Declaration in solidarity with the struggle of Chilean citizens

With great concern, the members of the Critical Thinking and Emancipatory Practices Working Group of CLACSO have been observing and analyzing the repressions that are occurring in Chile, as a result of the protests and social mobilizations of recent days, due to the increase in Metro transport fares and, in general, the social inequalities that affect millions of Chileans as a consequence of the savage privatizing and rent-seeking neoliberalism prevailing in the country.

Within a democratic framework, these mobilizations are the collective and legitimate expression of grievances and demands accumulated over the last few decades by diverse social groups that have been ignored by governments since the beginning of the democratization process in Chilean society in the 90s. In this sense, these mobilizations constitute a contribution, not a threat, to the deepening of this process. On the contrary, the establishment of a de facto state of emergency and curfews in different cities across the country, as well as the large number of people arbitrarily detained, disappeared, injured, and killed during these days of peaceful mobilizations, are a clear expression of the current right-wing government's inability to engage in dialogue and guide the country along the path of its continued democratization with justice and social inclusion.

As committed Latin American social scientists, we repudiate:

– All forms of repression by the authorities towards citizens who live in Chile and fight for their rights;
– Any omission of information by the authorities regarding human rights violations in Chile;
– Any form of criminalization of the right to mobilize and express their needs and just demands through peaceful means;
– Any restriction on individual and collective freedoms that impede the free expression and movement of citizens;

At the same time, we call for:

– Withdraw all military forces from the streets of Chile;
– To put an immediate end to human rights violations and all forms of repression;
– To immediately disclose the whereabouts and release all persons arbitrarily detained during these days of social mobilization;
– To open an effective dialogue that allows for the review and change of the institutional foundations of Chilean society, many of which are a legacy of the military dictatorship (for example, the 1980 Constitution);    
– To urgently develop a Social Agenda that addresses the legitimate social demands of the mobilized groups, with the active participation of their representatives: for example, significant improvements in pensions; decent wages; access to basic services such as water, housing, electricity, transportation, and public health; improved quality and free access to public education at all levels; improvements in environmental quality in “sacrifice zones” and other demands made by the various mobilized civil society organizations, related to the socio-territorial inequality in which many Chileans struggle to survive.

In a democracy, those who govern are accountable to the people who elected them, as the true and sole authority, and to their sociopolitical expressions, safeguarding and expanding human, social, and territorial rights. Those who govern are politically and morally obligated to listen to and address, with due diligence, promptness, and a sense of justice and inclusion, the needs of the people who claim and invoke them as fundamental rights to live with dignity and critical thinking, in freedom and democracy.  

Finally, we value the struggle for social justice that Chileans are undertaking in these difficult times: an example for all those committed to the aspirations and hopes for a better and more supportive life on planet Earth that sustains us.  

We also note that protests and mobilizations are taking place in other Latin American countries, demonstrating our people's struggle against neoliberalism and calling for the pursuit of more democratic practices and the defense of rights.

November 2019
CLACSO Working Group
Critical thinking and emancipatory practices