Santiago under curfew

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mockbee
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Re: Santiago under curfew

#51 Post by mockbee » Tue Nov 12, 2019 9:11 am

Larry B. wrote:
Tue Nov 12, 2019 8:06 am
This is a photo of the young lad that lost both eyes a few days ago.

tragic. :no: :wavesad:

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Mescal
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Re: Santiago under curfew

#52 Post by Mescal » Tue Nov 12, 2019 2:17 pm

Larry B. wrote:
Tue Nov 12, 2019 8:06 am
This is a photo of the young lad that lost both eyes a few days ago.
This is just terrible :nyrexall:

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Larry B.
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Re: Santiago under curfew

#53 Post by Larry B. » Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:34 pm

Well, I guess this might already be boring for some, but writing is good for me too... almost like a bit of a journal.

Today was really rough and I spent most of my 3 hours there right behind the first line... I saw 3 people injured by gunshots, and at least a dozen by rubber bullets.

Today, after being asked by a journalist whether they were going to forbid the use of pellets and rubber bullets, the regime said “of course they are forbidden... for peaceful demonstrators.” And this is a regime that considers blocking a street as un-peaceful and violent.

So it was round after round after round. I went theough 2 liters of water + bicarbonate. With some hindsight, it’s a bit surreal that it’s become normal to see hundreds of people (myself included) having to adopt a “crash” position when they are shooting at us. I put one knee on the floor, lower my head (so that my helmet and my shin are sort of covering the rest of my body) and once the rounds stop, I try to spray as many people as I can and/or retaliate with rocks or pieces of concrete.

In political terms, there has been some movement. The centre and the left today joined forces (for the first time in quite a while) and published a statement requesting/demanding a referendum, constituent assembly and a new constitution. The far right has already said “NO”, but there is one party from the right who have not aligned themselves as tightly with the regime... so there might be something they could negotiate.

Tonight, the dictator is meeting with his Minister of Defence. Nobody knows what’s going to happen, except that they will cry about the violence and congratulate the police for the lovely, honorable work they are doing.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#54 Post by mockbee » Tue Nov 12, 2019 6:48 pm

Larry B. wrote:
Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:34 pm
Well, I guess this might already be boring for some, but writing is good for me too... almost like a bit of a journal.

Today was really rough and I spent most of my 3 hours there right behind the first line... I saw 3 people injured by gunshots, and at least a dozen by rubber bullets.

Today, after being asked by a journalist whether they were going to forbid the use of pellets and rubber bullets, the regime said “of course they are forbidden... for peaceful demonstrators.” And this is a regime that considers blocking a street as un-peaceful and violent.

So it was round after round after round. I went theough 2 liters of water + bicarbonate. With some hindsight, it’s a bit surreal that it’s become normal to see hundreds of people (myself included) having to adopt a “crash” position when they are shooting at us. I put one knee on the floor, lower my head (so that my helmet and my shin are sort of covering the rest of my body) and once the rounds stop, I try to spray as many people as I can and/or retaliate with rocks or pieces of concrete.

In political terms, there has been some movement. The centre and the left today joined forces (for the first time in quite a while) and published a statement requesting/demanding a referendum, constituent assembly and a new constitution. The far right has already said “NO”, but there is one party from the right who have not aligned themselves as tightly with the regime... so there might be something they could negotiate.

Tonight, the dictator is meeting with his Minister of Defence. Nobody knows what’s going to happen, except that they will cry about the violence and congratulate the police for the lovely, honorable work they are doing.

Keep writing Larry.

We are reading it. It sounds so intense and must seem endless. Change only occurs with persistence and resolve, sounds like your people have all that in spades.

:cool:

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#55 Post by Mescal » Tue Nov 12, 2019 11:15 pm

Yeah man! If reading means supporting you .... We'll keep on reading

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Larry B.
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Re: Santiago under curfew

#56 Post by Larry B. » Wed Nov 13, 2019 4:03 am

Thank you ✌🏼

Last night, the dictator announced that the police will be allowing retired police people to join as reinforcements. That’s pathetic on so many levels. The regime wanted to go back to sending the military to the streets, but apparently the armed forces said no to that.

Tomorrow (Thursday) will be tough, as it’s the first anniversary of the death of Catrillanca, an indigenous social leader who was murdered by the State. They tried to pass it off as a fair death and made up a story that he had stolen a car off a teacher (?), but body cameras revealed that he was just followed and murdered. It was a pretty big deal, and the former Minister of Interior was behind it. I fully expect Thursday to be quite violent (especially in the city where he was killed), and I’m sure the police will attack ‘preemptively’ and there eill be civilian casualties. I wouldn’t be surprised if we habe another curfew and state of exception then.

I had never seen the dictator so lonely and lost. He has a few ministers who support him, and the far right party will support him with their votes, but he’s a laughing stock for everyone. I’d expect the families who own the country to start asking for his head soon, because there is no way in this world HE will take the country out of this crisis.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#57 Post by Larry B. » Fri Nov 15, 2019 6:39 am

So, a few hours ago we had an important announcement from Congress.

In a nutshell, the country is kickstarting the process for a new Constitution. This is important and significant because we are STILL living under the constitution created by Pinochet in 1980. It has undergone several changes throughout the years, but it's still undemocratic and overly protective of the conservative conglomerate and the military.

The process will be as follows:

1. In April 2020, there will be a referendum with two questions: "Do you support the creation of a new constitution?" and "Should the new constitution be created via a Constitutional Assembly (i.e., people elected to create it) or a Mixed Council (50% congresspeople and 50% people elected to create it)"

2. If the new constitution choice goes through, the body will have 9-12 months to create it. Apparently, articles will need a majority of 2/3 to go into the Constitution.

3. After its creation, there will be another referendum to approve it/reject it.

4. If approved, Congress has to approve it too (all parties committed to approving it... but you can never trust politicians) and Pinochet's constitution will die.

It's a nice step forward. We'll see what happens now in terms of public demonstrations. Yesterday might've been the most intense day so far. Many people injured, and a guy next to me would've lost his right eye had he not been wearing safety goggles. It was incredible.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#58 Post by mockbee » Fri Nov 15, 2019 9:48 am

WOW!

Congratulations Larry, that is HUGE if this goes through!

Your people are inspirational, the world can learn a lot from Chile, of course your government has to be in such a place that they feel they have no choice but to accede to the people. A tricky endeavor with unknown consequences and results.

Nice work!

Keep it up!


:rockon:

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#59 Post by mockbee » Fri Nov 15, 2019 9:48 am

I’m in the hospital waiting for the release of a friend who was receiving treatment for multiple sclerosis (I’m taking him home) and the person he’s sharing the room with was shot by the police in a demonstration, apparently he received a proper bullet. It broke his arm and they couldn’t remove every piece of shard (is that the right word?)
Since your job is to translate I thought I would give my two American cents on your inquiry.

You could say:
It broke his arm and they couldn’t remove every shard.
or
It broke his arm and they couldn’t remove every piece of shrapnel.
:wave:

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Larry B.
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Re: Santiago under curfew

#60 Post by Larry B. » Fri Nov 15, 2019 10:21 am

Thank you for that!

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Larry B.
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Re: Santiago under curfew

#61 Post by Larry B. » Sun Nov 17, 2019 5:05 am

Yesterday, a university study confirmed something that the state was lying about and that we all knew: the “rubber bullets” they are using are 20% rubber and 80% various metals, including lead.

Demonstrations haven’t ceased at all, which is great.

And two nights ago, during a demonstration a guy suffered a heart attack. He was being attended to by the red cross and the police shot tear gas and pellets at the red cross, injuring one of them and (obviously) disturbing the CPR they were giving to this person. After that, they shot a few more tear gas cannisters and used a water cannon against them, and then they moved away. The guy died. The next morning, the National Doctors Association denounced this (and sued the state, I think) and demanded answers and decisions about this. They also announced that they won’t stop their duties.

I’ll be back on the streets tomorrow.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#62 Post by Mescal » Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:20 pm

Djiezes.

Fuck man!

Keep up!

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Larry B.
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Re: Santiago under curfew

#63 Post by Larry B. » Sun Nov 24, 2019 8:29 am

I went to the protests on Thursday and Friday. After a university found out and denounced that the “rubber bullets” the police were shooting were 80% metal, they kept using them... until around Wednesday or Thirsday. On Friday, I only heard 2 or 3 shots (against the dozens of shots we received on the weeks prior.) Instead, they are shooting most of the tear gas cannisters directly into people’s bodies or faces. I was fortunate enough to evade one that would’d hit me on the hip, and one bastard cop shot one at a children’s face from about 15 yards. The kid was quickly attended to by first aid and those cops were showered by stones and had to retreat.

Friday was beautiful, again. Hundreds of thousands of people out in the streets, demanding the resignation of the dictator and more dignity for everyone.

Amnesty International released a report this week, condemning the use of excessive force and concluding that the regime had used a policy of punishment aganst civil descontempt (and obviously mentioning that there had been systematic HR violations.) The regime swifty rejected the report, claimed that AI hadn’t even attempted to meet with them (which they did) and then claimed that AI’s request had gotten lost in the midst of this social chaos. Finally, they claimed AI had been one of the organisations who started all this upheaval.

The UN mission that came to check on the HR status of things also left and should have a report ready soon, which is expected to be condemning.

Oh, and after AI’s report, the army and the police published press releases rejecting the report’s claims... which they’re not allowed to do AT ALL according to the constitution and other laws (these organisations shouldn’t take part of any political discussion, in theory.)

Anyway... I feel a bit like in the eye of the storm. This situation could end up with an actual improvement to our lives, or it could end up in a full-on coup with hundreds of political dissidents dead. The margins are quite narrow.

Have a lovely week, people.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#64 Post by Larry B. » Sun Mar 08, 2020 5:45 pm

Today, around 1.5 million women demonstrated all over the country. It was beautiful. That’s around 9% of our population. Unbelievable.

In other news, in about 40 days we will vote as to whether we want a new constitution (this vote is predicted to be a landslide for YES) and whether we want it to be written by politicians + a group of elected or only by elected representatives.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#65 Post by Larry B. » Sat Aug 01, 2020 6:46 am

Last night, our “president” gave his yearly public account. His popularity is awful, and basically everyone hates him and knows he’s the worst fuckup since the end of Pinochet’s dictatorship.

A few hours before his public account, he pardoned two human right criminals who had been condemned two years ago. It was an outrage.

So, people demonstrated in their houses by clanking pots or went outside to chant against him (while clanking pots). The fucking military arrived at a public square I was near to, and they just started ‘walking around’ in the middle of the crowd, holding their AK-47s or whatever weapon that is, just waiting to be attacked in order to retaliate.

After about 10 minutes, they left.

At exactly the same time, this “president” was talking about his government’s commitment to human rights and all that shit.

They really want to keep killing their own citizens.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#66 Post by Larry B. » Wed Aug 19, 2020 6:43 am

Today, it was revealed that during the first two weeks of last year’s protests, the police shot over 104,000 rounds with their shotguns (each round containing 12 pellets, if that’s the right name).

Crazy.

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Larry B.
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Re: Santiago under curfew

#67 Post by Larry B. » Sat Oct 24, 2020 5:16 am

Larry B. wrote:
Sun Mar 08, 2020 5:45 pm

In other news, in about 40 days we will vote as to whether we want a new constitution (this vote is predicted to be a landslide for YES) and whether we want it to be written by politicians + a group of elected or only by elected representatives.
After having this referendum postponed due to covid-19, we will vote tomorrow. YES is still widely expected to win, but less so than in March. We’ll see.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#68 Post by mockbee » Sat Oct 24, 2020 7:29 am

Larry B. wrote:
Sat Oct 24, 2020 5:16 am
Larry B. wrote:
Sun Mar 08, 2020 5:45 pm

In other news, in about 40 days we will vote as to whether we want a new constitution (this vote is predicted to be a landslide for YES) and whether we want it to be written by politicians + a group of elected or only by elected representatives.
After having this referendum postponed due to covid-19, we will vote tomorrow. YES is still widely expected to win, but less so than in March. We’ll see.
That's cool, that it's expected to pass.

Could you clarify your statement about elected reps vs politicians deciding on the constitution. I assume you want elected officials writing it? Who are the "politicians"? Just people appointed by the current president?

:wave:

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Larry B.
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Re: Santiago under curfew

#69 Post by Larry B. » Sat Oct 24, 2020 9:08 am

There are two options: “constitutional convention” or “mixed council.”

A constitutional convention would mean that there would be a specific election to pick these representatives. Quotas are still being discussed, but a gender quota and a native people’s quotas are expected to pass. Basically, anyone (except for current senators, ministers and other politicians) can run for this election.

A mixed council would be composed 50% by current senators and 50% by representatives elected as mentioned above.

Any of these entities would also be assisted by people who would actually put their decisions into writing. At the end of the process (which would probably take 2-3 years), there would be another referendum as to weather we (the people) approve of reject the new constitution.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#70 Post by Larry B. » Sun Oct 25, 2020 9:35 am

Went to vote, and it was beautiful.

Early reports suggest that the turnout is going to be ridiculously high.

We already have the referendum results for New Zealand, Australia and Japan, with an 87%+ result for a New Constitution.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#71 Post by Larry B. » Mon Oct 26, 2020 5:56 am

We fucking won: 79% vs 21%.

The option to NOT scrap the constitution only won in 3 communes, the exact communes where everyone knows the power is concentrated. The wealthiest communes by far, where everyone from the top 0.01% lives. It's amazing.

It's a small step for this young country, but a very good one. If everything goes well, in a couple of years we will have the first democratic constitution Chile ever had, voted by a council made up 50% by men and 50% by women (a first in the world, I think).

Yesterday was a very good day. We waited for the results with some friends at our house and there were laughs and tears. Some of them were concerned that we would lose. I expected a 75/25 result but was concerned that it would be a closer victory, like 55/45.

We celebrated with beer, Irish whisky, weed, tea, chips, calamari, and even scrambled eggs. And then we went to the Plaza Italia, the core center of our demonstrations and where hundreds of people lost their eyes and even their lives; where underground some of them were being tortured. We will never forget that.

Today, I'm shattered.

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#72 Post by mockbee » Mon Oct 26, 2020 7:44 am

Congrats! :thumb:


:cool:

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Re: Santiago under curfew

#73 Post by perkana » Wed Oct 28, 2020 7:39 pm

Acá nos dio muchísimo gusto la noticia. Primero Bolivia, y luego ustedes. ¡Abrazos!
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