Signed by prominent intellectuals and activists, including Noam Chomsky, Silvia Federici, Ana Tijoux, Etienne Balibar, Judith Butler, Tariq Ali, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Chris Hedges, Vijay Prashad, and many others, this statement expresses our opposition to the violence used by the Piñera government against the Chilean protesters. We encourage you to add your name to let the workers and young people in Chile know that we stand with them.
This petition is a statement of solidarity with the people of Chile who are rising up against extreme social inequality and growing immiseration. Over the last month, protesters have taken to the streets in the largest mobilizations in the country of the past four decades. They are determined to confront the regime and its neoliberal economic model that has concentrated massive amounts of wealth in the hands of the rich while systematically dismantling social services and basic workers’ rights. The Piñera government has reacted with a violent repression. Using the most brutal measures, police and military have tried to silence the protesters and quell the unrest. Already, there have been a number of deaths, and demonstrators have been attacked with pepper spray, maimed, arrested, detained, and tortured.
By signing this petition, you can help condemn the repression in Chile and show your support with the Chilean people. By signing this petition, you can join us in demanding that the government of Sebastian Piñera end the violence against the protesters immediately.
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International Declaration: Emergency Campaign Against Repression in Chile
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera has been intensifying his policy of repression and criminalization and is responsible for serious human rights violations. Last Thursday, November 7, he announced in a press conference that he was convening the National Security Council (COSENA), an organization created by the dictatorship. Piñera presented a plan to intensify the repression and criminalization of protesters while strengthening the state’s repressive and intelligence apparatus. On Tuesday, November 12, ahead of the massive mobilization and national strike, he announced he was sending more police onto the streets, using a security law enacted under the dictatorship to target all those who have “incited, promoted, or provoked” crimes. The goal is to increase criminalization and political persecution.
This takes place within the framework of a massive popular rebellion in Chile. The working people and youth have taken to the streets because they are weary of their terrible living conditions (salaries, pensions, education, health, transportation). They live in a country in which 26.5% of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the richest 1% of the population, while 50% of the poorest households have barely 2.1%.
In response to the demands of protesters, on October 18 the government unleashed a brutal wave of repression and declared a state of emergency and a curfew. This has left at least 23 dead, thousands injured and arrested, hundreds being held in pretrial detention, and reports of hundreds of cases of torture by the police and the army. The number of people suffering eye injuries or even blindness because police are firing pellets indiscriminately has become an international scandal.
Despite all this, the people of Chile remain in the streets, prepared to continue their fight against a government that enjoys an approval rate of only 10%.
We, the undersigned, express our solidarity with the struggle of the Chilean people and condemn the repression by the government, the armed forces, and the police. We demand an immediate halt to this repression, full freedom to demonstrate, the release of those in custody, an end to COSENA, and trial and punishment for all those responsible—both politically and materially—for the repression. We also strongly condemn the new repressive policy announced by the government, the use of the Internal Security Law, and political persecution.
With our signatures, we state our willingness to be part of a massive international campaign of declarations, activities, and mobilizations that will continue until this repression is stopped. We call upon human rights organizations, workers’ organizations, student organizations, women’s organizations, the LGBTQ+ community, indigenous peoples, grassroots and environmental organizations, and popular organizations throughout the world to join us.
- Left Voice
- Judith Butler, Professor of Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley
- Silvia Federici, co-founder of the International Feminist Collective
- Etienne Balibar, Department of French & Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Columbia University
- Jeff Goodwin, Professor of Sociology, New York University
- Suzi Weissman, Professor of Politics, Saint Mary’s College of CA, Jacobin Radio
- Robert Brenner, Professor of History, UCLA
- Charles Post, Professor of Sociology, Graduate Center and BMCC, CUNY
- Liza Featherstone, journalist and professor at NYU and Columbia
- Doug Henwood, journalist and broadcaster, Left Business Observer, Behind the News
- Ian Angus, Editor, Climate & Capitalism
- Paul Smith, Professor of Cultural Studies, George Mason University
- Chris Hedges, journalist and author
- Noam Chomsky, linguist, Institute Professor Emeritus MIT and Laureate Professor University of Arizona
- Margaret Flowers, MD, Popular Resistance
- Paul Le Blanc, Professor of History, La Roche University, Pittsburgh
- David Harvey, Graduate Center, City University of New York
- Slavoj Žižek, philosopher, Ljublana
- Alain Krivine, founder and historical leader of the LCR, then the NPA
- Richard Lagache, Les éditions sociales, Paris
- Christian Laval, Sociologist, Professor Emeritus University of Paris-Nanterre
- Kevin Zeese, JD, Popular Resistance
- Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK Co-founder
- Tariq Ali, activist, writer, journalist
- Vasyl Cherepanyn, head of the Visual Culture Research Center, Kyiv Biennial, Ukraine
- Vijay Prashad, Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
- Anita Tijoux, Chilean artist
- Cinzia Arruzza, Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research
- Tithi Bhattacharya, South Asian History and the Director of Global Studies at Purdue University
- Stéfanie Prezioso, National Counsellor, Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Federal Parliament
- Bruno Amable, economist, Université de Genève
- Gene Ray, Associate Professor, Geneva School of Art and Design
- Alberto Toscano, Goldsmiths, University of London
- Alex Callinicos, Professor of European Studies, King’s College London
- Pablo Schwartz, Chilean actor
- Nestor Cantillana, Chilean actor
- Javier Rebolledo, journalist and writer
- Víctor de la Fuente, director of the Chilean edition of Le Monde Diplomatique
- Olivier Besancenot, Spokespersons for the NPA, former presidential candidate
- Christine Poupin, spokespersons for the NPA
- Philippe Poutou, Spokespersons of the NPA, former presidential candidate
- Clara Pérez, journalist
- Angela Dimitrakaki, University of Edinburgh and member of Antifascist Culture, Greece
- Panagiotis Sotiris, Hellenic Open University
- Eugenia Prado Bassi, writer and editor
- Rodrigo Karmy, scholar, University of Chile, Center for Arab Studies
- Leonora Reyes, scholar, University of Chile, Center for Pedagogical Studies
- Dauno Totoro Navarro, leader of the Revolutionary Workers Party
- Nicolás Bustamente, former railway leader FCAB Antofagasta
- Maria Rivera, popular defense attorney
- Andrés Figueroa Cornejo, journalist and spokesperson for the Crongreso de los Pueblos Chile
- Miguel Fonseca, Social Worker, scholar and human rights activist
- Cesar de Vicente Hernando, researcher of Spanish political theatre
- Fenats Barros Hospital Luco Trudeau
- Centro de Estudiantes Liceo 7 de Santiago
- Chilean Commission for Youth Rights (Codeju)
- Group of Relatives of Politically Executed Persons (AFEP)
- Revolutionary Workers Party (PTR)
- International Workers’ Movement (MIT)
- Human Rights Corporation August 4
- Association of Victims of Police Violence
- Mathilde Allain, CREDA-IHEAL researcher,, University of Paris III Sorbonne Nouvelle
- Eric Alliez, filósofo, University of Paris 8
- Emmanuel Barot, philosopher, University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès
- Luc Capdevila, historian, University of Rennes
- Alice de Charentenay, literature professor, University of Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne
- Philippe Corcuff, sociologist, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Lyon
- Laurence De Cock, historian
- Sabine Dupuy, sociologist
- Jules Falquet, sociologist and feminist, Université Paris Diderot
- Eric Fassin, sociologist, University of Paris 8
- Alain Frappier, writer and draftsman
- Désirée Frappier, writer
- Franck Gaudichaud, historian, University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès
- Yvette Marcela García, socióloga, University of Strasbourg
- Michèle Guillemont, literature professor, University of Lille
- Anouk Guiné, professor, University of Le Havre Normandie
- Nathalie Jammet-Arias, historian, University of Paris Nanterre
- Fanny Jedlicki, sociologist, University of Rennes 2
- Alvar de la Llosa, historian, University of Lyon 2
- Michael Löwy, sociologist, National Centre for Scientific Research
- Germaine Mandelsaft, translator
- François Martinez, historian, University of Paris 8
- Olivier Neveux, Professor of History and Esthetics, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon
- Willy Pelletier, sociologist, General Coordinator of the Copernicus Foundation
- Roland Pfefferkorn, sociologist, University of Strasbourg
- Matthieu Renault, philosopher, University of Paris 8
- Hélène Roux, sociologist
- Sébastien Rozeaux, historian, University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès
- Jean Baptiste Thomas, historian, Ecole polytechnique, Paris
- Alexis Yannopoulos, Professor of Literature, University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès
- Sol Bajar, Gender Editor of La Izquierda Diario. Journalist. Teacher
- Ana Carolina Luz, Journalist. Researcher
- María Laura Bretal, Feminist and Human Rights Activist
- Danila Suárez Tomé, Philosopher. Feminist
- Ro Ferrer, illustrator, feminist
- Daniel Gorbeña, ATE Conicet
- Natsumi Shokida, Economist. Feminist
- Ricardo Palmadessa, Architect, photographer and teacher. FADU/UBA
- Alejandro Agresti, film director, writer
- Juan Imassi, Film Director. Professor ENERC INCAA
- Gustavo Pecoraro, writer, journalist
- Sergio Ezequiel Martínez, philosopher
- APDH, Permanent Assembly for Human Rights Argentina
- APDH Neuquén
- Labor Lawyers Association
- Association of Former Detainees and Missing Persons
- Association of Former Detainees and Relatives of the Disappeared of the Regional Dictatorship Ledesma Jujuy
- Asociación Madres y Familiares de detenidos desaparecidos Jujuy (Association of Mothers and Relatives of Disappeared Detainees)
- Brothers of Disappeared for Truth and Justice
- Cachito Fukman militant meeting
- Graciela Ledo, Complainant against Cesar Milani and Esteban Sanguinetti
- Margarita Noia, Secretary of Human Rights of CTA Autónoma Capita
- Oscar Schaller, former detainee and plaintiff of César Milani
- Liliana Mazea, Lawyer for Lesa Humanidad
- Daniel Straga, Human Rights Lawyer
- Liberpueblo
- Carlos Zamboni, Lawyer Federación Aceitera and FOCRA
- Diana Kordon, Coordinator of the Argentine Psychosocial Work and Research Team (EATIP)
- Gustavo Oreste Gallo, Public Defender of Minority City of Buenos Aires
- Julio Avinceto, Children’s Group La Plata – Argentina
- Mariana Soledad Alvarez, Attorney at Law
- Patricia Walsh, Daughter of Rodolfo Walsh
- Victoria Moyano Artigas, granddaughter restored by Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo
- Alejandrina Barry, Daughter of the Disappeared, Director of the Commission against Institutional Violence, legislature of the City of Buenos Aires. CEPRODH
- Clara Petrakos, Daughter of the Disappeared
- María Inés García, Daughter of the disappeared, plaintiff in the Esma case
- Marta Ungaro, Sister of Horacio Ungaro disappeared in the night of the pencils
- Manuela Carricondo, daughter of the Disappeared, CEPRODH
- Pablo Silvestri, son of murdered by Triple A
- Marcelo Roldán, son of disappeared
- Juan Contrisciani, son of disappeared
- Fabián Troitero, disappeared son
- Jorge Sobrado, ex-detained disappeared
- Gervasio Diaz, H.I.J.O.S High Valley
- Gloria Pagés, sister of the disappeared
- Andrea Robles, daughter of murdered by the Triple
- Mariano Esteban Pinedo, grandson of Rodolfo Walsh
- Ford Survivors, May Camp Commission
- Demian Konfino, writer, human rights lawyer Barrio Mugica
- Human Rights Observatory of the City of Buenos Aires
- Hernan Mansilla, lawyer
- Alejandro Schneider, teacher (UBA-UNLP)
- Ana Villar, teacher and researcher
- Paula Varela, teacher and researcher (UBA/CONICET)
- Juan Duarte, UBA teacher
- Javier Waiman, UBA teacher
- Manuel Riveiro, teacher UBA/UNAJ Argentina
- Ariel Aramayo, university teacher /UNLP
- Ezequiel Adamovsky, historian (CONICET, Argentina)
- Hernán Camarero, historian, University of Buenos Aires/CONICET
- Corina Luchía, historian (UBA-CONICET)
- Federico Holik, researcher/CO