Red reaffirms its position before municipal candidates at meeting with Gonzalo Duarte
The meeting was marked by Red por la Defensa de la Precordillera's criticism of the municipality of La Florida's management and the exclusion of citizens from decision-making, and also saw the reaffirmation of demands for the next municipal government of the district.
On Thursday, September 27, a meeting took place at the Lo Cañas community center — a meeting that had been requested in April by La Florida's mayoral candidate Gonzalo Duarte (DC) — where space was made for an intense dialogue and Red explained its position regarding the municipal elections. (WE HAVE NO CHOICE)
Rather than reaching any kind of agreement or commitment, Red emphasized its critical view of the management of Gonzalo Duarte (1990–2000) and the Concertación coalition, considered to have deepened the neoliberal model. This was because they allowed, among other things, the destruction of a large portion of the precordillera forests through real estate projects such as: Macalto (1996), Lomas de lo Cañas (1996), Jardines de la Viña (2001), and the potential destruction of what remains (Bosque Panul, Quebrada de Macul, etc.).
Red also maintained that the political project that takes over the municipality must be built by residents themselves, not by private groups or parties. The current system of representation has allowed the same people as always to divide up positions like raffle tickets, excluding citizens from decision-making. It was made clear that residents are tired of broken promises, and that our bet is on building a truly democratic project — from the people and for the people. In response, candidate Duarte stated that he was not in favor of a system of direct participation as proposed, as he was more comfortable with the current representative system, but with changes to make it "more democratic."
Red presented a set of demands for the next municipal government, which can be summarized as follows:
1) Full community participation in the process of amending the Municipal Zoning Plan (PRC), definitively protecting Panul.
2) A municipal referendum to approve this amendment.
3) Decisive support for the creation of "Panul Public Park," managed by the community.
4) Concrete actions to drive the expropriation of Fundo Panul and Fundo Zavala.
5) Direct participation in the creation, approval, or rejection of any project affecting our environment or natural surroundings (such as, for example, the highway along Avenida La Florida, the construction of parking facilities beneath the Municipal Stadium, cell towers, dry wells, etc.), whether through binding referendums, public consultations, neighborhood parliaments, or similar tools.
La Florida's mayoral candidate Gonzalo Duarte (DC) expressed support for establishing a public park, but believes this could not be achieved during his term. He stated that, while he admires the work we have done and firmly rejects construction in El Panul, he cannot fully endorse the demands, arguing that "there are matters that cannot be put to a referendum."
As Red, we believe it is not up to him — nor to political authorities — to decide how much the community participates. If democracy means "government by the people," we will work tirelessly to build a project of sovereignty that allows everyone, without exclusion, to generate the sweeping changes our country needs.
We remain open to continuing to debate these and other issues in broad spaces of participation — with candidates, authorities, and, above all, with the residents of the territory.
Red por la Defensa de la Precordillera
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