives to talks starting Monday, but none of the right-wing opposition have indicated whether they would attend.

According to analysts, most Chileans and political parties want a new constitution, but not the one they got to vote on.

One exception is far-right politician Jose Antonio Kast -- Boric's vanquished rival in December elections -- who is against a constitutional change.

"The right is split among the more moderate sectors, which have committed to changes and reforms... and the most extreme sectors, which I believe are not ready for that change," said analyst Cecilia Osorio of the University of Chile.

The referendum was "disappointing" for public servant Carola, who said the draft was "very progressive on environmental issues" and women's rights.

"It is a bit difficult" to accept the rejection, she told AFP.

But Pablo Valdez, a 43-year-old lawyer among those celebrating the rejection, said the outcome made him "hopeful" that "tensions will be reduced."

The Chilean Stock Exchange opened 3.65 percent higher Monday and the peso strengthened 3.2 percent to 885.52 to the US dollar.

Boric, Chile's youngest-ever president painted by his detractors as a "communist", had won his election with promises creating rights-driven "welfare state" in one of the world's most unequal countries.
- 'Pinochet is alive' -

Proposals to protect the environment and natural resources such as water -- which some say is exploited by private mining companies -- garnered much attention in the constitutional debate.

The new constitution would also have overhauled Chile's Congress, while requiring women to hold at least half of positions in public institutions.

Many had feared the new text would generate instability and uncertainty, which could harm the economy.

But supporters believed it would prompt necessary changes in a conservative country marked by social and ethnic tensions.

Although the constitution has undergone several reforms since its adoption in 1980, it retains the stigma of having been introduced during the military dictatorship of Pinochet.

The draft new text was drawn up by an elected, left-leaning constitutional convention made up of 154 members, split equally between men and women and with 17 places reserved for Indigenous people.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, an ally of Boric, tweeted after the rejection on Monday that: "Pinochet is alive in some political sectors of the Americas."

The European Union for its part, said it took "note of the commitment expressed by President Boric and across the political spectrum on the need to pursue the constitutional process."

pb-pa-apg/lbc/mlr/bgs


Too much, too fast? Why Chile’s draft constitution was roundly rejected

FRANCE 24 - Yesterday 

Chileans have overwhelmingly rejected a draft constitution that would have replaced the constitution adopted during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, dealing a blow to the country's youthful President Gabriel Boric.




Although rejection had been expected in Sunday's plebiscite, the almost 24-point margin was a shocking repudiation of a document that was three years in the making and had been promoted as a democratic effort to replace the constitution imposed by Gen. Augusto Pinochet 41 years ago.

The constitution, written by a convention split equally between male and female delegates, characterised Chile as a plurinational state, would have established autonomous Indigenous territories, and prioritised the environment and gender parity.

With 99.9 percent of the votes counted, the rejection camp led by 61.9 percent to 38.1 percent and turnout was heavy, with voting mandatory.

Analysts say some of the proposals in the draft constitution were too radical for most voters – a majority of whom have made it clear they want a new constitution, just not this one.

Here are five possible factors behind Sunday's vote.

Going too far?

Many of the draft's most ground-breaking proposals raised concerns that things may be changing too much, too fast.

"There was certain content... that generated resistance from broad sectors of society and increased levels of fear and uncertainty," said Marcelo Mella, a political scientist at the University of Santiago.

Catholic-majority Chile was deeply divided on draft proposals guaranteeing the right to abortion, declaring access to water and health care as human rights, and specifically recognizing Indigenous rights, which some say undermines the goal of national unity.

"A part of the (draft) constitution is very 'millennial,' and those 'millennial' values are not what the more traditional part (of society) wants," said sociologist Marta Lagos.

Voters were also torn over a proposal to replace the Senate, the upper house of the bicameral Congress, with a so-called Chamber of Regions.

While it would have better represented regional interests, it would have had less power than the existing Senate. Detractors feared this could weaken the opposition's veto powers, leaving too much power in the hands of the president.

Drafting disarray

Much of the drafting process was combative, with even the constitutional assembly's opening session marred by protests from its own members.

Several issues had to be shelved, with negotiators unwilling to compromise, and there were numerous verbal assaults.

"More than the result of the text itself, what people had been evaluating poorly... was the way this process unfolded," political analyst Marco Moreno of the Central University of Chile told AFP.

Voters were put off by disrespectful behaviour and "excesses" on the part of some assembly members, he said.

One member reportedly cast a vote from the shower, for example, while others came to work dressed as the Pokemon character Pikachu or a dinosaur.

As he acknowledged the draft's rejection on Monday, President Gabriel Boric said it was necessary for leaders to “work with more determination, more dialogue, more respect” to reach a new proposal “that unites us as a country”.

Rebuking Boric

Boric, 36, is Chile’s youngest-ever president and a former student protest leader. He had tied his fortunes so closely to the new document that analysts said it was likely some voters saw the plebiscite as a referendum on his government.

After initial euphoria at his electoral victory last December, his approval rating recently declined to just 38 percent – the same as the constitutional "Yes" vote.

Boric, who had promised a rights-driven "welfare state" in place of the neo-liberal status quo, has had to contend with social unrest driven partly by economic hard times, and some have questioned the wisdom of dramatic changes in policy now.

"There is an important protest vote" in the outcome of the constitutional process, said Moreno.

After Sunday's blow, Boric said he would shuffle his government team and host political talks on how best to restart the constitutional process.

Economic downturn

After record growth of 11.7 percent in 2021, boosted by early withdrawals from pension funds and state assistance to people contending with the pandemic, the Chilean economy entered a phase of slowdown and high inflation.

"When our country decided to open the constituent process... it did not have the level of economic crisis it has today," said Mella.

"People's risk assessment may have changed, given the dramatic change in economic conditions," he added.

The Chilean peso strengthened and stocks in the Santiago market soared on Monday after rejection of a constitution that would have increased environmental regulations on businesses.

Shy voter factor

Despite polls that foresaw the defeat, no pollster had predicted such a large margin for rejection of what would have been one of the most progressive constitutions in the world.

Analysts point to the so-called "spiral of silence", the phenomenon in which people may hide their opinion on a controversial subject if they perceive they are in a minority, including from pollsters.

The high voter turnout of more than 80 percent – 13 million out of some 15 million eligible voters – was unexpected, though participation was technically compulsory.

"Practically everyone who had to vote" did so," said Moreno. "That was not in any analysis."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)

Final Chile presidential polls show leftist Boric edging ahead

Author of the article:
Natalia A. Ramos Miranda
Publishing date:Dec 18, 2021 

SANTIAGO — Chilean leftist Gabriel Boric has widened his lead in the final polls ahead of the Andean country’s presidential election on Sunday, though the polarized race remains tight against ultra-conservative rival Jose Antonio Kast.

Ahead of the run-off ballot, two private polls seen by Reuters showed 35-year-old former student protest leader Boric edging ahead of Kast, 55, a far-right lawyer who has defended the legacy of military dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Chile, the world’s top copper producer and long a role model of market-oriented economic policy in Latin America, is set for its most divisive presidential ballot in decades, with both candidates from outside the centrist mainstream parties.

A private poll from Cadem, which surveyed 1,007 people with a margin of error of 3.1%, showed Boric taking 55% of the vote versus 45% for Kast, widening his lead over the last week when a similar poll showed him with 52% versus 48% for Kast.

A second poll by consulting firm Atlas Intel, which had shown a draw earlier in the week, now put Boric ahead with 51% voting preferences versus 49% for Kast. The survey included 4,062 people with a margin of error of 1%.

The country is in a two-week blackout period where pollsters cannot openly publish surveys on the vote, but private polls are often commissioned.

The first opinion polls after the Nov. 21 first round vote had favored Boric, though that lead had appeared to be narrowing until the most recent surveys.

(Reporting by Natalia Ramos; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Diane Craft)

From student protester to leftist hero: Meet the shaggy-haired millennial vying for Chile's presidency


By Daniela Mohor W., for CNN
 Fri December 17, 2021

Chilean presidential candidate Gabriel Boric speaks to supporters during a political rally in Santiago, Chile on December 11, 2021.

(CNN)Just ten years ago, Gabriel Boric was a student leader in the Chilean capital, rallying against the country's privatized education system alongside thousands of other students in Santiago.

Now, the 35-year-old progressive congressman is taking that ethos to the polls, where he hopes to stave off his rival, far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast, in the second round of the presidential election.

If he wins the run-off vote, Boric will become the country's youngest -- and most left-leaning -- president in its modern history.

Boric is running on a broad coalition ticket that includes the Communist Party and champions a welfare state model that promises to tackle the country's rising inequality. Last month, in the first round of votes, he won nearly 26% of the ballot share.

Meanwhile, Kast, a staunch defender of former dictator General Augusto Pinochet's regime and the free-market, garnered 28% of votes in the first round. The 55-year-old former congressman's agenda includes a tax cut for companies, building barriers in the north of Chile to prevent migrants from entering illegally and abolishing abortion, among others.

Chilean presidential candidates Gabriel Boric (right) and Jose Kast pose before a debate in Santiago, Chile on December 10.

Sunday's election is now on a knife's edge, with who wins largely depending on the ability of each candidate to draw in voters from the center ground.

For his critics, Boric is radical and inexperienced. But those qualities are also driving his popularity among young Chileans, many of whom came to know him during the last two years of social unrest.

In October 2019, massive protests shook the country as thousands demonstrated for better pensions, better education, and the end of an economic system that they believe favors the elite. Boric quickly became the most vocal representative of this social movement and boosted his leadership by rejecting the legacy of the center-left coalition that governed from 1990 to 2010.

That movement led to outgoing President Sebastian Pinera to agree to a referendum to change the constitution, which was inherited from Pinochet´s bloody dictatorship. Last year, Chileans overwhelmingly voted to draft a new one. That process is in now in the works, with the new constitution to be voted on in a new plebiscite sometime in mid-2022.

Make Chile great again? Meet the far-right presidential candidate tempting voters from Chile's left and center

Boric's political platform has been riding on that wave, which includes proposals for a more inclusive public health system, to cancel student debt, to raise taxes for the super wealthy and a revision of the state's private pension system -- which was inherited from Pinochet's military regime.

Sociologist and communication strategist Eugenio Tironi told CNN that Boric's policies are ticking all the boxes for millennials.

"His vision connects with this century's agenda: Climate change, feminism, decentralization, green economy, diversity, and direct democracy," Tironi said.
And he's polling extremely well in that age group.

Pablo Argote, a researcher of political science at Columbia University told CNN that Boric is overrepresented by voters 35 and under, and polling particularly well among those under 25.

"He embodies changes better than other candidates," Argote said.
"In politics, the intensity of the preference matters, the fact that people feel very excited about a candidate matters. And Boric has that," he added.

Responding to a generation
Born in 1986 to an educated middle-class family in the country's southernmost Punta Arena region, Boric attended one of the most elite private schools there before studying law at the University of Chile in Santiago. He didn't graduate but it took his interest in activism to new heights.

In 2011, he became one of the main leaders of a historic student movement demanding free education for all, which eventually led to a wide educational reform. In 2013, he was elected to Congress, and in 2016, he started his own political party, the Autonomist Movement.

Boric has long presented himself as an outsider and has been prone to reach agreements with other political sectors, even if it means making waves in his own coalition.

Gabriel Boric arrives for a presidential debate in Santiago, Chile on December 10.

Far from Pinera's more buttoned-up and pragmatic style, Boric is perceived as an emotional leader: He has publicly disclosed that he suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and spent two weeks in a psychiatric hospital.

He also makes it a point to own his mistakes -- and to apologize for them publicly. Although more traditional voters see this as a weakness, Tironi says it has helped him gain momentum.

"Part of his charisma is his tendency to go forward and then move back, to be keen to rectify and apologize. He is like a gamer. If things don't go in the direction he thought, he resets," Tironi said.

"That is attractive to an important segment of voters, above all the young," he added.

Polar opposite candidates head to run-off vote in Chile

Supporter Tomas Diaz, a 32-year-old entrepreneur with a sustainable biking business, said that he says has admired Boric's leadership style since his days as a student protestor.

"He is open and respects agreements -- and that's what we need. He responds to my generation's way of seeing the world and cares about the environment," he said.
"He also represents me because I believe the state must be like a mother who protects all citizens -- and that anyone can do whatever they like with their private lives," Diaz said, taking a swipe at Kast's conservative social agenda.

Diaz added that Boric's policies, which also include the promotion of women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights and the environment, speak to him -- unlike candidates from his parents' generation.

"We are a generation of immediacy, and we don't want to wait like our parents did. We want changes and we want them now," he said.

But it is just that attitude that makes some voters sceptical of Boric's policies, with many fearing that attempts to dramatically transform the country while it is already in the middle of drafting of a new Constitution could push foreign investors away and put additional strain on the economy.

Economist Raphael Bergoeing, who is also the president of Chile´s National Productivity Commission told CNN that many of Boric's policies "go in the right direction, but I am afraid that it will act as a brake on investment and make things harder for everyone."
"Trying to do too many things in a short amount of time is the best recipe to do very little," he said.

The middle ground

Boric also faces another challenge: Getting moderates to embrace his alliance with the Communist Party, particularly around his take on the country's private pension scheme.
Earlier this month, Boric voted on a measure proposed by a group of representatives to withdraw more funds from state's private pension, despite his advisors warning him that it was bad policy. The policy is aimed to deliver financial assistance to Chile's poorest populations throughout the pandemic. However, economists argue that it is having a negative impact on the country's financial system and will increase inflation. Boric and his coalition's persistence to keep the initiative alive is viewed by critics as an attempt by more radical political groups -- Communists included -- to scrap the private pension system all together.

Boric's supporters see the private pension scheme as a marker of the country's widening inequality, while others view it as the foundation of Chile's strong economic market.

How to write a new constitution for a divided and unequal Chile

Kast is taking advantage of Boric's association with the Communist party by activating "the fear of having a situation like Venezuela," Tironi said. "But I believe Boric is more like Greta Thunberg than Fidel Castro," he added.

Still, Boric has softened his tone in the lead up to this weekend's vote to draw in the middle, saying that his proposals would be implanted gradually, that he believes in private property and in alliances between the private and public sector.

He's also brought in center-leaning economists to his team in an attempt to win over those moderate voters. And this week, he met with former president and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who has officially endorsed him.
"He's been smart toning down his language, lowering expectations, and now presenting himself as the continuation of the trajectory of change previously proposed by the center-left coalition he used to criticize," Argote said, adding: "He still faces many challenges and may have conflicts within his coalition if he gets elected, but for now, I believe he has a good chance to win."

Change, freedom, order: Chilean dreams differ ahead of historic vote

Reuters
Natalia A. Ramos Miranda
Publishing date: Dec 18, 2021 • 

SANTIAGO — Chilean voters are split on what they want from the future ahead of a landmark presidential election on Sunday between polarized candidates – one offering social change and the other pledging to get tough on law and order.

The election will see ultra-conservative Jose Antonio Kast https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chiles-kast-channels-pinochets-ghost-against-communist-left-2021-12-15 

and leftist Gabriel Boric https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/student-leader-president-chiles-boric-eyes-historic-election-win-2021-12-15 

go head-to-head after closing their campaigns this week, where they looked to win over middle-ground voters who could make the difference in a tight race.

“What is at stake now in Chile is democracy itself,” said housewife Julia Acevedo, 80, who attended 35-year-old Boric’s closing campaign in the capital. “The country needs change and he, who is young, can make a difference.”

Kast supporters, on the other hand, want stability. They say Boric – who has taken aim at Chile’s market-oriented economic model for stoking inequality – will undo decades of growth and stability and criticize his alliance with the Communist Party.

“I will keep supporting freedom,” said Margarita Noguera, waving a Chilean flag stamped with a picture of 55-year-old Kast. She said she had lived through the “leftist dictatorship” of democratically-elected socialist president Salvador Allende in the 1970s.

“I suffered a lot, like so many other Chileans.”

Angela Marambio, 53, said she had backed a center-right candidate in the first round in November, but was switching her vote to Kast for the run-off.

“Chile needs stability, order and security,” she said.

‘POVERTY LINE’

Kast, a lawyer and religious father of nine, has defended the economic legacy of dictator Augusto Pinochet, whose bloody military rule from 1973-1990 overthrew Allende in a coup and established the country’s economic model.

Huge protests erupted in 2019 against that model, which many see as the reason for issues ranging from meager private pensions to expensive healthcare and education.

Cristian Morales, 51, a public official from Punta Arenas in Chile’s southern tip, Boric’s home region, said the leftist candidate could finally change things.

“I do not believe he will be able to make all the changes that are needed, but he will accelerate the process,” said Morales, citing plans for spending on pensions and education.

“If I were to retire tomorrow I’d fall under the poverty line. I have two young children, education is expensive. If we want more solidarity in society, the state has to get involved.”

Boric, who made his name leading student demonstrations for better quality education, has sought to channel the energy and demand for change sparked by Chile’s 2019 protests.

Kast has done the opposite, with a tough law and order message that has appealed to a significant segment of the country weary of protests.

Enrique Zuleta, 41, a businessman from the coastal city of La Serena, said for years he voted for the center-left coalition that governed much of the post-dictatorship period and gave Chile a reputation for stability. Now he is backing Kast.

“I did not grow up in a right-wing environment at all, but today my vote is pragmatic, for the national good,” he said.

“Kast has many ideological issues with which I do not agree. But… he has said that he will respect the laws. And that is important to me.”

Boric supporters say he will defend issues such as women’s rights to abortion – allowed only in certain circumstances – and will respect sexual diversity, in focus after the country this month approved https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/love-is-love-chile-legalizes-same-sex-marriage-historic-vote-2021-12-07 same-sex marriage.

Kast has criticized both abortion and gay marriage.

Polls indicate women, especially younger women, are more likely to vote for Boric.

“I am afraid of Kast,” said Andrea Ramirez, a 26-year-old public administrator. “He worries me about the environment, the role of the state, the pensions of Chileans. And what rights will women have?” (Reporting by Natalia Ramos; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Rosalba O’Brien)

'The coup destroyed us': Memories of Pinochet resonate in Chile's crossroads election

Reuters
Anthony Esposito
Publishing date:Dec 17, 2021

SANTIAGO — Chilean Mireya Garcia, 64, feels there is more at stake than usual in this Sunday’s presidential election.

The vote offers two visions for the future of Chile – 35-year-old leftist Gabriel Boric https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/student-leader-president-chiles-boric-eyes-historic-election-win-2021-12-15, who led mass protests as a university student, will go head to head with far-right lawyer Jose Antonio Kast https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chiles-kast-channels-pinochets-ghost-against-communist-left-2021-12-15, who has defended the complex legacy of former dictator General Augusto Pinochet.

For Garcia and many of her generation, this, the most polarized of Chile’s elections since its return to democracy in 1990, has opened old wounds.

Garcia’s brother was forcibly disappeared in 1977 during the dictatorship and Kast’s praise of Pinochet has angered her.

“The coup totally destroyed our family and we were never the same,” Garcia told Reuters.

“This has unexpectedly turned into one of the most closely-fought elections and what is at stake is that on the one hand the extreme right is clearly a danger for Chile and on the other hand, there is a candidate who represents the youth,” said Garcia.

Older Chileans lived through the tumultuous years of socialist President Salvador Allende, the 1973 coup that ousted him and ended his life, and the bloody 17-year military dictatorship that followed.

Since the dictatorship ended, Chilean elections have generally pitted moderate leftists against center-right candidates. The country has been known as an island of stability and orthodox policies in Latin America.

Now the old, deep divisions between the socialist left and far-right seem to be resurfacing.

Kast has praised Pinochet’s market-oriented “economic legacy” and appealed to voters with proposals seemingly taken from the playbook of right-wing populist leaders like Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chiles-bosolonaro-hard-right-kast-rises-targeting-crime-violence-2021-11-22 and former U.S. President Donald Trump, such as building a ditch to curb illegal immigration.

On Thursday night, Kast promised thousands of supporters at a rally that he would bring order, after protests in 2019 saw buildings around capital Santiago burned and thousands injured in conflicts with the police.

“Chile is not and will never be a communist or Marxist nation,” he said – a dig at Boric, who is allied with Chile’s Communist Party within a wide leftist coalition.

The historical parallel was not lost on Kast’s supporters.

“I’m from the 1973 generation, I experienced the Popular Unity party, I experienced Salvador Allende and it was chaotic,” said 67-year-old pensioner Aurora Oviedo, a Kast supporter.

“We didn’t have anything to eat and we had to wait in line for everything.”

Democratically-elected Allende, a Marxist, was overthrown by Pinochet in the 1973 coup. During Pinochet’s 17-year time in power, more than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared and tens of thousands tortured.

“I was young, I took to the streets to call on the armed forces,” said Oviedo, adding that she attended the Kast rally because she does not want a “communist” to become president.

‘DIVINE JUSTICE’

In an unexpected twist of fate that has also brought reminders of the dictatorship’s legacy, Pinochet’s widow Lucia Hiriart https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/lucia-hiriart-widow-chilean-dictator-pinochet-dies-aged-99-2021-12-16 died on Thursday at the age of 99.

In response, hundreds of people thronged to a Santiago plaza, waving flags and chanting, some bearing the photos of those disappeared by the military regime.

Manuel Valenzuela, 78, holding a portrait of Allende in his hands, was among them.

The widow’s passing was “divine justice” and hopefully it would serve as a lightning rod to get people out to vote for Boric, said Valenzuela, a former political exile.

The run-off vote is also the first presidential decider since the 2019 protests against economic inequalities that eventually sparked a still ongoing process to undo one of the main remaining vestiges of the dictatorship: a revamp of Chile’s constitution.

But both candidates have moderated https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/chiles-polarized-election-stark-divides-offer-investors-silver-lining-2021-12-17 as the race has tightened, seeking to win over centrist voters. Congress, elected in November, is split down the middle between left and right, creating a likely brake on radical reform.

Older Chileans are quick to point out that despite the political vitriol things are nowhere near as bad as they were in 1973.

During Allende’s government Maria Angelica Quezada, 68, said she was turned away from the supermarket because she did not belong to the local political party.

“I didn’t have the right to eat, to shop because I wasn’t registered in the party,” said Quezada, who plans to vote for Kast.

“Things are more relaxed now,” she said.

Berta Vilche, a 73-year-old retired lawyer and Boric supporter, said that “when people talk about how polarized our society is they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“Today’s polarization has nothing to do with what was going on back then. The coup was really, really terrible.” (Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Rosalba O’Brien)

Gabriel Boric: Chile's democracy 'still under construction'

Diego Zuniga

September 11, 2023

In an exclusive interview with DW, Chilean President Gabriel Boric talks about the political polarization caused by the 1973 coup and highlights the strength of today's institutions and democracy in Chile.

"For me, politics is not a game of arithmetic," Chilean President Gabriel Boric told DW. "I believe that democracy, to be strengthened and to take care of itself, has to know how to respond … to the needs of our citizens."

Boric, Chile’s president since March 2022, is the country’s eighth elected leader since Augusto Pinochet’s military rule ended in 1990. The 37-year-old was born more than a decade after Pinochet’s violent coup ousted the Marxist president, Salvador Allende, on September 11, 1973, but like many Chileans he too has had to grapple with its aftermath.

In an exclusive interview with DW's Jenny Perez to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1973 coup, Boric spoke of the current role of the armed forces, the challenges faced by his government and the changes he himself has undergone since he was elected.

"Taking office as president of Chile means you have to adapt when it comes to certain things. You are ruling over an entire country, and, therefore, you represent the whole of Chilean society, those who voted for you and those who didn't," said Boric, who is also the leader of Chile’s left-wing Social Convergence Party.

"But my longing for social justice, for social transformation, for progress toward a fairer distribution of wealth, toward a total end to discrimination against women and sexual diversity, toward a development that is just and integral, remains intact," he said, adding that he remained "a person with left-wing convictions."

Chile's most leftist president since Allende

These political positions, and the fact that Boric is Chile's most progressive head of state in the past 50 years, have influenced the commemorative events around the anniversary of the coup and Allende's death on September 11, 1973.

Boric said that given the chance he would thank the president [Allende] for his commitment, courage and sacrifice.

"I would tell him that we are working hard to follow in his footsteps, hoping 'to continue opening great avenues again, where free men and women can walk together to build a better society,'"

Boric is Chile's eighth leader since the end of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship

Image: Matias Delacroix/AP/picture alliance

Boric said citing from the last speech Allende ever made on the day he died.

It remains unclear to this day whether Allende's death was suicide or murder.

The repercussions of Pinochet's dictatorship still divide much of Chilean society. Boric had campaigned for a bigger event marking the anniversary of the 1973 coup, but according to a survey by pollster Pulso Ciudadano at least 60% of Chileans were not interested.

A "Pact for Peace," an effort introduced by Boric's predecessor to resolve the social and political conflict that has triggered countrywide protests since 2019, was also divisive. During his presidency, Boric has attempted to improve coexistence through minimum agreements of democratic respect, including the rewriting of the constitution, but the country's right-wing and center-right parties have not supported his efforts. He has championed the idea of a "Pact for Democracy."

"We continue to have differences as to why this institutional breakdown is taking place, and I see with concern that there are many right-wing leaders who insist on the idea that without Allende, there would have been no Pinochet," said Boric. "When you think about what that means, it is very worrying. It means that should there be another constitutional government they do not like and a climate of polarization and political difficulties, then the answer is a coup d'etat and a dictatorship.

"I hope Chilean society agrees with me when I say that we will always solve the problems of democracy with more democracy and not less. And that nothing will ever justify violating the human rights of those who think differently," he said.

Boric believes it's a positive development that all of Chile's living ex-presidents, including the center-right Sebastian Pinera, have signed the Pact for Democracy.
No danger of another coup

When asked about Chilean society taking a possible ultraconservative turn and the increase in more radical visions from all sectors, Boric told DW he was worried. He stressed the need for the government to respond to the "needs of our citizens."

"In Chile, we have been waiting 10 years for a pension reform. Not only do pensions not go up, but the trust Chileans have in democracy as a mechanism for solving their problems is weakened," he said.

"Democracy, from my point of view, is an end in itself, and we have to be looking after it constantly, watering it, caring for it," he said, adding that it was "based on consensus."

"The art of politics, the art of fair policies, is to reach agreements among those who think differently for the sake of a shared common good. And when societies become polarized, that shared common good can seem distant."

Chilean President Boric has shown an affinity for Salvador Allende, who was ousted in a coup by General Augusto Pinochet in 1973

Image: ORF

However, Boric said he did not believe there was a danger of the events of September 1973 being repeated in Chile: "It would be irresponsible of me to say so," he pointed out.

He also highlighted recent policy achievements, such as mining royalties or reducing the work week to 40 hours, as examples of how Chilean democracy can function.

"I believe that the opposition is playing a role, which has indeed resulted in a blockage to certain reforms, but it is part of how democracy works, and it is up to us to seek and explore new ways of reaching agreements," he said.

And the role of the military? "Now, I am certain that the armed forces are not looking to engage in any kind of adventure and that they are steadfast constitutionalists and respectful of the constitution and the rule of law," Boric stated.

'Democracies are constantly perfecting themselves'

The Chilean president's confidence lies in the strength of the country's institutions but he recognizes that maintaining democracy is an ongoing process.

"Chilean democracy is a democracy that is still under construction. I would not say that there is a moment when democracies are fully consolidated because societies change, and with change comes new challenges," he said.

"The inclusion of the feminist movement in our society, for example, has been very organic given the way politics was understood until 10 years ago. The old idea of infinite development at any cost is not only being questioned today. It is seen as something that could endanger the very survival of humanity. So democracies are constantly perfecting themselves."

Referring to the fact that the Chilean dictatorship came about in the context of the Cold War, which led to numerous military regimes in the region, Boric pointed out that "the power of arms is very meager. It vanishes with time. Bodies can disappear, people can be murdered, comrades can be tortured, but the dignity of those who fell and those who fight for a free country always ends up prevailing.

"And this is valid for the history of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and so many other Latin American dictatorships — or the world," he warned.

'We have to defend' democracy, human rights

Since his presidency began in 2022, Boric has also stood out on the international stage for his condemnation of leftist dictatorships in the region. In this regard, the president said he wasn't afraid of criticism.

"I am convinced that, in terms of human rights, we must have a single standard, both from the historical point of view and from a whole of society point of view, and therefore, we cannot go around choosing which autocracies we like and which we don't like," he said.

"If we value and defend democracy and, in particular, the universal respect for human rights as an advance of humanity, we have to defend it from the left, center, and right, whether we are red or blue. And I will stay firm on this no matter who it bothers."
US discloses role in 1973 coup

Boric also spoke in favor of the recent gesture by the United States to declassify documents outlining the role of the world power in the 1973 coup.

"The US ambassador to Chile has been very open to it. Some documents have already been declassified, and I believe that the position of the United States today is clear when it comes to condemning what happened," he said.

"However, we can always do more. The Nixon administration at the time made every possible effort — and this is all documented — first, to prevent President Allende from taking office and then to hinder and create the conditions of chaos that allowed for the coup."

US President Richard Nixon's administration was heavily involved in the events leading up to the coup in Chile, with the CIA helping to finance opposition efforts to organize strikes by truck drivers and shop owners. The US also backed Pinochet's government despite his regime's human rights record.

Boric (right) is optimistic about cooperating with Scholz (left) when it comes to investigating the German sect Colonia Dignidad

Image: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/picture alliance

Boric said that he would ask for information on the alleged collaboration of the West German intelligence service with the Pinochet dictatorship and the German sect Colonia Dignidad, which cooperated with the regime.

"I have talked about this with Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz the few times I have met him. From what I have seen, I think he is keen to collaborate in everything related to the investigation and recognition of what happened in Colonia Dignidad," said Boric.

There has been an agreement to install plaques in memory of the victims of the German sect, although there have been no significant advances on that front. Boric said that "just a bit of willpower" is needed for that.

"What is clear to us is that there are still many dark elements around, even 50 years after the breakdown of democracy in Chile. Therefore, we will continue to fight for truth and justice."

This article was originally written in Spanish.

70% of Chileans in Canada support draft constitution, as majority in Chile vote to reject it

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The 'reject' camp won the referendum Sunday, meaning Chile will keep its Pinochet-era constitution for now

Aura Carreño Rosas · CBC News · Posted: Sep 04, 2022 

Sebastian Ried, a Chilean living in Hamilton, voted in the referendum at a polling station in Toronto, one of six cities where Chileans could vote in Canada. He felt 'hope and fear' earlier in the day but was saddened by the results, he said Sunday evening. (Submitted by Sebastian Ried)

While voters in Chile made it clear Sunday they do not support the constitution that was proposed to replace the dictatorship-era document the country currently has, Chileans in Canada overwhelmingly voted in support of the draft.

"I'm sad but the results were overwhelming," Sebastian Ried, a Chilean man who lives in Hamilton and voted in the referendum from Canada, said Sunday evening. 

With 99 per cent of the votes counted, the rejection camp had 61.9 per cent support compared to 38.1 per cent for approval. Unlike recent elections, voting was mandatory.

Meanwhile, results from Chileans abroad were exactly reversed — 60.9 per cent voted to support the new draft, 39.1 per cent rejected. In Canada, the gap was even wider, with 70.4 per cent supporting, 29.6 per cent rejecting. 

• Chilean voters overwhelmingly reject proposed progressive constitution in national referendum

There were around 15 million Chilean citizens and residents eligible to vote, including 97,000 Chileans abroad. Six cities in Canada held polling stations Sunday: Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Montreal. A total of 4,838 Chileans cast ballots in those cities by the end of the day. 

"It scares me that advances for the rights of women, Indigenous peoples and the environmental are not being recognized," said Ried who voted in support of the draft and had felt a mix of hope and fear earlier in the day.

If the proposal had passed, it would have replaced the constitution imposed under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and dramatically changed the country. 

Daniela Caballero, who came to Canada with her husband Cristian Mansilla and their daughter in 2019, also voted in support of the draft, saying she was hoping it would help lessen inequality in Chile. 

"First of all, I'd like to say I appreciate the transparency, and how quickly we are getting the results," she said after polls closed. "I'm proud of the democracy that we have, far from Pinochet's dictatorship."

Still, she was sorry to see the results, she said. "Looks like this is not how we will change the constitution.... I hope tonight every Chilean (especially the politicians) takes a big breath and thinks about how we are going to do it." 

Significant changes had been proposed

The vote came less than a year after leftist Gabriel Boric, a former student activist, won the presidential election in Chile and nearly three years after protests broke out in the country calling for, among other reforms, a new constitution.

"I think [the draft] recognizes a series of rights and problems that our country has not accepted. And it seems to me that it is a very good first step to building a fairer and better country for all Chileans," Ried said earlier on Sunday. 

According to Pascal Lupien, a political science professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., whose research focuses on Latin America and social movements, the new constitution would have been a complete overhaul.

"I mean, it's just completely different … Chile would go from a very conservative, elitist, rigid constitution to one of the most progressive constitutions in the world," he said before the vote. 

• Chilean parties agree to replace dictatorship-era constitution amid turbulent protests

Some changes laid out in the draft included the abolition of the senate to replace it with a chamber of regions which, as the name states, would represent the different regions of the country.

The draft also listed education, housing and healthcare as rights, which would have been run by the state.

Nature would have also been accorded rights, Lupien said, something that could have caused tension with the country's powerful mining industry, which Canada also has stakes in.

According to the Canadian government, Chile is Canada's top investment destination in South and Central America —12th worldwide — with Canadian companies "present in mining, utilities, chemicals, transportation and storage services and financial services." 

According to Lupien, Chile is the only country in Latin America that doesn't recognize Indigenous people in its constitution. The draft proposed more rights, including some land rights, for Indigenous people, he said. 

That section in particular had been the target of misinformation in both Chilean media and social media, Lupien said.

"[This] has led a lot of people to believe that this will basically cause the state to disintegrate [and] that Indigenous people will be able to impose Indigenous law on non-Indigenous people."

That was not in fact the case, Lupien said.

Mixed reactions to the draft

Going into Sunday, Chileans both in Chile and in Canada were divided on the decision to change the constitution. 

One Chilean man, not in Canada, said in a tweet translated from Spanish that the reason why he was rejecting the new draft is that "Chile is getting farther from Toronto and closer to Caracas, Venezuela. Chile is being destroyed from within like cancer," he wrote on Friday.

One woman writing from Canada, said she was voting to reject it as, in her view, "the new Constitution only divides," she said on Twitter Sunday.

Daniela Caballero and Cristian Mansilla immigrated to Canada from Chile with their daughter in 2019. (Submitted by Daniela Caballero)

From Canada, where thousands of Chileans came as refugees during the Pinochet era, Caballero said the vote had "a special meaning."

"[My generation is] the sons and daughters of democracy. We didn't live in a dictatorship [like our parents did]," she said.

Chile returned to democracy in 1990 but Pinochet's constitution remained. 

"For some of those adults that were young when [Pinochet] was there, they say, 'OK, this is the last step to take this guy out.'" 

'Back to the drawing board'

Lupien says there will likely be another constitutional convention after another draft is written. "Likely, they will be forced to remove some of the more progressive elements," he said.

"There's going to be, I think, a lot of turmoil, because there are a lot of people that have really been pushing for this.

"They will have to just go back to the drawing board... The decision to write a new constitution has been made, but that will probably take another year or so."

Ried says it's still the right time for a change in the country, with it closing in on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. 

"As a minimum moral duty to our country, we deserve to start the 50 years of this anniversary with a new constitution."

Leftist Presidential Candidate’s Landslide Promises Clean Sweep of Pinochet’s Fascist Legacy

BY DAVE LINDORFFFacebook

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Ever since the 9-11 attack on the US, people here had this mantra that 9-11 “changed everything.” It’s a gross overstatement of course. The country has been moving steadily into becoming a “national security” state since President Harry Truman launched it with the creation of the CIA and the National Security Agency. Since then, like a ratchet, we’ve had a gradually metastasizing police state and ever more intrusive central government, with both political parties supporting more military spending, more wars, more domestic spying, more militarized policing, and more attacks on media independence.

Now we have a shining example of what needs to be done, in a country that had its own 9-11, but has finally turned things around.

Chile, in fact, was the scene of a far more brutal and deadly 9-11 event that occurred on September 11, 1973, when the country’s military, under the direction of a fascist military leader named Augusto Pinochet, in a coup backed if not orchestrated by the US under President Richard Nixon and his then National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, overthrew the democratically elected and hugely popular Marxist President Salvador Allende Gossens, murdering him in the presidential palace and launching a reign of terror that saw thousands of Allende supporters murdered or disappeared.

Pinochet tore up the country’s constitution and imposed a fascist replacement document that has been in place long after his death, limiting the country’s ability to recover its freedoms.

That all ended this past weekend, as Chileans turned out in large numbers in a dramatic run-off election between a hard-right open admirer of Pinochet named Antonio Kast and a 35-year old leftist and veteran of a decade of protest actions against the government, Gabriel Boric, who has vowed to wipe away the almost half-century legacy of the country’s own 9-11 horror.

Unlike recent elections of leftist leaders in countries like Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, which have been so close that it’s difficult for the new left leaders to make changes, Boric’s win in Chile was decisive. After coming in a close second with 25% of the vote in a crowded presidential field that included various left candidates and some centrists during the initial election, behind Kast, who got 28% of the vote, with 99% of the ballots counted in the Sunday run-off voting by the end of the day Monday, Boric had won 56% of the vote to Kast’s 44% — a 12% margin of victory.

While the solid left didn’t win an outright majority in the country’s bicameral Congressional election which took place in November, it appears that between leftist, “soft” leftist and indigenous deputies in the 155-member lower house and in the 40-seat senate, Boric should be able to pass most of the measures he is proposing to bring the country out of its decades of repressive darkness. In a good demonstration of what may be expected from the new Congress with which Boric, who assume the Presidency on March 11, passed a law establishing marriage equality for same sex individuals — a big step for such a conservative mostly Catholic country.

Meanwhile, a second body, an constitutional assembly established two years ago to write and approve a whole new truly democratic Constitution for the country, has a strong left majority.

This is all worth cheering about.

Under Pinochet, who led the country from 1973 through 1990, besides enduring a brutal military/police repression, Chile became a laboratory for right wing economic experiments by a gang of acolytes of capitalist economic theorist Milton Friedman, a University of Chicago professor and Economics Nobel Prize winner who claimed that unregulated capitalism was essential for democracy. Chileans paid the price for these ludicrous ideological experiments with soaring income and wealth disparity, deepening poverty, collapsing education, privation of all kinds of services including by foreign private investors, and even the privatization of the country’s social security system.

Boric has vowed to reverse all these disasters.

Chile is showing the way. It can be done, if the people will it to be so!

We in the US, especially on the left, need to study what the left in Chile has accomplished, and of course to support their struggle to clean away the toxic sludge of decades of fascist rule and rules.

We need also to be alert to efforts by our own government and its nefarious imperial agencies from the CIA to the Pentagon, the Drug Enforcement Agency, State Department, Alliance for Progress and National Endowment for Democracy to undermine progressive governments like Chile’s. The history of US subversion of left governments in Latin American goes back centuries and is alive and well in Washington.

Dave Lindorff is a founding member of ThisCantBeHappening!, an online newspaper collective, and is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press).