Covid-19 in Chile: anger at the lack of state aid
A Chilean woman prepares to throw a stone near a burning barricade during a demonstration to ask for more help from the government and the authorization to withdraw a third of pensions to face the poverty generated by the health crisis , in Santiago on April 22, 2021. AFP - RAMON MONROY
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Nearly 8 out of 10 inhabitants have been strictly confined since the end of March in Chile, because of a serious second wave of Covid-19 on its soil.
In this context, residents are asking for more aid from the State in the face of the economic consequences of the health crisis.
Under popular pressure, and for the third time in a year, Congress adopted a reform on Friday April 23 that would allow Chileans to tap into their individual and mandatory retirement savings.
But the government is trying to block this measure and thus anger a good part of the inhabitants.
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With our correspondent in Santiago,
Justine Fontaine
In La Cisterna, in the southern suburbs of Santiago, this soup kitchen distributes around 100 meals a day.
“
For a few months we had a little less people,
explains Cristina, one of the volunteers, mobilized since the start of the pandemic.
But now people are coming back to see us.
»On the menu, for the most precarious inhabitants of the district, spaghetti with spinach sauce and minced meat.
Cristina herself is retired.
She can no longer work.
His income is below the poverty line.
“
As I am retired, I do not receive any allowance, nothing.
"
The government has provided aid for the most precarious and the middle classes, but residents consider the award criteria too restrictive.
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To read also: Yet ahead of vaccinations, Chile forced to confine itself
"To be
able to pay my debts
"
A few blocks away, Cecilia Gonzalez,
a
part-time
housekeeper
, sells clothes on the streets to supplement her income.
She earns less than the minimum wage, but does not have access to benefits either.
So for lack of anything better, she would like to be able to draw on her mandatory retirement savings: “
It would be a great help, to be able to pay my debts.
"
The government appealed to the constitutional court to try to block the reform adopted in Congress on Friday.
Clashes took place in several districts of the capital this week to protest against the decision of the executive.
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