Beyond the Barricades: Chile 2023

Chile, often considered among Latin America´s greatest economic success stories, suffered a shocking wave of protests in October 2019, as its citizens demanded reforms across healthcare and education systems, and protested inequality and rising costs of living. As Chileans and outside observers reviewed the situation, many reflected on the country’s long history of inequality as the underlying source for public frustration. Chile´s inequality had declined since the late 1990s, largely due to previous governments’ commitment to free market policies and economic growth. The country benefitted from a robust business sector that was open to international trade, and from a large and thriving middle class. Yet, Chileans were clearly angry, and their outrage now threatened to ruin the country’s robust economy and political stability. Meanwhile, a growing number of observers became concerned and inspected the role that Chile’s business sector had played in the country’s successes and failures. Although business drove growth, it was also the sector that had escaped the troubles that beset so many other parts of the country. Moreover, Chile´s economic performance in 2022 was lackluster. What had gone amiss with one of Latin America’s most successful economies? And who had the power, and responsibility, to make changes?