Only a week after the huge mobilizations in Ecuador that successfully toppled the controversial ‘paquetazo’, the financial plan imposed on the South American nation by the International Monetary Fund, another Latin American country has risen up against the economic policies of its government.
In a country where the minimum wage of 70% of the population barely reaches $700 USD per month, the news from Chilean president Piñera last week that the fare for a metro ticket in Santiago would rise from 800 Chilean Pesos to 830 ($1.15 USD) hit hard. Chile, a nation with a long history of neoliberalism, has been unable to eradicate poverty with privatisation policies, and it is estimated that around 36% of the urban population live in extreme poverty.
The supposed “economic miracle” of Chile, which received its name from American economist Milton Friedman, was a set of liberalising economic measures put in place during the dictatorship of Pinochet, that imposed a free market in the country with the support from the United States. This economic system, that continues to be implemented today in Chile, has benefitted the economic elites whilst creating inequality and suffering for the majority. It’s hardly surprising that thanks to these neoliberal reforms promoted by Friedman, the 90s became the lost decade of Latin America.
