Interview by Denis Rogatyuk

The protests that broke out in Chile this October have seen the biggest wave of social struggle since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship — and a revolt against the political and social order bequeathed by his regime. While a thirty-peso increase in Santiago metro fares was the initial trigger for the protests, the issues driving the rebellion were much wider — as one slogan had it, “It’s Not About Thirty Pesos, It’s About Thirty Years.” Demands have ranged from the resignation of right-wing president Sebastián Piñera to action over the soaring cost of living.

Yet even three decades since the end of Pinochet’s regime, the protests have not only highlighted young people’s economic ills and the destruction of the pension system, but also a yawning democratic deficit. Piñera has unleashed terrifying state repression against the demonstrators, with thousands of arrests and at least twenty-six protesters killed. Conversely, Chilean citizens have built impressive mobilizations from below, with thousands of local initiatives contributing to marches involving over one million people.

On November 15, as a concession to the movement, the government promised a rewriting of the constitution inherited from the Pinochet era, allowing a firmer break with the legacy of the dictatorship. Yet while most parties in Congress back the idea of a new constitution, to be ratified via referendum, many on the Left have sharply criticized the plan, casting it as an elite stitch-up while noting that none of the forces involved in the protest movement are to be consulted on the new document.

One such critic is Hugo Gutiérrez, a lawyer and an MP for the Communist Party of Chile (PCC). He spoke to Denis Rogatyuk about the democratic demands raised by the protest movement, the constitutional reform plan, and the prospect of Piñera being tried for crimes against humanity.