November 29, 2019
We have been in the streets for over a month now, in this beautiful Chilean awakening process. Popular movement, youth and workers gave a nice example on how to fight back. We passed along our strength in struggle to our brothers and sisters in other countries, like Colombia, where banners in protests state “Now Chile is an example to follow.”
By MIT-Chile
Businessmen, their political parties and their government were terrorized and erratic: first, they took the militaries to the streets and declared war; then, they said they were sorry; later, they made a peace agreement and a new Constitution while they keep repressing, torturing, and even killing us; and in this frame, they try to give a series of concessions that they always refused to give (lowering the wages of parliamentarians, increasing pensions, etc.). Today we know that these are not enough, and we demand for much more.
In this frame, the revolution continues. Neither the yellow bests [France] nor Kast’s criminalization speeches; neither the criminal repression nor the attempt to deviate the process by the leaders of the Broad Front, were enough to take us off the streets. The mobilization continues thanks to the thousands of brave ones in the front line. We are closer than ever, and what unites us is the weariness by a neoliberal system that cannot hold itself. What unites us is the hope of defeating decades of abuse, and over all the necessity of taking Piñera down – who has only 12% of approval.
However, despite the different movements among authorities and their institutions, Piñera remains in power. Why? We think it is because of multiple elements combined to avoid this killer to fall. Among them:
The parties of the regime, whether they are left or right-wing, held him there in one or another way. His main defenders, the right-wing, do it with a clearer speech, yet the former Concertación parties, and at some point the Broad Front (FA) and the Communist Party (PC) do it as well. This becomes evident with statements like the one of Isabel Allende, from the Socialist Party (PS): “presidents are elected democratically and, as so, they must finish their terms.” But not only: even if it is true that some opposition parties made a Constitutional Accusation against Piñera, it was because of the pressure they were suffering from the people in the streets. And such Accusation cannot go far, because it is among the frames of the same pro-business, corrupt, repudiated institutions, like the parliament and the traditional parties. For example: the committee to review the Accusation has 5 members, 2 of them right-wing, 1 PC, 1 PS and the President of the committee, which is the DC (Christian Democracy) – the same party that just endorsed Piñera in taking the militaries to the streets again, and this time without State of Emergency! Do we believe that the same parties, responsible for decades of pillaging, will take Piñera off the presidency? Well… no.
Piñera is a direct representative of the Chilean businessmen. He is not like any other president; he is a businessman himself. He is one of the 10 richest families in Chile (the sixth), with 2800 million dollars of wealth, accomplished (like all businessmen do) through the exploitation of workers. Even if Piñera is a “new businessman” –post-dictatorship,– it is evident that he reflects [represents], somehow, the ten families than pillaged the country. And so, if he falls, “one of them” falls, affecting the power they had during this whole time.
The armed and repressive forces were united. The repressive forces were overwhelmed by the revolution, so Piñera is proposing to take the militaries out to the streets again because he is not being able to hold the process with the Special Forces only. However, for them to be at their limit is not enough. We still need to achieve for the rank and file of the repressive forces, who come from working families, to stop defending this government and change sides to stand next to their people. We need “more David Velosos.” [Soldier who refused to repress the people in the streets and was detained – T.N] This government does not care for the wellbeing of the low officers in the repressive forces. They just want to defend their own privileges. This is why soldiers should turn their guns around, defend their class and target their true enemies, instead: Piñera, all the ones above, and their institutions.
The working movement is part of the process but does not enter the scene organized and as one force. Among the industrial working class, the organized Port workers have been the vanguard of the process, adhering to every strike. Nevertheless, we still need to move forward in the entrance in this revolution of the proletariat as a whole, with its capacity of stopping the production and its methods of defense and protest.
There is no space of organization of the struggle nationally, to embrace the fight of taking Piñera down. In the streets, spontaneously, we all demand his fall. The walls speak through graffitis and words of order, making it explicit: “Out with Piñera”. The majority of the Chilean people want this. However, we still need to advance from this spontaneous struggle to the aware organization, with the goal of preparing a plan of struggle to take Piñera down as the key task ahead, and to debate how to continue the mobilization to achieve this. Popular Assemblies, committees, and other instances, where the ones below can organize – in those spaces, we must debate how to organize our struggle to take Piñera down, and how to increase the coordination at a national level.
Let’s continue this revolution in the streets, with a General Strike, until Piñera falls
We must stay firm in the streets until Piñera falls, until all of them fall, and until we actually achieve real changes in our lives. To encourage this revolution and give it strong support, we need an indefinite General Strike. It is an advance to carry out 48-h strikes, but it is not enough to achieve our goal. This struggle to take Piñera down and for all of our demands must be planned from every organization body “of the ones below”: popular assemblies, committees, town halls, etc., with a national expression to articulate the process.
Also, the rank and files from the repressive forces must adhere to this struggle. They must turn their riffles and shotguns around, and defend their class from the real violent ones: the government, the pillaging businessmen, and all the ones above.
Let’s continue in the streets until Piñera falls! Out with all of them! Let’s end the AFPs and recover everything the richest families stole from us! For a free, sovereign Constituent Assembly! For a government of the ones below, a popular and workers’ government achieved by a Socialist revolution!
 
Translation: Sofia Ballack.