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Mobilized for nearly a month, protesters demand the drafting of a new Constitution to replace the text inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
A new Constitution. This is what the protest demands, the mobilization of which has not weakened for nearly a month . After several hours of negotiations in Parliament, the government coalition and the main opposition parties signed on Friday morning at dawn an "Agreement for Peace and the new Constitution." It provides for the organization in April 2020 of a referendum on the revision of the current Constitution, drafted and adopted under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, in 1980, announced the Senate Speaker, Jaime Quintana.
Hoy is a historical day for Chile. The first decadas of hace have taken place in the constitución. Hoy the ciudadanía lo ha hecho posible. Esta is a victoria of todo el país. pic.twitter.com/15Py8ay4Lu
Jaime Quintana (@senadorquintana) November 15, 2019If it is the rise in the price of the metro ticket that ignited the powder almost a month ago, the demands of the protesters have greatly expanded since the beginning of the social movement, recalled our correspondent in Santiago, Justine Fontaine Start of the week. Chileans protest against inequalities, expensive living and for the effective protection of social rights such as health, education or pensions, or public services fully or partially privatized under dictatorship, which are now very expensive or poorly performing. To change this, the protesters are asking for a new Constitution, which effectively guarantees these rights.
During the April consultation, the Chileans will have to answer two questions: one on the revision or not of the Constitution, and the other, if necessary, on the method to draft it. The protesters want a Constituent Assembly specially elected to draft the new text. An idea that the government of President Sebastian Piñera refused until now. The referendum will have to decide this question.
(with AFP)