Standing As One With the
Chilean People
Militant Actions Support Chilean People and Demand an End to Brutal Repression
Montreal
Montreal, November 2, 2019
Montreal's Chilean community and its allies
organized four
actions over five days in support of the people of Chile against
the untenable living and working conditions imposed upon them by
the neo-liberal agenda of the Chilean ruling elite. Participants
at the actions also condemned, and demanded an end to, the bloody
violence being deployed by the Chilean state against a valiant
people fighting for their rights and well-being. President
Sebastián Piñera, a billionaire businessman and
one of the
richest men in Chile, is using the country's police and military
forces to criminalize and repress opposition to his neo-liberal,
anti-social measures.
 The
demonstrations took place in downtown Montreal outside the
Consulate General of Chile and on Saturday, November 2, at
Émilie-Gamelin Park, where close to 200 people of all ages
and
backgrounds gathered as one with the Chilean people and the
peoples of the Americas, who are demanding the recognition of
their rights and a pro-social direction for the economy
which they elaborate themselves. The many participants at the actions
declared
that never again will the Americas become the backyard of the
U.S. imperialists and of an oligarchy with only repression to offer to
preserve their power and privilege in the face of the people demanding
their fundamental rights.
From 1:00 to 5:00 pm on November 2,
songs of
resistance, slogans and dancing enlivened the atmosphere around the
demand that Piñera must be removed from office and a new
constitution written, so that scores are settled with the
dictatorship of the past. The crimes committed by the Piñera
government against the Chilean people must not go unpunished,
participants declared.
As of November 8, the Piñera
government's repression has
resulted in at least 23 deaths (with some sources reporting
dozens more), 1,659 persons injured and more than 7,000
detained, including 475 minors. As of November 6, Chile's
National Institute of Human Rights had commenced 181 legal
proceedings for homicide, torture and sexual violence committed
by the repressive forces of the state. The spirit embodied by
participants is the conviction that Chilean resistance and
solidarity between the peoples is what will bring an end to the
violence of the state against them.
Montreal, October 30, 2019
The Trudeau government was directly called out for
its refusal
to condemn Piñera's repression. Participants highlighted the
fact
that on October 29, Prime Minister Trudeau issued a provocative press
release
where, in reference to Piñera, he said he "shared his
concern
about election irregularities in Bolivia" then "welcomed the
collaboration between Canada and Chile on a range of shared
priorities, including efforts to address the crisis in
Venezuela." This brings to the fore the fact that organized support
for the Chilean people and the other fighting peoples of the
Americas is intrinsically linked to the struggle here to condemn
liberal hypocrisy and warmongering against the peoples and the
need to make Canada a zone for peace. Many activists present
noted that the struggle of the Chilean people and of all the
peoples for their rights and dignity is one and the same struggle
and that it is the duty of one and all to step it up.
 
Calgary
In Calgary, over 200 people gathered in Olympic
Plaza to show
their support for the ongoing mass actions in Chile and to oppose
police and military repression. The protest was lively and
energetic with music and noisemakers from start to finish. Many
people passing in vehicles honked their horns in support.
  
Windsor
A rally was held in Windsor on October 24 in
solidarity with the people in Chile fighting for their rights and
against brutal repression by state security forces. It took
place at the University of Windsor facing the entrance of the
Ambassador
Bridge to the USA, where participants banged on pots and pans and were
updated by speakers about recent events and the conditions of life in
Chile that sparked the people's uprising.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 26 - November 10, 2019
Article Link:
Standing As One With the
Chilean People: Militant Actions Support Chilean People and Demand an End to Brutal Repression
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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