PanaTimes

Sunday, Mar 26, 2023

‘Sense of abandonment’ as Chile rejects new constitution

‘Sense of abandonment’ as Chile rejects new constitution

More than 60 percent of Chileans voted against the proposal, which its supporters call feminist and progressive.

Lorena Donaire woke up on Sunday morning in her hometown La Ligua, in central Chile, with tears of joy. Confident that her country would vote to approve the proposal for a new constitution, she had planned to celebrate a new chapter in Chilean history which placed the environment as a key priority.

Donaire, 50, grew up in the drought-stricken zone Petorca, where La Ligua is situated. An environmental rights activist and spokeswoman for water rights group Modatima, the approval of the proposal meant the realisation of the rights she had fought for her entire life.

Several of her Modatima colleagues were elected to write the draft, enshrining landmark environmental protections and consecrating water as a fundamental right.

But when the results came in, her tears of joy turned to those of heartbreak. A majority 61.9 percent of Chileans voted against the text, firmly rejecting the ambitions of a proposal that dubbed itself feminist, ecological and groundbreakingly progressive.

A supporter of the new constitution sitting on the sidewalk listening to the partial results of the plebiscite on whether the new constitution will replace the current one


Donaire told Al Jazeera that she feels “abandoned and very sad”, but will not lose hope. “We will continue to fight for the little water Chile has left.”

Demands for a new constitution arose during nationwide protests in October 2019, when millions of Chileans took to the streets to march against the rising costs of living, their anger directed towards an out-of-touch political elite.

The ruling constitution, written in 1980 during the dictatorship of conservative President Augusto Pinochet, was singled out as the root cause of the country’s gaping inequality and lack of social welfare. Many protesters, including Donaire, argued that Pinochet’s text gives private companies disproportionate power over civil and environmental rights.

In October 2020, Chileans voted by a landslide 79 percent to replace the 1980 charter and draft a new text written by 154 popularly-elected candidates. In May 2021, a largely independent and left-wing assembly was chosen to begin the drafting.

It was the world’s first constitutional proposal written by equal parts men and women, and it had reserved seats for Chile’s Indigenous groups.

However, the process was smeared by infighting, with opponents criticising constituents for prioritising leftist demands over wider, more representative solutions.

A new process


President Gabriel Boric had been supportive of the assembly; dozens of the proposal’s writers were members of his Broad Front coalition party.

The “Reject” victory signals a huge blow to his political agenda. A former left-wing student protest leader only months into his first government mandate, Boric’s ambitions to provide greater social security and prioritise the environment are blinkered by the framework of Pinochet’s ruling doctrine.

On Sunday night, Boric promised to lead the nation forward in a televised address. “The people of Chile were not satisfied with the proposal … and decided to clearly reject it at the ballots,” he conceded, before pledging to begin a new constitutional process.

President Boric speaking about the results of the referendum at the government palace La Moneda in Santiago, Chile


“I will put all efforts into building a new constitutional itinerary together with Congress and the civil society … that learns from the process.”

Members of the opposition parties who led the “Reject” campaigns have similarly committed to writing another draft. “We have the space to build great agreements,” said centre-left Senator Ximena Rincon on Chilean television after the result. “It’s beautiful what happened today, and we won’t celebrate now, but when we finish this process,” said Luz Poblete Coddou, president of the centre-right Evopoli party at a separate news conference.

Jose Francisco Viacava, political scientist and academic at the government faculty of the University of Chile, said Boric must bring together a diverse team that includes political actors, opinion leaders, and the current Congress to reach a consensus for the process ahead.

“This goes far beyond the government, and it’s a task just as time-consuming, or even more time-consuming than running a country,” he told Al Jazeera. “To implement a new constitution means that everyone must be integrated in the process, to listen to the opinions of those who legitimately rejected it.”

Boric must also ensure that a new draft is communicated clearly and correctly: the dismissed proposal was besieged by an onslaught of fake news that fuelled “Reject” campaigns. False claims spread rapidly online, spreading misinformation that claimed that the text outlawed bottled water, permitted abortion up to nine months of pregnancy, and allowed the state to claim property and usurp homeowners.




The latter is why Adriana Rojas rejected the proposal. A mother who lives in the working class district of downtown Santiago, she took to the streets to celebrate the result on Sunday night with her two young children and her teenage niece. “The new proposal is not adequate, especially for children,” she explained, clutching a Chilean flag. “The text says that your house will belong to the government, when it should be for your children and grandchildren.”

In La Ligua, Donaire looks out onto a parched landscape. Petorca’s two main rivers are now completely dry; a result of unregulated agricultural companies cultivating avocados by pillaging the region’s water supply, as facilitated by Pinochet’s constitution.

Donaire has received dozens of anonymous threats, including phone calls and online intimidation. She said she believes that they come from actors paid by the agricultural industries because of her environmental work. In June, her house burned down under suspicious circumstances. The case is still being investigated.

Despite the danger, Donaire said she will continue to rally for the environment and hopes the next draft will incorporate protections for nature and its defenders. She believes that more Chileans will soon face the brunt of the environmental crisis, and drastic change is inevitable.

“When we first said there’d be no water in our rivers everyone thought we were crazy. But eventually, time showed that we were right.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

PanaTimes
Close
0:00
0:00
Singapore’s Prime Minister says China and US need to stabilize relations because world can't afford a confict between the two superpowers
Gordon Moore, a co-founder of Intel Corporation, died at 94
Powell: Silicon Valley Bank was an 'outlier'
Bordeaux town hall set on fire in France pro democracy protest
Police violence in Paris
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
NYPD is setting up barricades outside Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of Trump arrest.
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Paris Rioting vs Macron anti democratic law
'Sexual Fantasy' Assignment At US School Outrages Parents
The US government has charged Chinese businessman Guo Wengui with leading a $1 billion fraud scheme that cheated thousands of followers out of their money.
Credit Suisse to borrow $54 billion from Swiss central bank
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
"Will Fly Wherever International Law Allows": US Warns Russia After Drone Incident
If this was in Tehran, Moscow or Hong Kong
TRUMP: "Standing before you today, I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War III."
Drew Barrymore
China is calling out the US, UK, and Australia on their submarine pact, claiming they are going further down a dangerous road
A brief banking situation report
Lady bites police officer and gets instantly reaction
We are witnessing widespread bank fails and the president just gave a 5 min speech then walked off camera.
Donald Trump's asked by Tucker Carlson question on if the U.S. should support regime change in Russia?.
Silicon Valley Bank exec was Lehman Brothers CFO
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless
Fitness scam
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
Senator Tom Cotton: If the Mexican Government Won’t Stop Cartels from Killing Americans, Then U.S. Government Should
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
Silicon Valley Bank: Struggles Threaten Tech Startup Ecosystem"
Man’s penis amputated by mistake after he’s wrongly diagnosed with a tumour
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Is Gold the Ultimate Safe Haven Asset in Times of Uncertainty?
Spain officials quit over trains that were too wide for tunnels...
Corruption and Influence Buying Uncovered in International Mainstream Media: Investigation Reveals Growing Disinformation Mercenaries
Givenchy Store in New York Robbed of $50,000 in Merchandise
European MP Clare Daly condemns US attack on Nord Stream
Former U.S. President Carter will spend his remaining time at home and receive hospice care instead of medication
Tucker Carlson called Trump a 'demonic force'
Kamala Harris: "The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity."
US Joins 15 NATO Nations in Largest Space Data Collection Initiative in History
White House: No ETs over the United States
U.S. Jet Shoots Down Flying Object Over Canada
Nord Stream terror attack: David Sacks breaks down Sy Hersh's story
Being a Tiktoker might be expensive…
Miracle: El Salvador Search and Rescue teams, with the support of Turkish teams, rescued a woman and a child from the rubble 150 hours after the earthquake
SpaceX, the private space exploration company, made a significant breakthrough in their mission to reach space.
China's top tech firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, and JD.com, are developing their own versions of Open AI's AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT
×