Chile, Politics and Society - A strategy of Popular Power for Chile (ca)

Subject to change, class and territory ---- If we have any chance of success against the
ruling bloc, the main task is to build the grassroots movement capable of wrecking the
neoliberal model, to dismantle the political expressions of the ruling class and
successfully tackle any attempt on his part recomposition . And speaking of policy tools
to help that growth of the Chilean people organized. --- Social Conflict and territory --
In recent months we have witnessed the expression of community demands, multisectoral, in
different parts of our country, in all their diversity are characterized by a similar
joint territory, achieving high levels of acceptance and facing pressure generating
capacity the central state. ---- All social conflict unfolds in a time and in a certain
space. This last axis, the space has given certain characteristics of regional
demonstrations that have rocked the country.

This article will try to make our contribution to the current debate within the left about
the nature of these demonstrations and potential territorial building facing the growth
and development of popular forces.

Let us start by pointing out some facts related to the land, we believe are key to
understanding the genesis and development of the different processes of regional protest:

a) The policy is extremely centralized management and has little flexibility. The
decision-making structure of the Chilean State, because of its decentralized barely, is
very functional to process and assimilate regional needs. There is no effective mediation
between communities and the state beyond the municipal level. Regional governments are not
elected but appointed by the central government. Al managed from Santiago affairs regions,
with distortions that this entails, it opens a legitimacy gap and extends the feeling of
abandonment.

b) Centralized management and benefit sharing. Also the management and distribution of
benefits is centralized. The wealth produced in the periphery, is managed from the center
and a share of the profits stay in the higher parts of Santiago and another goes to the
outside. But very little remains in the communities where it occurs, yet are victims of
inflation and pollution. There is little productive investment, infrastructure
transformation or accompanying ventures or primary sources of employment that are not
linked directly or indirectly with the extraction (whether mineral, gas, wood) or
agricultural production, or formulas ensure that a share of the huge profits earned
reverse in the communities where they occur. The roads, health centers, educational
institutions, the provision of basic necessities ... just better with "regional economic
dynamism".

c) Socialization of demands. It is relatively small geographical areas, with a shared
socioeconomic structure, a broad sense of community belonging and identity and high levels
of mutual understanding that facilitate the development of cross-sectoral demands
effectively and facilitate the rapid socialization of claims. Being taken as their own
demands for social majority, as typical of the whole community, the ability to
peer-pressure versus viewed as outside the community-increases and resilience. It
accelerates the formation of a "we" solid, essential for the viability of any process of
struggle.

d) Capacity of pressure. The peripheral nature of centralized production and distribution,
due to the extremely asymmetrical deployment of the population concentrated along the
narrow geography of our country, mark the possibilities of pressure to achieve the
objectives: cutting the routes where the product moves, unemployment and massive
mobilization to occupation of public roads. That's the way the national voice of the
periphery can be asserted: causing interference in the production and distribution of
strategic products within the primary export model and generating political events through
the permanent occupation of public space, breaking the lock informative communication
monopolies and allowing transmit the contents of a request to national public opinion.

The class character of the demonstrations

The weakness of the class organizations of workers, who are just rearticulating, with two
steps forward and one back, still suffering the consequences of the strong impact that has
resulted in the imposition of neoliberalism and its subsequent dismantling of the
legislative fabric, productive, cultural social and upon which their power rested, is
intimately connected, feeding, another weakness: its political expressions.

This unfavorable balance of forces has meant that in recent months mobilizations manifest
interclass positions and political leadership continue ostent?ndola dominant reformist
bloc, but signs are starting to appear interesting, of which we mention below, that
indicate a deterioration in almost absolute hegemony since the military coup on.

It is inter-class mobilizations in the presence of the actors, the social and political
hegemony within it, but at the same time have a strong class in his interpellation to
model extremely centralized monopoly and finance capital predominantly installed by
dictatorship and deepened by the Coalition.

Chile is set as well, as a primary economy geared towards exports, extremely open, with a
strong penetration of imperialism in alliance with the oligarchy, where both financial
capital and the big economic monopolists earn high returns while layers stockings and
workers, including those in sectors that produce more profits, are passing the cost growth
and are forced to borrow to access both items and consumer goods as they should be, in a
just society, social rights secured by the proceeds of labor (education, health, housing,
urban transport).

The transnational capital, the oligarchy and their political front men are the only ones
who have reason to objectively fiercely cling to this model, while the other classes and
strata, to a lesser or greater degree, are injured in their interest. These are the layers
that are beginning to express their discomfort multitudinously street.

The old and the new in the popular movement

Has gained strength, the heat of the protests of 2011 and so far in 2012, questioning the
logic of the market as the only way to allocate resources, questioning the monopoly of
force by the state, the massive mobilizations, unity in the struggle, the growing popular
role, the break with the logic individualistic and subsidiary claims, the discrediting of
traditional politics (consensus among elites to back the people) and progressive forging
of a collective consciousness and democratic neoliberal that is emerging among our people
putting Chile on time with the mainland.

No wonder that to happen, given that Chile does not differ much (if at all, in the radical
surgery here and change its pioneering) in other countries of Our America suffered the
ravages of neoliberal offensive during 80 and 90. Nor is it surprising that our country
wants to extrapolate recipes taken from other processes that are living in South America.
The appeal is undeniable, it is known that spices up a single example that twenty chimeras
are also understandable desire to put an end to neoliberalism that you worked on all
orders fleeced. But it is never copied uncritically positive, but take what serves and
discard what does not. To draw a roadmap appropriate to our national reality, we must
undertake a realistic assessment of what the situation in which we find ourselves.

Where we are

Let us start by recognizing a fact. The world popular, due to structural changes caused by
neoliberalism, is an extremely fragmented subject, that is undeniable and we have stated
above. We have also recognized the potential that exists related to territorial. It is
more questionable, however, that means the need to dump all the efforts and put the focus
on a social subject and multiclass undetermined type "citizen", with all the dangers that
entails of uncertainty and volatility, with a clear ceiling which is that of democratic
reform in the political and populist measures limited in scope in the economic-social.
That is, without actually being able to play dominant bloc and unable to consider beyond
the discursive, a socialist horizon. And it is naive at this point to consider the
existence of a national bourgeoisie as antagonistic to the interests of the monopoly
bourgeoisie and imperialism that would be likely to join (or at least not actively oppose)
a hegemony of the project classes. The antagonism between capital and labor will always be
stronger than any conflict interburgu?s.

The socialist historical project, which is the same as saying the draft overcome
capitalism requires a materialist analysis of class and not merely idealistic aims to
transform reality, a reality that however strong neoliberalism has penetrated the minds
and social dynamics, remains a reality divided into classes.

The tasks of the moment

We suggest the need to target militant efforts to the creation of a popular subject plural
starring: workers, self-employed, unemployed, housewives, students, pensioners ...

A subject can acquire horizons and think programmatic strategy to achieve them,
identifying their own strengths and weaknesses of the enemy, being able to deal him and
accurate shots to build your own project.

A subject articulated in territorial terms, but with a strong class identity, forged in
the struggle for better working and popular organizations, which are the key lever to
increase levels of awareness, organization, participation and struggle the masses.

In this work creatively and multiplier, based on the needs and interests of the lower and
stimulating role, labor unions have an irreplaceable role.

Although we can not speak today in Chile, a strong and organized working class, there are
sectors within it that by its position in the production process and the whole capitalist
accumulation model that prevails today in Chile, are the spearhead and are able to lead a
process of recomposition of the popular movement and political reset. We speak mainly of
workers in strategic sectors of the Chilean economy, the main nodes linked with
accumulation. Port workers, mining, forestry or fisheries have become, by their levels of
organization, militancy and its central role in the model, a major engine of the awakening
of the popular movement, from Arica to Punta Arenas, in one of his players more dynamic
and more capable of articulation. However, it is also crucial to encourage the
organization of workers in other sectors by number, subjectivity and / or importance in
the economic structure.

To be clear, we are not proposing a narrow gauge workerism or despising the challenge that
social force buildup citizen can make to the model. We question the limits of a strategy
that emphasizes beyond reasonable territorial importance of minimizing the issue of class
and neglecting the work of union restructuring necessary for the popular movement to have
a strong presence in a world of organized work, how could it be otherwise, remains the
backbone of capitalist accumulation in Chile.

Looking to Chile in the mirror of America

Turning to address the strategic forces to accumulate at this juncture, as we are in the
throes of election would be pertinent to ask the question: can be the main space bourgeois
institutions from which to build?

Those who answer yes to this question does not have enough in mind when putting all the
institutional grilled meat, limited municipal powers (and its frame in a larger
institutional framework that conditions the Selectmen to tie them to the limits of a
short-range possibilism) and, at the national level, the current reality of the binomial
system and existing constitutional moorings, making access extremely difficult
parliamentary seats without resorting to compromises that blur the program ... and not
even using them. Are telling the tremendous efforts of the Communist Party to get a poor
result of three deputies, resorting to a covenant default with the Coalition. This is not
a rightward the electorate, but the lack of consistency Chilean democratic institutions
and its armor against the reforms, which makes it extremely impractical for the
institutional changes.

But would not it have been achieved in other countries of our region changes through
institutional background?, We ask colleagues who look with hope some processes on the
continent.

We begin by noting that seems healthy to consider other experiences, but we can not
overlook our peculiarities and conditions. Consider, now, changes in social and economic
background in Chile, is bumping in front with an armed force whose officers is linked to
the large economic groups through all the loops. It is not feasible to think of an
evolution "to Venezuela", a progressive military sector taking the lead changes and
neutralizing the reactionaries. Again, the rise to government through elections, at least
in the short term, and for the reasons pointed, of a political instrument created for this
purpose by a sector of the popular movement, as in Bolivia.

It is true that the factors that opened the door to these developments (the breakdown of
the traditional parties and the depletion and entry into crisis neoliberal accumulation
model) can be repeated also in Chile in the short or medium term. The discrediting of
institutions bequeathed by Pinochet's Constitution is increasing and Chile is extremely
dependent on the vagaries of a world market since the outbreak of subprime crisis unfolds
in an explosive instability.

Working with this hypothesis, there are sections of the left who are betting on the
convening of a Constituent Assembly and the formation of new type of electoral
instruments. Others follow a hypothetical ilusion?ndose creating an electoral pole with a
neoliberal agenda that just never realize.

The prospect of imminent political crisis may be correct, but what is often forgotten when
drawing the parallels is that in Bolivia and Venezuela was the pressure of the mass
movement which precipitated bashing crucial to the model. The popular hurricane came and
swept everything. There was little accommodation in previously existing institutions and
much of a break with her. No electoral strategy was the predominant coca farmers or
inhabitants of the hills of Caracas, spearheading the offensive popular in their
respective countries.

Moreover, it is self-deception (and this is a very dangerous delusion that can cost a
harsh defeat) claim that the government is to reach power. In the case of Venezuela or
Bolivia's movements are not in power, they are sharing, in unstable equilibrium and strong
making concessions, with the bourgeoisie and imperialism. And we know that in politics
there are no permanent balances. The varying strength of these processes of change lies
not so much in respect of institutional pathways taken after the struggle with traditional
political sectors but programmatic clarity and strength of popular movements that have
succeeded acquire. In defeat destabilizing attempts right and imperialism the main role
was played by the organized and most advanced sectors, as well as progress was made in the
sovereignty over natural resources, improvements in education and health and democratization .

There is need for a people mobilized, conscious and organized to be able to defeat all his
enemies planes and this requires providing it with the necessary skills, not politically
disarm him into believing that to achieve its objectives is determining what the electoral
or you can move steadily without confronting the power bloc.

We need to send people, yes, but the problem is how to articulate popular forces and given
a proper strategy for this slogan is cleared.

If we have any chance of success against the ruling bloc, the main task is to build the
grassroots movement capable of wrecking the neoliberal model, to dismantle the political
expressions of the ruling class and successfully tackle any attempt on his part
recomposition . And speaking of policy tools to help that growth of the Chilean people
organized. The task is not to imitate our brothers Venezuelans and Bolivians, is taking
her over and build on this momentum, the growing roar coming from below, to get to where
they have not been able to reach: to completely dismantle the power of the capitalists ,
forging new institutions and putting the economy at the service of social needs. It is time.
Manu Garcia
Jose Salas


Published in the journal "Politics and Society", winter 2012

Bron : a-infos-en@ainfos.ca