In October 2019, high school students in Chile started protesting an increase in the subway fare. Before long, the mass fare evasion protests turned into something bigger, calling out against "growing inequality and the dictatorship-era constitution," reports Al Jazeera.
A state of emergency was imposed and the army took control over major cities, per Dissent Magazine. And on October 25th, says another Al Jazeera report, over one million Chileans came out into the streets of Santiago, demanding President Pinera's resignation.
One month later, in November, Chilean political parties yielded and agreed to allow a referendum that would decide whether or not to replace Chile's constitution, which was created during the Pinochet dictatorship, reports The Guardian. Between October 2019 and February, 2020, over 30 people died during the protests, and Amnesty International recorded multiple instances of human rights abuses by security forces.
But on October 25, 2020, over one year after the protests started, Chileans voted in favor of a new constitution. Reuters reported that over 7.5 million people voted, the largest turnout since voluntary voting was adopted in 2012, with 78 percent voting in favor. And many continue to question whether or not neoliberalism, which was born in Chile, will die in Chile, as Spring Magazine writes.
