Professors, lawyers, a bus driver, a mechanic… Chile’s future compass is in their hands. On May 15 and 16, the citizens appointed the 155 people responsible for drafting the new Constitution, which should replace the current text inherited from the dictatorship (1973-1990) and accused of securing the country’s liberal bases.
Great surprise, which reveals and heals at the same time the crisis of representativeness disrupting Chilean political life: more than half of the elected representatives are independents, who do not militate within a party, and carry the will to rethink in depth the foundations of the country.
Often, their struggles foreshadow the social movement against inequalities at the end of 2019, which paved the way for this unprecedented constitutional process. Militants for the protection of the environment or indigenous populations, some were already participating in political life, in its broadest sense: their proposals will be nourished by their thematic knowledge coupled with solid local foundations, the election reflecting the different regions of the country.
One thing is certain: it is the most representative assembly in Chilean history, with 77 women and 17 seats reserved for indigenous populations. Inhabited by the feeling of “Great responsibility” and a strong hope, three elected officials contacted detail the ideas they will defend during the nine months – extendable by three months – they have for writing the new “Magna Carta”.
- Rosa Catrileo, lawyer, 39 years old: “We must recognize the right of the Mapuche to recover their territories”
She admits having hesitated to come forward, faced with the magnitude of the task. “But it was women’s hour and I could not stay out of this historic opportunity for the Mapuche people to participate”, tells the Mapuche lawyer in Temuco (Center), a specialist in cases dealing with the rights of her community.
It intends to work for the formal recognition of indigenous peoples – more than 12% of the population – with reference to the Constitutions of Bolivia or Ecuador, which lay the foundations of a Plurinational State. “But that is not enough, we must recognize the right of the Mapuche to recover their territories, which have been invaded by the State”, advises the lawyer.
Social conflicts, sometimes interspersed with violence, which oppose the indigenous peoples to the State, to forestry or mining companies punctuate the life of the country. Rosa Catrileo’s struggle is not new. Since her student years, she has mobilized for the recognition of the rights of the Mapuche and their cultural visibility. In mid-May, she also voted dressed in the traditional dress specific to festive days.
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