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marsha p. johnson and sylvia rivera, founders of STAR and the first pride parades, in 1989

“DIGNITY”: Chile has had enough

We’re not protesting because of the subway ticket price (”it’s not 30 pesos, it’s 30 years!” as we scream in the streets), that only was the last straw:

We’ve been feeling anger and humiliation for years, and last week, the “pressure cooker” finally exploted thanks to this rise in the price for subway tickets, which made high schoolers around the city say “nah fuck this” and deciding not to pay the subway anymore under the motto “Evade! Do not pay! (it’s) another way to fight!”

Little by little, the university students and adults (even the elderly) joined the cause, to the point the capital stopped working normally, and due to the government’s ineffectiveness in handling the situation, we ended up in this chaos.

This has no political party, this has no leader: This is an act of dignity.

Years of hoping the government will do something for: The education system (you only get good education if you have money), healthcare system (people die waiting for attention everyday in the public hospitals, in some, there is not even enough medicine or doctors), public transport system (expensive, terrible service), the rise in water and electricity bills (yes, they’re private!!!), pensions (old people commit suicide because they have no money to live, or worse, have some, but the pension system (AFPs) won’t give them THEIR OWN MONEY BACK WHEN IN NEED), collusions, corruption (our president is a thief and the rest of the politicians as well… and they want us to pay those expensive tickets without even explaining to us why did they rise it? they can fuck off), the indigenous people being mistreated and even murdered by police, the murder of activists, poverty, drugs, etc… and nothing, in fact, for years it has feel like they’ve been making fun of all of us.

They’re absolutely disconnected from the reality of the rest of the country. It’s as if there were two countries in one.

And now, our president said we “were at war“.

The same thing Pinochet used to say back in the 70s/80s.

The military is on the streets right now, there is a curfew in many parts of the country (which hundreds of people are not respecting, protesting even harder on the streets in those dangerous hours).

All while there is not public transportation, because many of the subway’s station were set on fire (to make it worse, there are serious suspicions (videos) that the fires were made by the police).

This shit is terrifying.

But we won’t stop: “We’re the children of the workers they couldn’t kill”