• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. Mikhael Marzuqa
  3. Articles
  4. Opinion
  5. Noise of sabers at the Chilean elite
Opinion

Noise of sabers at the Chilean elite

  • Mikhael MarzuqaMikhael Marzuqa
  • Source: Al Mayadeen Net
  • 24 Feb 2022 16:52

Who are “Amarillos por Chile”? and what's their aim?

  • Noise of sabers at the Chilean elite

Recently in Chile, a self-styled movement “Amarillos por Chile” (Yellows for Chile) has emerged that expresses its concern toward the proposal of a constitutional text, which is the result of the work of the 155 conventionalists elected by a universal vote in May 2021 to draft a new constitution.

Such conventionalists represent the broad spectrum of Chilean society, against what the intellectual, political, and business bourgeois elites would have wanted, accustomed to being the ones who dictate the laws and maintain hegemonic power, whether they are from the right, center, or even supposed to be "leftist".

The self-proclaimed "yellows" describe themselves as a "silent majority" (although in reality, they are a minority, being all people of the upper and upper-middle-class). They are figures of public renown who have exercised their right of declaring their opinion. Among them are academics, journalists, politicians, legislators, economists, writers, and even lobbyists who are currently holding or had held high government positions in the past. 
 
These self-named “Amarillos por Chile” predict the danger of "institutional explosion" and warn that the spirit of the convention must be through dialogue, the center-right should not be ignored, and that they will question the Convention if it goes astray and, therefore, sound the alarms.

The alarms are in the event of an "unpresentable constitutional text". They call on all free and democratic spirits to join their initiative. Now, I reflect on whether these people live in reality or lock themselves in their own worlds of privileges that they are not willing to lose.

"Yellows for Chile" forget that we came to the convention through a broad and unanimous national parliamentarian agreement in which several of them took part and that the conventional ones were democratically elected in the same way as those in the legislative power, according to the enacted laws in the country.

They also forget that the members of the constitutional convention have faithfully respected the mandate given to them by the citizenry, and a two-thirds majority of its members is needed to pass laws, which include mechanisms for discussion, review, reconsideration, and drafting before having an end text.

The citizens, through a plebiscite, will submit that final text for approval or rejection. In other words, the great majority at that moment will democratically approve or reject the proposed constitutional text. This is a unique demonstration in the history of the exercise of popular sovereignty, a process that the rest of the countries around the world have been closely following.

The members of "Yellows for Chile", who have historically appealed to the rule of law that they would eventually break at the risk of weakening their supremacy, achieved between explicit or implicit pacts and privileged use of state institutions and class interests.

The emergence of this "yellow" movement and its statements through its first public statement represents a serious threat to the democratic stability of the country and reflects a subversive spirit, as well as inciting disobedience towards the institutions with very serious consequences.

With their first public statement, the “yellows” are unaware of the current institutional framework and the representative feature of the Constitutional Convention, since it represents the wide range of thought and structure of the Chilean society. The government authority must seriously consider the danger of this insurgency.

The danger of a possible institutional breakdown appears when the “yellows” foresee that we will have a new, more representative, fairer and inclusive Chile with rules that guarantee equal rights to all, breaking with the inequities, inequality, exclusions, and unequal distribution of power that this subversive group does not want to lose.

The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.
  • Chile
  • Latin America
  • Amarillos por Chile
Mikhael Marzuqa

Mikhael Marzuqa

International Analyst and Writer; Executive Director at International Observatory of the Foundation for Democracy.

Related Articles

All
The Indigenous People Again

The Indigenous People, Again

Most Read

Haaretz

Mossad agent killed in Italy part of anti-Iran mission: Israeli media

  • Europe
  • 3 Jun
US linguist Noam Chomsky, who was among 550 academics who signed the petition calling on Glasgow University to respect free speech (AFP)

Chomsky: EU will deindustrialize if it abides by US-run world order

  • Europe
  • 31 May
Singer Adele performs during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP)

Calls for Adele to cancel her 'Israel' concert

  • Palestine
  • 31 May
In Ukraine, is the US facing its own Suez moment? Its decline as an imperial power has been developing over decades. It has won small wars (Panama, Grenada) but has lost the big ones.

America’s Suez moment?

  • Opinion
  • 30 May

Read this

All
Fruit season in the Golan Heights … defying the restrictions of the Israeli occupation
Articles

Fruit season in the Golan Heights … defying the restrictions...

  • 5 Jun
One hates to think what the nation’s upper middle classes would do in the face of actual food shortages or war. They’d probably write strongly worded comments demanding tax cuts at the foot of stories in the Mail Online.
Articles

News from Nowhere: Volcano

  • 5 Jun
The Path to Freedom: Inspiring Revolutions in Cuba, Lebanon, and Spain
Articles

The Path to Freedom: Inspiring Revolutions in Cuba, Lebanon,...

  • 5 Jun
Press or propaganda? How Western-propped media groups drive public opinion, policy, and regime change around the world
Articles

Press or propaganda? How Western-propped media groups drive...

  • 4 Jun
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS