The government had to do it reluctantly, and they struggle to accept it
En un edificio histórico de Santiago aún sin sistemas de votación electrónica ni transmisión estable, Chile dio inicio formal a su Convención Constitucional el miércoles, tras dos días de retrasos que revelaron tanto las fallas logísticas del gobierno de Piñera como la profundidad de las tensiones que rodean este proceso. Lo que comenzó en las calles en octubre de 2019 —una rebelión social que dejó muertos, heridos y miles de detenidos— se transformó en un mandato democrático: el 79% de los chilenos votó por reemplazar la constitución heredada de la dictadura de Pinochet. La Convención, presidida por la académica mapuche Elisa Loncón, amplió su directiva para incluir representantes de pueblos indígenas, buscando que la legitimidad del nuevo pacto social sea tan amplia como la herida que lo hizo necesario.
- Dos días de caos logístico —sin votación electrónica, con transmisiones cortadas y un edificio sin preparar— pusieron en evidencia la resistencia silenciosa del gobierno conservador ante un proceso que nunca quiso liderar.
- Delegados de izquierda como Daniel Stingo nombraron lo que muchos pensaban: el gobierno fue obligado por la presión popular y aún lucha por aceptarlo.
- La Convención respondió con pragmatismo, votando a mano alzada en la penumbra y aprobando una directiva ampliada de nueve miembros, incluidos dos representantes indígenas, para equilibrar fuerzas y ganar legitimidad.
- El reloj ya corre: nueve meses —prorrogables por tres— para redactar una constitución que reemplace décadas de herencia dictatorial, con la amnistía para los detenidos del estallido social como primer punto urgente del jueves.
- La tensión entre mayoría de izquierda y oposición de derecha se perfila desde el inicio, con disputas sobre los límites del mandato convencional que anticipan un proceso tan histórico como conflictivo.
La Convención Constitucional de Chile se instaló formalmente el miércoles en el Salón de Honor del antiguo Congreso en Santiago, tras un inicio accidentado que expuso las fragilidades del momento político. La sesión inaugural del lunes había sido suspendida al llegar los delegados a un edificio sin sistemas de votación electrónica, con comunicaciones remotas inestables y una transmisión que fallaba. Votaron, al final, levantando la mano en la oscuridad de la tarde.
El primer acto sustantivo fue ampliar la directiva del organismo. La Convención ya contaba con presidenta —Elisa Loncón, académica mapuche— y vicepresidente —Jaime Bassa, experto en derecho constitucional—. Los delegados aprobaron sumar siete integrantes más, entre ellos dos representantes de pueblos indígenas. Loncón subrayó que esa expansión era indispensable para equilibrar las fuerzas políticas y dotar al proceso de legitimidad real. Se crearon además tres comisiones: reglamento, presupuesto y ética.
El origen de la Convención era inseparable de su turbulencia. El estallido social de octubre de 2019 —semanas de movilizaciones que dejaron más de una docena de muertos y miles de heridos— forzó a casi todos los partidos a acordar un plebiscito. En octubre de 2020, el 79% de los chilenos votó por reemplazar la constitución de la dictadura de Pinochet. Pero el gobierno del presidente Sebastián Piñera, encargado de preparar la infraestructura, llegó al día inaugural sin tenerla lista. Los delegados se retiraron al cabo de una hora.
Desde la izquierda, el delegado Daniel Stingo fue directo: el gobierno no quería este proceso, fue obligado por la presión ciudadana y le cuesta asumirlo. Desde el oficialismo, el subsecretario Máximo Pavez pidió paciencia y aseguró que todo funcionaría en días. Pero el tiempo apremiaba: nueve meses —prorrogables por tres— para redactar una nueva constitución, con la amnistía para los detenidos del estallido ya en la agenda del jueves. La Convención había comenzado, con paso titubeante, a cargar el peso de décadas.
Chile's Constitutional Convention finally convened on Wednesday after a stumbling start that revealed the fragile state of the country's political machinery. The gathering had been scheduled for Monday, but technical failures and inadequate pandemic preparations forced a two-day postponement—a delay that stung, given what was at stake. When delegates finally assembled in the Hall of Honor of the old Congressional building in Santiago, now repurposed as the Convention's seat, they faced a venue still not ready: no electronic voting systems, remote communication that cut in and out, streaming that flickered. They voted by raising their hands in the evening darkness.
The first order of business was to expand the Convention's leadership. The body already had a president—Elisa Loncón, a Mapuche academic—and a vice president, Jaime Bassa, a constitutional law expert. Now delegates approved adding seven more members to the directorate, including two representatives from indigenous peoples. Loncón framed the expansion as essential to the Convention's legitimacy and to balance the competing political forces within it. The delegates also created three new commissions: one for rules, one for budget, one for ethics. The work of building a new constitution had begun, however clumsily.
The chaos of the opening session reflected something deeper. The Convention itself had been born from crisis. In October 2019, after weeks of social upheaval that left more than a dozen dead and thousands wounded, most of Chile's political parties—the Communist Party excepted—struck a deal to put the question of constitutional change to a popular vote. On October 25, 2020, after a pandemic-related delay, Chileans voted 79 percent in favor of replacing the constitution inherited from Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. The Convention was meant to draft that replacement. But the government of conservative President Sebastián Piñera, responsible for preparing the physical space and logistics, had dragged its feet. When delegates arrived Monday morning, the building was not ready. Within an hour, they walked out.
Daniel Stingo, a delegate elected on the left-wing Apruebo Dignidad slate, saw the delays as a sign of the government's true feelings. "The government doesn't like this," he said. "It had to do it reluctantly. It's going to be difficult. This is something the government was forced to do by pressure from the people, and they struggle to accept it." The government's response was to ask for patience. Máximo Pavez, a subsecretary in the Presidential General Secretariat, told the country that things were functioning well, that a few days of patience would see the Convention properly installed.
But patience was a luxury the moment did not afford. The Convention had nine months—extendable by three—to draft a new constitution. Already, Thursday's agenda included a petition for amnesty for those arrested during the social uprising that began on October 18, 2019. The left, which held the majority, supported the amnesty; the right opposed it as beyond the Convention's authority. The Convention's own leadership had requested interpreters for the ten indigenous peoples represented among the delegates. Loncón, in her opening remarks, emphasized the need to honor those languages and those voices. The path ahead was long, the foundation shaky, and the stakes—for a country still reckoning with decades of inequality and the legacy of dictatorship—could not have been higher.
Citações Notáveis
The government doesn't like this. It had to do it reluctantly. This is something the government was forced to do by pressure from the people, and they struggle to accept it.— Daniel Stingo, delegate, Apruebo Dignidad
Expanding the leadership is to give greater social legitimacy and important balance among the political forces in this Convention.— Elisa Loncón, Convention president
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did the government seem so reluctant to prepare the space properly?
Piñera's administration was conservative, and this Convention existed because citizens forced it into being through protest and a referendum. The government had to comply, but it didn't embrace the project. The poor preparation felt like passive resistance.
What does it mean that they had to vote by hand instead of electronically?
It's a symbol of the whole mess. You're trying to draft a new constitution for a modern country, and you can't even conduct a vote with basic technology. It exposed how little the government invested in making this work.
Why was indigenous representation such a priority from the start?
Because the uprising in 2019 wasn't just about economics—it was about dignity, about who gets heard. Indigenous peoples have been excluded from Chilean politics for centuries. Including them in the Convention's leadership wasn't symbolic; it was saying their voices would shape the document from the beginning.
What happens if the Convention can't finish in nine months?
They can extend by three more months. But there's real pressure to move. The country is waiting. And already there are fights brewing—like the amnesty question—that could slow everything down.
Did anyone think this would be easy?
No. But the stumbling start made it clear that the obstacles weren't just logistical. There was political resistance baked in, from the top down.