COMMUNIST PARTY USA/CPUSA

To the Communist Party of Chile, to the Chilean Workers and People

We have been carefully watching the dramatic events in Chile that have unfolded over the last few days.  We have seen in video clips shocking scenes, reminiscent of the days of the Pinochet dictatorship, of heavily armed security forces violently repressing young people in the streets of Santiago and other Chilean cities. We have heard the words of the President of Chile, Sebastian Piñera, which sounded so much like a declaration of war against his own people.   We are horrified by the deaths of at least eighteen demonstrators, the many injuries inflicted by the security forces, and the arrest of thousands of people whose only crime is fighting for a better future for the working people.

We are aware that the protests in response to the drastic increase in transportation costs are also directed against the systemic inequities that characterize neoliberal, anti-worker policies, not only in Chile but all over the capitalist world today.

The Communist Party USA expresses our solidarity with the Communist Party of Chile and with the Chilean working class in your just struggle to end these oppressive policies, among other things by calling for the release of all political prisoners, including your party members Valentina Miranda, Pablo Ferrada and Anais Pulgar.  We salute  your call for an end to repression and anti-worker policies, and for new elections.