Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
The battle for Chile
The historic uprising of the Chilean people has dealt an irreparable blow to neoliberalism in the region, writes FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ
Chilean protesters have forced billionaire President Sebastian Pinera onto the defensive

IT ALL started with a minor misdemeanour by school students who collectively refused to pay fares on the Santiago metro in rejection of a price hike (to 830 pesos: 86p). This was part of a brutal austerity package, decreed by Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on October 6 2019.

On October 18, 78 metro stations, some banks, 16 buses and a few public buildings were set on fire by mysterious hooded men who were able to operate with impunity.

On October 19, Eric Campos, president of the Metro Workers Union, declared: “Strange that the police who were supposed to have been guarding the stations, were not there when they were set on fire.”

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
A man carries a poster of late President Hugo Chavez to a rally marking his birthday in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, July 28, 2025
Latin America / 11 August 2025
11 August 2025

FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ asks what we should read into the sudden doubling of Washington’s outrageous bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s head

A Cuban flag shredded by the winds of Hurricane Rafael flies
Features / 9 November 2024
9 November 2024
FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ gets the measure of what the new administration in Washington could have in store for Latin America, where Trump’s previous government had a notorious track record of hostility
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro greets young supporters
Features / 21 May 2024
21 May 2024
While Maduro promises more social progress from wages to housing, the right-wing opposition prepares to cry ‘rigged’ as Washington imposes new oil sanctions, reports FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ
National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez (left) and Chair
Opinion / 16 December 2023
16 December 2023
FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ explains that Venezuela’s plan to absorb parts of Guyana is a dispute that dates back to the 1800s and the colonial era. Now, a peaceful solution must be found
Similar stories
Candidate Jeannette Jara, of the Communist party, embraces supporters before voting in primary elections held by the Unidos por Chile coalition to choose the ruling party's candidate for the upcoming presidential election, in Santiago, Chile, June 29, 2025
Features / 4 July 2025
4 July 2025

For the first time in years, the dominant voice within Chile’s official left comes not from neoliberal centrists but from the world of labour, writes LEONEL POBLETE CODUTTI 

Literature / 10 February 2025
10 February 2025
An outstanding novel by Chilean writer and activist Pedro Lemebel, a poetry pamphlet by Venezuelan Natasha Tiniacos, and a children’s book of haikus singing the beauty of Cuba
A supporter of Brazilian President Lula da Silva of the Work
Features / 10 February 2025
10 February 2025
Long having been considered the ‘US’s backyard,’ Latin America is the crucible of anti-imperialist struggle – yet with the rise of China as an economic and ideological counterweight to Washington, we see a new phase of that struggle emerge, writes BEN CHACKO 
A Cuban flag shredded by the winds of Hurricane Rafael flies
Features / 9 November 2024
9 November 2024
FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ gets the measure of what the new administration in Washington could have in store for Latin America, where Trump’s previous government had a notorious track record of hostility