HELP ENLIGHTEN YOUR FELLOWS. BE SURE TO PASS THIS ON. SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON IT.

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Yoel Bitran
Labor Notes • July 27, 2021

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Protesters in San Antonio, Chile joined countless Chileans in an "estallido social", or social explosion, in late 2019. Their actions, including a general strike by major unions, overthrew the old constitutional order. Photo: Vivian Morales C., CC BY-2.0.

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Many Americans have become accustomed to hearing that every presidential election is “the most important in a generation.” But for Chileans like myself, these words were undeniably true when describing our election on May 15 and 16.

When we went to the polls that weekend, we did so not just to choose who would be our next mayors, governors, and councilpersons, but also to choose who would write the next constitution—from scratch.

Following a November 2020 referendum in which 80 percent of voters supported a new constitution, 155 constitutional delegates were elected in May to design the legal and political framework for the country’s future. Independent candidates, mostly of the left and center-left, received almost one-third of the seats. Seventeen seats were reserved for indigenous groups for the first time, and gender parity at the constitutional convention was guaranteed following the passage of a March 2020 law. All told, pro-reform candidates won 60 percent of seats.

Meanwhile, candidates backed by President Sebastian Piñera’s center-right Chile Vamos (Let’s Go Chile) coalition fell short of winning one-third of seats, the number they needed to wield veto power over any major changes.

Why are Chileans so excited to change their constitution? The current one, as any Chilean labor activist will tell you, has some serious issues when it comes to social and economic rights, to put it mildly. It was written by ruthlessly anti-labor neoliberal intellectuals from the Pinochet dictatorship and enshrined the idea that public services and fundamental social rights are subservient to the market and private interests. A new constitution could therefore open the doors for a radical transformation of Chilean society.

The "mojigato" (sanctimonious hypocrite) Jaime Guzman went to mass every day. His piety did not keep him from enabling the regime of butcher Pinochet.

SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER
Jaime Guzman, the architect of the current Chilean constitution, was given the authority to write a new constitution in 1979 by none other than General Augusto Pinochet, the brutal fascist dictator who murdered and tortured thousands of union leaders and leftists during his 17 years in power. The Pinochet dictatorship—put in place and supported by the United States—instituted a vicious pro-free market agenda which turned the country into a social experiment. The dreams of market fundamentalists such as Milton Friedman, who had imagined a society with a minimal role for the state, could finally be implemented without popular resistance.

Among other things, this meant creating an economy in which every social service and governmental program could be subcontracted, privatized, and severely deregulated. Everything—education, social security, health care, natural resources (even drinking water)—was to become a business to be sold to the highest bidder, or sometimes just the bidder who was related to the generals. Poverty rates exploded and inequality soared—while some people made enormous amounts of money.

In 1989, a combination of mass protests and rising international condemnation forced the dictatorship to call for elections. But the Chilean oligarchy—which consists of the traditional land-owning aristocracy and newer generations of capitalist families—knew that though the dictator would fall, their constitution would stay intact. This meant, as Guzman predicted, that any significant changes would be rendered impossible. Thirty years later, Chile continued to have an extremely high level of economic inequality, with the highest income gap in the OECD countries.

A DECADE OF MOBILIZATION

The recent uprisings for change in Chile—the background for the constitutional convention—are the culmination of more than ten years of growing social movements and mass mobilizations.

The police are now using methods learned from Israeli trainers in "riot control": shooting protesters in the eyes.

In 2006, hundreds of thousands of high school students shut down their schools, demanding a radical overhaul of the economically segregated K-12 education system. In 2011, that same generation, now older, shut down all major universities in the country for a whole year, mobilizing close to a million people in the streets around similar demands.

They added a few new ones as well, such as free higher education for all. The government responded each time by repressing the protests, and then agreeing to incremental and insufficient improvements that fell far short of the students’ demands. At the same time, the Chilean feminist movement began consolidating around demands for the right to abortion (outlawed under the constitution) and against gender-based violence.

Workers’ rights were also at the root of the historic protest movements. The obscenely low pensions most Chilean workers receive came to the fore as an issue in 2016 with the formation of the No Más AFP (Asociación de Fondos de Pensiones, or Association of Pension Funds) movement, spearheaded by labor leaders and social movement activists. Large protests—led in part by unions—demanded decent pensions and an end to the privatized social security system.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, dozens of peaceful protests around these and other issues were organized and purportedly progressive governments were elected. But nothing seemed to work in getting the ruling elites to let go of the economic and traditionalist Christian models they had imposed by force in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The constitution continued to serve as an unbendable bulwark against all the efforts and wishes of the majority of the population.

THE TIPPING POINT: 2019’S ‘SOCIAL EXPLOSION’

In October 2019, when subway fees were suddenly increased, high school students refused to pay and began jumping the turnstiles en masse. Protest momentum had been building for decades. When the spark hit, there was a social explosion, an “estallido social,” as the protest movement has come to be known in Chile.

Thousands of people of all ages across the country joined in, refusing to go to work, blocking major streets, and even burning buildings, buses, and subway stations. By October 25, in what has since been named “Chile’s largest protest,” there were more than 1.2 million people in the streets of the capital city of Santiago alone.

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In this context of generalized resistance, the Chilean political class began to panic. And then, all the major labor unions announced a general strike on November 12. The two-day general strike, which included the powerful mineworkers’ union federation, the public teachers’ union, and the port workers, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Just three days later, on November 15, representatives from most major political parties agreed to call for a referendum on a constitutional convention, opening the door to finally putting an end to Pinochet’s constitution.

But following the historic success of the November 2020 vote for constitutional change, a big question remained: who would be chosen to write this new constitution? The political parties and ruling elites still had an opportunity to prevent any major changes to the political and economic system by getting conservative delegates elected to the convention. And they would do whatever it took to make sure of that.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END: THE MAY ELECTION

Ruling elites spent millions of dollars supporting neoliberal candidates. All they needed to get was one-third of the convention delegates, which would be enough to veto any decisions and thus prevent any significant departures from the current system. Most analysts and experts predicted this would be the case.

But when the results started to come out on May 16, there was a shockwave felt across the country, as the old regime crumbled to the ground. The right wing won only 24 percent, far less than the 33 percent they needed for a veto. Combined, the traditional establishment parties overall only got 40 percent. The remaining 60 percent was won by a combination of representatives of indigenous tribes, left parties, and left-wing independents.

“The important thing is that those who voted expect that this great process will take us out of the misery in which the governing political parties have kept us since the dictatorship,” said Claudio Sagardias, the president of the Confederation of Commerce Workers, which represents retail and grocery store workers.

THE STAKES FOR WORKERS

When it comes to the implications for workers, let us start by stating the obvious. The privatized and economically segregated pension, education, and health systems are over—it is unlikely that there will be a two-thirds majority willing to vote to maintain the way in which these social programs function today—the delegates have a clear mandate and the numbers to implement sweeping changes on these issues.

Less clear is what will happen with unions and workers’ rights. The current constitution and legal system are extremely hostile to the formation of powerful majority unions. Perhaps the most glaring example is the enshrinement of “freedom of unionization” as the conceptual framework in which organizing rights are understood. This means that unionizing is an individual choice instead of a collective right, which in turn guarantees that every worker can join—and leave—a union whenever they want.

Similar to the impact of right-to-work laws in the United States, “freedom of unionization” has made it very easy for employers to incentivize and pressure workers to leave unions and very difficult for labor organizations to sustain or build their membership and their power.

Secondly, labor unions are circumscribed by the constitution to a particular employer. Under Chilean law, an employer can make each of its workplaces a separate legal entity. This means unions can be limited to one workplace and not allowed to represent or bargain on behalf of other workplaces, even those managed by the same corporation. 


There are many more examples of how the legal framework designed by the dictatorship goes to great lengths to prevent unions from wielding power. As a result, many, if not most, labor unions in Chile are fragmented, weak, and short-lived. When a progressive government recently attempted to pass labor legislation that would have significantly strengthened unions, it was ruled unconstitutional.

HOPE FOR LABOR

Just as the current constitution drastically stifles the potential power of Chilean workers, a new constitution could open the door for a radical transformation of the labor movement and increased bargaining power for Chile’s working class:

• It could declare the right to strike a fundamental right of all workers.
• It could establish employment as a basic right, and grant just-cause protections to all private sector workers.
• It could determine unions to be the sole representative entities at a workplace (as opposed to the current model, which allows employers to create competing pro-company “unions”, undermining the bargaining power of actual independent unions).
• It could enshrine the right to unionize as essential and inalienable.
• Finally, it could institute sectoral bargaining for all industries, radically increasing the bargaining power of workers. This would allow them to negotiate together with all the employees in their industry in much larger numbers and therefore with much greater leverage.

Any of these things by themselves would fundamentally improve the organizing opportunities for workers in Chile. All of them together could transform Chile into a beacon of worker and union rights for the entire region. What is undeniable is that this fight is just beginning, and Chilean workers and unions will need to do everything in their power to make sure this opportunity becomes a reality.

Yoel Bitran is an organizer with Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum based in Santiago, Chile.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

ANDRE VLTCHEK | ALL IMAGES BY THE AUTHOR

The World is Turning, Don’t Let it Turn Away
Do not take the Latin American revolutions for granted.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hey inspired the entire Planet. They brought hope to every corner of our scarred Earth. But now they are themselves in need of our support.

If left alone, they would thrive for decades and centuries. But the Empire is once again on the offensive. It is shaking with fury. It is ready to invade, to smash, burn to ashes all the hopes, all that which had been achieved.

Don’t believe in the “common wisdom” which proclaims that the rulers of the world simply “closed their eyes” more than a decade ago; that George W. Bush was “too busy” ravishing the Middle East, therefore “allowing” most of the Latin American countries to “sneak away” from the iron grip of the Empire.

Such “analyses” are as patronizing as they are false. The Empire never sleeps! What Latin America now has was built on its daring, its sweat, its genius and its blood – it fought against the Empire, courageously, for decades, losing its best sons and daughters. It fought for freedom, for justice and socialism.

The Empire was not “looking the other way”. It was looking straight south, in fury, but for some time it was too confused, too astounded, too shocked at what it was witnessing. Its “slaves” had risen and taken power back into their own hands. They showed to the entire world what freedom really is.

For some time, the Empire was paralyzed by rage and unable to act.

The Empire’s undeniable property, Latin America, inhabited by “un-people” born only in order to supply cheap labor and raw materials to the rich part of the world, was suddenly, proudly and publicly, breaking its shackles, declaring itself free, demanding respect. Its natural resources were now used to feed its own people, to build social housing, create public transportation systems, construct hospitals, schools and public parks.

But after the first wave of panic, the Empire began to do what it does best – it began the killings.

It attempted to overthrow the Venezuelan government in 2002, but it failed. The Venezuelan people rose, and, critically, so did the Venezuelan military, defending then President Hugo Chavez. The Empire tried again and again, and it is trying until now. Trying and failing!

“We are at war”, I was told by one of the editors of Caracas-based television network, TeleSUR, for which I made several documentary films. “We are literally working under the barrel of cannons”.

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]s. Tamara Pearson, an Australian revolutionary journalist and activist, who recently moved from Venezuela to Ecuador, explained the difficult situation in Venezuela, a country that is under constant attack from both the US, and the local comprador elites:

“People are suffering a lot. Basic food prices are high, much medicine is unavailable, and various services aren’t working. On one level, people are used to this – the business owners would cause shortages and blame the government before each of the many elections. But usually it’s less intense and lasts just a few months. But this has been going on and getting worse, since Chavez died – over two years now. There is no doubt that the US, and more so, Venezuelan and Colombian elites and business owners are a huge or even the main factor…”  

All of revolutionary Latin America is “screaming”.

As I described in two of my recent books, “Exposing Lies Of The Empire” ⁽¹⁾  and “Fighting Against Western Imperialism”, the Empire is using similar destabilization strategy against all countries that are resisting its deadly embrace.

Its propaganda is mighty and omnipresent. CNN and FOX TV are beamed into almost all major hotels and airports of Latin America, even in some revolutionary countries like Ecuador. Almost all major newspapers of the continent, including those in Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina, are controlled by the right wing business elites. Almost all of the foreign news coverage comes from European and North American sources, making the Latin American public totally confused about Islam, China, Russia, South Africa, Iran, even about their own neighbors.

The local elites continue to serve foreign interests, their loyalties firmly with North America and Europe.

Every left wing Latin American government has been facing bizarre protests and subversive acts conducted by the elites. Destabilization tactics have been clearly designed in far away capitals. They were mass-produced and therefore almost identical to those the West has been using against China, Russia, South Africa, and other “rebellious” nations.

Propaganda, disinformation and spreading of confusion have been some of the mightiest tools of the fascist right wing.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO EXPAND TO MAX. RESOLUTION

[dropcap]“Economic uncertainty”[/dropcap]
is an extremely powerful weapon. It was used first in Chile, in the 1973 coup against socialist President Salvador Allende. Pro-Western Chilean elites and businessmen created food shortages, and then blamed it on the socialist government, using El Mercurio and other daily newspapers as their propaganda tools.

Peter Koenig, former World Bank economist and now prominent dissident and critic of the world neoliberal regime, wrote for this essay:

“Today Madame Bachelet, the socialist President of Chile has a hard time fighting against the El Mercurio-inspired Chilean oligarchs. They will not let go. Recently they invited the World Bank to assess the school reform package proposed by Bachelet, basically to return universities to the public sector. Of course, the ‘upper class’ of Chileans knew that the World Bank would come up with nothing less than predicting an economic disaster if the reform is approved. As a result, Bachelet made concessions – which on the other hand are not accepted by professors and teachers. It’s the first step towards chaos – and chaos is what the empire attempts to implant in every country where they strive for ‘regime change’.”

But one of the “dirtiest” of their weapons is the accusation of corruption. Corrupt pro-Western politicians and individuals who misused tens, even hundreds of millions of dollars of the peoples money and destroyed the economies of their countries by taking unserviceable loans that kept disappearing into their deep pockets, are now pointing their soiled fingers at relatively clean governments, in countries like Chile and Argentina. Everything in the “Southern Cone” and in Brazil is now under scrutiny.

Peter Koenig (who co-authored a book “The World Order and Revolution!: Essays from the Resistance” with leading Canadian international lawyer Christopher Black and me) shows how important it is, for the Empire, the destabilization of Brazil, one of the key members of BRICS:

“Brazil being a member of the BRICS is particularly in the crosshairs of the empire – as the BRICS have to be destabilized, divided – they are becoming an economic threat to Washington. Brazil is key for the non-Asian part of the BRICS. A fall of Brazil would be a major blow to the cohesion of the BRICS.”

There are totally different standards for pro-Western fascist politicians and for those from the Left. The Left can get away with nothing, while the Right has been getting away literally with mass murder and with the disappearance of tens of billions of dollars.

It is, of course, the common strategy in all the client states of the West. For instance, one of the most corrupt countries on earth, Indonesia, tolerates absolute sleaze and graft from former generals, but when progressive socialist Muslim leader, Abdurrahman Wahid, became the President, he was smeared and removed in a short time, on “corruption” charges.

After centuries of the Monroe Doctrine, after mass murder committed in “Latin” America first by Europeans and then by North Americans and their rich local butlers, it will take long decades to fully eradicate the corruption, because corruption comes with the moral collapse of the colonial powers and the local elites. Financial greed is only its byproduct.

The great pre-colonial cultures of what are now Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia did not have corruption. Corruption was injected by Western colonialism.

And now, corruption under left wing, revolutionary governments still exists, since it is difficult to root out all the vermin at once, but it is incomparably smaller than under the previous fascist right wing cliques!

***

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he rich in Latin America are heartless, servile (to the Empire) and greedy in the extreme. Latin America has still the most unequal distribution of wealth on earth. True, it is much richer (and even its poor are richer, with some exceptions of Central America, Peru or Paraguay) than Africa or even Southeast Asia, but this cannot be used as an excuse.

Even the most progressive socialist governments now in power would never dare to touch, to slap the private enterprises too hard. From this angle, China with its central planning and controlled economy is much more socialist than Ecuador or Bolivia.

A few days ago, as I was flying from Ecuador to Peru, I read that the number of multimillionaires in Latin America was actually increasing, and so is the social gap between the rich and the rest of the societies. The article was using some anecdotal evidence, saying that, for instance, in Chile alone, now, more Porsche sports cars are sold than in the whole of Latin America few years ago. As if confirming it, I noticed a Porsche auto dealership next to my hotel in Asuncion, the capital of the second poorest country in South America. I asked for numbers, but the Porsche manager refused to supply them, still proudly claiming that his company was “doing very well”.

So what do they – the elites” – really want? They have money, plenty of money. They have luxury cars, huge estates in their own countries, and condominiums abroad. What more?

As in Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia or Kenya, and all over the West, they want power. They want to feel unique. They want to be admired.

The Socialist governments allow them to stay rich. But they force them to share their wealth and above all, they shame them. They are also trying to minimize the gap – through education, free medical care and countless social projects.

That is, of course, unacceptable to the elites. They want it all, as they always had it. And to have it all, they are ready to murder, to side with the darkest foreign interests, even to commit treason.

“The Latin American elites want it all, as they always had it. And to have it all, they are ready to murder, to side with the darkest foreign interests, even to commit treason…”

Increasingly, the interests of the local elites are very closely linked to foreign interests – those of the Empire and those of the private sector.

As I was told in Ecuador, by Ms. Paola Pabón, Assembly Member representing Pichincha area:

“Behind the involvement of the US, are some ex-bankers such as the Isaiah brothers, who lost power here, escaped courts and went to live in the United States, but there are also huge economic powers such as Chevron. It means that there are not only [official] political interests of the US, but also private, economic ones.”

Predominantly, the local elites are using their countries as milking cows, with very little or zero interest in the well being of their people.

That is why their protests against Latin American revolutions are thoroughly hypocritical. They are not fighting for improvements in their countries, they never did, but for their own, selfish personal interests. Those shouts and the pathetic hunger strikes of the “opposition” in Venezuela may appear patriotic, but only thanks to the propaganda abilities of the Western mass media.

The elites would do anything to make all revolutions, all over Latin America, fail and collapse. They are even spending their own money to make it happen.

They know that if they manage to remove progressive forces from power, they could rule once again, totally unopposed, as their counterparts do in all other client states of the West – in the Middle East, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

The temptation is tremendous. Most of the elites in Latin America still remember well, how it feels, how it tastes – to control their countries unopposed, and with full support from the West.

***

[dropcap]E[/dropcap]duardo Galeano, the great Uruguayan writer and revolutionary thinker, once told me: “I keep repeating to all those new leaders of Latin America: “Comrades, do not play with poor people’s hopes! Hope is all they have.”

It appears that hope has finally been taken seriously, in Bolivia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua and elsewhere.

It was also taken seriously in Honduras, but hope was crushed by the US-orchestrated coup. In Paraguay, under a semi-progressive priest who preached liberation theology, hope was taken semi-seriously, but even that was too much in the country that had been ruled, for decades, by fascist cliques. In 2002, after a constitutional coup followed by an appalling massacre of predominantly indigenous people, fascism returned.

After these two setbacks, Latin America shook, but kept moving forward. Hugo Chavez died, or was murdered by the North, depending which theory you subscribe to. His demise was a tremendous blow to the entire continent, but still, the continent kept moving. “Here, nobody surrenders!” Chavez shouted, dying, but proud.

“President Correa of Ecuador is one of very few leaders of the “original project””, said Paola Pabón. “Lula in Brazil will not be able to stand for reelection, anymore, mainly due to corruption scandals. Mujica is not in power, anymore, and Cristina Fernandez will be retiring. Evo Morales does not have regional influence, and even Maduro does not have… For this reason, Ecuador is so important, strategically. If ‘they’ hit us, if there is a successful coup, it would be a tremendous victory for them, to destroy a President with regional importance; who speaks for the region… and also, because Ecuador is one country where the government actually functions well.”

Walter Bustos, who used to work for this government, is alarmed by developments in Ecuador and the entirety of Latin America. Both he and Paula Pabón realize how fragile the Latin American revolutions are. While driving with me to an indigenous area of Riobamba, Walter lamented:

“In case there is a military coup in Ecuador, the difference between here and Venezuela would be enormous: while in Venezuela, Chavez incorporated the military into his revolution, in the case of a citizens’ revolution in Ecuador, we have no security; we cannot count on support of the military in case there is some armed, political or economic attack against us.”

Hugo Chavez was not only a great revolutionary, but also a tremendous strategist. He knew that any great revolution has to be fought, won, and then defended. Winning the battle is never enough. One has to consolidate forces, and uphold the victory. Chavez was first thinker, and then soldier.

Correa, Morales, Fernandez go forward, brave, proud but unprotected. Under their governments, the lives of ordinary people improve tremendously. That is what matters to them. They are decent and honest beings, unwilling to dirty themselves with intrigues, speculations and conspiracy theories.

But their great success will not gain them any recognition from the Empire, or from their own elites. The success of socialism is the worst nightmare for rulers of the world and their local butlers.

This is how President Salvador Allende died in 1973. He dismissed all rumors, and then all warnings that the coup was coming. “I am not going to arrest people just because of some suspicion that they may do something”, he used to say. After the coup took place, he died proudly, a true hero, committing suicide by marching towards the helicopter gunships and fighter jets that were bombarding the Presidential Palace of La Moneda. But he was not the only victim. As a result of the coup, thousands of Chileans died, and tens of thousands were savagely tortured and raped. Chile did not die, but went into a horrific coma, from which it only recently managed to recover.

Henry Kissinger summarized the moral corruption/collapse of his country’s regime when he uttered his memorable phrase:

“I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.”

Despite his great intentions, President Salvador Allende failed his people. He underestimated the bestiality of the Empire, and the result were millions of broken lives.

Since then, the Empire’s selfishness and brutality only evolved. The more successful leaders like Correa become, the more real is the danger of a coup – of a devastating, deadly attack from the North, and subversion from within.

The fragility of Latin American revolutions is obvious. The elites cannot be trusted. They showed on many occasions how far they are willing to go, committing treason, collaborating with the West against their own nations: in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, Paraguay and Bolivia, to name just a few cases.

Appeasing both the elites and the Empire, while fighting for social justice and true independence, is impossible. The elites want to have full control of their countries, while the Empire demands full submission. No compromise can be reached. History speaks clearly about that. And the Empire has demonstrated on countless occasions that Latin American democracy would be respected only if the people vote the way that suits Washington.

Latin America has to learn how to defend itself, for the sake of its people.

Its closer and closer cooperation with China and Russia is essential. Coherent regional defense agreements should follow.

The next few years will be crucial. The revolutions have to be institutionalized; they cannot depend only on the charisma of its leaders.

Constant sabotages and coup attempts, like those in Venezuela, should not be tolerated. They lead to chaos and to uncertainty. They break countries economically and socially.

It is clear what the Empire and its servitors are doing: they are trying to push Latin American revolutionary countries against the wall, as they pushed, in the past, North Korea. They are trying to make them “react”, so they could say: “You see, this is true socialism, this defensive, hermitic and paranoid system.”

The path will not be easy. It will be dangerous and long.

Latin America can only survive through international cooperation and solidarity. It would also have to fight legally, at home and abroad. Those who are committing treason and those who are interrupting development of the country should face justice.

The left wing governments that are ruling South American countries won democratic elections: much more democratic than those in Europe and the United States. If the individuals and groups act against the expressed will of their own people, they should be taken to courts.

If a powerful country tortures other countries and shows total spite for their people, it should face an international legal system. The United States demonstrated, countless times, that it considers itself well above the law. It even forced several government in Latin America and elsewhere, to give its military personnel immunity. One of these countries is Paraguay, historically flooded with CIA, DEA and FBI agents.

In order to legally restrain the Empire, huge international pressure would have to be built. Like in the case of Managua, which legally sued the US for many acts of terror committed against Nicaragua. The Empire will most likely refuse to accept any guilty verdict. But the pressure has to be on!

All this would be meaningless without dedicated, constant coverage of the events by independent or opposition media, be they huge new state-funded networks like RT, TeleSur, CCTV or Press TV, of progressive independent media like Counterpunch, VNN, TGP, or ICH. It is essential that Latin Americans demand information from these sources, instead of consuming the toxic lies spread through CNN en Español, FOX, EFE and other right wing Western sources.

The battle for the Latin American people and for their freedom is on. Do not get fooled, it has been on for quite some time, and it is very tough fight.

Latin America is one of the fronts of the integrated fight for the survival of our Planet.

People who admire this part of the world, all those who have been inspired by Latin American revolutions, should participate in the struggle.

The best sons and daughters of this continent are now fighting in their own, quixotic way, as they always did: frontally, with exposed heart, totally unprotected. But their fight is just, and they are in this battle in order to defend the people.

Their opponents are rich, deceitful and brutal. But they are also selfish and they fight only for their own interests. They are not loved by their nations. If they lose, Latin America will win!

Those countries defending themselves against the Empire should unite, before it’s too late. Now as Latin America is rising from its knees, it becomes clear who are its foes and who are its real friends, real brothers and sisters!

This scarred but stunning continent of courageous poets, of dreamers and revolutionaries should not be allowed to fall. In Caracas, Quito and La Paz, they are fighting for all humanity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

[box type=”bio”] Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. His latest books are: “Exposing Lies Of The Empire” and “Fighting Against Western Imperialism”.  Discussion with Noam Chomsky: On Western Terrorism. Point of No Return is his critically acclaimed political novel. Oceania – a book on Western imperialism in the South Pacific. His provocative book about Indonesia: “Indonesia – The Archipelago of Fear”. Andre is making films for teleSUR and Press TV. After living for many years in Latin America and Oceania, Vltchek presently resides and works in East Asia and the Middle East. He can be reached through his website or his Twitter.[/box]

⁽¹⁾ This book has been designated as a special book selection by the editors of The Greanville Post. 

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[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he developed world is just crazy in love with the “miracle of Chile,” as expressed by Milton Friedman some years ago. The accolades are everywhere, ranked as a “high-income economy” by the World Bank.  The country has the strongest sovereign bond rating in South America. It is a role model for neoliberalism.

Neoliberalism is the Milton Friedman school of thought that the best government is the least government. After all, people can take care of themselves and make much more money when they are free to make decisions in a deregulated free marketplace. The operative formula is: Less government equals more profits for the private sector. As such, Chile represents the epitome of neoliberalism, and the likely future direction of America.

The “miracle of Chile” is absolutely true, if you are already wealthy. 

However, once the curtain is pulled back, Chile’s complexities defy the blaring of trumpets for neoliberalism’s goddess of capitalism.

Chile is a “plantation economy,” similar in many respects to the plantation economy in the U.S. South during the 19^th century. At its peak, there were 4-5 million slaves owned by only 3.8% of the people. The slave owners bought slaves, housed them and fed them. 

Students protest the enormous indebtedness they have to bear after graduation, and the high price of a college education. Sounds familiar? The capitalist disease causes the same symptoms everywhere.

Whereas today, in Chile, the moniker “slave” has been changed to “worker,” and rather than provide room and board like 19^th century slave owners did, they now provide a stipend of $500 per month for the workers to provide their own room and board.  Thus, removing the stigma of slave ownership.  It is estimated that one-half of all Chileans make less than $500 per month. Thus, the slave market is rather sizeable, measurably more so than in the United States of America in 1850. 

Chile’s wealth is so top heavy in favor of so few that it resembles the Leaning Tower of Pisa, ready to topple at any moment.  Conglomerates and/or extremely wealthy families own everything from pharmacies to logging to fishing rights to retail stores to minerals to grocery stores. It is a nation-state of concentrated ownership. The country is likely a snapshot of where America is headed in the years ahead, a pure corporate state. After all, the middle class is already under attack.

The Brutal Truth about the Miracle of Chile 

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”), “Chile is the OECD country with the greatest difference between the rich and poor,” as well as the 4^th poorest country of the 34 member states.

“FREE EDUCATION!” Students demand a return to the tradition of high-quality, free college education.

“… Chile’s inequality is still among the highest in the world (its Gini coefficient is 52.1), and non-income dimensions of well-being, such as health and education, are also skewed in favor of the rich,” Tamar Manuelyan Atinc, et al, Can Education Reform Address Inequality and Middle Class Frustration? An Experiment in Chile,” Brookings, May 9, 2014.

Camila Vallejo, the National College Students Federation (FECH) president, and a Communist, has been among the best known leaders of the student movement.

The Pinochet administration, 1973-90, set the tone for worker slavery by adopting Milton Friedman’s neoliberalism. Pinochet abolished worker unions. The “Chicago Boys” first course of action, after Allende, the deposed president who was killed (supposedly he committed suicide in the presidential palace) was to nose-dive the economy by manipulating the monetary tools, making it easy to undercut worker rights. Workers are always most vulnerable during recessions.

According to Barbara Figueroa, president of the Chilean Confederation of Workers (“CUT”) workers have waited “for over 30 years” for labor reforms to take place following the right-wing dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, who implemented neoliberal reforms which decimated worker rights and regulations (Source: Chile Workers Push for Labor Reforms, Telesur TV, Sept. 4, 2014).

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Economically Chile’s middle class is very close to the lower class, making their situation precarious.  The middle class is defined as those who make more than $500 per month in Chile.

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According to Gonzalo Durán, an economist and researcher at Fundación Sol, a non-profit organization that focuses on labor issues,   “…90 percent of working Chileans make less than 650,000 pesos per month, totaling USD 1,300.” In other words, “Nine out of ten workers in Chile make less than the average minimum salary in developed countries.” (Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs).

Yes, nine out of ten workers, aka: slaves, in Chile make less than the average minimum salary in developed countries. This leaves one out of ten that makes a living wage that removes them from the risk of slipping on a banana peel and falling into the pit of abject poverty. 

According to Emmanuelle Bazoret, University of Chile, “Mid-level income is very low in Chile,” Bazoret said. “As a result the distance between the lower classes and the middle class is very small. Their precarious economic position makes them susceptible to social decline due to unemployment, illness or poverty in old age,” Chile’s Middle Class Survives on Shaky Ground, Deutsche Welle, 2014. The middle class is defined as those who make more than $500 per month in Chile.

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Many of the same families that held the country in their fist in colonial days are still prominent throughout the economy, media, politics, academia, diplomacy, culture, and other important areas. They still literally own the nation. 

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Yet, all of the neoliberal data collectors of the world, like the World Bank and the IMF, boast about how rapidly Chile’s GDP per capita and income per capita, at $14,000, have zoomed upwards. However, upon closer inspection, pulling the curtain back, it is suggested that if the top 1% to 10% is removed from the income per capita data, which data itself is very, very suspect, this then leaves average income per capita in Chile at approximate $4000 rather than the $14,000, which is inclusive of the top 1% to 10%. Coincidentally, $4000 is very close to the minimum wage of $380 per month. Try supporting a family on $380/month!

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Twenty-one percent of Chileans live in poverty. López, Figueroa y Gutiérrez in 2013 analyzed the distribution of income in Chile but used the database from the Internal Tax Service. The authors observed: “Evidence exists that the measures of inequality that are actually available, which are based in household survey data, under-estimate the real concentration of income, ” Sarah Gammage, et al, Poverty, Inequality and Employment in Chile, International Labor Office, Geneva, Switzerland, 2014.

“The study by de López, Figueroa y Gutiérrez (2013) confirms the analysis that the income distribution in Chile is greatly affected by the lack of information about the “super rich” in the CASEN household survey. The authors conclude that the richest 1 per cent of the income distribution is significantly underestimated using the CASEN,” Ibid.

“…the evidence presented here underscores that income inequality has risen over the course of the 1990s and 2000s… only 22 per cent of workers hold what could be referred to as a high quality job,” Ibid.

Only 22% of Chileans hold what could be referred to as a high quality job. This leaves 78% of the population holding low quality jobs, which is where slavery begins and ends. Yes, 78%.

As a result, it is just short of remarkable that Chile is held in such high esteem by various agencies of the world, but on the other hand, who’s providing the numbers? Therefore, is the data provided to the “world” relevant at all? 

Chile’s Students – A Catalyst for Change

“Forty years after the coup headed by Gen. Augusto Pinochet, Chile remains a wounded, divided nation where the past lives in the present,” Enduring Rifts: Chile 40 Years After the Pinochet Coup, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Nov. 11, 2013.

The students in Chile have taken to the streets in protest of a privatized educational system that has priced them out of the school market. As well, their activities are likely the symptom of much deeper problems like severe inequality and lack of opportunity for upward mobility amidst the rows and rows of homes for the poor in townships hidden from the glistening streets of Santiago.

“According to the NGO Un Techo Para Chile, shantytowns are settlements located in areas often occupied irregularly, where urbanization is limited or inexistent. The access to daily and basic needs such as drinkable water or sewer systems is dramatically limited. Access to quality health care and education are not readily available,” Women Lead in Chile’s Shantytowns, The Santiago Times, Dec. 12, 2009. 

According to Noam Titelman, president-elect of the Catholic University Student Federation (FEUC), the fuel that sparked Chile’s student movement was “the accumulation of inequality, injustice and hopelessness.” (Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs). 

When a society fails its people, hopelessness ends up in the streets.

Neoliberalism is an economy theory that works extremely well, if you are already rich; however, for the rest of society, the jury is still out. But, if Chile is the prime example of how neoliberalism works at its best, they should not hold their breath.

Robert McChesney, editor of the Monthly Review, said this of neoliberalism: “It is capitalism with the gloves off.”

But, maybe more to the point, Fran Lebowitz, the NYC author and social critic had this to say about neoliberalism: “In the Soviet Union, capitalism triumphed over communism. In this country, capitalism triumphed over democracy.”

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Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at roberthunziker@icloud.com

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