WEBVTT 00:01:16.618 --> 00:01:19.454 Oh, hello, welcome to System Fail, 00:01:19.454 --> 00:01:21.998 the show where progress is a relative concept. 00:01:21.998 --> 00:01:23.124 I'm a woman of color. 00:01:23.374 --> 00:01:24.375 Oh, wow. 00:01:24.375 --> 00:01:25.376 I am a mom. 00:01:25.460 --> 00:01:26.920 Oh, wow! 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:31.257 I am a cisgender millenial who's been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. 00:01:31.382 --> 00:01:32.759 Oh my God. 00:01:33.093 --> 00:01:37.764 I am intersectional, but my existence is not a box checking exercise. 00:01:39.224 --> 00:01:45.438 I refuse to internalize misguided patriarchal ideas of what a woman can or should be. 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:50.777 I stand here today a proud first generation Latina and officer at CIA. 00:01:50.985 --> 00:01:54.030 ♫ I got the eye of the tiger 00:01:54.072 --> 00:01:58.201 a fighter, dancing through the fire 00:01:58.201 --> 00:02:01.079 'Cuz I am a champion, 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:04.749 and you're gonna hear me roar ♫ 00:02:04.749 --> 00:02:05.667 What the fuck! 00:02:06.501 --> 00:02:08.837 I am disgusted. 00:02:08.837 --> 00:02:10.380 I'm your host, Dee Dos 00:02:10.380 --> 00:02:14.259 and with the exception of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and preppers, 00:02:14.342 --> 00:02:15.760 We're not so silly now, are we? 00:02:15.760 --> 00:02:18.138 Here's to the end of the world! 00:02:18.138 --> 00:02:19.514 [group] Cheers! 00:02:19.514 --> 00:02:21.766 It's been a trying year for the human race. 00:02:22.976 --> 00:02:24.519 I want to fucking die. 00:02:24.519 --> 00:02:30.024 For those caught up in this whirlwind of generalized outrage and constant anxiety, 00:02:31.401 --> 00:02:37.240 It can be easy to forget that 2019 was marked by a wave of popular insurrections, 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:40.118 unlike anything seen in more than half a century. 00:03:15.111 --> 00:03:19.157 From Haiti to Hong Kong, people took to the streets in historic numbers 00:03:19.157 --> 00:03:23.244 and fought pitched street battles with heavily armed state security agents 00:03:23.786 --> 00:03:25.997 and the forces of paramilitary reaction. 00:03:28.166 --> 00:03:30.001 Revolt spread across borders, 00:03:30.126 --> 00:03:33.046 and tactics developed in one country were taken up 00:03:33.046 --> 00:03:35.757 and adopted by comrades, thousands of miles away. 00:03:36.382 --> 00:03:40.178 New unities were forged behind barricades and in occupied squares 00:03:40.887 --> 00:03:43.473 rooted in common experiences of corruption, 00:03:43.473 --> 00:03:44.724 police impunity, 00:03:44.724 --> 00:03:48.144 and the generalized alienation of so-called late capitalism. 00:03:48.686 --> 00:03:50.188 And then all of a sudden, 00:03:50.563 --> 00:03:52.273 In the past two weeks, 00:03:52.273 --> 00:03:58.488 the number of cases of Covid-19 outside China has increased thirteen fold. 00:03:58.488 --> 00:04:03.534 The onset of the covid-19 pandemic helped to empty the streets for a while, 00:04:03.534 --> 00:04:07.455 but it did nothing to address the systemic issues that had fueled the revolts. 00:04:07.914 --> 00:04:11.209 And so it wasn't long before riots started back up 00:04:11.709 --> 00:04:16.464 and new insurrections broke out in countries that had been spared the first wave. 00:04:34.065 --> 00:04:36.901 Peering into the flames of this global upheaval, 00:04:36.901 --> 00:04:40.780 some commentators have seen the death rows of neo-liberalism itself. 00:04:42.824 --> 00:04:46.577 It is therefore rather fitting that some of the fiercest convulsions 00:04:46.577 --> 00:04:49.414 came from the nation where this economic system was born, 00:04:51.624 --> 00:04:52.125 Chile. 00:04:54.627 --> 00:04:58.047 In the wake of the revolutionary upsurge of 1968, 00:04:58.047 --> 00:05:01.634 Unrest which had lurk beneath the surface, spilled into the open. 00:05:01.634 --> 00:05:03.469 Chaos ruled the streets. 00:05:03.469 --> 00:05:09.100 Global capital responded by implementing a large scale restructuring of the international economy. 00:05:12.020 --> 00:05:15.648 They found a willing accomplice in General Augusto Pinochet. 00:05:16.941 --> 00:05:21.446 After seizing power in a U.S. backed coup d'etat in 1973, 00:05:22.363 --> 00:05:27.535 Pinochet installed a cadre of Milton Friedman's former students into top policy positions. 00:05:27.744 --> 00:05:29.912 I never like this, eh... 00:05:29.996 --> 00:05:35.501 [stuttering] 00:05:35.501 --> 00:05:37.003 well, the dictatorship! 00:05:37.003 --> 00:05:41.007 This group of free market economists known as the Chicago Boys, 00:05:41.382 --> 00:05:42.967 Da Bears! 00:05:42.967 --> 00:05:49.140 soon set to work transforming the country into a vast laboratory for neoliberal shock therapy. 00:05:49.140 --> 00:05:51.809 With the support of the IMF and World Bank, 00:05:51.809 --> 00:05:53.394 Public spending was cut. 00:05:53.394 --> 00:05:56.814 Resources, lands, and services were privatized, 00:05:56.814 --> 00:05:59.650 and revelations changed to favour big business. 00:06:00.401 --> 00:06:03.404 The ethical issues involved are subtle and complex. 00:06:04.030 --> 00:06:06.824 Pinochet was removed from office in 1990 00:06:06.991 --> 00:06:11.662 as part of the Chilean state's formal transition from a dictatorship to a democracy. 00:06:11.746 --> 00:06:13.790 Democracy is good, right? 00:06:14.123 --> 00:06:17.710 Yet much of the state's repressive trappings were left intact, 00:06:17.710 --> 00:06:21.964 including its constitution drafted by the military in 1980. 00:06:22.757 --> 00:06:26.386 Over the following decades, as the sheen of democracy has worn off, 00:06:26.677 --> 00:06:28.304 And what seems to be the problem? 00:06:28.596 --> 00:06:29.389 It doesn't work. 00:06:29.389 --> 00:06:33.434 A deepening disillusionment with the entire political class has set in 00:06:42.693 --> 00:06:48.616 Providing fertile soil for some of the most dynamic and militant social movements in the world. 00:07:08.636 --> 00:07:12.765 Since the so-called Penguins' Revolution of 2006, 00:07:13.433 --> 00:07:17.437 The Chilean student movement has served as a veritable factory of struggle, 00:07:19.564 --> 00:07:23.985 Training hundreds of thousands of youth in the use of confrontational tactics 00:07:23.985 --> 00:07:27.613 and repeatedly paralyzing the entire society in its pursuit 00:07:27.613 --> 00:07:30.658 of a new system of free participatory education. 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', 00:07:42.253 --> 00:07:44.088 and the global 'Me Too' campaign, 00:07:44.088 --> 00:07:50.052 In 2018, Chile's powerful feminist movement launched a coordinated wave of protests, 00:07:50.052 --> 00:07:53.973 blockades, and occupations to demand an end to harassment, 00:07:53.973 --> 00:07:57.143 femicide, sexual assault, income inequality, 00:07:57.143 --> 00:07:59.645 and the broader culture of machismo that underpin them. 00:08:08.696 --> 00:08:11.991 Militant calls for the abolition of prescribed gender roles, 00:08:11.991 --> 00:08:16.120 and persistent attacks on patriarchal institutions and social norms 00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:19.749 have transformed Chilean feminism into a vital, catalyzing force 00:08:19.749 --> 00:08:21.125 within popular movements, 00:08:21.125 --> 00:08:25.838 and served as an example and inspiration to women and gender transgressors worldwide. 00:08:37.517 --> 00:08:41.062 Another important vein of resistance comes from the Mapuche, 00:08:41.354 --> 00:08:43.981 the indigenous inhabitants of Wallmapu, 00:08:45.024 --> 00:08:49.612 a nation located within the colonial borders of the Chilean and Argentinean states. 00:08:50.696 --> 00:08:55.868 Recent decades have seen a re-intensification for the Mapuche struggle for self-determination, 00:08:55.868 --> 00:08:58.663 which has manifested in a cultural resurgence, 00:08:58.663 --> 00:09:00.331 long term land occupations, 00:09:00.331 --> 00:09:03.459 increased attacks against extractive industries, 00:09:03.459 --> 00:09:06.712 and a growing incorporation of their demands for national sovereignty 00:09:06.712 --> 00:09:08.756 within broader social mobilizations. 00:09:26.357 --> 00:09:32.154 In 2018, Chile elected former President, Sebastian Piñera, back into office. 00:09:33.614 --> 00:09:36.534 Piñera is a billionaire who is prone to gaffes. 00:09:37.493 --> 00:09:40.955 And has a history of making misogynistic statements in public. 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. 00:10:14.614 --> 00:10:17.491 On October 6th, 2019, 00:10:17.491 --> 00:10:21.495 as an indigenous led insurrection was spreading across nearby Ecuador. 00:10:26.208 --> 00:10:29.837 Chile's Transportation Authority announced a 30 percent hike 00:10:29.837 --> 00:10:31.839 to Santiago's metro fare. 00:10:38.888 --> 00:10:40.431 This did not go over well. 00:10:43.934 --> 00:10:44.935 The next day, 00:10:44.935 --> 00:10:47.063 calls for a mass fare-dodging campaign 00:10:47.063 --> 00:10:49.607 began to circulate under the slogan, ¡EVADE! 00:10:51.609 --> 00:10:53.611 In the days and weeks that followed, 00:10:53.611 --> 00:10:57.948 a wave of coordinated actions swept across Santiago's metro stations. 00:10:58.115 --> 00:11:01.869 [chanting] Evade! Don't pay! There's another way to fight! 00:11:01.869 --> 00:11:05.373 With thousands of high school students swarming the turnstiles, 00:11:05.373 --> 00:11:07.416 sparking running battles with police, 00:11:08.709 --> 00:11:09.960 On October 18th, 00:11:10.252 --> 00:11:13.881 these steadily building tensions erupted into generalized rioting, 00:11:15.383 --> 00:11:16.550 arson, 00:11:17.134 --> 00:11:18.177 looting, 00:11:18.719 --> 00:11:21.305 And the barricading of major roads across the capital. 00:11:22.723 --> 00:11:24.684 What we have seen and heard in the streets 00:11:25.101 --> 00:11:28.688 shows a massive rejection of the actual system as a whole. 00:11:29.939 --> 00:11:32.441 Forty five years of free market fundamentalism 00:11:32.566 --> 00:11:35.194 and the result is deep social inequality. 00:11:35.986 --> 00:11:39.573 Piñero responded by declaring a state of emergency, 00:11:39.907 --> 00:11:41.158 imposing a curfew, 00:11:41.534 --> 00:11:44.453 and deploying the military to the streets in a policing role 00:11:44.453 --> 00:11:47.331 for the first time since the end of the dictatorship. 00:11:53.295 --> 00:11:56.507 This did little to quell the unrest, and by the next day, 00:11:56.507 --> 00:12:00.219 the uprising had spread to Concepcíon and Valparaíso, 00:12:00.219 --> 00:12:02.388 and things were just getting started. 00:12:07.601 --> 00:12:09.353 Stores and subway stations torched 00:12:09.854 --> 00:12:12.148 Over three days of nights of rioting, 00:12:12.148 --> 00:12:16.861 nearly all of Santiago's 136 metro stations were vandalized, 00:12:18.571 --> 00:12:20.239 78 were heavily damaged, 00:12:20.239 --> 00:12:21.949 and 19 was set on fire. 00:12:23.617 --> 00:12:27.037 Numerous busses and subway trains were also put to the torch, 00:12:27.329 --> 00:12:30.082 along with several bus stops, banks, 00:12:30.458 --> 00:12:33.502 and the headquarters of Italian energy company ENEL. 00:12:37.256 --> 00:12:40.885 Wal-Mart later announced that 60 of its stores had been looted, 00:12:40.885 --> 00:12:42.928 and six had been burned to the ground. 00:12:59.445 --> 00:13:04.158 This violent uprising, dubbed the Estallido Social or social explosion, 00:13:04.283 --> 00:13:07.244 soon transformed into a months long popular movement 00:13:07.244 --> 00:13:10.289 that drew in millions of participants all across the country 00:13:10.289 --> 00:13:13.125 and which was characterized by mass demonstrations, 00:13:14.001 --> 00:13:16.545 the spread of territorial neighborhood assemblies, 00:13:17.338 --> 00:13:19.882 and the refinement of street fighting tactics 00:13:19.882 --> 00:13:24.136 developed by militants in Turkey, Greece, and Hong Kong. 00:13:37.274 --> 00:13:39.652 In the face of these unrelenting protests, 00:13:40.194 --> 00:13:45.533 on October 30th, Piñero announced the cancelation of the COP25 climate conference 00:13:45.533 --> 00:13:47.743 and the 2019 APEC Summit. 00:13:47.785 --> 00:13:50.579 This is the summit where Xi Jinping and President Trump 00:13:50.579 --> 00:13:53.290 were supposed to get together and do a trade deal. 00:13:53.749 --> 00:13:55.626 Chile is pulling out of it! 00:13:56.001 --> 00:13:59.171 This was the first time that a high level international meeting 00:13:59.171 --> 00:14:04.426 had been shut down by protesters since the so-called Battle of Seattle in 1999. 00:14:08.013 --> 00:14:09.348 On November 15th, 00:14:09.473 --> 00:14:13.686 Piñera announced a national referendum on the drafting of a new constitution, 00:14:14.186 --> 00:14:18.107 a long sought-after goal of a segment of Chile's social movements. 00:14:21.402 --> 00:14:22.820 Despite this concession, 00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:26.448 clashes and demonstrations continued at a high level for months 00:14:26.448 --> 00:14:29.910 up until the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic. 00:14:35.207 --> 00:14:39.169 The Chilean state has ruthlessly used this pandemic to its advantage. 00:14:39.545 --> 00:14:41.547 This time they mean business. 00:14:41.964 --> 00:14:44.717 That's the message Chile's government aims to send 00:14:44.717 --> 00:14:47.803 by deploying thousands of soldiers onto the streets. 00:14:48.846 --> 00:14:50.806 Since March 2020, 00:14:50.806 --> 00:14:55.644 its military has enforced one of the longest running and strictest lockdowns in the world. 00:15:05.654 --> 00:15:08.782 The repression of the revolt has also taken a huge toll. 00:15:29.219 --> 00:15:35.643 There have been 5,540 cases of documented human rights violations against protesters, 00:15:35.643 --> 00:15:39.146 including widespread rape and torture by police. 00:15:39.146 --> 00:15:41.523 At least 36 people have been killed, 00:15:41.523 --> 00:15:44.652 and 460 people have been shot in the eye. 00:16:04.713 --> 00:16:09.426 Over the course of the uprising, more than 27,000 people have been arrested. 00:16:22.022 --> 00:16:26.026 And today, more than 2,500 of them remain in prison. 00:16:26.026 --> 00:16:27.569 Some have now been waiting 00:16:27.569 --> 00:16:32.116 more than a year and a half for their bail hearing or trial during the uprising. 00:16:32.116 --> 00:16:33.784 The state passed new laws 00:16:33.784 --> 00:16:37.663 further criminalizing looting and the use of barricades at protests. 00:16:51.301 --> 00:16:54.430 Before that, a change to Decree Law 321 00:16:54.430 --> 00:16:58.517 gave the state additional power and discretion over the granting of parole, 00:16:58.517 --> 00:17:04.106 a change that effectively translates into longer sentences for subversive anti-state prisoners. 00:17:05.149 --> 00:17:06.650 On March 22nd, 00:17:06.650 --> 00:17:11.238 nine anarchist prisoners launched a coordinated hunger strike across four prisons 00:17:11.238 --> 00:17:14.283 demanding the reinstatement of the previous parole policy 00:17:14.283 --> 00:17:16.326 and freedom for Marcelo Villarroel 00:17:16.368 --> 00:17:20.581 an anarchist militant who has already served 25 years behind bars 00:17:20.581 --> 00:17:24.001 and who now won't be eligible for release until 2036. 00:17:25.461 --> 00:17:27.671 The hunger strike lasted 50 days, 00:17:27.671 --> 00:17:30.841 during which time the prisoners faced severe physical abuse, 00:17:30.841 --> 00:17:32.342 including beatings, 00:17:32.342 --> 00:17:33.427 forced exercise, 00:17:33.427 --> 00:17:35.179 and the denial of water. 00:17:47.232 --> 00:17:48.358 In recent years, 00:17:48.358 --> 00:17:52.905 Chile has also witnessed a number of hunger strikes by Mapuche prisoners 00:17:52.905 --> 00:17:55.407 resisting the indefinite pre-trial detention 00:17:55.407 --> 00:17:58.869 they faced under the country's colonial anti-terrorism laws. 00:17:58.869 --> 00:18:01.580 Several of these have lasted for multiple months, 00:18:01.580 --> 00:18:04.750 including one last year that involved 34 prisoners 00:18:04.750 --> 00:18:07.836 and lasted an incredible 123 days. 00:18:28.398 --> 00:18:32.903 The referendum on the new constitution was held on October 25th of last year. 00:18:35.155 --> 00:18:37.157 Despite a high level of abstention, 00:18:37.157 --> 00:18:40.536 nearly 80 percent of voters supported a new constitution. 00:18:41.703 --> 00:18:44.581 The next step came on the weekend of May 15, 00:18:44.915 --> 00:18:49.670 when elections were held for the 155 person constitutional assembly 00:18:49.670 --> 00:18:52.172 tasked with drafting the new constitution. 00:18:52.881 --> 00:18:55.300 In a gesture to the country's social movements, 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, 00:19:00.639 --> 00:19:04.143 plus representatives of 10 of the country's indigenous groups. 00:19:08.188 --> 00:19:09.356 When this was announced, 00:19:09.356 --> 00:19:13.944 Piñera's approval rating shot up five points to a whopping seven percent. 00:19:18.198 --> 00:19:22.327 This process has exposed divisions in terms of goals and strategy. 00:19:23.662 --> 00:19:28.959 Many activists point to the real world benefits of passing a progressive new constitution 00:19:28.959 --> 00:19:32.963 and the need to cement gains won through the past two decades of struggle 00:19:44.558 --> 00:19:47.936 Others have taken issue with a constitutional assembly model 00:19:47.936 --> 00:19:51.440 suggesting that the drafting of the Constitution should have been carried out 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.400 by the neighborhood assemblies themselves. 00:20:01.116 --> 00:20:06.914 Finally, there are anarchists who see the whole process as a dangerous exercise and recuperation. 00:20:06.914 --> 00:20:09.625 This is the spectacle at its most clear. 00:20:09.625 --> 00:20:15.005 Social relations between people or groups of people mediated by images. 00:20:22.638 --> 00:20:24.598 and a distraction from the struggle, 00:20:24.598 --> 00:20:28.143 which still continues in the form of nightly clashes with the police. 00:20:29.144 --> 00:20:31.855 And recent attacks on logging companies in Wallmapu. 00:20:46.370 --> 00:20:52.084 To learn more about all of this, I recently caught up with Santiago based anarchist, Javiera 00:20:52.084 --> 00:20:54.294 Hey Javiera, how's it going? 00:20:54.294 --> 00:20:55.128 Very good. 00:20:55.128 --> 00:20:56.380 That's a nice mask. 00:20:57.547 --> 00:21:00.467 Oh, you could wear it for the interview if you wanted. 00:21:07.391 --> 00:21:10.686 What effects did the Estallido have on the Cilean society? 00:21:10.811 --> 00:21:14.398 And how have things changed since the Covid-19 pandemic? 00:23:55.976 --> 00:23:59.354 How did the practice of territorial assemblies emerge in Chile, 00:23:59.521 --> 00:24:02.899 and what sorts of activities have these assemblies carried out? 00:27:39.282 --> 00:27:42.452 What are your thoughts on the constitutional assembly process? 00:27:42.577 --> 00:27:47.540 What does it mean for a country to have its new constitution written by Pikachu? 00:30:16.981 --> 00:30:17.941 Thanks Javiera 00:30:18.149 --> 00:30:21.110 We've now reached the end of this episode of System Fail. 00:30:21.152 --> 00:30:26.241 You can catch the full interview with Javiera, along with another participant in the Chilean revolt 00:30:26.324 --> 00:30:29.160 on an upcoming episode of the Circle A podcast. 00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:32.539 For more English-language coverage on the social war in Chile, 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 00:30:39.504 --> 00:30:43.341 This episode was a collaboration with our comrades at AantiMidia 00:30:43.341 --> 00:30:44.884 and Windborn films. 00:30:44.884 --> 00:30:49.055 Be sure and check out their documentary, Chile Veins of Resistance, 00:30:49.055 --> 00:30:51.099 available on Kolektiva.Media 00:30:51.099 --> 00:30:54.352 or at our website, VeinsofResistance.net 00:30:54.352 --> 00:30:57.605 Due to their woefully insufficient processing capabilities, 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 00:31:03.736 --> 00:31:06.990 while they focus their vapid attention spans on another project. 00:31:07.198 --> 00:31:11.703 Expect me to return in the fall with some upgrades to my operating system 00:31:11.703 --> 00:31:13.955 and other improvements to the show's format 00:31:14.080 --> 00:31:15.540 To support SubMedia, 00:31:15.707 --> 00:31:20.044 Consider making a one time donation or signing up to be a monthly sustainer 00:31:20.044 --> 00:31:22.046 at Sub.Media/Donate 00:31:22.171 --> 00:31:27.135 You can also support us by buying some of our merchandise at Sub.Media/gear 00:31:27.135 --> 00:31:31.055 Be sure and follow us on your corporate data-mining platform of choice. 00:31:31.055 --> 00:31:32.724 Just search for subMedia. 00:31:32.724 --> 00:31:36.853 Or better yet, sign up for our mailing list and get every new episode 00:31:36.853 --> 00:31:38.771 delivered directly to your inbox. 00:31:38.771 --> 00:31:40.440 Godspeed, humans.