We’ve been talking a lot about Chile these past few weeks, as well as how historians can use popular art as a way to understand revolutionary struggles, so I wanted to share this new song/video from Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux.  (More links to class themes: Tijoux was born in France while her parents were exiles during the Pinochet Dictatorship.  She’s talking about cacerolazos, the style of “pots and pans” protests we’ll discuss in class on Friday. And we talked about how new media facilitates the spread of global protest movements.)

The lyrics (Courtesy of SpinLyrics):

After a series of ongoing riots in Chile’s capital city Santiago, President Sebastian Pinera has declared a state of emergency. The protests have turned violent in the past week, which started in response to the city metro raising prices. While the protests started out simply has fare-dodging by students, they have become more widespread, and now are much more about high costs of living, and general inequality in Chile. As the article states, Chile is one of Latin America’s wealthiest nations, but also, among its most unequal.” (Reuters). As a result of the protests, there has been a considerable amount of violence, including the burning of multiple metro stations, and downtown Santiago buildings.

One consequence of the state of emergency declaration is that the Chilean military will be called into the streets to keep the violence in check. This could be unnerving to some as Chile is obviously a country with a history of military crackdown and violence, and calling the military has been rare since the country’s return to democracy. The last time this occurred was in 2010 in response to a devastating earthquake (The Guardian). The metro fare issue seemed to just be a spark for greater discontent at this point, as the protesters really seem to be focused on high costs of living, increasing inequality in recent years, and rising costs of healthcare and education among other things. (The Guardian) Both articles I read on this issue provided quotations from official government sources on the matter, while only The Guardian provided quotations from any protesters.

In regards to how this problem is covered in a Latin American context, both articles briefly mentioned Chile’s history of military rule under Pinochet, but neither goes into great detail on the origins of the inequality issue. Both seem to just be reporting of riots that happen to be going on in a Latin American country.

These articles clearly relate to what we are currently studying in class as it relates to Chile and ongoing problems in the country that relate to the Chilean Revolution under Pinochet. One of the main issues being raised in these protests is inequality, which according to the Becker reading on Pinochet’s rule, can be traced back to those times. Similarly to how Chile is seen as a wealthy, but unequal country today, Becker says as a consequence of Pinochet’s economic policies, “The rich became richer and the poor poorer, leading to one of the most inequitable economies in the world” (Becker, 152). It is likely that the inequality created by Pinochet’s economic policies continue to exist even almost 30 years after Chile’s return to democracy.

Works Cited:

Bartlett, John. “Chile Protests: State of Emergency Declared in Santiago as Violence Escalates.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 19 Oct. 2019. Web. 20 Oct. 2019.

Sherwood, Dave, and Aislinn Laing. “Chile President Pinera Declares Emergency as Capital Rocked by Riots.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 19 Oct. 2019. Web. 20 Oct. 2019.

“Chile’s President Declares State of Emergency after Riots over Metro Fare.” France 24. N.p., 19 Oct. 2019. Web. 20 Oct. 2019.

Becker, Marc. Twentieth-Century Latin American Revolutions. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. Print.

The article I chose to evaluate was about Ecuadoran President Lenín Moreno’s decision to move his government seat from the capital of Ecuador, Quito, to a small coastal city 150 miles away. It was written by José María León Cabrera and published in the New York Times. President Moreno’s ability to move the government seat came from his declaration of a state of emergency, which allowed him to suspend certain civil liberties. He came to this decision as a result of the protests that took place on October 8, especially the storming of the National Assembly. The protests began as a result of Moreno’s implementation of a new austerity plan to lower debt and grow the economy. 

The middle-class and indigenous response has been very vocal against Moreno’s measures toward his austerity plan. Moreno’s termination of a 40-year fuel subsidy caused a rise in fuel prices, much to the chagrin of transportation workers as well as young and Indigenous people who suffered immensely from Ecuador’s immense debt and radical tactics to emerge from the red. A coalition of indigenous groups stated that the protests “were a defense of ‘our life and our territories’”. Jaime Vargas, president of the Confederation of the Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, stated that “there will be no dialogue” between protesters and the Ecuadoran government if the austerity plan is not abolished.

This article, as well as the Western coverage of the topic in general, represents Latin America in a less than favorable light. Some of the language in the New York Times article, in particular, implies bias toward President Moreno, stating that moving his government seat was to “protect his government” and that he inherited a debt crisis from former President Correa’s many loans for special interest projects. In addition, the protestors are depicted as reacting negatively to Moreno’s policies despite their objective to improve the economy. These themes are recurring across many Western media platforms, even in video coverage. Many news clips and pictures from the protests display stereotypical behavior usually associated with anti-government protests, including rioting, looting, and destruction of property, with little to no focus on the issues at the heart of the protests or a reason behind them. These are common themes in the Western media coverage of the protests and arguably contribute to negative stereotypes of Latin America. 

Protestors clash with Ecuadoran military. Credit: Rodrigo Buendia/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Protestors storm popular television station, Teleamazonas. Credit: BBC

Despite this, the New York Times article does give in-depth coverage of the topic, including an explanation of President Moreno’s actions as well as the timeline of significant events that led to them. Cabrera outlines the protestors’ reasoning behind their actions in accordance with Moreno’s new policies; however, the fact that the protestors’ reasoning is clear does not distract from the subtle bias in the reporting. 

This current event is very reminiscent of all of the Latin American revolutions and reforms we have studied in our curriculum. In DeFronzo’s work, Social Movements and Revolutions, he outlines five critical factors of revolutionary movements: 

1. Mass frustrations
2. Elite divisions
3. Unifying motivations that cut across class lines
4. Severe political crisis 
5. Tolerant/permissive world context 

Cabrera outlines the mass frustrations with the timeline of events leading to Moreno’s decision to move his government seat, beginning with the protests as a result of the new measures in his austerity plan for economic growth. The elite divisions in the Ecuador conflict are evident because of the reaction of marginalized groups to Moreno’s new policies, as well as how these groups were actively affected by them. Subsequently, there are no unifying motivations across class lines because the upper-class and middle- and lower-classes are directly opposed. Those in lower classes and marginalized groups in Ecuadoran society are unified against the Ecuadoran government and military. The severe political crisis likely began when the rioting first began after Moreno’s announcement of the austerity plan, but the crisis came to a head with the storming of the National Assembly as well as Moreno’s moving of the government seat from the capital city of Quito. The permissive world context is seen in articles such as these that reach an international audience, which shows us why methodical reporting is vital and important. It is imperative that Western news sources take time to thoroughly examine both sides of political uprisings instead of mainly focusing on the actions of the government, as well as conforming to negative stereotypes about Latin America, even if on a subconscious level. 

Sources: 

Main Article: Cabrera, José María León. “Ecuador’s President Moves Seat of Government to Escape Protests.” New York Times. 8 Oct. 2019. The New York Times Company. Web. Accessed 14 Oct. 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/world/americas/ecuador-protests-president.html 

BBC Contributors. “Ecuador protests: Unrest continues over fuel price hikes.” BBC News. 12 Oct. 2019. BBC. Accessed 14 Oct. 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-latin-america-50030470/ecuador-protests-unrest-continues-over-fuel-price-hikes?intlink_from_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Flatin_america&link_location=live-reporting-map 

BBC Contributors. “Ecuador protesters storm parliament as unrest worsens.” BBC News. 9 Oct. 2019. BBC. Accessed 14 Oct. 2019.  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49981521 

BBC Contributors. “Ecuador violence: Protesters agree to talks with government.” BBC News. 13 Oct. 2019. BBC. Accessed 14 Oct. 2019.  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50030720 

Sims, Shannon. “Ecuador Declares State of Emergency as Striking Workers Block Roads.” New York Times. 9 Oct. 2019. The New York Times Company. Web. Accessed 14 Oct. 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/world/americas/ecuador-transit-strike-fuel-subsidy.html?searchResultPosition=4