Chile’s Far Right Is Taking Up Arms
After last October’s popular revolt, Chileans are due to vote on a new constitution to replace the current Pinochet-era document. But far-right forces are mobilizing to prevent any change — threatening deadly violence against social movements and indigenous people.
A Chilean police officer stands guard in front of a tribute to former president Salvador Allende near the presidential palace. (Claudio Santana / Getty Images)
In Chile, riots normally mean tear gas, water cannons, and police violence. This is especially true in the Southern Araucanía region, where overwhelming police presence enforces a century-old repression against the disenfranchised Mapuche people. Add quarantine and a military curfew, and you’ve got a stew going.
But there was a rather different scene on August 1, as over a hundred civilians armed with sticks surrounded the municipal buildings in the southern towns of Curacauitín, Victoria, Ercilla, and Traiguén. They risked a 2,500 USD fine for breaking the curfew (or 12,500 USD if one of them was COVID-19 positive). Fires and street fights filled the night, notwithstanding a heavy police presence: nice and armored, both the police and the army stood by and did nothing.
The repression of the popular revolt in October 2019 — leaving thirty-six dead and over eleven thousand wounded — showed that Carabineros de Chile are not shy about rough play. So, what happened, here — had the beast been tamed?
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