August 20, 2022, 19:07 PM
August 20, 2022, 19:07 PM
Thousands of people demonstrated this Saturday in Santiago for and against the draft of the new Constitution, 15 days before the plebiscite in which more than 15 million Chileans will decide whether to approve a new Magna Carta.
The massive march “I approve for the right to decent housing” Summoned by social movements, the center of the Chilean capital was taken over by demonstrators who shouted and carried ethnic flags such as the Whipala of the Andean peoples in support of the ‘I approve’ option for the new Constitution.
The draft charter was drafted over a year by a 154-member Constitutional Convention. It seeks to replace the current one inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) with one that recognizes new rights and forms of national and state organization.
“This September 4 in Chile we are going to live a historic moment because we have the possibility of leaving behind the Constitution of the tyrant, the Constitution of Pinochet,” Karina Nohales, one of the spokespersons for the demonstration, told AFP.
Dozens of supporters of the approval also demonstrated in a bicycle caravan through Santiago, while in the modest municipality of La Pintana a call called the “Aprobazo” was prepared.
In the municipality of Puente Alto, south of Santiago, a concentration of women with Chilean flags and canvases that read “Not like that, I reject!” They declared themselves in favor of the option ‘I reject’ the draft constitution, which for them does not represent all Chileans.
“If the rejection wins as we think it will happenThose who are going to carry out a new constitutional reform have to finally agree, this draft constitution is bad,” said right-winger Carol Bown, a former member of the Constitutional Convention.
Other supporters of the Rejection came with flags and posters to Plaza Italia, the epicenter of the protests in Santiago, to demonstrate.
Chile faces a tough electoral campaign with a lot of misinformation mainly in social networks, but also with surveys that give the victory to the option of rejecting the new Magna Carta.
“I am going to risk it for a Chile that unites for a new Constitutionn, whether it wins Approval or Rejection,” said President Gabriel Boric.
The Cadem Public House survey, one of the most recognized in Chile, gives Rejection as the winner (46%) over the I Approve option (37%), while Pulse Citizen gives Rejection 45.8% and 32.9% to approval.
This Saturday the last polls of the plebiscite were known since the electoral law prohibits publishing them 15 days before the election.
People in favor of the new Chilean Constitution/Photo: AFP
