Chileans Vote for New Constitution

Pictured above: Chilean protests. Photo courtesy of WikiMedia

By Sophie Soloway ’23

Global Editor 

On Sunday, Oct. 25, 78.3 percent of Chilean citizens voted in a referendum in favor of a new national constitution. This majority decision follows a year of protests in Chile largely centered around calls for major changes to the country’s democratic process and leadership. According to The Guardian, this national vote was the first step in meeting protesters’ demands and beginning a new chapter for the country. 

Helen Roane ’23, international relations major at Mount Holyoke, reflected on the referendum.“I think it is really important that Chileans have taken this step [toward] creating a more democratic government and ensuring that their voices can be heard in the future,” Roane said. “It feels especially hopeful in the context of living through the current United States election, where people are concerned about their votes counting or having their opinions heard.”

In October 2019, it was announced that metro fare prices would be raised in Chile. The announcement was immediately met with disdain from citizens who claimed that this would make public transit inaccessible to the majority of Chileans. While this planned price hike was canceled just two days after its announcement, economic protests have persisted well into 2020. Beginning with intentional turnstile-hopping and soon culminating in a declared state of emergency, these protests quickly widened to encompass the extremely high rate of wealth inequality and rising living costs in Chile. 

One of the largest demands that emerged from the diverse array of protesters was that for a new constitution. The current legislation was created in 1980 under Augusto Pinochet, who is widely recognized as a dictator in the country’s history. Although changes have been made to that constitution, its relation to Pinochet’s rule holds weight in citizens’ eyes. 

According to Assistant Professor of Politics Cora Fernandez Anderson, “Since 1990 with the transition to democracy, the political regime changed but most of the economic reforms were left intact. As protesters were saying these days, ‘It is not about the 30 pesos (the increase of the subway fare), it’s about the last 30 years,’ about the lack of change brought by democracy, about the increasing social injustice and inequality that democracy was not able to address.” 

“The privatization of health and education done by Pinochet is still in place, and it is not surprising that students have been at the forefront of protests,” Fernandez Anderson continued. 

Fernandez Anderson also spoke to the increased influence of student protests in Chile. “The student movement in Chile is very strong; [it] emerged first around 2010 and had other peaks of mobilization, and while the initial protests were about the subway fare this time, students were fast to make these protests about something bigger than an increase of the price of transportation but throw light into the structural injustices present in the country,” she explained.

In November 2019, political leaders voted to approve a public referendum on the subject of maintaining or demolishing the fraught constitution. However, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its implementation. On Sunday, voters were finally able to vocalize their hopes for the country in the voting booths. 50.9 percent of eligible voters cast their votes, marking increased voter turnout from the most recent presidential election, according to The Guardian. 

“This shows that the population has not participated actively in previous elections because of a deep crisis of representation,” Fernandez Anderson explained. “Existing parties were not giving real options, neoliberalism had been embraced by all parties and alternatives to this economic model were [off] the table. Political parties were not able to channel people’s discontent, voting turnout was low, and people found the streets as a way of expressing their frustration and their search for alternatives. The referendum and the decision to reform the constitution seems to show the political system acknowledged its crisis and is on the way to create a hopefully more legitimate political system in which people feel better represented and taken care of.” 

Voters will return to the booths in April 2021, when a vote for new assembly members is scheduled to take place. Yet another referendum will be held in the first half of 2022 in order to approve or disapprove of the proposed constitution that will be written by these newly elected officials. 

Fernandez Anderson noted that these votes will have a wide range of topics, including whether or not to remain a presidential system or change to a “parliamentarian or semi-parliamentarian system.” They are also considering the decentralization and regionalization of the country. 

Additionally, “A big issue will be to define the relationship with the Indigenous people, mostly the Mapuche [people] who have been demanding rights for decades,” according to Fernandez Anderson. The role of the state in the economy will be another controversial issue, along with its role in guaranteeing social rights such as health, education, housing and more, Fernandez Anderson explained. 

As the country awaits these upcoming elections, they also await a decision that would shape Chile’s political future. “I think this is a moment for Chile to rethink their whole political system and in the spirit of the protests push for a deepening of democracy, take advantage of this moment to put everything under scrutiny,” Fernandez Anderson said. “This is a foundational moment for this country and I hope they will take it as such.”

Women of Belarus March Against ‘Europe’s Last Dictator’

Image courtesy of WikiMedia

By Madhavi Rao ’24

Staff Writer

On Sept. 19, approximately 2,000 women marched through Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, as a part of more than six weeks of protests against the results of the recent presidential election, which has caused unrest across the country. Dissent has been targeted towards what is seen as the fraudulent reelection of the long-standing president, Alexander Lukashenko.

Lukashenko, who is also known as “Europe’s last dictator,” has ruled since 1994. The title was awarded to him following the dissolution of presidential term limits, years of voter fraud and his lead in arresting any challengers to his presidency. As reported by The Washington Post, these ploys have come to be seen as “the pitiful acts of a tyrant who has no legitimacy and clings desperately to power.” 

In regard to the months of protests, Lukashenko’s government has responded with a brutal crackdown. Since the wave of unrest began in August, more than 10,000 peaceful protesters have been arrested, according to U.N. Special Rapporteur Anaïs Marin. Middle Eastern news network Al-Jazeera has reported that the detained protesters are subjected to torture and abuse in custody, resulting in the deaths of several protesters. 

This abusive treatment of protesters is a driving force for the Women’s March in Minsk. Irina K. Palyukovich, a protester at the march, told The New York Times, “Women can do a lot, they can fight against a dictator. Men cannot do that not because they are weak, but they are more vulnerable. They are being beaten more often.”  

Around 2,000 women marched around the capital city on Sept. 19, carrying red and white opposition flags and demanding the removal of Lukashenko from his position. This was confronted with more state-sanctioned violence, as approximately 300 protesters were dragged into vans and forcibly detained. Step Vaessen, reporting for Al-Jazeera, stated that Lukashenko’s response to the protests was to “treat everyone as violently as possible,” crushing dissent by “making sure that people are so scared and intimidated that they will stop these protests.” 

In a statement released before the march, opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya advocated for the “brave women of Belarus.” Tikhanovskaya, a former teacher, ran for president in the place of her husband, Sergei Tikhanovskaya, who was jailed for being a vocal supporter of the opposition. Of the three female leaders of the opposition, two — Tikhanovskaya and Veronika Tsepkalo — have fled the country. The conditions of their departure to Lithuania closely following the election results are said to have been under duress from the Belarusian government. 

The third leader of the opposition, Maria Kolesnikova, who previously ripped up her passport to avoid deportation to Ukraine, has been arrested for “actions aimed at undermining Belarusian national security,” according to NBC. Kolesnikova was last seen being pushed into a minibus by masked men in Minsk. Her current whereabouts are unknown. 

Lukashenko has faced little opposition during his rule, but the government’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with grievances about the economy, have led to a strong wave of dissent among the public. According to BBC News, Tikhanovskaya says that she won 60-70 percent of the vote in places it was counted properly. Lukashenko’s reelection, with an alleged 80 percent majority, caused outrage across the country. 

Assistant Professor of International Relations and Politics Christopher Mitchell commented on Lukashenko’s regime. “What these events show is just how delicate a position Lukashenko finds himself in,” Mitchell said. “His dictatorship has largely survived because he’s enjoyed the support of Vladimir Putin. However, this has put Belarus in a position where it frequently bends to Russia’s will, inflaming resentment among a segment of the population.” 

Mitchell continued, “To manage this, Lukashenko has gently pushed back against Putin to look more assertive, and Putin has been reluctant to get involved directly to support him.”

Alejandra German Chavarin ’23, a history and politics double major, believes that the protests are a valid reaction to the electoral issues. “The ‘president’ Mr. Lukashenko hasn't been considered a legitimate leader by many countries including the U.S,” Chavarin said. “This uproar deserves attention because it obviously points at wide dissatisfaction amongst the citizens, one that would make the alleged 80 percent of votes that Mr. Lukashenko received questionable.”

A fresh wave of protests broke out after Lukashenko was sworn in at a secret inauguration on Sept. 23. The Moscow Times reported that unlike previous inaugurations, the ceremony was not shown on live TV. Instead, photographs of Lukashenko swearing-in and a transcript of his inaugural address were published by the state-run news agency, BelTA. 

Ales Belyatsky, head of the human rights group Viasna, said to The Moscow Times, “If the inauguration had been announced in advance, 200,000 demonstrators would have gathered outside his palace.” In a statement, Tikhanovskaya called the ceremony “a farce.” The United States and several European countries such as Germany have refused to recognize Lukashenko’s presidency. 

Mitchell said concerning the inauguration, “Lukashenko's best strategy is to wait out the opposition and hope that they lose intensity with time. Therefore, any large public display of asserting his authority runs the risk of reviving the opposition, and he can no longer count on Putin to support him.”