Where do I start... ok, first of all, this is going to be a rant. This is a goddamn mess, and I'm still hearing gunshots outside, so don't expect me to write something with a good structure.
So, about a week ago, the price for a subway ticket in the capital was raised by 30 CLP (about 0.04 USD). It's a pretty small amount for sure, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back. People are VERY fucking pissed off, to the point where riots and protests started to occur all over the country, not because of a low rise on a stupid subway ticket, but because of the bullshit we, as citizens, have been enduring for decades.
Chile went through a military dictatorship from 1973 to 1989. After it stopped, we supposedly entered democracy, but that was bullshit. It seems like every time there's a problem and people go to the streets and speak up, politicians either ignore everyone altogether, or make changes that, while seemingly good on first glance, end up being worse than what we already had.
The minimum legal salary is so low that it's just barely enough for someone to scrap by (maybe not even that), and the average salary isn't much higher. Old people's pensions are often about a third of the miminum salary, literally not enough to survive. Public health care is shit. Pretty much all of the country has been sold to international companies, I mean, they even started to export fucking water. You know, that resource that's incredibly valuable and we should probably save for later?
All of this while politicians with absurdly high salaries sell everything that isn't nailed down while avoiding taxes (and jail, like it's the case with our president).
This is why people are really angry. So angry in fact, that many people started burning down buildings from big corporations (McDonalds, Coca Cola, a bunch of banks, etc). "Oh, people are so violent! They should protest in a pacific manner!" the news reporters say. Yeah, just like people have been doing for three fucking decades to no avail. For fuck's sake, just open a history book and check whether or not you can get good results without resorting to violence. When you have a bunch of soulless assholes as your opponents, good faith ain't gonna cut it. With that said, some of the fires were not, in fact, caused by citizens, but by either the police or the military in an attempt to justify their presence (I'm assuming).
Hey actually, let's talk about the police and the military, the meat and potatos of this whole situation (and the reason I'm writing this in the first place).
A few days ago, our great, very smart and beloved president (jk he's a fucking idiot) had the wonderful idea of literally saying "WE ARE AT WAR" and releasing the goddamn military onto the streets - something we hadn't seen since the 1973 dictatorship - with the excuse of "protecting the citizens and their freedom". Bullshit. They're on the streets to protect the goverment and their interests, nothing more.
There's also another problem.
They're fucking psychopaths, just like the cops.
In the best case scenario, people are pummeled, captured and, in some cases, tortured by the police, and in the worst case scenario they're just straight up gunned down by the military. Of course, this doesn't happen to everyone, not by a long shot, but the body count isn't low and I'm sure we can't trust the official numbers. There are videos on social media where you can see those guys just shooting at people without a care in the world, and in at least one you can see them piling up bodies like they're nothing of value.
This still feels like a dream. It's surreal. I know it's happening, but... somehow... It doesn't feel real. It's just absurd.
The only thing I can do is hope. Hope that the guys in charge give in once and for all, and we can move on with a better country. But in the meantime, the more foreign eyes on us, the better. We need international pressure. I doubt a post on a forum about some videogame will make a big impact, but it's all I can do.