30 years have passed since Chile’s return to democracy, enough time for the remains of one of the most violent dictatorships of mankind to have been overcome and for a conscious reconstruction of the country. It is important to replace the neoliberal legal mechanisms established as part of the 1980 constitution, introduce a just recognition of the past, install fair public institutions and most importantly restore fundamental human rights that were suppressed and privatised, such as: health, education, social security, housing etc. And of course, real inclusion for women with equal access and conditions in all areas of life, with their fight reflected in the slogan “Democracy in the country, at home and in bed”, promoted by Julieta Kirkwood and Margarita Pisano in the 1980s.
But the path chosen in Chile was not this one, and the happiness promised in the 1989 plebiscite never arrived. Instead the pillars of a modern country were built, showcasing itself to the world as the economic miracle, which was achieved at the expense of the emerging middle class’ indebtedness. Those who were promised access to privatised rights and public services that had to be renegotiated with each government elected to office, including the ‘transantiago’ (the public transport system that serves Santiago). That is where the social unrest lead by students on October 18th began, an all or nothing movement, without fear of reprisal over the rise of the subway fares because It’s not 30 pesos, its 30 years! Feminist protests that had been suppressed for many years began to spread through social media.
However, it is also important to recognise that we also adjusted to the system, which although it privatised fundamental rights it also offered market instruments for material acquisition. Access was limited, but possible however, and the system strengthened individualism and unclassed avarice. Consuming more than other generations had been able to, meant you became someone important in a fake economy that was on the edge of collapse and indebtedness; the so-called Latin American neoliberal paradise where individualism triumphed.
