Chile – Newspaper El Pueblo: The Last Year of Opportunistic Government
We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published in the Issue nº99 of the Newspaper El Pueblo. You can read the full issue here:
More benefits for the rich, more hardship for the poor
The four years of opportunistic government by the Frente Amplio [Translator’s note: Broad Front], the old Concertación, and the revisionist party of Carmona-Vallejos are coming to an end, and practically nothing remains of the hopes raised by the movement of young faces with old politics.
By Eric Aron
Opportunism, having reached the top of the old state, took on the task of administering a regime in crisis and decay. By proposing to bring “governability” to the rotten political system that was resentful of the popular uprising of 2019, Boric and company took on the task of presiding over the management of the same anti-popular policies inherited from 30 years of open right-wing rule and the Concertación (covert right-wing), and perfected them even further.
Thus, they presided over the repression of the masses with greater impunity and more equipment for the Carabineros, the reinforcement of the militarization of the Araucanía, and the protection of private land ownership with systematic evictions of homeless people.
At the same time, they have strove to be the champions of bureaucratic capitalism and fierce defenders of corporate interests, approving treaties such as the TPP11 and large investment projects with high environmental impact, which even openly go against the government’s own supposed environmental principles.
Figures that hit the people hard
The National Camp Registry 2024-2025 details that there are currently 1,428 camps throughout the country. This is an increase of 10.6% over the previous report.
According to the 2017 Census, 120,584 families live in these informal settlements, equivalent to 2.1% of all households in the country.
We need to pause for a moment to consider these figures. The increase in the number of families is very significant: that’s an increase of 6,697 families between 2022-2023 and 2024-2025. Nine families every day move to live in informal settlements.
And this is happening in the national context of a policy of forced evictions promoted by this same government where, according to the results of this census, at least 229 camps are currently under formal or informal threats of eviction.
In the area of employment, the INE’s statistical bulletin for the April-June quarter shows that the unemployment rate rose by 6% to 8.9%, compared to the same period in 2024. Worse still is the situation for female unemployment, which rose by 0.9 percentage points to 9.9%. Unemployment and informal employment are on the rise. There are 72,000 more unemployed people than a year ago, reaching a total of 918,000 people in Chile who actively sought employment without success, and two and a half million with precarious jobs, without contracts, social security, or the right to vacations or salary adjustments. The unemployment rate exceeds 9% in six regions, with rural areas being the hardest hit by unemployment, with the Ñuble region exceeding 11%.
Unemployment among professionals with university education stands at 8.1%, reaching 15.9% among those under 30.
These figures contrast with the profits of large companies. In the first quarter, the combined profits of banks operating in Chile reached $1.43 trillion (yes, that’s trillion with twelve zeros), an increase of 19% in twelve months, according to the CMF.
The seven AFPs operating in Chile recorded profits of $142.491 billion (US$149.5 million) between January and March 2025.
With these figures so beneficial to big capital, we should not be surprised if Boric receives a standing ovation at the next Enade summit.
There is no “lesser evil”
In the current election scenario, opportunism and revisionism seek to lead us once again to trust them to “combat the extreme right” and “combat fascism.” And their supporters will criticize the poorest masses for “supporting the right.” But really, for people in the slums and in the countryside, what substantive difference can they find? If with this government there is more unemployment, higher cost of living, evictions of squatters and camps like never before, what reason would there be to defend it?
In fact, this opportunistic government has not only governed for the right, but has also been a failure in combating the most demoliberal right-wing positions of Chile Vamos and the most openly fascist ones, represented today by the Republicans. Objectively, the poorest masses in the countryside and in the slums were better off during Piñera’s government, thanks to the bonuses and pension fund withdrawals that were wrested away during the pandemic, given the social unrest that remained very high after the popular uprising of 2019.
Those who were excited about the Frente Amplio as a “progressive” government or as a “lesser evil” should seriously consider this.
Fighting the openly fascist right wing cannot, in fact, be done without simultaneously fighting the right wing that hides behind opportunism and revisionism. And this can only be done by mobilizing the masses in the class struggle to defend jobs, combat the rising cost of living, and defend and expand social benefits that are being systematically cut. So that in the midst of the struggle, it is the masses themselves who recognize that, within the framework of this old State and its rotten institutions, there is no “lesser evil,” that all of them together are evil for the people. And in the midst of the struggle, it is the masses themselves who experience that if you don’t fight, you don’t win. And that what you have
can be lost at any minute, which is why we must fight to keep even what we already have.
And in the midst of this mobilization, which stems from the most deeply felt needs, learn to win victories on the basis of our own strength and in unity with the other struggles of the people, recognizing the need to fight at the same time for a revolution against imperialism, bureaucratic capitalism, and latifundium, and to build a true new democracy for our people, which is the only true greater good.
