INTERVIEW
15 dead. This is the human toll since the beginning of the riots in Chile. Social discontent was born five days ago following the announcement of the increase in the price of public transport. Since then, people have been on the streets and President Sebastian Piñera's response has been to send the army.
Raquel Garrido, a French-Chilean columnist on the television show Touche pas à mon poste and former spokeswoman for the insubordinate France, knew indirectly this kind of situation, through her parents. The latter had to flee Chile in the 1970s, following a military coup against President Salvador Allende.
"Youth is not afraid"
"These images take me back to what I saw when I discovered the images of 1973. My parents had to flee Chile because of the military intervention against President Elect Salvador Allende. today in the streets of Santiago evoke me directly the coup d'état of 1973 ", she testifies.
For her, there are similarities between the current situation and 1973 and, inevitably, a trauma for the generation of her parents and her own. Raquel Garrido notes however a characteristic fact, "it is that the youth is not afraid". She explains: "I am shocked by the images of concerts of peaceful pans, songs, by the people who, when they see the tanks or the launching trucks arrive, do not flee".
"Chileans got the government's attention"
To alleviate the situation, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera announced on Tuesday night to social measures including the increase of 20% minimum pension and the freezing of electricity tariffs. "The Chileans have gotten the ear and listening to the government is an excellent thing," said Raquel Garrido.
"Especially since the government's strategy was initially to pit the Chileans against each other by fueling a fear of looting.For five days, on Chilean television, the only thing we saw, it's people coming into supermarkets to loot or even to go to other people's homes, but people now have smartphones, there are countless videos of police firing subway outlets, pharmacies or shops, for example, people are not fooled, "she says again.