Santiago, October 17. Chile marks the third anniversary of the social uprising of October 18, 2019, with the same shortcomings that gave rise to the country's most serious social and political crisis since the return of democracy 30 years ago, all of which remain unresolved and are even worsened by the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Worse still, the above is compounded by rising crime and severe public security deficits in large cities and in the "southern macrozone," where the conflict between the Mapuche and the Chilean state is playing out, with endless acts of violence. Meanwhile, in the "northern macrozone," bordering Peru and Bolivia, an uncontrollable migration crisis is occurring due to the illegal entry of dozens and hundreds of people every day, mainly from Venezuela.
This whole situation, combined with the relentless harassment from the right-wing opposition, the new government's inexperience and unforced errors, has rapidly worn down Gabriel Boric's presidency, whose approval rating has fallen from 56 percent to 30 percent since he took office last March.
"In the face of the onslaught from conservative sectors that want us to believe that nothing happened, I want to tell you that the demands and underlying discontent expressed by the Chilean people regarding the outbreak are something that remains current and that we must continue to address," the president said today in the city of Quillota, 120 kilometers northwest of Santiago, where he was inaugurating a hospital.
