Santiago de Chile.- In 2014, as a spokesperson for the New Majority, he asserted that Michelle Bachelet's government would use a backhoe "because, he said, the uneven foundations of the neoliberal model of the dictatorship must be destroyed."

The right panicked and unleashed a counteroffensive that did not cease until it became convinced that President Bachelet did not intend to do something different from what governments had been doing since 1990: take care of the neoliberal model established by the dictatorship.

Quintana, who in the meantime was promoted to president of the Senate, now created another political missile: "It is time to give in, to give in is not to lose" was the word of order that in 48 hours realigned the political forces in defense of the system.

President Piñera had "yielded" the night before. He called for social peace and admitted to opening the way to a new Constitution via a Constituent Congress. From then on everything went by a tube. The political caste appropriated the social protest without leadership and produced a pact that begins a constitutional process supervised by them as usual.

The speed of the political game from the initial kick of La Moneda was reflected in the unfortunate conduct of the opposition.

The day after the presidential message, the thirteen opposition parties -from the Christian Democracy to the Broad Front, through the PPD of Senator Quintana- replied with a solemn declaration that rejected 'the proposal of a Constituent Congress by the government, (because) It moves away from popular demand."

They added: "At this moment the way to build the future is by Plebiscite, Constituent Assembly and New Constitution."

But the ink of the opposition statement had not dried up when Quintana pronounced the key phrase: "We must yield," and in 48 hours the bold political move was consumed.

What forced to bow to the opposition? The key could be in the warning that the president of National Renovation, Mario Desbordes, made on the 13th. Urbi et orbi said: "there are only one or two days left" for an agreement that ends the popular uprising.

His peremptory notification was immediately picked up by Christian Democracy (DC) and shortly afterward by the rest of the opposition. The next day, November 14, leaders and parliamentarians of government and opposition (except communists and humanists), quartered in the Senate offices in Santiago.

In permanent coordination with La Moneda, who officiated as chief of the political kitchen, the arduous and republican task culminated with wandering at two o'clock on the morning of Friday 15. A transversal agreement was born that promises a plebiscite for April 2020 that will begin the constituent process.

It is not sure that it is a "Convention" chosen by the people or another 50 percent formula designated by Congress. But the most serious thing is that the articles of the new Charter must be approved by two thirds of the constituents.

In the purest style of the Constitution of 80, a bolt was installed that would allow the conservative minority to veto any effective change. It ensures the validity of the market economy, the denationalization of copper and lithium, the privatization of water, etc., etc. In sum, we are facing a colossal scam that mocks the great effort made by the people to make their demands heard.

What precipitated the lightning of political movements unleashed by Senator Quintana? One hypothesis is that the stone guest appeared on the scene: the Armed Forces. The escalation of looting and fire -compass-free violence with the intervention of organized gangs- led to the assumption that Piñera would announce the state of emergency, perhaps the state of siege, the night of the 12th.

It was speculated that the Armed Forces would have asked for guarantees to assume responsibility for a probable massacre. Piñera -paradoxes of a right-wing president- is not a saint of the devotion of the Armed Forces. He does not belong to the "military family."

In his first government, he closed the Cordillera prison, a prison-hotel that the Concertación assigned to officers accused of serious human rights violations. In his second government, Piñera decapitated the high command of the Army and Police. Dozens of generals -including three former commanders in chief- were prosecuted for corruption and other crimes.

The rumor of the coup danger -real or alleged- arose when the president of National Renovation, sentenced there were only one or two days left to pacify the country. It is estimated that this former police lieutenant and former Gendarmerie official maintains a privileged relationship with the armed institutions.

The maneuver, in any case, allowed the discredited parties to recover prominence. He did it through impersonation. The popular masses and social organizations -which had a fleeting appearance with the Social Unity table- were supplanted by parties located on the lowest ring of citizen esteem.

Hours after the announcement of the government-opposition pact, the people took to the streets again reiterating their democratic demands and was repressed with extreme harshness.

The absence of political leadership -which the movement has not been able to create- and the provocative activity of groups whose actions have alienated the support of broad social sectors, could successfully crown the political scam, condemning the people to a new frustration ... until the next social explosion. (PL)

*Outstanding Chilean journalist, founding director of the Punto Final magazine.

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