[News] Chile: General Strike Begins as Piñera Asks for Forgiveness

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chile-General-Strike-Begins-as-Pinera-Asks-for-Forgiveness--20191023-0001.html 



  Chile: General Strike Begins as Piñera Asks for Forgiveness

October 23, 2019
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chile's Workers' United Center (CUT) and over twenty 
national organizations began on Wednesday a 48-hour general strike to 
demand President Sebastian Piñera take the military out of the streets.

    /*RELATED:*/

    /*Chile: State Violence Leads to 1,420 Arrests and 11 Deaths*/
    <https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chile-State-Violence-Leads-to-1420-Arrests-and-11-Deaths-20191022-0001.html>

In Santiago, the country's capital, the strike began with a 
march from Italy Square towards The Heroes Square.

"Our goals are to say NO to the State of Emergency, recover peace and 
deepen democracy so that the people's fair demands are met," the CUT 
Secretary General Nolberto Diaz explained.

Similar demonstrations will be held in several cities throughout the 
country until 6:00 P.M. At this time, the Chileans are summoned to a 
"cacerolazo", that is, to make noise by banging pots.

Among the organizations leading the demonstrations are the No More 
Private Pensions Coordinator, the National Association of Fiscal 
Employees, the Confederation of Municipal Health, the Coordinator of 
Trade and Financial Unions, the Banking Confederation, Interempresa 
Lider Trade Union, the College of Teachers and the National 
Confederation of Health Workers.

*"The Sebastian Piñera administration repeats Augusto Pinochet's 
fascism. What has happened in the last 72 hours in Chile is outrageous. 
Grace shots, torture, forced disappearances, people shot by combat 
weapons and false data."*

On Tuesday, President Piñera announced some measures aimed at halting 
protests with a guaranteed minimum wage, a hike in the state pension 
offering and the stabilization of electricity costs.

The right-wing politician said he hoped to turn recent violent protests 
into an “opportunity” for Chile, to “make up for lost time, pick up the 
pace and take concrete and urgent steps” to resolve social inequality, 
which has sent tens of thousands into the streets to demand his removal.

Piñera asked for forgiveness for successive governments that failed to 
act sooner to stem deep inequalities in Latin America´s fifth-largest 
economy.​​​​​​​

The Sebastian Piñera administration repeats Augusto Pinochet's fascism. 
What has happened in the last 72 hours in Chile is outrageous. Grace 
shots, torture, forced disappearances, people shot by combat weapons and 
false data.

*"Piñera does not announce the end of this violence. There is no cabinet 
change. Only ads that will come with small print. There is no structural 
change of the pension system. This is the most we can expect from him 
after days with millions of people marching, a state of emergency and 11 
dead."*

“It is true that problems accumulated for many decades and that 
different governments were not able to recognize this situation in all 
its magnitude,” he said.

The Chilean President's ritual repentance, however, was not accompanied 
by the immediate cessation of repression and violence against the people.

On Tuesday, the National Institute of Human Rights (NHRI) presented 26 
legal actions in favor of 129 people who were victims of torture, cruel, 
inhuman or degrading treatment since the mobilizations began. Among the 
victims are 35 children and adolescents and 94 adults.

According to official data, the death toll in the unrest has risen to 15 
people and 5,400 people had been detained by security forces so far.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20191023/da4d9003/attachment.htm>