Resisting the Far-Right in Chile, from Pinochet to Kast (Alborada Online)

Chileans are rising up against the neoliberal and repressive legacy of General Pinochet’s dictatorship – once again.

The protests are in response to far-right president José Antonio Kast’s plans to impose a new security bill granting government powers to clamp down on civil society through restricted movement, curfews, increased police funding and surveillance, harking back to the dark days of Pinochet.

Since becoming president in March, Kast has praised the military regime, imposed corporate tax cuts, demonised migrants, cut social investment and subordinated foreign policy to Donald Trump’s White House. Now, many Chileans have had enough.

Under the country’s most right-wing government since Pinochet, could Chile be heading for another uprising, as the demands of 2019’s Social Explosion remain unanswered? With the far right in the ascendancy across Latin America, is the unrest a sign of what’s to come across the continent?

Join Alborada’s panel of speakers to examine the latest from Chile and what the future holds.

SPEAKERS:

> Javiera Manzi A. - PhD candidate of International History at the London School of Economics (LSE). She researches the intersections between visual cultures, memory of political resistance in Chile, and feminist revolts in Latin America. Javiera is the Editor in chief of the platform Modernismo Latinoamericano and a member of the Internationalist committee of the Coordinadora Feminista 8M of Chile.

> Jorge Saavedra - Academic at Diego Portales University (UDP) in Santiago, Chile. He researches social movements, media and communication.

Chaired by Nick MacWilliam, co-editor of Alborada and director of the 2021 Alborada Films documentary Santiago Rising. You can watch Santiago Rising online here. 

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The event runs from 6.30pm to 7.45pm BST (UK time) but the waiting room will be open from 6.15pm. A Latin America music playlist will be played between 6.15pm and 6.30pm.

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TICKETS: Free, £4 concession, £5 low-waged, £6 waged, £9 solidarity