In the Maule region of central Chile, the situation remains tense. After several major mobilizations of poor and middle peasants and workers in recent weeks, in which they demanded economic reparations for the damage and crop losses caused by the recent floods.

On this September 12 and 13, once again the masses from the Maule region, more specifically in the municipality of Licantén, which was particularly hard hit by the floods, mobilized to continue the campaign for reparations and reconstruction. This time, not only did predominantly the poor and middle peasants take to the streets, but it was supported by broad sectors of the popular masses. The local merchants against their situation of insecurity in which they find themselves, which also denounce the lack of support from the old state. In the midst of these ongoing mobilizations, the "Committee of Seasonal Workers in Struggle" (CTL) is now working with propaganda actions in Licantén, Villa Prat, Placilla and other places in the Mataquito Valley affected by the floods to encourage the masses that it is justified to rebel and that for this it is necessary to organize and fight. Thus, in different places of the Mataquito Valley, banners and murals with slogans such as "The state has abandoned us. Peasants, seasonal workers, out for struggle!".

Here it is important to understand the semi-colonial and especially semi-feudal character of Chilean society. The seasonal workers are not ordinary temporary workers, but poor peasants who, due to the concentration of land in the hands of the latifundium, do not own any or not enough land of their own to provide for themselves and their families and are therefore dependent on doing informal work. On the land itself, they are employed during the respective harvest seasons. They remain mainly poor peasants who are forced to work and harvest on the land of others, while they do not receive the fruits of their labor, but the owner of the land.

The other important part of the mobilizations currently taking place is the 48-hour strike at a pulp mill in the city of Constitución, which is also located in the Maule region. One reason for the strike at the company Forestal Arauco, which belongs to the Italian -pharmaceutical monopoly of the Angelini Group, is the dismissal of hundreds of workers, whose reinstatement is being demanded. Other demands of the strikers are better pay and working conditions and to reduce the problems in the night shift. During the strike, which was supported by the local Constitución population, the workers set fire to barricades made of tires, blocking the roads. The workers' struggle actions showed results in a short time, and thus the demands regarding working conditions, the night shift and the increase in wages were successfully won in negotiations with the company. The revolutionary Chilean news site "Prensa Chiripilko" writes in its report that this successful strike of the workers will be an important school of struggle for future confrontations and that it is now important to continue and defend the gains with struggle. Especially in view of the layoffs and further threats of closure of Forestal Arauco.

What we see here, in the midst of the serious crisis of bureaucratic capitalism in Chile and the protests and struggles of the masses in the cities in the fight against the opportunist government and armed actions of the indigenous Mapuche movement in southern Chile, is a great destruction of productive forces in the Maule region based on the floods. Poor and middle peasants face destroyed land, traders lose their livelihood and workers lose their jobs. The opportunist government does nothing about it, but protects the interests of large landowners and foreign imperialist corporations. This meets the resistance of the different sectors of the popular movement in Chile, some of which are fighting with armed actions, for example, for their indigenous popular rights and against the crisis distribution on the backs of the masses.

Cover photo and all other images from: https://prensachiripilko.blogspot.com/2023/09/crece-la-protesta-en-la-region-del-maule.html and https://prensachiripilko.blogspot.com/2023/09/acciones-en-el-campo-comite-de.html