Violent suppression of mass demonstrations in Chile

25.10.2019

Question for written answer  E-003469/2019
to the Commission
Rule 138
Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos (NI)

The violent suppression of mass demonstrations in Chile has so far resulted in the deaths of 18 protesters - including minors - killed by police gunfire. Hundreds have been injured and thousands arrested. This bloodshed is the responsibility of the Piñera government that, since December 2017, has taken new tough anti-working class measures that have worsened living conditions for working people. The result has been mass mobilisations that are still under way, prompted by increases in the cost of public transport, fuel and electricity, which further erode the income of ordinary people.

It should be noted that Chile is a country that, according to the EU, is a ‘model’ in its region. It has high rates of capitalist growth, has concluded an Association Agreement with the EU and the latter considers it a country that promotes ‘human rights, the rule of law and good governance’.

The EU and Chile never miss an opportunity to give other countries a ‘lesson in democracy’ and make recommendations about human rights. The EU has acted disingenuously, calling jointly on the persecutors and the victims - the government responsible for the barbaric repression and the demonstrators who have been subjected to it - to ‘reach an understanding’.

In view of the above, will the Commission say:

How does it view the violent repression, the massacres of protesters, the fact that hundreds of people have been injured, the night-time curfews and, in general, the barbaric repression of mass mobilisations in Chile which are reminiscent of the darkest days of the Pinochet dictatorship?