Chile and Bolivia Protests Stem From Lingering Corruption

By: Victor Jorges/News Director

 

For Chileans and Bolivians still in their homeland, the month of October was filled with protests leading to empty supermarkets, a rising death toll and thousands of arrests.

In Chile, a four percent increase to the metro fare ignited a national uprising, in which the country “despertó” or woke up. 

A little over a thousand miles away, in Bolivia, fraudulent election results pushed thousands of people to the streets asking for governmental transparency. 

As of Oct. 30, the protests in Chile had caused at least 20 deaths and the resignation of eight members of President Sebastian Pinera’s cabinet. Additionally, Pinera announced that Chile wouldn’t be the host for two massive environmental and economic conventions, APEC and the COP25 forum. 

“This is going to leave a real sting because over 20 people have died, and the use of the military control a riot was probably not wise in the beginning,” said Eduardo A. Gamarra, a professor in the department of politics and international relations.

According to Gamarra, this conflict could be considered a first-world kind of conflict.

“Chile has had an enormous influx of immigrants from Venezuela, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Peruvians, and so on because there are jobs there,” said Gamarra.

Chile has become a safety hub for people from countries experiencing turmoil, and some people fear that they won’t be able to provide this place of peace for those in need.

“People not from Chile are affected by this because many countries in Latin America or in the Caribbean essentially rely on chile for safety,” said Camila Pereira, half-Chilean journalism freshman. “Before these protests, Chile was taking in lots of immigrants running away from all different places such as Haiti, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and even Argentina due to their own social, economic and political issues.”

Further north in Bolivia, on Oct. 20, several events took place that caused people to believe that there was fraudulent activity affecting the results. The two main candidates were current president Evo Morales, and Carlos Mesa, who presided the land-locked country in the early 2000s. 

One of the main suspicious moments on that Sunday night was that the building in which the votes were being counted lost power for nearly 24 hours, and when the power came back on, the results had been altered, leaving Morales with an unexplainable victorious 10-point lead. 

“That’s probably one of the greatest signs of the kind of fraud that’s carried on, and it’s something that’s been done elsewhere in the region,” said Gamarra. “Miraculously, they cut off the lights, they do all kinds of things, and that’s the unfortunate thing.”
Although many believe that it might’ve been a glitch, Gamarra is more skeptical about the situation. 

“They attributed it to a glitch,” said Gamarra, “But, 24 hours? Give me a break.”

This isn’t the first time that there uneasy situations in Bolivia due to Morales’ 14 year-long regime.

“I remember being in Bolivia at the time of the 2009 recall referendum and seeing all the protests and divide as just a young kid,” said Alan Macaulay, a Bolivia native, and marketing sophomore. “This vote got rid of the single term limit for presidents and allowed Morales to seek reelection. Here we are three terms later.”

According to Macaulay, Bolivia’s conditions seem too similar to Venezuela’s current crisis, and he fears that Bolivia wouldn’t survive anything similar to the humanitarian deterioration that Venezuela is facing. 

“Bolivia won’t survive what has happened to Venezuela. Bolivia is way too poor. Remember Venezuela was the wealthiest nation in South America at the time of Chavez’ election,” said Macaulay. “Bolivia is the poorest nation in South America.”

As of Nov. 4, Bolivian protests had taken place for three weeks, and pressure for Morales to step down continues to grow, as he faces an ultimatum from opposition groups.
A leader from a civic group in one of Bolivia’s most populated cities, Santa Cruz, went on Twitter and gave Morales 48 hours to remove himself from office.

Additionally, the Organization of American States (OAS), which was the formal monitor of the election, is currently carrying out an audit of the election, expecting to have results by the middle of this month. 

Over in Chile, the unrest comes as a surprise to many, after the country’s transition to democracy in the early 1990s after living through the Pinochet dictatorship. 

“It’s quite striking because Chile is the most successful transition from an authoritarian rule that Latin America has had,” said Gamarra. “It was an enormous success story.”

There are people who believe that Venezuela’s disputed president Nicolas Maduro has something to do with all the conflict that’s happened in the Latin American region in the past couple of months. 

“Both the Cubans and Venezuelans have been trying to resist the attempt by democratic countries to change the regime in Venezuela,” said Gamarra. “The humanitarian crisis that Venezuela is going through has probably served as an excuse to infiltrate some people, who are showing up in these demonstrations.”

Gamarra believes it is absurd to think that Maduro has a “diabolical plan” and to attribute so much power to the regime is inaccurate. 

“I think that they’re there, but I wouldn’t say it’s the whole reason why Chile is upside down, or the only reason there were riots in Ecuador,” said Gamarra. 

There have been many reports of police brutality in Chile. 

“Police abuse is a problem worldwide,” said Gamarra. “It’s the memory of the legacy of 17 years of dictatorship is always looming large over how people feel.”