After the social outbreak in Chile in 2019, We Have to Talk About Chile emerged, a platform supported by the Catholic University and the University of Chile dedicated to lending an ear to citizens of different ages, territories and socioeconomic levels to learn about their concerns. through extensive conversations. The results of the last installment of Chile on Scale: A citizen's look at the country to come, reported this Saturday to EL PAÍS, show that social unrest has intensified in four years and that, unlike previous editions, when concerns were of different kinds, the demand for security and order overflows the conversation in the midst of the crime crisis facing the South American country. In addition, they warn of a worrying pessimism: only 11% of the 8,000 participants believe that 2024 will be more peaceful than last year.
Since the first constitutional process, in 2021-2022, security as a problem and as a condition of tranquility began to be accentuated in the analyzes collected by the study carried out in all regions of the country, with participants between 18 and 93 years old. Concerns about education, health or pensions, which previously were among the issues that worried the population, appear in the background in the current context, regardless of age, educational level or municipality in which they live. Young people, for example, who usually did not speak about the problem of public insecurity or did so from another perspective, today join the dominant voice. The three main concerns are: security, justice and education.
”The root of the multiple unrest has been unifying,” says Hernán Hochschild, executive director of We Have to Talk about Chile. “People massively believe that crime and uncontrolled illegal immigration deeply affect their lives. Before, the country's problems did not necessarily impact them,” he adds. Hochschild warns that while the political world was trying to build a Constitution – it failed twice in its attempt to replace the current Magna Carta – something was being established in the city. “There is a collateral effect of the incapacity that those who lead the institutions and lead the country have had,” he maintains.
One of the consequences of the extension of the tentacles of the security issue as the main concern is the appearance of new agents of change. If before it was the politicians, now the police, the military and the judges have gained strength. “The most penalist logic is beginning to take up more space,” warns Hochschild. When asked: on a more personal level, thinking especially about your commune, what would have to happen next year (2024) for you to feel greater peace of mind? The concepts that appeared most in the responses were security, crime, police, control, surveillance and criminals.
Regarding foreigners, people separate two types of migrants: those who come to make a good living and those who come to take advantage of Chile, according to the platform. “Not a single speech has finished coming together yet. The same applies to the measures to confront crime, although we do see a much more overflowing discourse: curfews, militarization, a strong hand…”, points out Hochschild, who adds that “Bukele's logic is beginning to appear more strongly, but not yet. “It becomes the majority discourse.”
69% of Chileans strongly agree that immigrants increase crime rates, according to the survey by the Center for Public Studies (CEP) published last November, a significant jump compared to 2017, when 41% of citizens thought that way.
The answers to the question if they believe that in 2024 they will feel greater peace of mind are worrying. 51.86% answered projections that can be classified as negative, such as: “I am not so optimistic that we are going to be calmer, I don't see why”, 36.4% mentioned intermediate ideas, without a charge towards a one side or another, and only 11.8% positive, (“I think I will be calmer because it is what I hope, being an illusion. Although we do not know what is going to happen with this Government or with the one that comes.”) .
One of the conclusions drawn by the filmmakers of the first report of We have to talk about Chile, made after the social outbreak and in the midst of the pandemic, was that hope was a “stretched elastic.” Now they warn about the complexity of the hopelessness that they warned about in the dialogues. “The constitutional or the legislative discussion itself is moving away from the people. Social demand is beginning to take the form of concrete measures, moving away from longer-term discussions,” they point out.
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