Barely a month was enough for the ultra-right government to launch great attacks on the Chilean workers and their families. From the first day of taking office, systematic attacks against the working class began.
In just one month of the government of the ultra-right and the businessmen headed by José Kast, we have seen how the government repeatedly attacks the living standards of workers, students, residents and working people, in general.
With the brutal rise in oil and gasoline prices, we are seeing how everything is on the rise and the basic food costs that are most consumed families is also rising. The government refused to use the MEPCO, which is a mechanism that the different governments have for the stabilization of fuel prices, thus passing on the increases directly to the population. According to the government, the state must reduce costs. They also use the excuse that the Chilean state is bankrupt, which economists, both right-wing, social democratic and progressive, have denied.
But on the other hand, we see how the big businesses continue to increase their profits via price increases. This government wants to lower taxes on the richest sectors of this country (for the richest 1% of society) and in this way increase the profits of the large economic groups. In other words, this means that with the policies that this government is implementing, the rich will become even richer, and the poor will become poorer.
But not satisfied with these attacks on the living standards of the working class, they have also taken other measures such as withdrawing forty-three decrees on environmental issues that are being discussed in parliament. These seek to prevent the destruction of the environment by large mining, fishing, or forestry companies.
At the same time, a series of attacks are being conducted in the field of human rights. Under the previous government headed by Boric, the Search Plan (a commission) was created with which it is intended to search for all the detainees who disappeared under the dictatorship of the right and the Armed Forces between 1973-1990 and whose remains are still not found. The main people in charge of the Search Plan have already been dismissed from their posts, and it is almost certain that nothing will continue to be done about this issue.
Another relevant issue is the withdrawal of the fisheries law that was being processed in parliament. This means that the Longueira law is maintained. This is totally corrupt. The legislation was adopted in Congress as a result of bribes of several parliamentarians who ended up approving a law that gives the Chilean sea to seven families. This has a devastating effect on artisanal fishermen, among whom are also the lafquenches (Mapuche fishermen), who will also be harmed by this policy. The only ones to gain from the new legislation are the large fishing and salmon companies in Chile.
Cuts to ministries
The government will also apply 3% cuts to all government ministries. This means that health spending will be reduced by more than $517,000 million pesos, in an area that is already operating at its limit. The limitations and restrictions on health care will affect more than 15 million people. In education a cut of $524,000 million pesos will be carried through. This will make the situation in education even more precarious, where there are also many limitations on resources. This cut will only make the situation worse. There will also be further measures to limit even further access to free higher education, which is already very limited.
The cuts in the other ministries have the same objective; to limit the few social rights that the most oppressed sectors of Chilean society still have, such as the construction of social housing. The cuts will mean less housing for the wider population.
Support for the government has fallen rapidly. The government of José Kast has gone from winning 58% in the elections to having barely 41% approval in just four weeks. This must be the first government since 1990, to date, to see support among the population erode so quickly.
Our perspectives were that after six months, or so, we would see a reaction against the government of the ultra-right. But already we have seen massive mobilizations, such as the one on March 22, on World Water Day. Thousands of people marched through the centre of Santiago (Alameda Street). There were also mobilizations in Valparaíso and other cities in Chile. The marches organized by the environmental social movements sought to protest the withdrawal of 43 environmental decrees by the government of Kast, and to warn about risks to ecosystems and access to water.
High school and university students also marched in Santiago on March 26, 2026, two weeks after José Kast took office. The protests were called by ACES and Confech (organizations of secondary and university students). They rejected the 3% cut in education and the attacks on free education, which are a massive setback for that sector.
What should workers, students and residents do in the face of these brutal attacks on our living standards?
The working class throughout its history has only one way to defend its most basic rights, such as the right to a dignified life – through mass struggles. A fundamental tool of workers’ struggle has historically been to organize a general strike to stop the abuses of the bosses, not only in Chile, but throughout the world.
We believe that the time has come to start preparing a plan of organization and struggle. It is not enough just to call a general strike; we need to organize local committees of struggle (commandos) in every community, place of work and study. These need to be formed in every town or village, in every commune, in every region, in every corner of this country, to prepare for a successful strike and stoppage, and to force the employers and the right to respect our minimum rights as human beings.
If the workers cannot organize a successful struggle, the right-wing and the bosses will override all our rights and will take us back to the last century or even further back.
The struggle for a workers’ government and a socialist society is still more relevant than ever before in the history of humanity.
Socialism or barbarism, there are no other alternatives!