Architects for Peace's president, Beatriz
Maturana recently published an article from the city of Santiago. The letter appears in El Libero and El Mercurio (22.10.2020), deals
with the role of the professions of the built environment in the social unrest.
Political parties and institutions from the left and center-left supported the
uprising of 18th of October 2019, the Estallido Social. The center-left
had governed for 24 of the last 30 years and lost office to the second center-right government in 2018. The Estallido Social is distinguished by its
unprecedented level of violence and destruction of urban infrastructure,
architecture and built heritage. This protest forced an agreement for a
plebiscite to approve or reject a new constitution together with an agreement
for peace. The Plebiscite is next week but peace never came. A year later, the
violence that looted, burnt and destroyed the entire Metropolitan transport
system, medical centres, schools, universities, hotels, businesses,
supermarkets and churches had spread across the country. In the rural south,
homes continue to be burnt. Marking one-year, protesters destroyed with arson
attacks two historic churches in central Santiago. They had both been partially
destroyed when the crisis began in October 2019. The crowd of young protesters
applauded and screamed as the burning church spire fell.
Beatriz has lived and worked in many parts of the
world but has not witnessed a citizenry destroying its own built heritage or
seen young people being manipulated by falsehoods. Chile has the highest Human
Development Index in Central and South America.
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| Image source unknown, mostly from local media. |
