Photos of a Youth Revolution That Succeeded
Photojournalist Aurian Merlin Cerise documented the Chilean student movement that elected Gabriel Boric, the country's youngest president ever.
By Bianca Ferrari
May 2, 2022, 2:45am
Back in October 2019, Belgian photojournalist Aurian Merlin Cerise was visiting a friend in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when neighbouring Chile began sliding toward widespread social unrest. Within days, what began as a student-led protest against the rising costs of public transport in the capital of Santiago turned into a nationwide mass demonstration against inequality, corruption and the quality of life in the country.
A month on – and despite brutal attempts to quash the movement – the protesters had achieved more than what many had thought was possible. The government agreed to one of the protesters’ key demands: they’d organise a referendum to let voters chose whether to keep or discard the country’s constitution, written under Chile’s former far-right dictator, General Augusto Pinochet.
Chile’s Pinochet-era constitution created an electoral system biased in favour of incumbents, which disincentivized politicians from listening to voters and common people from running for office. It also enshrined radical neoliberal principles into law, making the provision of social rights – including to water, healthcare and education – the responsibility of private services rather than the state. These principles turned Chile into one of the wealthiest and most investment-friendly countries in South America, but they also created massive inequality and discontent.
A year after the protests, the 2019 movement for constitutional reform won the vote. Not only that – Chileans arguably elected the most progressive constitutional assembly in the history of the world, with half of its members being women and a third representatives from Indigenous communities. The assembly is still at work, and is set to centre average people’s needs and environmental protection among the country’s new fundamental principles.
More:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/3abpjv/chile-protest-photos-aurian-merlin-cerise
