The 30 pesos that undressed the other side of the Chilean miracle

[Akrapovic]

After Friday’s historic protest, President Piñera asked his ministers to resign

Chile, the Latin American model country, which, inside and outside the region, always presented itself as an example to follow in order to approach development, which all its neighbors envy for its per capita GDP of more than $ 20,000, its modern infrastructure and its low indicators of poverty, inflation and perception of corruption, among other achievements, has become in the last 10 days - and to the surprise of half the world - a sea of outraged social protests, vandalism, looting, beatings, curfews in several cities, 19 dead, hundreds of wounded and detained, and even reports of torture.
Related topics
Chile
05:36 a.m.
Piñera asks the resignation of all his ministers after protests
Protests
05:34 a.m.
'The dance of those left over', the song that guides the protests in Chile
Chile
05:33 a.m.
Piñera says he heard a message from 1.2 million Chileans

For years there was talk of ‘the other side of the Chilean miracle’, but that reality always remained in the background in the face of macroeconomic figures and advances in the southern country. But there was a pressure cooker about to explode, and the trigger was a rise of only four cents on the Santiago subway passage. More than 70 stations of one of the most modern meters in Latin America were partially or totally destroyed after a Friday of uncontrolled rage (October 18) and followed by days and days of large street demonstrations demanding solutions to multiple problems social.

You may be interested: Middle class in Chile ‘sees no solution with measures’ of Piñera

And although in the first moments of this tsunami of indignation there were multiple looting, a situation that forced the Government to decree the state of emergency and take the military to the street (something that was not seen - except in the 2010 earthquake) since 1987, with Pinochet), with the passing of the days the protest is increasingly peaceful and massive: on Friday, 1.2 million Chileans demonstrated calling for the departure of President Sebastián Piñera and a more just society on a day that eclipsed the celebrations of the day in which Chile said 'no' to the dictatorship, three decades ago.

At the time of retirement, a good part of the po[CENSORED]tion receives a fifth of what they earned when they were part of the economically active po[CENSORED]tion

    FACEBOOK
    TWITTER

TIME consulted several Chilean analysts to address the keys to these troubled days, which already leave $ 1.4 billion in losses alone in Santiago, while marches continue and outrage spreads across the country.

One of the key words to understand this outbreak is inequality. Óscar Landerretche, professor of economics at the University of Chile, explains: “Today, the country has practically the same levels of inequality that it had at the end of the 60s. During the dictatorship there was a shock of inequality, to the point that in a At the time we were the most unequal country in the world, and although democracy has been reducing distances, there is still a lot. Then, it is easy to understand that people feel dissatisfied when the result of 30 years of democracy is to have returned to the social situation, in terms of inequality, in the late 60s. ”
The pension model

Another critical factor is the pension model. Gloría de la Fuente, president and analyst of the Chile 21 Foundation, stresses that this issue is "extremely dramatic from a human point of view," because "today 80% of retirees receive less than a minimum pension salary."

To which Claudio Salinas, an academic from the Institute of Communication and Image of the University of Chile, adds: “When it comes to retirement, a good part of the po[CENSORED]tion receives a fifth of what they earned when they were part of the economically active po[CENSORED]tion” .

Juan Pablo Toro, of AthenaLab, a center for studies in international relations, security and defense, adds that more than half of the people earn around 400,000 pesos (1,850,000 Colombian pesos). Although it may seem not so bad, we must not forget that Chile is an expensive country, where “the cost of living has risen, and not only the rates of basic services, but also in the cost of ownership, which has become very expensive, ”notes Toro.
Strikes in Chile

Strikes and demonstrations continue in Chile for the fifth consecutive day.
Photo:

Javier Torres / AFP

There is also the issue of the price of medicines, "which in some cases can be five or 10 times more expensive than in other countries," because it operates without control, under the law of free supply and demand, says Salinas.

The list of claims is huge. Poor attention in the health system, high costs of education, transportation, electric power, etc. But De la Fuente adds a very interesting element to the analysis: "There is a strong sense of abuse of power against people." And he emphasizes: "All the institutions that administer power are in question today."