The Wall Street Journal - 28.10.2019

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Monday, October 28, 2019 |A

Chileans aren’t clamoring

for a revolution, political ana-

lysts and many protesters here

say, but they are demanding

broad change. The protests

represent the greatest chal-

lenge to a Chilean government

since dictator Augusto Pino-

chet faced demonstrations and

a referendum that ended his

regime nearly 30 years ago.

Discontent against the Latin

American establishment and

ruling elites has flared in re-

cent weeks: Upheaval has hit

Ecuador and Honduras, with

protesters demanding the

presidents in those countries

resign.

On the surface, Chile looks

like the last Latin American

country that would be hit by

mass unrest.

The middle class in this

country of 17 million has ex-

panded. The capital is a show-

case of parks, broad avenues,

shiny skyscrapers and Latin

America’s most modern metro.

But the slow economic growth

that resulted from the end of

the commodity boom coupled

with income inequality have

brought into relief the precar-

ious nature of middle-class

life.

“These are not protests

over hunger, these are pro-

tests about the aspirations of

a middle class,” said Patricio

Navia, who teaches Latin

American politics at New York

University.

Arturo Erazo, 49, watched

on Friday night as militarized

police fired tear gas 200 feet

from the musical-instruments

store he owns, while young

men responded with a hail of

rocks. He didn’t have much pa-

tience for the protesters.

“In this country there are

opportunities,” he said. “The

problem is people don’t take

advantage.”

But Mr. Erazo acknowl-

edged the shortfalls that have

animated the demonstra-

tions—not just the difficulty in

getting by but the disconnect

between Mr. Piñera, one of

Chile’s wealthier entrepre-

neurs, and the people he gov-

erns. The president’s comment

early in the protests that his

government was “at war” had

led to widespread derision.

On Saturday, he announced

he would reshuffle his cabinet

to quell the protests. He ear-

lier pledged to boost the

monthly minimum wage, raise

pensions for the poorest and

boost taxes on upper-class

wage earners. The subway-fare

increase has been rescinded.

—Maolis Castro contributed

to this article.

SANTIAGO, Chile—The rise

in the subway fare was small,

Natalia Cortez said, but came

on top of what she called

other indignities: shoddy

schools and meager pensions,

rising prices and a low mini-

mum wage. So, she has been

among hundreds of thousands

of protesters surging into the

streets for days to shake Pres-

ident Sebastian Piñera’s cen-

ter-right government.

“We’re all living in debt,”

said the 28-year-old teacher.

“We have to pay higher elec-

tricity bills, water bills, all the

services. And we just don’t

make enough.”

What began as students

hopping turnstiles over a 3.7%

increase in subway fares has

morphed into mass protests

about an array of grievances,

culminating in a demonstra-

tion Friday that drew more

than a million people into the

streets of this capital and

brought the government closer

to a reckoning.

Looters have destroyed

hundreds of shops and 20 peo-

ple have been killed. The state

human rights institute has

criticized the security forces

for using excessive force in

street battles.

BYJUANFORERO

Chile Protesters’ Grievances

Grow, Rattling Government

ously denied such accusations.

Egypt has long been accused

of using torture on dissidents.

But human-rights groups say

the abuses show an escalation

in the response of Mr. Sisi’s

government to a new wave of

protests over issues ranging

from political repression to a

decline in living standards—

and the extreme measures he

is willing to take to snuff it

out.

It appears to be working,

rights groups say. The public

demonstrations have tapered

off in recent weeks.

Mr. Sisi came to power fol-

lowing a military coup in 2013

that ended Egypt’s brief exper-

iment with democracy after

the 2011 Arab Spring revolu-

tion that ousted President

Hosni Mubarak.

In the years since, the gov-

ernment imposed new restric-

tions on media and digital

communications, banned more

than 500 websites, and out-

lawed unauthorized street pro-

tests. Earlier this year the gov-

ernment held a pro forma

referendum that enshrined the

power of the military in law

and granted Mr. Sisi the ability

to remain in power until at

least 2030.

The recent protests began

after a former government

contractor published a series

of widely watched videos that

accuse Mr. Sisi of corruption, a

charge he denies. Though small

in size compared with the 2011

uprising, the demonstrations

were a rare display of defiance

of Egypt’s security state and

opened the door to the possi-

bility of further unrest, unset-

tling Mr. Sisi’s government.

“There is a kind of madness.

The paranoid regime became

even more paranoid,” said Mo-

hamed Zaree, country director

for the Cairo Institute for Hu-

man Rights Studies.

A senior judicial official,

who declined to be named, ac-

knowledged torture takes

place, but denied it was sys-

tematic. “The security forces

are not angels. Of course there

are mistakes,” he said.

United Nations officials and

American lawmakers have crit-

icized Mr. Sisi over his re-

sponse to the recent protests.

But President Trump continues

to express support for the

Egyptian president, who has

touted himself as a bulwark

against extremism.

Many of the victims remain

in detention, and others refuse

to speak publicly about their

experiences for fear of further

reprisals, rights groups said.

In an unusual step, rights

groups say security officers

have tortured some of the

most prominent activists,

showing the government is

acting with impunity. Those in-

clude Ms. Abdel Fattah, a blog-

ger and activist who helped

found the April 6 Youth Move-

ment, one of the groups that

galvanized the 2011 uprising.

Another prominent dissi-

dent, Alaa Abdel-Fattah, who

isn't related to Ms. Abdel Fat-

tah, told his lawyers he was

blindfolded, punched, and

kicked after he was arrested on

Sept. 29. He was then stripped

to his underwear and made to

walk between two rows of peo-

ple who beat him on his back,

according to a complaint filed

by his family, seen by The Wall

Street Journal.

Mr. Abdel-Fattah’s lawyer,

Mohamed El-Baqer, was also

arrested on Sept. 29 after

showing up at Egypt’s Supreme

State Security Prosecution of-

fice to inquire about his client.

He was stripped of his per-

sonal belongings, and denied

clean clothes, food, water, and

medical treatment for a rash

he developed from sleeping on

the floor of his cell, according

to rights activists. He was still

detained as of Friday.

WORLD NEWS

“Ukraine is interested in main-

taining and implementing this

Treaty.”

Critics within the adminis-

tration allege that Russia has

interfered with American

monitoring flights while using

its missions to gather intelli-

genceintheU.S.

Russia prevented the U.S.

and Canada from carrying out

a flight near a military exer-

cise in central Russia on Sept.

20, other U.S. officials said.

According to the U.S.’s ac-

count, Russian officials said

the airspace had been closed

because of exercise activity

and travel by important Rus-

sian government officials in

the area. The U.S. tried to ad-

just its flight plan to meet

Russian assertions that the

flight could jeopardize safety,

and claims the denial was an

excuse to block access, the U.S.

officials say.

“We continue to implement

and are in full compliance with

our obligations under the

treaty, unlike Russia,” a Trump

administration official said,

declining to discuss the future

of the pact.

The Russian Embassy

didn’t respond to a request

for comment, but Russian of-

ficials have previously said

they fully comply with the

treaty and have accused the

U.S. of jeopardizing the agree-

ment.

In May 2018, then-Defense

Secretary Jim Mattis wrote to

Congress that it was “in our

Nation’s best interest” to stay

in the treaty despite the al-

leged Russian violations.

The agreement has been

eyed skeptically by some U.S.

intelligence officials who say it

has enabled Russia to fill in

gaps in their intelligence

about the U.S.’s national secu-

rity infrastructure.

The Trump administration

has taken steps toward leaving

a nearly three-decade-old

agreement designed to reduce

the risk of war between Russia

and the West by allowing both

sides to conduct reconnais-

sance flights over one an-

other’s territories, U.S. offi-

cials said.

The withdrawal would mark

a further step toward disman-

tling the post-Cold War arms-

control framework, already

buffeted by the demise of the

Intermediate-range Nuclear

Forces Treaty and the uncer-

tain fate awaiting the New

START accord on U.S. and Rus-

sian long-range nuclear arms,

which expires in 2021.

President Trump has signed

a document signaling his in-

tent to withdraw the U.S. from

the 1992 Open Skies Treaty,

two U.S. officials said.

The White House wouldn’t

respond to questions about

whether the administration

has decided to pull out of the

treaty. One of the officials said

discussions were continuing.

“Anything is possible with

this president,” the official

said.

Allied nations, including

Ukraine, are pushing to pre-

serve the Open Skies Treaty,

which was designed to boost

confidence that countries

aren’t planning an attack. The

nations say any disputes over

Russian compliance should be

addressed through negotia-

tions.

“Open Skies Treaty is one

of the basic international trea-

ties in the field of European

security and arms control,”

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry

said in a statement to The

Wall Street Journal Friday.

BYMICHAELR.GORDON

ANDVIVIANSALAMA

Open Skies

Treaty Faces

U.S. Scrutiny

Egyptian security officers

grabbed Esraa Abdel Fattah

from her car in Cairo on Oct.

12, then blindfolded the politi-

cal activist and took her to a

security facility.

Two lawyers who visited

her in prison said she was

slapped, beaten on her arms

and back and threatened with

electrocution as officers de-

manded the password to her

mobile phone. When she re-

fused, they bound Ms. Abdel

Fattah’s hands and legs, choked

her with her jacket, and forci-

bly used her fingers to unlock

the phone, said the lawyers,

one of whom represents her.

Authorities have rounded up

more than 4,300 people since

protests seeking the removal of

President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi

started last month, in the larg-

est wave of arrests since he

came to power in 2014. Some

of those detained have been

stripped, beaten, strangled and

burned with cigarettes, accord-

ing to people subjected to the

abuses, their families, lawyers

and human-rights groups.

The government didn’t re-

spond to a request for com-

ment on the allegations about

the treatment of those in its

custody, including Ms. Abdel

Fattah, who was still in deten-

tion on Friday. It has previ-

BYJAREDMALSIN

ANDAMIRAEL-FEKKI

Egypt Accused of Torturing Critics

This series of images shows Egyptian security forces detaining a protester in the port city of Suez last month.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Demonstrators flee a riot police vehicle during a protest in Valparaiso, Chile on Sunday.

RODRIGO GARRIDO/REUTERS

The government has

detained more than

4,300 people since

last month.

Molekule Air

For large rooms

Molekule Air Mini

For small rooms

Finally, air purifiers

that actually work.

10 %

OFF

*

CODE: AIR9W

Offer ends 12/31/

Until now, air purifiers have simply attempted to collect

pollutants on filters. But Molekule air purifiers use breakthrough

technology that actually destroys pollutants at the molecular level.

VOCs, bacteria, mold, viruses, and allergens are destroyed,

leaving behind truly clean air for your home.

“We had HEPA air filters previously, and they never made a

significant impact like the Molekule devices do.”

-David A

Molekule.com

One of Time Magazine’s 25 best inventions of 2017

*Offer only valid on a purchase of a Molekule Air or Air Mini purifier through Molekule.com.This offer expires 12/31/2019.

10% discount cannot be applied to other Molekule products or combined with any other sale, promotion or discount.