Santiago, Chile — Thousands of people marched in Santiago and other Chilean cities on Sunday mark world water day After ultra-conservative President José Antonio Caste withdrew dozens of environmental orders.
The orders withdrawn by Caste’s administration were signed during the government of Chile’s former leftist leader gabriel boricwhom cast replaced as chairman earlier this month.
The demonstration, called by several environmental organizations under the slogan “Don’t spoil the nature”, attracted thousands of participants from 15 cities across the country.
Cristóbal Rodríguez, national spokesperson for the Movement for the Protection and Access to Water, Land and the Environment – one of the organizers – said 1.4 million people in Chile still lack access to drinking water.
Rodriguez said, “The new president represents a shock that reflects his Pinochet-era roots and is modifying nature to a level never seen before.”
Chile’s new president ordered the halting of 43 environmental protection regulations a day after taking office. These measures protected species such as Darwin’s frog and Humboldt penguin, created national parks and outlined remediation schemes such as Lake Villarrica, among other things. They also controlled emissions from thermoelectric plants.
Cast told the press after the decision, “We always want to create the best possible public policy around full employment while respecting the environment.”
Rodríguez said the new administration “uses nature as a battlefield in favor of the interests of big capital” and that “the removal of 43 decrees reflects an environmental chainsaw approach.”
During his government planning and campaign statements, Caste acknowledged the existence of climate change, but said he was in favor of prioritizing economic regulation and technological norms, which he called “environmental ideology”.
rise of cast It is the most rightward turn in Chile since 1990, when the country restored democracy after 17 years of brutal military rule under General Augusto Pinochet – a leader for whom Caste had campaigned in his youth.
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