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CHILE IS CURRENTLY in the midst of one of its worst crises since the end of a military dictatorship in 1990.
Yesterday, a four-year-old child was killed during the latest round of protests in the country, raising the death toll from five days of social unrest to 18.
The violence centres around anger over living costs and social inequality.
But what exactly kicked it off on last Friday, 18 October?
Public transport price hikes
Violence first broke out last Friday at protests over a now scrapped hike in metro fares as demonstrators clash with riot police in the capital of Santiago.
Earlier this month, the Chilean government increase fares to €1.05 for a journey during peak hours, blaming higher energy costs and a weaker peso, according to the BBC.
The protests quickly mushroomed into a broader outcry against social and economic woes, including a yawning gap between rich and poor, in a country normally considered one of the most stable in Latin America.
On Friday, the violence escalated into the night and several metro stations were hit with Molotov cocktails.
Nearly all the 164 metro stations were attacked and 41 are destroyed, some completely charred. The whole network was shut down.
At least 16 buses were torched. The ENEL power company building and a Banco Chile branch were set on fire.
Around midnight, President Sebastian Pinera declared a state of emergency and deployed troops into Santiago.
The following day, Saturday, hundreds of soldiers patrol Santiago for the first time since Chile returned to democracy in 1990.
The first deaths of the protests were reported on 20 October, with two women burning to death in the early hours in a blaze at a Walmart store in Santiago.
Police and soldiers used tear gas and water cannons against protesters in the capital, where nearly 10,000 troops and police being deployed.
Almost all public transport was paralysed in Santiago, with shops shuttered and flights cancelled.
Despite suspending the metro fare hike, Pinera told reporters: “We are at war against a powerful, implacable enemy.”
After widespread scenes of violence, destruction, arson and looting last week, protests became somewhat more peaceful this week, particularly in Santiago.
Government’s proposals
Having initially taken a confrontational line over the protests, Pinera has rapidly changed tack and sought cross-party support to find a solution.
Yesterday, the President announced a package of social measures aimed at stemming the deeping unrest.
He said he will increase the universal basic pension by 20%, cancel a recent 9.2% increase in electricity bills and propose a law that would see the state cover the costs of expensive medical treatment.
Pinera pledged a state subsidy to increase the minimum wage from 301,000 to 350,000 pesos ($434) a month.
Furthermore, he said the government would introduce health insurance for medications, which is among the most expensive in the region.
“I recognise this lack of vision and I apologize to my compatriots,” Pinera said in an address from the presidential palace in Santiago.
How has the public reacted to the proposals?
Despite Pinera’s proposals, thousands of Chileans yesterday flooded the streets of Santiago and other cities in a general strike, as the death toll rose to 18.
Students, professors and state workers walked off the job at the urging of the country’s largest union, ignoring the package of measures announced by the president.
In the capital Santiago, police used water cannons to disperse protesters.
Beyond the dead, another 269 people have been injured and about 1,900 have been arrested, according to the National Institute for Human Rights.
Strike organisers have issued a statement demanding that the government end the state of emergency and send troops back to their barracks.
The country’s powerful copper mine workers’ unions joined the strike movement, but the state copper company insisted that operations continued nonetheless.
Chile is the largest producer of copper in the world, much of which is sold to China.
What happens now?
While widespread strikes took place yesterday, life in the capital has been returning to normal, with three of seven metro lines open on Wednesday.
More than half of Santiago’s 136 metro stations suffered heavy damage during last week’s protests and remain guarded by soldiers.
Shops and businesses – even banks – appear to be reopening, but some Santiago-area schools were still closed as of yesterday.
LATAM, South America’s largest airline, said more than 98% of its flights to and from Santiago’s international airport took off following dozens of cancellations during days of chaos caused by the curfews.
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs is urging people against using the Metro in Chile for the time being.
It is also asking people to observe curfews where they are in place and avoid all demonstrations and protests.
“The best help is often close at hand so if you have problems, try talking to your local contacts, tour operator representative or hotel management,” the department has said.
Further advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs can be found here.
Includes reporting by © – AFP 2019
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Not a mortgage holder, and I’m not unbiased, but fair play to the Govt for staring them down
No vested interests either, but I’m even more shocked that at the stance they took in the first place.
Like It takes guts to do that when the bank is state owned! Give yourselves a salary increase for help with our spin.
The PTSB are the biggest gangsters in this and are gettin away with it. They increased the rates 3 times recently and although they will be reducing this .25% they are still by far the dearest.
I think you’ll find Ulster bank are the most expensive at 5.1%
AIB only exists because stupid taxpayers pay their bills.
I can not believe that they are getting away with this. The Bank has 3,000 employees it does not need and coupled with a host of branches that should be shut the cost to the tax payer is truly astronomical. recent salary increases on top of inflated salary levels add to the pension fund cost.
Why is the EBS rate 1.5% higher than AIB and they are merged institutions?
The EBS borrowers are being excessively penalised….
I think every aib or bank worker on the journal is giving the thumbs down
What recent salary increase would that be?
I started with EBS, some years ago when they were among the cheapest on the market, and I liked the whole idea of a mutual. Because of the race to the bottom, driven in part by Anglo, AIB were at one (later) point the second cheapest on the market for mortgages, and this received some publicity, with the IT publishing a comprehensive “scoresheet” as it were of the rates available at that time-late ’06 or very early ’07.
So I called into them, just before the whole thing went South, and, like the guy on the bus, I didn’t know what a tracker mortgage was, but they offered me one, as well as the (declined by me) chance to buy another investment property, or take an ‘oul holiday.
Happily I took it, and even happier, they took on board a ridiculously high valuation of my family home, giving me a loan to value that bore no relation to reality. I still have that-and am gladdened by the fact that those on variable rates are getting a bite of the cherry-I could still be there myself but by chance.
if every aib account holder withdrew their deposits and moved them elsewhere, they’d get a rude awakening!
The Dutch did this a fews years ago over bonuses to top staff. They gave them back More power to the people
They didn’t rise rates in the first place like all the other wanks. People should do some research before judging.
People are just looking for money for nothing, now they are getting a better rate than before the ECB increases.
The ESB is state owned but does not entitle people to free electricity, why should it be different with the banks.
Still doesnt stop them giving there staff a pay rise
I think it was quite reasonable that if AIB didn’t pass on the recent rises, they should not have to pass on the cut. This turn around seems totally illogical to me. Nice for those affected & good luck to them but nevertheless quite daft!
Wow great, lucky us – taxpayer to pay back reckless mortgage holders loans
This is a direct transfer of cash from depositors to mortgage holders
Is there anything stopping the banks from raising their rates in say a months time, irrespective of any change in the ECB rate? It never seems to stop PTSB as far as i can see.
Great stuff, with govt interference like this how do they hope to get private investment in order to get the NPRF’s investment in AIB back? Very short sighted decision, especially given AIB never passed on the last two increases.
You couldn’t make this stuff up
Yeah but if you raise interest rates it pushes more people into the cannot pay bracket and so we end up paying anyway, at least this makes repayments more affordable.
More likely it pushes them to restructure or sell. Banks should not be in the business of giving away money.
Why does it feel wrong that banks are passing on a saving to customers ?
Oh no, wait a second ……
News flash – Banks claim PR error and state that it should of read raise rates by 0.25%. The error is set to cost taxpayers a Further 10billion for some reason but banks have decided the double the rate increase to 0.5% because a senior exec was afraid they mightn’t be able to fund the regular replacement of the gold chairs that they use while at their weekly meetings in their ivory tower in the Bahamas.
Instead of posting the new rates in papers banks have simply setup a very easy system in every branch to accommodate these new costs. All customers of the branches should empty their pockets into barrels that are marked “slush funds”. An Taoiseach should simply sign a blank cheque (as they might need more the 10bil, you never know) and make it payable to cash or C#^?s , either way the ecb will know who it’s for!
have your say