“No no” in Chile
The march in Santiago de Chile took place in a peaceful and festive atmosphere, mixing demands from different generations and feminist groups. To the cries of “no no” and “abortion yes, abortion no, that’s what I decide” common to women’s protests on the continent, those demanding answers to femicides or other demands were added. Victims of recent political struggles or commemorating those who disappeared during the dictatorship. “Now, now, now they want life, during the dictatorship they were killed with Tina” was another motto of the marching groups, referring to the secret police during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.
After 6pm, at the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center, 25 mothers from the Matria Danzante group were carrying their children and preparing to dance. It’s the second year they’ve participated in the 8-M parade, wanting to show that parents are a job, if not a respecter. One of the women, Norma Valiente, wears a red skirt that symbolizes the “blood that women spill,” with glitter on her face, flowers in her hair, and her son Beltran in her arms.
A few blocks later, a group of youths “danced and shouted ‘How, how, how,’ and they killed and raped us, and nobody said anything.” Meanwhile, Juanita, a Mapuche woman, plays a culture. At the end of the song, he asked for the release of the detained women of his community.
Later in the parade, near the Palacio de la Moneda, women from the collective La Chiempra played and danced to some quecas they had composed themselves. “It won’t stop with oppression (We’re still alive) / The feminist struggle goes on with passion” (We’re still alive), the lyrics of one song say. “There are women searching / without breath / for their remains / I adore them,” they sang on another. Songs for the sound of guitars and Chilean rhythms, due to the lyrics, can be adapted to the rhythms of any part of the continent.
