Daniel Borzutzky in NYT Op-Ed Pages on Chilean Prostests
"We must call this what it is: a gross violation of human rights," he says.
Assistant Professor of English and Latin American and Latino Studies Daniel Borzutzky was in the opinion pages of Saturday's New York Times to discuss the protests currently taking place across Chile.
In the piece, "Chile Is In Danger of Repeating Its Past," Prof. Borzutzky warns that the rhetoric and actions of Chilean President Sebastián Piñera's government is reminiscent of the 1980s dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Though Piñera has recently taken some measures to allay those fears, Borzutzky writes, the underlying problem of Chile's constitution, made in 1980 under Pinochet and requiring a supermajority for any major legislative changes, remains.
He continues:
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“Poor pensioners, underpaid laborers, schoolteachers and college students are not the enemy of the state. Education reform, social security reform, increased wages, substantial housing subsidies, lowering the costs of public services — these are all reasonable demands that an advanced economy like Chile’s should have the ability to meet. But no significant changes will occur as long as there is still repression in the streets.”