Welcome to our new article series: The Year of Protests! 2019 has been a year filled with street protests from around the world, and no one has been able to figure out why. In this series, New Voice reporters, Juliette Reyes and Polina Protozanova, will analyze and explain these various protests going on in countries from around the world.

In a region plagued by government corruption and rampant economic woes, Chile was supposed to be the exception. Yet, it seems as though through a series of events that the tranquil nation has officially changed.

What originally started from a minor 4 cent price increase for public transportation fares has escalated into a nationwide anti-government movement, with even highly regarded public officials endorsing their support via social media.

NPR found in a recent report how, when over 1 million Chileans went to protest in Santiago, the city’s mayor, Karla Rubilar, coined it the birth of the “New Chilean Dream.”

Nonetheless, while political activism in Chile is a sign of progress, it is long overdue. For decades, Chile has struggled with extreme wealth inequality, government incompetence, and trails of autocracy within its justice system. Back in 2011, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs conducted a study into the matter, discovering that while the country garnered a GDP of over 250 million with an 8.4% growth rate- 75% of those gains went to the country’s top 10%.

In essence, while UN parameters and global indicators give green lights for Chile’s economic development, the reality within is a far cry from such optimism. The report continues with testimony from Andres Zahler, a scholar at Harvard’s Center for International Development, on how, through dividing GDP per capita by ten separate income groups- the numbers suddenly begin to make sense. Zahler found that when GDP per capita was equated based on each group’s socio-economic power, barely 20% had income sufficient to those of developed countries.

Ironically, it was during 2011 that President Pinera had launched a massive Economic Development plan for the country, which was expected to see fruitful benefits by 2018…

We’re at the end of 2019, and the country is still plunging.

This poses a particular question about whether or not the country has increased amounts of economic growth. Still, most of the population are economically unequal, how can it be the ‘supposed’ role model for its regional neighbors?

The simple answer is that it’s not set a precedent, but is merely a result of it.

Duke University Press elaborates more on this concept in its 2019 publication, The Promise of Infrastructure. In this publication, numerous professors and analysts explore the infrastructure of the human and political relationship that plays with economic development.

Answers for the origins of Chile’s financial demons are revealed. Hannah Appel, argues in her essay, Infrastructural Time, how formerly colonized countries tie infrastructure to the meeting point of modernism and political idealization.

1.2 million people in #Chile took to the streets in #Santiago to protest against a corrupt, neoliberal, US-backed government.



Will the West start calling for sanctions, regime change or “humanitarian” intervention?



Not holding my breath. #ChileProtests pic.twitter.com/klR5xGzTPE — Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) October 26, 2019

She further explains that this perverted form of futurism has resulted in countries such as Equatorial Guinea to dedicate whatever wealth they amass to highly innovative projects such as fancy airports and expensive banking sectors. In short, government officials don’t invest in what the country needs for job growth and sustainability; they invest in what seems ‘advanced’ for the West and for whichever lucrative business contracts.

This is why Chile is in the position it is in right now, President Pinera has offered protestors a re-shuffling of his cabinet and a “New Social Agenda,” promising a higher minimum wage and healthcare price caps.

But this is a classic move corrupt democracies play to silence the opposition. Whether it be Chile throwing temporary social benefits to tame down protestors or Middle Eastern states justifying repressive policies with over-embellished handouts- the cycle of empty socialism ends in a pit of flames.

#LaSerena #Chile – Protesters destroy the statue of the genocidal Francisco de Aguirre in the Open Air Museum of La Serena. #LaMarchaMasGrandeDeChile pic.twitter.com/0QPbmzmBpp — Félix (@FelixCadras) October 25, 2019

Jonathan Franklin, a writer for The Guardian, went to Chile to investigate. He found out how, while the Government was offering terms of compensation, it was after they had shot over 470 protestors- most being students. When he visited several hospitals, he was informed about how such a ‘rich’ country lack necessary medical supplies and was scrambling to recreate as much equipment as humanly possible.

How Chile will emerge from such a crisis is one to be further debated. On the other hand, what is of concern is how this is not the first series of protests. Chile had a set of wrongs before one mere price hike sent protestors to the streets. So why such a long build-up for such a relatively minute problem?

Chile isn’t the only one. Just this week, Lebanon had it’s the most extensive set of protests since 2015 over a new tax on the app Whatsapp. Hong Kong descended into a void of violence and rage over a forced arbitration bill, yet stomached years of being China’s financial puppet.

#Lebanon 🇱🇧: another amazing drone video of the human chain, spanning across the whole Lebanese coast.



The people of Lebanon are united in their call for change, no matter where they're from or what religion they have.#لبنان_ينتفص pic.twitter.com/2CmBjwyVg6 — Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) October 27, 2019

It only begs the question, why now? After years, of decades of tolerated abuse, why are nations in 2019 suddenly rallying up in arms against systems of oppression?

Hopefully, in this upcoming series, Chile and many other countries can serve as case studies that may provide us the answers we are looking for.

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