What’s driving the protests?The immediate trigger—the equivalent of a four cent rise in metro fare—struck a nerve among many Chileans, who say income growth has not kept pace with rising education, housing, and health-care costs.
Chile has been held up as a model for development in the region, with its strong economic growth, falling poverty, and stable political system since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s rule in 1990. But it remains one of the most unequal countries in the world; the United Nations estimates that the richest 1 percent of citizens earn one-third of national wealth.
Experts say middle- and working-class Chileans have many complaints. These include: a low minimum wage and slow wage growth, weak union protections, a privatized pension system, a stratified education system that leaves poorer students in debt, unaffordable housing and health care, a constitution that retains vestiges of military rule, and a political class beset by corruption scandals.
Public frustration over these issues is not new. Chileans have repeatedly protested over the education and pension systems, including in 2006, 2011, and 2016.
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