The Chilean Constituent Assembly asked for pardon from the Mapuche and the repressed | The right must have heard that they were called political prisoners, which they have always denied

From Chile.

The Constitutional Convention made its first request to the Chilean executive. The request relates to pardon for Mapuche political prisoners detained since 2001 as well as those detained after the social epidemic that began in October 2019, which was only interrupted due to containment due to the pandemic from March 2020. The Convention will draft the new Magna Carta which replaces that of 1980, deeply marked by the authoritarianism of the Pinochet dictatorship.

The declaration was approved after several modifications and negotiations for its content by 105 voters out of 155, or two-thirds of the body, and it sparked debate, especially within the ruling party. According to the right, in Chile there would be no political prisoners and the prisoners of the revolt were looters, although in both cases there is ample evidence of the irregularity of the judicial process.

The text indicates that the Convention “without attempting to interfere with or to assume the competences or the attributions of other powers of the State, has the political responsibility to pronounce before the country in relation to these contingent situations which, obviously, contravene the spirit that guides its work: to pave the way for peace and social justice for all and all the inhabitants of our political community ”.

And add: “It is essential for a democratic process and a real social peace for the peoples that the organs of constituted power pave the way by offering democratic guarantees and fairness so that the historical process that we are living functions properly and is recognized as legitimate by the people. peoples and nations of Chile. . For this, the immediate end of political prison in Chile is essential ”,

Justice and reparation

This sets the tone for the Chilean constitutional process: demanding justice and reparation for the Mapuche people, victims of militarization and logging. Amnesty also for those who found themselves in prison after violent days of demonstrations that pushed more than a million people into the streets, despite the state of emergency and the excessive violence of the military and the police, forcing the political class to agree to amend the Constitution in force (only with the objections of the Communist Party, which, among others, warned that it would save Piñera from imminent dismissal), which was ratified in the October plebiscite of the last year when 78.28% approved the change.

For this reason, it is deeply significant that the president of the Convention – which began to meet on Sunday on a hectic day with protests and delays – is a Mapuche leader and scholar: Elisa Loncon, who was once the target of criticism from the party, but also from center-left sectors, because of the tone and priorities of the Convention. The Chilean elite, represented by the right, is this time in the minority.

A difficult installation

Last Sunday, the streets surrounding the former National Congress – closed by Pinochet and transferred by him to a monstrous building in Valparaíso – looked like a fortress: police cars blocking entire blocks, barriers preventing neighbors from accessing buildings housing and police officers guarding the commercial premises of the center. However, during this week the barriers were lifted and the number of police officers dropped.

Perhaps this was due to various logistical errors on the part of the Piñera government, which were not only disproportionate in terms of security, but also due to the operation of the Convention itself: internet down, bathrooms in poor condition. , lack of equipped offices. All this forced the sessions to be suspended Monday and Tuesday. Piñera would have been furious: with the vaccination process, this facility has sought to be part of his “legacy”. Something that motivated the PC to present a constitutional charge against the minister of government secretary Juan José Ossa for obstructing the process, in addition to the resignation of executive secretary Francisco Encina replaced by Catalina Parot, who lost in the recent elections of the governor for Santiago and it is a kind of “consolation prize” from a government which still does not assume that even its mistakes count too much: the Convention is already in place to draft a text which, after nine months – or an extension of three – must be voted in 2022 during the “exit plebiscite”.