The government of Chilean President Sebastian Piñera was under more pressure than ever on Friday: more than a million people marched in Chile in a historic mobilization to protest social inequalities.
Not even a week after the beginning of the wave of demonstrations that have not been seen in decades in that country, which is considered one of the most stable in Latin America, the mobilization has not weakened.
The governor of the Santiago region, Karla Rubilar, said that she was "shocked" by the mass of the demonstrations, which, in her words, gathered "more than a million people in Santiago and other cities."
In his first statement on the matter, conservative President Sebastián Piñera said he had "heard the message" of the protesters, but interpreted it as "a joyful and peaceful crowd marching today. Chileans are looking for a fairer and more solidary Chile, which opens great avenues for the future and hope."
Demonstrators sang protest songs popular during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), and one of them told AFP that "we demand justice, honesty, ethics in the state, we don't want socialism, communism, we want less private companies and more state." .
While much of the country and the capital of 7,5 million people are under a state of emergency, with 20.000 police and army personnel on the streets, the rally in the capital was peaceful, unlike riots a week ago, with looting.
President Piñera's announcement on Tuesday about a series of social measures, including a tax increase for the richest and a freeze on electricity price increases by 9,2 percent, did not have the desired effect.
More determined than ever, the protesters did not let up the pressure on the Chilean government.
In the morning, hundreds of car and truck drivers took part in a "snail speed" action on the roads to protest the toll, causing major traffic jams.
Despite the state's withdrawal from this measure, social anger is not abating.
The protest movement, heterogeneous and without recognizable leaders, grew fueled by resentment over the socio-economic situation and inequality in the country of 18 million inhabitants.
Friday's massive mobilization "represents a turning point after thirty years of increasing depoliticization, since 1989," when the democratic transition ended Augusto Pinochet's regime, Marcelo Melja, a political scientist at the University of Santiago, told AFP.
The movement "calls on political leaders to encourage profound changes in the capitalist model of development, a kind of second transition," he added.
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