Declaration in solidarity with the people of Chile
With this declaration, we express our solidarity with the people of Chile, who have expressed in massive numbers throughout the territory their legitimate right to protest against one of the most brutal and savage social, economic and political models of neoliberalism in Latin America.
The intense days of mobilization and protest, which began on October 14th of this year, undoubtedly go beyond the issue of public transportation fares and reflect perhaps the deepest institutional, political, and social crisis the country has experienced since the post-dictatorship era. In this sense, we understand the mobilizations, just as the streets proclaim: “Our fight is not for 30 pesos, but for 30 years.”
From 2006 to the present, we have witnessed massive mobilizations across the region, originating in Chile, involving secondary and university students, Mapuche communities, feminist organizations, residents' and environmental movements, groups of retirees demanding decent pensions, movements advocating for public health, and many others. However, it seems clear that the political and institutional responses have been insufficient, failing to overcome the logic of an exclusionary, privatizing model based on the perpetuation of social privileges.
From the Working Group on Popular Education and Critical Pedagogies, closely linked to popular, trade union, progressive and left-wing organizations and movements, we support the demands of our Chilean comrades, which are fundamentally associated with three aspects:
First, we demand an end to the State of Emergency and the Curfew in all regions of the country, and therefore, the immediate demilitarization of the national territory. This is essential to create the minimum conditions necessary for social dialogue. With the military in the streets, democracy is impossible.
Secondly, we must end the repression of civil society, social organizations, and mobilized citizens. To date, according to various sources, there are approximately two thousand people detained throughout the country; hundreds wounded by bullets, pellets, and military-grade weapons; and dozens killed by the violence of the armed forces and the Carabineros (police). The defense of life and dignity is an essential foundation for those of us who, through popular education and critical pedagogies, work daily to build a more just and democratic Latin America.
And finally, the development of a new social pact, which brings together the wide range of social and popular organizations, which puts a stop to the commodification and privatization of social rights, which constitutes a state that guarantees access to social rights for all, demands that from the different organized and mobilized sectors of the country demand a constituent assembly.
Our strength and solidarity with the Chilean people, because we are certain that, as Sergio Ortega wrote in that song that encompasses the many rebellions and hopes of the world, they will be strong. “The people united will never be defeated.”
October 2019
CLACSO Working Group
Popular education and critical pedagogies
