Noam Chomsky, Silvia Federici and 200 other world figures ask Chileans to approve new constitution

A group of 200 international leaders and figures, including American intellectual Noam Chomsky and British parliamentarian Jeremy Corbyn, in a letter asked Chileans to approve new constitution which will be submitted to a plebiscite in less than two weeks.

The letter, prepared by the Progressive International, was also signed by former French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, and an Italian-American writer. Silvia Federici and various leaders of the Spanish left such as Lilith Verstringe, Secretary of State for Agenda 2030.

“This Constitution testifies to the solutions to the crises that plague societies around the world,” said signatories from more than 25 countries.

If approved in a plebiscite on September 4, they added, the new text “will place the country on a solid foundation of egalitarian democracy and inspire people around the world.”

In the letter, they reviewed what they believe are the most important aspects included in the constitutional proposal and stressed that the text “recognizes that nature has rights”, “acts against inequality”, “responds to the deprivation of rights of indigenous peoples” and “opposes gender oppression.” .”

“We acknowledge the decades of struggle that made it Constitutionfrom courageous resistance to Pinochet’s dictatorship and his military junta to an uprising against President Sebastian Piñera and his neoliberal orthodoxy,” they said, referring to the 2019 wave of protests.

Plebiscite: 4 September

Chileans are called to vote on 4 September to decide if they want to approve new constitution or keep the current one, inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and partially transformed into a democracy.

The right and part of the centre-left will vote against declaring the new text “radical” and the left will campaign for “Approval” even though it promised a big deal to reform the most controversial aspects.

The new norm proclaims Chile a social state of law and enshrines such rights as universal health care, free education, higher pensions and access to housing and water.

The right to voluntary abortion, the multi-ethnic nature of the state, and the abolition of the Senate are some of the issues included in the text that cause the most controversy.

For several months, polls have given the chance to approve the new text as the winner, but the main polls show that citizens prefer keeping the current law more.

(EFE)