Reflections from the Citizen, Political, and Critical Academy

On October 18, 2019, Chile experienced the most significant social outbreak since the return to democracy in 1988. The rise of the subway passage fare by 3.75%, reaching a value of US $1.16, led to a call from secondary school students to evade payment as a form of protest, which added to the insensitivity of the Government and its disconnection from the problems of citizens, inequality, lack of access to health care, education, and fair pensions triggered the social movements that remain alive today. According to the National Institute of Statistics, 50% of the labor force in Chile receives only $550 (USD) per month, while the minimum salary is only $414 (USD) per month. Based on this income, spending on transportation can consume as much as 13.78% of the minimum wage.[1] President Piñera’s response to the mobilizations was to say, “We are at war against a powerful, implacable enemy who does not respect anything or anyone” social. With the explicit use of the word “war,” he moved and touched the Chilean imaginary, referring to Pinochet’s statements after the military coup [2], stating that there was an internal war in Chile, which justified the end of democracy. Under the the same logic of war, Piñera defended the curfew, allowing the military to go into the streets to suppress the social protest