“If Chile was the birthplace of neoliberalism, it will also be its grave.” That was said by former student leader Gabriel Boric. Today he is president. Back in 2019, he was central when over 1.2 million Chileans took to the streets of the capital and shouted for social change. “Chile has woken up” read the many posters. Chileans gathered in the Italian square, or Plaza Italia, in 2019. The masses took to the streets after subway fares went up, but the demonstrations evolved into social injustice and demands to replace the constitution created by a dictatorship. Photo: Esteban Felix / AP The following year, the people voted yes to replace the 41-year-old military dictatorship constitution, which most of all protects private property rights and which has crushed all the power of trade unions. It was dictator Augusto Pinochet who introduced a neoliberal economy in the country. Drinking water is also privatized. – Today’s constitution was written by the military dictatorship with an explicit purpose: To create what General Pinochet called a “limited democracy”, says Yngve Heiret, research fellow in social geography at the University of Oslo. Today’s military constitution in Chile limits policies that intervene in the market with the aim of creating a welfare state similar to what we have in Norway, says Yngve Heiret, research fellow in social geography at the University of Oslo Photo: University of Oslo – He envisioned that Chile would become a democracy again, but the room for action of later democratic governments was to be limited. It should not be possible for future governments from the left to carry out political reforms that challenge market forces and private property rights, says Heiret, who is writing his doctoral thesis on Norwegian investments in Chile. In March this year, leftist Gabriel Boric (36) was elected president of Chile. Boric was handed the draft constitution in July this year. Soon it will be voted on. Photo: JAVIER TORRES / AFP This was possible because many people supported the dictatorship in Chile, says professor and Latin American expert Benedicte Bull at the University of Oslo. – After a referendum gave the go-ahead to democracy in 1989, they tried to achieve as little conflict-filled transition as possible, she says. The constitution was allowed to stand, but was gradually changed. – In Chile, large parts of the business community supported the dictator, even though he cut the tariff to 10 percent overnight and destroyed too much local industry. It is because they saw him as the man who saved Chile from communism, says Bull. Professor Benedikte Bull at the University of Oslo believes that the draft constitution has explosive power and can make Chile a leader in the fight against climate change. Photo: Arnt Stefansen / news – The constitution that was written under Pinochet privatizes most things and limits the state. It is perhaps the very worst in water management. In Chile there is a huge water crisis, but the state has limited opportunities to do something because the water is privately owned, she says. The indigenous Mapuche group is fighting to get back the land that was taken from them during the last dictatorship in Chile. Here in protest against the previous president of the country. The legacy of a bloody dictatorship The Chilean people want an end to social inequality and expensive, private services – and education, which originate from neoliberal economists such as Milton Friedman in the 70s. Now a draft constitution has been stitched together by an equal number of women and men, as well as representatives of ten indigenous groups. The assembly has been led by a female president with a background from the indigenous Mapuche population. The representative of the Mapuche indigenous people, Elisa Loncón, holds up the draft of the new constitution in Chile when it was presented to Congress in Santiago on July 4 this year. Photo: JAVIER TORRES / AFP In a referendum, it will be accepted or rejected on Sunday 4 September. – It is not possible to create a better country, which is more fair and inclusive, with the legacy of a bloody dictatorship, says Maria Soledad Marambio Castro, author and professor of Latin American literature at the University of Bergen. – In the constitution from 1980, it became possible to abuse people by privatizing life itself: the pension, health and education, says Chilean Castro and continues: – For far too long, Chile has been a country that does not care about its people and that produces citizens of first and second class. Professor Castro believes the new draft constitution sends an important message to all governments that still cling to the capitalist way of producing goods. – The earth is tired, and the same will happen to the people. They will rise up and fight for something better. Chilean Maria Soledad Marambio Castro is professor of Latin American literature at the University of Bergen. She believes the current constitution in Chile, created by a bloody military dictatorship, makes it difficult to create a better society in her home country. Photo: Frode Ims/University of Bergen – The world’s first woke constitution In the new draft constitution, the land has its own rights. The animals get their feelings enshrined in the constitution. The state must support the circular economy, local markets and short-travel goods. All public institutions must have half female employees. The right to self-determined abortion and a life without violence is enshrined in the constitution. While indigenous rights are more strongly protected, the rights of sexual minorities have received stronger protection. Some would call this the world’s first woke constitution, says Professor Benedicte Bull at the University of Oslo. The constitution uses words such as “hen” and “self-defined gender”. – The constitution is a mixture of indigenous ideas and western environmental philosophy, says Bull, who explains that the constitution is at the forefront in many ways. She believes it has explosive power and can make Chile a leader in the climate fight. – It is quite fresh in a country as conservative as Chile, she says. – It may also help to explain why the opinion polls indicate that the new constitution will not be approved, she says. – Completely experimental climate scientist Karen O’Brien at the University of Oslo believes that the draft constitution is necessary for man to have a new relationship with nature. She hopes the document can become an example for other countries to follow. – It is completely experimental. Norway can learn a lot from this constitution. For a real green shift, we need change at all levels, she says and continues: – It is radical and revolutionary, as the American constitution was 235 years ago. Climate researcher Karen O’Brien at the University of Oslo believes that the draft constitution in Chile is an example for other countries to follow in the climate fight. Photo: Private Professor O’Brien, who also works with the UN Nature Panel and is an adviser to the “Center for Climate and Resilience Research” in Chile, believes the draft constitution is very important in terms of climate and loss of biodiversity. It stands in contrast to the current economic model based on the exploitation of natural resources. Water goes from being a “natural resource” to becoming a “common good” in the draft constitution. – It recognizes that the state must be responsible in relation to climate, ecology and animal species, she says. Appeal among star economists This summer, several internationally recognized economists, including the French researcher and author Thomas Piketty, spoke up to defend the new constitutional proposal. Together, they call the constitution visionary and believe it sets a “new global standard for tackling the climate crisis, economic uncertainty and sustainable development”. For the first time in history, care work and women’s health are recognized as cornerstones of the future economy, says the letter. The central bank also has a mandate to protect nature and its employees. Among the researchers in the petition was Norwegian Kristian Stokke, professor of social geography at the University of Oslo. – The constitutional proposal opens up for a more real democracy and for a socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable development, he says. Chile is affected by water shortages in several places in the country. There is a lot of tension about whether the water should be protected from private companies in the new draft constitution. Here is the farmer Segundo Aballay who lost several of his animals due to lack of water. Photo: IVAN ALVARADO / Reuters – A feminist constitution If the draft constitution is adopted in the referendum on Sunday, it will still take time before all the benefits become a reality for the people of Chile, says feminist, activist and politician Gloria Maira Vargas in Santiago. Nothing is going to change in one day. – It has cost us an almost 40-year-long battle to open up the constitutional amendment. For several decades we had to show how the constitution is an obstacle to democracy, says Vargas. She is patient though. In recent months, the draft constitution has faced a lot of opposition from the right in Chile. Feminist Gloria Maira Vargas has worked for a long time with women’s rights and abortion in Chile. Lies have been spread that the Chilean flag will be changed and that abortion will be legal up to the ninth month of pregnancy. – The draft constitution can be defined as a feminist constitution. It forces the Chileans to override the patriarchy. It also recognizes women’s right to abortion and respects motherhood, says Vargas. – We’ll see how it goes on 4 September. I hope that the Chileans who took to the streets in 2019 will approve it now.
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Referendum on “the world’s first woke constitution” – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
