Chileans Erect Barricades on the Social Outbreak Anniversary

On Tuesday, Chileans took over the cities of their country to remember the third anniversary of the beginning of the social outbreak that occurred on October 18, 2019 and began the constituent process.

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From the early hours of the morning, for example, residents of the poor neighborhoods in Renca city blocked the streets with barricades to demand the right to decent housing. In Valparaiso, the Federation of Mining Workers (FETRAMIN) also blocked access to one of the mines of the National Copper Corporation of Chile (CODELCO).

Authorities reported street blockades in areas such as San Ramon, Conchali, Renca, La Florida and Santiago, in the Chilean capital, where the main educational institutions remained closed.

"Three years after the revolt we have not achieved anything. We continue to survive in misery and exploited. Immediate and unconditional freedom for political prisoners," the citizens at the Republic Metro station shouted.

The tweet reads, "Memory: Two New York Times audiovisual reports on the Oct. 18 Social Outburst: 1: Chilean security forces leave hundreds injured. 2: It's mutilation: Chilean Police are blinding protesters."

In an attempt to contain the new protests, the militarized police (Carabineros) attacked citizens who were in the vicinity of Dignity Square, which has become an icon of Chilean protests against neoliberalism.

In a speech responding to the events, Chile's President Gabriel Boric said the massive 2019 demonstrations expressed long-standing unrest and a desire for greater justice and an end to abuses.

"They demonstrated so that neither the size of the wallet nor the place of birth were a condition to access a secure life, decent health, quality education, and pensions that guarantee decent retirement after a lifetime of effort," he said.

“The outbreak was not an anti-capitalist revolution, but neither was it a pure crime wave... It was an expression of our society's pains and fractures that our politics has not been able to interpret or provide answers to,” he added