Estallido Social Archives

May 31, 2023

(Mal)entender la derrota: una respuesta a Jacobin sobre el proceso constitucional chileno

Tras años de intensas protestas y revueltas conocidas como el “estallido social”, los chilenos votaron a favor de escribir una nueva Constitución en octubre de 2020 por un margen del 78% frente al 22%. La “Convención Constitucional” elegida como resultado de este referéndum estaba dominada por representantes de la izquierda. Parecía inevitable que la reaccionaria constitución impuesta por el ex-dictador Augusto Pinochet iba a ser sustituida por una de las constituciones más progresistas del mundo, que garantiza diversos derechos sociales

May 29, 2023

by Zack Frailey Escobar

(Mis)Understanding Defeat: a reply to Jacobin on the Chilean constitutional process

After years of intense protests and upheavals known as the estallido social (social outburst), Chileans voted to draft a new constitution in October of 2020 by a margin of 78 percent to 22 percent. The Constitutional Convention elected as a result of this referendum was dominated by left wing representatives. It seemed inevitable that the reactionary constitution imposed by former dictator Augusto Pinochet would be replaced by one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, which guaranteed a variety of social rights and recognized indigenous autonomy. Instead, the final draft was dramatically voted down in a second referendum in September of 2022. Now, a new body has been elected to replace the failed Constitutional Convention, this time dominated by the far-right Republican Party. It is essential for the global left to learn from this catastrophic turn of events, but a recent article by comrade Marcelo Casals in Jacobin and Jacobin America Latina draws some mistaken conclusions.