1
00:01:16,618 --> 00:01:19,454
Oh, hello, welcome to System Fail,

2
00:01:19,454 --> 00:01:21,998
the show where progress is a relative concept.

3
00:01:21,998 --> 00:01:23,124
I'm a woman of color.

4
00:01:23,374 --> 00:01:24,375
Oh, wow.

5
00:01:24,375 --> 00:01:25,376
 I am a mom.

6
00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:26,920
Oh, wow!

7
00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,257
I am a cisgender millenial who's been 
diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder.

8
00:01:31,382 --> 00:01:32,759
Oh my God.

9
00:01:33,093 --> 00:01:37,764
I am intersectional, 
but my existence is not a box checking exercise.

10
00:01:39,224 --> 00:01:45,438
I refuse to internalize misguided 
patriarchal ideas of what a woman can or should be.

11
00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:50,777
I stand here today a proud
first generation Latina and officer at CIA.

12
00:01:50,985 --> 00:01:54,030
♫ I got the eye of the tiger 

13
00:01:54,072 --> 00:01:58,201
a fighter, dancing through the fire 

14
00:01:58,201 --> 00:02:01,079
'Cuz I am a champion, 

15
00:02:01,079 --> 00:02:04,749
and you're gonna hear me roar ♫

16
00:02:04,749 --> 00:02:05,667
What the fuck!

17
00:02:06,501 --> 00:02:08,837
 I am disgusted.

18
00:02:08,837 --> 00:02:10,380
I'm your host, Dee Dos

19
00:02:10,380 --> 00:02:14,259
and with the exception of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and preppers,

20
00:02:14,342 --> 00:02:15,760
We're not so silly now, are we? 

21
00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,138
Here's to the end of the world!

22
00:02:18,138 --> 00:02:19,514
[group] Cheers! 

23
00:02:19,514 --> 00:02:21,766
It's been a trying year for the human race.

24
00:02:22,976 --> 00:02:24,519
I want to fucking die.

25
00:02:24,519 --> 00:02:30,024
For those caught up in this whirlwind of
generalized outrage and constant anxiety,

26
00:02:31,401 --> 00:02:37,240
It can be easy to forget that 2019 was marked 
by a wave of popular insurrections,

27
00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,118
unlike anything seen in more than half a century.

28
00:03:15,111 --> 00:03:19,157
From Haiti to Hong Kong, 
people took to the streets in historic numbers

29
00:03:19,157 --> 00:03:23,244
and fought pitched street battles 
with heavily armed state security agents

30
00:03:23,786 --> 00:03:25,997
and the forces of paramilitary reaction.

31
00:03:28,166 --> 00:03:30,001
Revolt spread across borders,

32
00:03:30,126 --> 00:03:33,046
and tactics developed in one country were taken up

33
00:03:33,046 --> 00:03:35,757
 and adopted by comrades, thousands of miles away.

34
00:03:36,382 --> 00:03:40,178
New unities were forged
behind barricades and in occupied squares

35
00:03:40,887 --> 00:03:43,473
rooted in common experiences of corruption,

36
00:03:43,473 --> 00:03:44,724
police impunity,

37
00:03:44,724 --> 00:03:48,144
and the generalized alienation of so-called late capitalism.

38
00:03:48,686 --> 00:03:50,188
And then all of a sudden,

39
00:03:50,563 --> 00:03:52,273
In the past two weeks,

40
00:03:52,273 --> 00:03:58,488
the number of cases of Covid-19 outside China 
has increased thirteen fold.

41
00:03:58,488 --> 00:04:03,534
The onset of the covid-19 pandemic 
helped to empty the streets for a while,

42
00:04:03,534 --> 00:04:07,455
but it did nothing to address the systemic issues 
that had fueled the revolts.

43
00:04:07,914 --> 00:04:11,209
And so it wasn't long before riots started back up

44
00:04:11,709 --> 00:04:16,464
and new insurrections broke out in countries 
that had been spared the first wave.

45
00:04:34,065 --> 00:04:36,901
Peering into the flames of this global upheaval,

46
00:04:36,901 --> 00:04:40,780
some commentators have seen the death rows
of neo-liberalism itself.

47
00:04:42,824 --> 00:04:46,577
It is therefore rather fitting that some of the fiercest convulsions

48
00:04:46,577 --> 00:04:49,414
came from the nation where this economic system was born,

49
00:04:51,624 --> 00:04:52,125
Chile.

50
00:04:54,627 --> 00:04:58,047
In the wake of the revolutionary upsurge of 1968, 

51
00:04:58,047 --> 00:05:01,634
Unrest which had lurk beneath the surface, spilled into the open.

52
00:05:01,634 --> 00:05:03,469
Chaos ruled the streets.

53
00:05:03,469 --> 00:05:09,100
Global capital responded by implementing
a large scale restructuring of the international economy.

54
00:05:12,020 --> 00:05:15,648
They found a willing accomplice in General Augusto Pinochet.

55
00:05:16,941 --> 00:05:21,446
After seizing power in a U.S. backed coup d'etat in 1973,

56
00:05:22,363 --> 00:05:27,535
Pinochet installed a cadre of Milton Friedman's former students into top policy positions.

57
00:05:27,744 --> 00:05:29,912
I never like this, eh...

58
00:05:29,996 --> 00:05:35,501
[stuttering]

59
00:05:35,501 --> 00:05:37,003
well, the dictatorship!

60
00:05:37,003 --> 00:05:41,007
This group of free market economists known as the Chicago Boys,

61
00:05:41,382 --> 00:05:42,967
Da Bears!

62
00:05:42,967 --> 00:05:49,140
soon set to work transforming the country into
a vast laboratory for neoliberal shock therapy.

63
00:05:49,140 --> 00:05:51,809
With the support of the IMF and World Bank,

64
00:05:51,809 --> 00:05:53,394
Public spending was cut.

65
00:05:53,394 --> 00:05:56,814
Resources, lands, and services were privatized,

66
00:05:56,814 --> 00:05:59,650
and revelations changed to favour big business.

67
00:06:00,401 --> 00:06:03,404
The ethical issues involved are subtle and complex.

68
00:06:04,030 --> 00:06:06,824
Pinochet was removed from office in 1990

69
00:06:06,991 --> 00:06:11,662
as part of the Chilean state's formal transition
from a dictatorship to a democracy.

70
00:06:11,746 --> 00:06:13,790
Democracy is good, right?

71
00:06:14,123 --> 00:06:17,710
Yet much of the state's repressive trappings were left intact,

72
00:06:17,710 --> 00:06:21,964
including its constitution drafted by the military in 1980.

73
00:06:22,757 --> 00:06:26,386
Over the following decades, 
as the sheen of democracy has worn off,

74
00:06:26,677 --> 00:06:28,304
And what seems to be the problem?

75
00:06:28,596 --> 00:06:29,389
It doesn't work.

76
00:06:29,389 --> 00:06:33,434
 A deepening disillusionment 
with the entire political class has set in

77
00:06:42,693 --> 00:06:48,616
Providing fertile soil for some of the most
dynamic and militant social movements in the world.

78
00:07:08,636 --> 00:07:12,765
Since the so-called Penguins' Revolution of 2006,

79
00:07:13,433 --> 00:07:17,437
The Chilean student movement has served as a veritable factory of struggle,

80
00:07:19,564 --> 00:07:23,985
Training hundreds of thousands of youth 
in the use of confrontational tactics

81
00:07:23,985 --> 00:07:27,613
and repeatedly paralyzing the entire society in its pursuit

82
00:07:27,613 --> 00:07:30,658
of a new system of free participatory education.

83
00:07:36,289 --> 00:07:42,253
Building on earlier mobilizations carried out 
under the banner of 'Ni Una Menos' or 'Not One Less',

84
00:07:42,253 --> 00:07:44,088
and the global 'Me Too' campaign,

85
00:07:44,088 --> 00:07:50,052
In 2018, Chile's powerful feminist movement 
launched a coordinated wave of protests,

86
00:07:50,052 --> 00:07:53,973
blockades, and occupations to demand an end to harassment,

87
00:07:53,973 --> 00:07:57,143
femicide, sexual assault, income inequality,

88
00:07:57,143 --> 00:07:59,645
and the broader culture of machismo that underpin them.

89
00:08:08,696 --> 00:08:11,991
Militant calls for the abolition of prescribed gender roles,

90
00:08:11,991 --> 00:08:16,120
and persistent attacks on patriarchal institutions and social norms

91
00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,749
have transformed Chilean feminism into a vital, catalyzing force

92
00:08:19,749 --> 00:08:21,125
within popular movements,

93
00:08:21,125 --> 00:08:25,838
and served as an example and inspiration to women 
and gender transgressors worldwide.

94
00:08:37,517 --> 00:08:41,062
Another important vein of resistance comes from the Mapuche,

95
00:08:41,354 --> 00:08:43,981
the indigenous inhabitants of Wallmapu,

96
00:08:45,024 --> 00:08:49,612
a nation located within the colonial borders 
of the Chilean and Argentinean states.

97
00:08:50,696 --> 00:08:55,868
Recent decades have seen a re-intensification
for the Mapuche struggle for self-determination,

98
00:08:55,868 --> 00:08:58,663
which has manifested in a cultural resurgence,

99
00:08:58,663 --> 00:09:00,331
long term land occupations,

100
00:09:00,331 --> 00:09:03,459
increased attacks against extractive industries,

101
00:09:03,459 --> 00:09:06,712
and a growing incorporation of 
their demands for national sovereignty

102
00:09:06,712 --> 00:09:08,756
within broader social mobilizations.

103
00:09:26,357 --> 00:09:32,154
In 2018, Chile elected former President,
Sebastian Piñera, back into office.

104
00:09:33,614 --> 00:09:36,534
Piñera is a billionaire who is prone to gaffes.

105
00:09:37,493 --> 00:09:40,955
And has a history of making 
misogynistic statements in public.

106
00:09:54,969 --> 00:10:00,516
Suffice to say he is widely hated by participants 
of all the major social movements in Chile.

107
00:10:14,614 --> 00:10:17,491
On October 6th, 2019,

108
00:10:17,491 --> 00:10:21,495
as an indigenous led insurrection 
was spreading across nearby Ecuador.

109
00:10:26,208 --> 00:10:29,837
Chile's Transportation Authority
announced a 30 percent hike

110
00:10:29,837 --> 00:10:31,839
to Santiago's metro fare.

111
00:10:38,888 --> 00:10:40,431
This did not go over well.

112
00:10:43,934 --> 00:10:44,935
The next day, 

113
00:10:44,935 --> 00:10:47,063
calls for a mass fare-dodging campaign 

114
00:10:47,063 --> 00:10:49,607
began to circulate under the slogan, ¡EVADE!

115
00:10:51,609 --> 00:10:53,611
In the days and weeks that followed, 

116
00:10:53,611 --> 00:10:57,948
a wave of coordinated actions swept across 
Santiago's metro stations.

117
00:10:58,115 --> 00:11:01,869
[chanting] Evade! Don't pay! There's another way to fight!

118
00:11:01,869 --> 00:11:05,373
With thousands of high school students swarming the turnstiles, 

119
00:11:05,373 --> 00:11:07,416
sparking running battles with police,

120
00:11:08,709 --> 00:11:09,960
On October 18th,

121
00:11:10,252 --> 00:11:13,881
these steadily building tensions erupted into generalized rioting,

122
00:11:15,383 --> 00:11:16,550
arson,

123
00:11:17,134 --> 00:11:18,177
looting,

124
00:11:18,719 --> 00:11:21,305
And the barricading of major roads across the capital.

125
00:11:22,723 --> 00:11:24,684
What we have seen and heard in the streets

126
00:11:25,101 --> 00:11:28,688
shows a massive rejection of the actual system as a whole.

127
00:11:29,939 --> 00:11:32,441
Forty five years of free market fundamentalism

128
00:11:32,566 --> 00:11:35,194
and the result is deep social inequality.

129
00:11:35,986 --> 00:11:39,573
Piñero responded by declaring a state of emergency,

130
00:11:39,907 --> 00:11:41,158
imposing a curfew,

131
00:11:41,534 --> 00:11:44,453
and deploying the military to the streets
in a policing role

132
00:11:44,453 --> 00:11:47,331
 for the first time since the end of the dictatorship.

133
00:11:53,295 --> 00:11:56,507
This did little to quell the unrest, 
and by the next day,

134
00:11:56,507 --> 00:12:00,219
the uprising had spread to Concepcíon and Valparaíso,

135
00:12:00,219 --> 00:12:02,388
and things were just getting started.

136
00:12:07,601 --> 00:12:09,353
Stores and subway stations torched

137
00:12:09,854 --> 00:12:12,148
Over three days of nights of rioting,

138
00:12:12,148 --> 00:12:16,861
nearly all of Santiago's 136 metro stations were vandalized,

139
00:12:18,571 --> 00:12:20,239
78 were heavily damaged,

140
00:12:20,239 --> 00:12:21,949
and 19 was set on fire.

141
00:12:23,617 --> 00:12:27,037
Numerous busses and subway trains were also put to the torch,

142
00:12:27,329 --> 00:12:30,082
along with several bus stops, banks,

143
00:12:30,458 --> 00:12:33,502
and the headquarters of Italian energy company ENEL.

144
00:12:37,256 --> 00:12:40,885
Wal-Mart later announced that 60 of its stores had been looted,

145
00:12:40,885 --> 00:12:42,928
and six had been burned to the ground.

146
00:12:59,445 --> 00:13:04,158
This violent uprising, dubbed the Estallido Social or social explosion,

147
00:13:04,283 --> 00:13:07,244
soon transformed into a months long popular movement

148
00:13:07,244 --> 00:13:10,289
that drew in millions of participants all across the country

149
00:13:10,289 --> 00:13:13,125
and which was characterized by mass demonstrations,

150
00:13:14,001 --> 00:13:16,545
the spread of territorial neighborhood assemblies,

151
00:13:17,338 --> 00:13:19,882
and the refinement of street fighting tactics

152
00:13:19,882 --> 00:13:24,136
developed by militants in Turkey, Greece, and Hong Kong.

153
00:13:37,274 --> 00:13:39,652
In the face of these unrelenting protests,

154
00:13:40,194 --> 00:13:45,533
on October 30th, Piñero announced the cancelation 
of the COP25 climate conference

155
00:13:45,533 --> 00:13:47,743
and the 2019 APEC Summit.

156
00:13:47,785 --> 00:13:50,579
This is the summit where Xi Jinping and President Trump

157
00:13:50,579 --> 00:13:53,290
were supposed to get together and do a trade deal.

158
00:13:53,749 --> 00:13:55,626
Chile is pulling out of it!

159
00:13:56,001 --> 00:13:59,171
This was the first time that a high level international meeting

160
00:13:59,171 --> 00:14:04,426
had been shut down by protesters since the so-called
Battle of Seattle in 1999.

161
00:14:08,013 --> 00:14:09,348
On November 15th,

162
00:14:09,473 --> 00:14:13,686
Piñera announced a national referendum 
on the drafting of a new constitution,

163
00:14:14,186 --> 00:14:18,107
a long sought-after goal
of a segment of Chile's social movements.

164
00:14:21,402 --> 00:14:22,820
Despite this concession,

165
00:14:22,820 --> 00:14:26,448
clashes and demonstrations continued at a high level for months

166
00:14:26,448 --> 00:14:29,910
up until the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

167
00:14:35,207 --> 00:14:39,169
The Chilean state has ruthlessly used 
this pandemic to its advantage.

168
00:14:39,545 --> 00:14:41,547
This time they mean business.

169
00:14:41,964 --> 00:14:44,717
That's the message Chile's government aims to send

170
00:14:44,717 --> 00:14:47,803
by deploying thousands of soldiers onto the streets.

171
00:14:48,846 --> 00:14:50,806
Since March 2020,

172
00:14:50,806 --> 00:14:55,644
its military has enforced one of the longest running 
and strictest lockdowns in the world.

173
00:15:05,654 --> 00:15:08,782
The repression of the revolt has also taken a huge toll.

174
00:15:29,219 --> 00:15:35,643
There have been 5,540 cases of documented 
human rights violations against protesters,

175
00:15:35,643 --> 00:15:39,146
including widespread rape and torture by police.

176
00:15:39,146 --> 00:15:41,523
At least 36 people have been killed,

177
00:15:41,523 --> 00:15:44,652
and 460 people have been shot in the eye.

178
00:16:04,713 --> 00:16:09,426
Over the course of the uprising,  
more than 27,000 people have been arrested.

179
00:16:22,022 --> 00:16:26,026
And today, more than 2,500 of them 
remain in prison.

180
00:16:26,026 --> 00:16:27,569
Some have now been waiting

181
00:16:27,569 --> 00:16:32,116
more than a year and a half 
for their bail hearing or trial during the uprising.

182
00:16:32,116 --> 00:16:33,784
The state passed new laws

183
00:16:33,784 --> 00:16:37,663
further criminalizing looting
and the use of barricades at protests.

184
00:16:51,301 --> 00:16:54,430
Before that,  a change to Decree Law 321

185
00:16:54,430 --> 00:16:58,517
gave the state additional power 
and discretion over the granting of parole,

186
00:16:58,517 --> 00:17:04,106
a change that effectively translates 
into longer sentences for subversive anti-state prisoners.

187
00:17:05,149 --> 00:17:06,650
On March 22nd, 

188
00:17:06,650 --> 00:17:11,238
nine anarchist prisoners launched
a coordinated hunger strike across four prisons

189
00:17:11,238 --> 00:17:14,283
demanding the reinstatement of the previous parole policy

190
00:17:14,283 --> 00:17:16,326
and freedom for Marcelo Villarroel

191
00:17:16,368 --> 00:17:20,581
an anarchist militant who has 
already served 25 years behind bars

192
00:17:20,581 --> 00:17:24,001
and who now won't be eligible for release until 2036.

193
00:17:25,461 --> 00:17:27,671
The hunger strike lasted 50 days, 

194
00:17:27,671 --> 00:17:30,841
during which time the prisoners faced 
severe physical abuse,

195
00:17:30,841 --> 00:17:32,342
including beatings, 

196
00:17:32,342 --> 00:17:33,427
forced exercise,

197
00:17:33,427 --> 00:17:35,179
and the denial of water.

198
00:17:47,232 --> 00:17:48,358
In recent years,

199
00:17:48,358 --> 00:17:52,905
Chile has also witnessed a number of hunger strikes 
by Mapuche prisoners

200
00:17:52,905 --> 00:17:55,407
resisting the indefinite pre-trial detention

201
00:17:55,407 --> 00:17:58,869
they faced under the country's colonial anti-terrorism laws.

202
00:17:58,869 --> 00:18:01,580
Several of these have lasted for multiple months,

203
00:18:01,580 --> 00:18:04,750
including one last year that involved 34 prisoners

204
00:18:04,750 --> 00:18:07,836
and lasted an incredible 123 days.

205
00:18:28,398 --> 00:18:32,903
The referendum on the new constitution 
was held on October 25th of last year.

206
00:18:35,155 --> 00:18:37,157
Despite a high level of abstention,

207
00:18:37,157 --> 00:18:40,536
nearly 80 percent of voters supported a new constitution.

208
00:18:41,703 --> 00:18:44,581
The next step came on the weekend of May 15,

209
00:18:44,915 --> 00:18:49,670
when elections were held for the
155 person constitutional assembly

210
00:18:49,670 --> 00:18:52,172
tasked with drafting the new constitution.

211
00:18:52,881 --> 00:18:55,300
In a gesture to the country's social movements,

212
00:18:55,467 --> 00:18:59,972
it was agreed in advance that this assembly 
will feature an equal number of men and women,

213
00:19:00,639 --> 00:19:04,143
plus representatives of 10 of the country's indigenous groups.

214
00:19:08,188 --> 00:19:09,356
When this was announced,

215
00:19:09,356 --> 00:19:13,944
Piñera's approval rating shot up five points
to a whopping seven percent.

216
00:19:18,198 --> 00:19:22,327
This process has exposed divisions in terms of goals and strategy.

217
00:19:23,662 --> 00:19:28,959
Many activists point to the real world 
benefits of passing a progressive new constitution

218
00:19:28,959 --> 00:19:32,963
and the need to cement gains won 
through the past two decades of struggle

219
00:19:44,558 --> 00:19:47,936
Others have taken issue with a constitutional assembly model

220
00:19:47,936 --> 00:19:51,440
suggesting that the drafting of the Constitution 
should have been carried out

221
00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,400
by the neighborhood assemblies themselves.

222
00:20:01,116 --> 00:20:06,914
Finally, there are anarchists who see the whole process 
as a dangerous exercise and recuperation.

223
00:20:06,914 --> 00:20:09,625
This is the spectacle at its most clear.

224
00:20:09,625 --> 00:20:15,005
Social relations between people or groups of people mediated by images.

225
00:20:22,638 --> 00:20:24,598
and a distraction from the struggle,

226
00:20:24,598 --> 00:20:28,143
which still continues in the form of nightly clashes with the police.

227
00:20:29,144 --> 00:20:31,855
And recent attacks on logging companies in Wallmapu.

228
00:20:46,370 --> 00:20:52,084
To learn more about all of this, I recently caught up 
with Santiago based anarchist, Javiera

229
00:20:52,084 --> 00:20:54,294
Hey Javiera, how's it going?

230
00:20:54,294 --> 00:20:55,128
Very good.

231
00:20:55,128 --> 00:20:56,380
That's a nice mask.

232
00:20:57,547 --> 00:21:00,467
Oh, you could wear it for the interview if you wanted.

233
00:21:07,391 --> 00:21:10,686
What effects did the Estallido have on the Cilean society?

234
00:21:10,811 --> 00:21:14,398
And how have things changed since the Covid-19 pandemic?

235
00:23:55,976 --> 00:23:59,354
How did the practice of territorial assemblies emerge in Chile,

236
00:23:59,521 --> 00:24:02,899
and what sorts of activities 
have these assemblies carried out?

237
00:27:39,282 --> 00:27:42,452
What are your thoughts on the constitutional assembly process?

238
00:27:42,577 --> 00:27:47,540
What does it mean for a country to have its new constitution written by Pikachu?

239
00:30:16,981 --> 00:30:17,941
Thanks Javiera

240
00:30:18,149 --> 00:30:21,110
We've now reached the end of this episode of System Fail.

241
00:30:21,152 --> 00:30:26,241
You can catch the full interview with Javiera, 
along with another participant in the Chilean revolt

242
00:30:26,324 --> 00:30:29,160
on an upcoming episode of the Circle A podcast.

243
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,539
For more English-language coverage on the social war in Chile,

244
00:30:32,664 --> 00:30:39,254
check out the Crimethinc's Ex-worker podcast's, 
Radio Invasion series or Enough is Enough 14.org

245
00:30:39,504 --> 00:30:43,341
This episode was a collaboration with 
our comrades at  AantiMidia

246
00:30:43,341 --> 00:30:44,884
and Windborn films.

247
00:30:44,884 --> 00:30:49,055
Be sure and check out their documentary, Chile Veins of Resistance,

248
00:30:49,055 --> 00:30:51,099
available on Kolektiva.Media

249
00:30:51,099 --> 00:30:54,352
or at our website, VeinsofResistance.net

250
00:30:54,352 --> 00:30:57,605
Due to their woefully insufficient processing capabilities,

251
00:30:57,605 --> 00:31:03,736
my human produces at SubMedia have informed me
that this show will be placed on a temporary hiatus

252
00:31:03,736 --> 00:31:06,990
while they focus their vapid attention spans on another project.

253
00:31:07,198 --> 00:31:11,703
Expect me to return in the fall with some upgrades to my operating system

254
00:31:11,703 --> 00:31:13,955
and other improvements to the show's format

255
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:15,540
To support SubMedia,

256
00:31:15,707 --> 00:31:20,044
Consider making a one time donation or signing up to be a monthly sustainer

257
00:31:20,044 --> 00:31:22,046
at Sub.Media/Donate

258
00:31:22,171 --> 00:31:27,135
You can also support us by buying 
some of our merchandise at Sub.Media/gear

259
00:31:27,135 --> 00:31:31,055
Be sure and follow us on your corporate
data-mining platform of choice.

260
00:31:31,055 --> 00:31:32,724
Just search for subMedia. 

261
00:31:32,724 --> 00:31:36,853
Or better yet, sign up for our mailing list and 
get every new episode

262
00:31:36,853 --> 00:31:38,771
delivered directly to your inbox.

263
00:31:38,771 --> 00:31:40,440
Godspeed, humans.