Constituent Elsa Labraña called on the mayor of the Metropolitan Region, Felipe Guevara, “to take charge of what is happening,” after the opening ceremony of the Constitutional Convention could be paused by the actions of the Carabineros outside the former National Congress in Santiago. “If the Carabineros repressed, it is because he (the mayor) gave the order,” he said.
Labraña also addressed questions about the fact that protesters threw objects at the Carabineros. “Don’t tell me anything about the stones because it’s a way to defend yourself. The people need justice. Nothing can be built on a system of violence like the one we have had for so long. The dictatorship never ended, we have it just around the corner,” he said, assuring that “people were partying and it was provoked by Special Forces of the Carabineros.”
His counterpart, Elisa Loncón, said after the suspension of the session that they are talking about what is happening. “We are waiting for the Special Forces to withdraw. We must establish a culture of democracy, we must understand and practise it, and we as conventionals have come to establish a culture of dialogue and no more repression. Not to repeat the repression that has been installed historically. You have to change the culture.”
Constituent Valentina Miranda Fuimos said they were “beaten by carabineros from Chile. They beat us, pushed us and threw gas at us. We cannot begin to sit with the repression that exists outside; out there are our families.” And he stressed that “there are mobilized people who came to accompany us. We cannot allow this to happen.”
“The session is suspended until Special Forces (FF.EE.) withdrew,” he concluded, recalling that “one of the commitments for us to be here today was precisely that FF.EE. was not there. We knew there was a security cordon and it was complied with but Special Forces came out.”
