Chile Unrest and violence slow down the start of the Constituent Assembly in Chile
Analysis Euphoria on the left in Latin America after the political change in Chile
For a couple of hours on a bright Sunday morning,
Chile
staggered. It could go one way or the other. Return to the uncertain street democracy that shook the country as of October 2019, or channel and concentrate those energies, demands, anger, wishes and dreams in a convention based in a charming greenhouse located in the gardens of the old
National Congress
. In the end the greenhouse won and, with it, the future. Much had to do with it an impeccable lady,
Carmen Gloria Valladares
, who ended up giving way to
Elisa Loncón
, representative of the Mapuche nation and who did not walk with half measures when assuming the presidency of the
Constituent Convention
: "We are going to refound
Chile
".
Loncón began by speaking in the Mapuche language to his companions at the convention and to all the Chileans who followed on television, and not without astonishment, what was happening in the political heart of the country.
When he began to speak in Spanish, no one doubted where Loncón will point as head of a
Constituent Assembly
that many of its members define as an original, sovereign and autonomous power.
"This convention is that of a plurinational Chile, a pluricultural Chile, a Chile that does not violate the rights of women, caregivers, a Chile that cares for Mother Earth, that cleanses the waters, against all domination."
After sending a "special greeting" to his Mapuche brothers, Loncón deepened his intentions: "This dream is a dream of our ancestors, this dream comes true, it is possible, sisters and brothers refound this
Chile
, establish a new relationship between the Mapuche people, the original nations and all the nations that make up this country. It is the first sign that this convention is going to be participatory. "
Already in the previous weeks, Loncón had spoken that the new Constitution must recognize the "plurinationality" of the State and recognize ten nations pre-existing to the constitution of Chile as a nation.
Thus, Chile will cease to be a single indivisible State and will move towards a "plurality of nations" with rights that will include self-determination, language and culture.
"I have heard on television the horror that has happened to the children of
Canada
. It is shameful how colonialism has attacked the future of the original nations," added the president of the assembly.
From the center-right they defined her speech as "exciting", but reminded
Loncón
"the importance of understanding that she is the president of an entire convention."
Nobody could imagine in October 2019, when a group of students scurried into different subway stations without paying a ticket, in protest precisely because of the price increase, that
Chile
would face such a radical change.
The convention has nine months to deliver a new Constitution and three more if needed.
In case something is missing, the first round of the presidential elections will be held in November.
The current president,
Sebastián Piñera
, with the level of popularity on the ground, is increasingly a marginal actor in the future of the country.
"Rotating presidency"
Loncón spoke of a "rotating presidency", but the truth is that since Sunday there has been a Mapuche woman at the head of the body in charge of building a new economic and social institutional architecture for Chile. If decades ago,
Alfonso Guerra
said that
Spain would
not be recognized by "nor the mother who gave birth to her",
Chile
seems to be on a similar path. In any case, and beyond the clear majority of the left in the assembly, dialogue with the right - the owner of economic power in the country - is essential so that the Constitution is not a toast to the sun. The constitutional text that emerges from the assembly must be approved in a plebiscite. If it is too extreme, the convention may be sterile. Hence the need for a minimum agreement between the left and the right.
That of
Loncón
is one of those cases where the term "historic" is not abuse, and tears of many in the afternoon on Sunday were justified. Before the election of the academic and linguistics doctor, Valladares, secretary-reporter of the Elections Qualifying Tribunal (
Tricel
), had the provisional presidency of the
Convention
, and had to appeal to all his ductility so that the political effervescence in the one that
Chile
has been
living
for almost two years 2019 will not take the assembly ahead.
"We are going to continue with this solemn session," Valladares said after noon to the 155 elected constituents, 78 men and 77 women, who must give
Chile
a new Constitution to bury the one sanctioned during the dictatorship of
Augusto Pinochet
and amended on multiple occasions. during the democracy that began in 1990. Almost three hours had passed since the start of the riots in front of the Congress building and in the emblematic
Plaza Baquedano
. Several conventioneers who had left the session denouncing police violence were persuaded by
Valladares
to return to the meeting.
"The
Tricel
secretary
was a revelation for all of
Chile
, and she left the
Convention
with a standing ovation," said a CNN Chile commentator.
Covid
by means of, the constituents were gathered in a special glazed building, but with air circulation, in the beautiful gardens of the old
Congress
.
A greenhouse so that, protected from the external elements and the southern winter, the new
Chile can
grow
.
Canada and Spain as a model
Sandwiched between the cold of the
Pacific
and the wall of the
Andes
, Chile may have been a disciplined student of the
Chicago
school
for decades, both in dictatorship and in democracy, but when tempers fester, they fester in earnest. Chileans seeking to follow the start of the
Constituent Assembly
met with their exalted representatives before the television cameras. Some spoke that
Chile
is still "a dictatorship" and called for the release of young people in prison after the 2019 and 2020 demonstrations, while others spoke that part of the left had started "a show" using a handful of protesters. street.
The fact that the Chilean national anthem was sung at the beginning of the meeting was criticized by deputies from the left: "The indigenous peoples did not want it, because it does not represent them; some sang as if we had won the World Cup."
The theme goes beyond whether or not the Chilean anthem is sung.
The 17 representatives of the native peoples (and not only them) have already clearly stated that they do not consider themselves linked to the "agreed democracy" of the last three decades in
Chile
.
A strongly centralist country since always, the models of
Canada
and
Spain
are, more and more, a possible future for
Chile
.
And the roadmap is in
Loncón's
hands today
.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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