El Ciudadano
Original article: Cuenta Pública del Chile real: Expositores coincidieron en la necesidad de articular una oposición popular contra el Gobierno de Kast
Public Forum on Real Chile: Speakers Call for Grassroots Opposition Against Kast’s Government
On Monday, June 1, a forum titled «Public Account of Real Chile» was held at the CUT headquarters in Santiago, where the messages and announcements made by President José A. Kast at Congress in Valparaíso were critically analyzed. Within this context, the speakers emphasized the urgent need to organize a popular opposition to counter the policies being advanced by the current administration.
Opening the forum, the Governor of Valparaíso Region, Rodrigo Mundaca, stated, «It is unequivocal that the national reconstruction project and its measures are wholly detrimental to the people of Chile.»
He added, «These are policies invented by Americans, initiated by Bush, and applied by Reagan, which did not create more jobs or more investment. What they objectively did was increase the concentration of capital.» Mundaca underscored that Kast’s administration aims to concentrate wealth in the hands of the richest 1% of Chile while diminishing the role of the state.
Mundaca also warned about the significant decline in public support for Kast, noting, «What has occurred in these 90 days is likely a chronicle of an anticipated downfall, as this government is visibly losing popular support.» He criticized the proposal for a «record of incivilities,» saying it seeks to penalize social protests and silence those who take to the streets to demonstrate.
«When a registry of incivilities is proposed, it seeks to punish social protest; the aim is to silence those who manifest in the streets,» Mundaca cautioned, while highlighting the significant gaps in Kast’s public account, particularly regarding decentralization, territorial development, and climate change.
He stated, «There were no announcements about decentralization, which is perhaps the most critical political milestone of the 21st century, as it involves shifting decision-making away from Santiago to the territories, thereby deepening democratic engagement at the local level.»
Next, Constanza Maldonado, a councilor from Puente Alto and member of the Will for Chile movement, brought attention to the cuts announced by Kast in the Health sector, expressing deep concern over the situation at Sótero del Río Hospital.
Maldonado stated that this facility «will be the most affected in the country,» recalling its current debt exceeding 21 billion pesos and a waiting list of nearly 90,000 people. She emphasized, «To suggest that these cuts will not have consequences on care is to ignore the realities faced by patients and health workers.»
«When public health resources are reduced, the ones who pay the price are not the large economic groups, but the families waiting months for specialist consultations, the elderly needing medications, and the workers who cannot afford private healthcare,» Maldonado highlighted.
Following her, Joel Olmos, the mayor of La Cisterna, raised concerns regarding the removal of property tax payments, stating it would harm the government’s ability to collect resources.
«We municipalities are very worried,» Mayor Olmos emphasized, adding his disappointment with the President’s message.
He announced that he and a group of mayors would meet with research centers and other social and political interlocutors to devise a joint mobilization strategy aimed at halting Kast’s state reduction policies, «to defend the social rights that have taken years to recover, especially for those most in need.»
In a similar vein, Álvaro Ramis, president of the Territory and Community Studies Center, warned that undermining municipal financing structures harms those who are already less fortunate.
Ramis asserted, «What Mr. Kast promises with his 25 years of tax invariability is the deterioration of our society,» calling for the urgent design of an opposition strategy.
«Some say that providing diapers and medications is sufficient; I say it’s not. We need more; first and foremost, we need to stop this offensive (…) Mobilization is essential. It’s not just about thinking through measures or slightly heating the debate. We must be in the streets, backed by collective ideas. We need solidarity, which is the true love of peoples,» Ramis proposed.
From the social sector, Natalia Garrido, spokesperson for the Pobladores en Lucha movement, shared alarming statistics reflecting the extent of the government’s cuts: «Since Kast took office, subsidies for the most precarious housing applicants have dropped from 40,000 to 19,000, and we are told we may reach as low as 5,000.»
«It is particularly striking that a President who claims to respect families denies such an important right as dignified housing, especially for the most vulnerable families,» Garrido emphasized, also warning of the potential increase in land occupations during this period, «given the policies currently being implemented.»
«We are concerned that this could lead to more people living on the streets, as dramatically seen in Argentina,» the leader pointed out, reinforcing the call «to keep mobilizing along with other residents.»
From the environmental activism perspective, Cristóbal Rodríguez, national spokesperson for Modatima, highlighted that Kast’s Public Account indicates «a clear direction: the commodification of nature in all forms under the mantra of infinite growth, which is sadly impossible because in a world of finite resources, such thinking is either climate change denial or fanaticism for an economic model that makes no sense and hasn’t worked anywhere in the world.»
He also reminded the audience, «This year we will face the worst climatic phenomenon in 150 years. Some have called it El Niño Godzilla, and in this Public Account, we did not see any acknowledgment of this. Hundreds of thousands of people will be affected by these extreme weather events, both in winter and summer, and we have a government that does not believe in the climate crisis.»
According to Rodríguez, this poses a class issue that requires urgent solutions, aligning with the call to create alternatives opposing the current government approach.
Finally, Senator Fabiola Campillai from the Metropolitan Region described Kast’s Public Account as «disappointing» and devoid of surprises.
«It was a profoundly predictable exercise, but what is infuriating is not the lack of a program, but the complete disconnect and lack of self-criticism with which this government approaches the country,» the legislator stated.
For Campillai, the Public Account revealed a President who, on social matters, only knows how to combine two verbs: restrict and punish, while also questioning that the same government has «provoked and deepened the increase in the cost of living.»
«The economic suffering of the people is collateral damage that doesn’t concern them,» the parliamentarian criticized.
«In the face of an Executive that shows no remorse for the economic and social damage it is causing, we cannot remain silent. Let the government hear it loud and clear, from here and in every territory: there is a firm popular opposition that will be at the forefront of social debate to defend our people (…) We will not allow the quality of life of Chileans to be neglected,» insisted Senator Campillai.
Listen to the full forum below:
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