User:Eangreenberg/2019–2021 Chilean protests

Attempts for Normalization and the “New Social Agenda”
Monday, October 21st, was the first business day after the big riots. The government insisted on working towards normalcy, by encouraging the return to work and school. The Secretary of Labor Nicolás Monckeberg rejected the idea to declare a holiday, despite the fact that he told businesses to give employees more flexible hours due to transportation issues. As for the schools, the government gave the municipalities the freedom to decide if they would hold classes. In the metropolitan region of Santiago, 43 of the 52 communes suspended activities, in addition to a large number of private institutions. They were joined by the majority of universities and institutions of higher education. Despite the fears of a possible shortage of food and fuel among citizens, due to the closure of shops, this did not occur, even though some people waited in long lines and others started hoarding.

The Santiago Metro partially restarted activity on Monday the 21st, opening certain Line 1 stations with a reduced schedule. In the days following, they increased the number of available stations. Starting on the 28th, five of the seven lines opened and 53 stations opened (out of a total of 136 stations). In spite of that, the low capacity of transportation on the metro, the temporary closures of some of the stations, and the traffic diversions due to the demonstrations created long transportation delays for citizens of Santiago, especially in the more peripheral sectors. Additionally, the use of bicycles increased because of long delays on public transportation.

After five days of massive demonstrations, President Sebastián Piñera returned on the night of October 22nd to address the country. During this speech, Piñera asked for forgiveness for not recognizing the issues that troubled society and announced a series of steps called the "New Social Agenda". These measures incorporate a series of small and medium changes that will address different areas of need:


 * Pensions: 20% increase in the Basic Solidarity Pension and the Provisional Solidarity Contribution; additional increases in 2021 and 2022 for retirees over the age of 75; fiscal contributions to complement Social Security savings of the middle class and women; contributions of fiscal resources to improve pensions for older adults who are not worthy
 * Health: Fix the government's catastrophic disease insurance project; create a project for medication; expand the agreement from Fansa with pharmacies to reduce the price of medication.
 * Wages: Complement, with fiscal funds, the salary of workers until they reach a minimum guaranteed income of 350,000 Bruto (298,800 pesos) for full-time work; for the workers that receive the minimum salary, this is an increase of 49,000 pesos.
 * Energy: Creation of a stable mechanism for electric tariffs, that voids the 9.2% rise expected in the coming months.
 * Taxes: Creation of a new plan in the supplementary global tax of 40% for incomes over eight million pesos per month.
 * Public administration: Reduction in the allowance of parliament and high salaries of the public administration; reduction of the number of members in the parliament and limits on their re-election.

Even though some politicians value concrete proposals, many critique the proposals as insufficient given the scale of the protests, even from the ruling party. Within the opposition, they critique the fact that some of the proposals subsidize or favor private businesses, being only superficial changes.

"The Biggest March"
After the announcement of the “New Social Agenda”, the demonstrations continued and included some new actors. On October 24th, a group of truck drivers, taxi drivers and other drivers - organized in the group “no more tagging” - held a protest along Route 68 towards the headquarters of the National Congress in Valparaiso The following day, the group held new demonstrations occupying various urban highways in Santiago as a way about the high cost of electronic tolling.

On Friday the 25th, massive marches were organized in different cities of the country. In the capital of the country, the principal announcement was made in Plaza Baquedano. “The biggest march of them all”, as it was called, had an attendance that officially exceeded 1.2 million people becoming the largest recognized in Chile. This exceeded the demonstrations organized by the "No" campaign for plebiscites in 1988. The demonstration, due to its size, covered a large part of the Alameda, the main avenue of the city, Forestal Park, Bustamente Park, Balmaceda Park, and other spaces. On that same afternoon, they had a march between Valparaíso and Viña del Mar with an attendance of more than 90,000 people, while in Concepción it reached 50,000 people. During the day there were also multiple massive marches in other cities in Chile, between them Rancagua, La Serena, Coquimbo, Concepción, Arica and Punta Arenas, among others.

After the protests, various governmental figures expressed their support of the demonstrations through social media. President Sebastián Piñera referred to the massive march as “transversal” and “without political colors”, even though the demands of the protestors include the resignation of the government and himself. ""The massive, happy, and calm march today, where the Chileans asked for a more just and supportive Chile, opens grand paths of future and hope. We all have listened to the message. We all have changed. With unity and help from the Gods, we will walk the road to that better Chile for all.""

- Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile (Twitter)