Everything you need to know about the Constitutional Convention in Chile

(CNN Spanish) – From Antofagasta, in the north, to the far south in Punta Arenas, passing through Valparaíso and the capital, Santiago, Chile experienced between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 a wave of protests at the national level due to the high cost of living and inequality , among other claims, that shook the South American country and the region.

One year after the end of these demonstrations, and after a “Agreement for Social Peace and the New Constitution” signed by President Sebastián Piñera and the political parties in the National Congress in November 2019, a Constitutional Convention It has been underway since July 7 to try to present a new Magna Carta that can respond to the crisis.

“The convention arises from an agreement for social peace, as an institutional response to a social and political crisis that is marked by the outbreak or social revolt,” Guillermo Holzmann, an academic at the University of Valparaíso and political consultant, told CNN. “This turned out to be an adequate response for the moment that Chile was living. It manages to lay down a roadmap to be able to overcome not only what was there, but also the entire political legacy of the democratic transition and the dictatorship,” he added.

For Cristóbal Bellolio, professor of political theory at the Adolfo Ibáñez University, it is “the institutional response to a series of demands, protests, popular and citizen uprisings, which in some way were challenging the structural rules of the model and the rules of the game. which establishes a constitution. “

How did you get to this point

The demonstrations began in Santiago on October 18, 2019, after an increase in the cost of the metro ticket was announced: it reached 30 Chilean pesos, equivalent to US $ 1.19, in a country with a minimum salary that in those times it was $ 420 a month.

The protests in Chile already leave 31 dead 2:27

The protests grew in intensity, despite the retreat of the Chilean government, and there were violent clashes between protesters and the police, after which there was a curfew in many regions and the deployment of armed forces in the streets for the first time in 30 years. But even so, the claim for the high cost of living and inequality spread throughout the country.

“This is what is being experienced in Chile every day since the fare increase was announced, this is the discontent of the people in reality,” Catalina Magaña, spokesperson for the Chilean Student Confederation ( Confech), in October 2019. “They are years of repression, they are years of living in misery, they are years of the government imposing measures at the expense of the people and when one goes out to the streets to demand their rights, to demand life dignified, repressive forces put us “

Piñera, for his part, said at the time that the country was “at war.” “We are at war with a powerful and implacable enemy who respects nothing or anyone and who is willing to use violence without limit even when it means the loss of human life, with the sole purpose of causing the greatest possible damage.”

The “social outburst”

The images of that “social outbreak” in Chile, a country that had been characterized by political stability since the return of democracy in 1990 after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1974-1990), went around the world, as well as the reports from international organizations such as the UN and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and also non-governmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, on the violence used with the police against protesters.

According to data from the National Institute of Human Rights of Chile, during the protetos at least 31 deaths and more than 3,700 injured were reported, including some 163 eye injuries.

An image of the protests in Santiago in November 2019.

Amnesty International even called for a criminal investigation of the high command of the Carabineros, including former Director General Mario Rozas Córdova and current Director General Ricardo Yáñez Reveco, for their alleged responsibilities during the riots, in a report published in 2020 and in a new request. in 2021.

Faced with this, the government of Chile responded that this report makes “assertions about facts and information that need to be updated and are currently being investigated by the Public Ministry and in court.”

Carabineros criticized the report for “a series of inaccuracies and omissions.”

At the beginning of March, the Comptroller General of Chile ad that the investigation against Carabineros officials started in November 2019 and in the midst of the protests had concluded, and that the results would be sent to the competent authorities.

The way to an agreement

The protests began to wane after the “Agreement for Peace”, and especially from March 2020, after Piñera called a plebiscite to approve or reject the drafting of a new constitution.

Bellolio told CNN that although the protesters did not initially demand a new constitution, given that the demands were quite diverse and heterogeneous, “the political world – the Chilean parliament – decoded the protest, understood that the lowest common denominator was a challenge to these rules. “

“It is an institutional and peaceful way of channeling social conflict, the legitimacy crisis of its institutions had to be resolved by creating new institutions, through a process in which all parties were seated. Unlike the 1980 constitution. [aprobada durante la dictadura de Pinochet], which is that of the winners, so to speak, of the dictator and his political sector, the grace of this process is that all political forces have a voice and vote “.

chile retreat

The president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera. (Credit: Marcelo Hernandez / Getty Images)

The popular consultation, which had a 50.90% stake of the electorate, it was finally held on October 25, 2020 and resulted in the triumph of the proposal to draft a new constitution (78.27%) and for the formation of a Constitutional Convention (78.99%), that is to say, composed of by constituents elected by popular vote, to carry it out.

Holzmann told CNN that the results show, in his opinion, that Chile would not be polarized. “80% of the population agrees that this constitution should be changed. It is very important because it ratified that the institutional path was prevailing.”

The analyst also argued that, although 51% participation may be “theoretically” insufficient to guarantee the legitimacy of the process, “from the point of view of the processes in Chile it is sufficient because it is higher than the average of the last elections and is more From the half”.

The choice of constituents

Then, between May 15 and 16, 2021, elections were held to choose the constituents who will draft the new Constitution. Elisa Loncón, a Chilean linguist and activist who belongs to the Mapuche people, was elected as president of the Constitutional Convention.

“Here in Chile, as of October 18, 2019, the people made a synergy with the indigenous movement, an intelligibility was established in terms of political demands, where the feminist movement, the movements for sexual diversity, the movement for the water, they managed to understand that the struggle of the original nations, and mainly the Mapuche, is a similar struggle, “Loncón said during an interview with Carmen Aristegui.

“Representatives of the political parties were elected to a much lesser extent and many independents are incorporated, including those who were previously in the streets protesting. All of Chile is represented at the convention and sand also raised the incorporation of native peoples, “said Holzmann.

Movements demanded a change in the Constitution, Loncón says 1:24

According to Government of Chile, This Convention is made up of 155 members (elected with gender equality criteria) and has nine months to present the text of the new Constitution, with the possibility of obtaining a three-month extension of the term. If the deadline is not met, the convention board must ask Congress for a one-time reform asking for a new extension.

Then, in mid-2022, the final text must be submitted to a new plebiscite for its acceptance.

After a first session frustrated by technical flaws, the Constitutional Convention began its functions on July 7 in the building of the former National Congress in Santiago.

What is at stake in this Convention

For Holzmann, one of the main challenges facing the Constitutional Convention is that it can effectively draft a constitution on time. “It has to do with the capacity for dialogue, because they are very different people, and in reaching agreements in a democratically defined space.”

It emphasizes that the constituents must agree with two-thirds of the votes the regulation, the technical secretariat and the appropriations committee of the Convention, before being able to debate the substantive issues. And that can take a long time.

constitutional-convention-chile.jpg

People gathered on July 4 in front of the Palace of the former National Congress of Chile, which houses the Constitutional Convention. (Credit: Marcelo Hernandez / Getty Images)

At the same time, the constituent process will take place in conjunction with the presidential campaign in Chile, where a new president will be elected on November 21, 2021, adding difficulties.

Bellolio, for his part, stressed that the fragmentation among the constituents and their lack of experience could bring difficulties.

“There are four or five political forces that claim to be the spokesperson for this more progressive and transformative world. Many have no experience in parliamentary proceedings, so it has been quite complex to organize the discussion.”

“The big question is whether the left, which has two-thirds of all forces, is going to use all its power to crush the right, or if there will be room for points of agreement,” he added.

However, for the analyst it is “too early” to make a judgment. “The important thing is that it is not installed in public opinion that this convention is just as confrontational and inefficient as parliament, which has a terrible reputation.”

With information from Cristopher Ulloa, Carmen Aristegui, Daniela Mohor W., Taylor Barnes and Helen Regan.

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