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There was a social uprising last fall in Chile. The manifestations began in response to the failures of neoliberalism and the blatant disparities & lack of governmental accountability (1/n)
The severity of the protests increased after Piñera put the military on the streets & the militarized police violated human rights. HRW reporter that thousands were injured, “including more than 345 with serious eye injuries after police shot them with anti-riot shotguns” (2/n)
Many of those detained also reported beatings and sexual abuse ( https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/chile) (3/n)
One of these protesters was Gustavo Gatica, who was 22, was shot in both eyes and permanently lost his vision. He was taking photos of the protest when this occurred (4/n)
Today, @latercera reported that the coronel of the police, who shot Gustavo in both eyes was arrested ( https://www.latercera.com/nacional/noticia/oficial-de-carabineros-es-detenido-como-autor-de-los-disparos-que-dejaron-ciego-a-gustavo-gatica/JMZNGIMQWBENLNVTYA3VALJMYE/) (5/n)
This arrest took almost a year. I initially felt relief upon hearing of the arrest but this is only one individual, it does not solve or remediate any of the problems brought on by the hyper-militarized police in Chile (6/n)
These are problems that we are also seeing (and have been seeing) in the U.S.. The police officers that murdered Breonna Taylor are still free. Justice has not been reached (7/n)
But what is justice in a system that continues to oppress the marginalized: the poor in Chile, and primarily Black people in the U.S? Arresting individuals is not enough when it’s a systematic problem (end of thread)
