Video capture of the presentation of the group Las indetectables in the campaign for approval in Valparaíso (Chile), on August 27, 2022.
The campaign for approval in the constitutional referendum on September 4 received a heavy blow this weekend. A rally organized in the city of Valparaíso, 100 kilometers west of Santiago, ended with a ‘performance’ with a high sexual content that unsettled the organizers and gave wings to the promoters of rejection. The Prosecutor’s Office announced on Sunday the opening of a de facto investigation for “public outrage against good customs.” While the mayor of the city, Jorge Sharp, an ally of the president, Gabiel Boric, said that he was not aware of the content of the show. From La Moneda, the spokeswoman for the Executive, Camila Vallejo, warned that they will denounce the protagonists of the show for violating the rights of the children present.
All of Chile is talking about the transvestite group Las Indetectables, chosen by the organizers of the Approve Transformar command to close on Saturday what was planned as a family party for some 3,000 people. At one point during her presentation, a member of Las Indetectables pretended that she was pulling a Chilean flag out of her anus, shouting “abort Chile, abort the inner macho, abort the police.” “Is this hole approved?” Asked another of the members of the group, while she pointed to the butt that her partner showed to the public. They closed the presentation by pretending to throw excrement from the stage. The scene quickly spread through social networks, while a wave of indignation grew. Both the government and the organizers of the event hastened their attempts to put out the fire.
“I want to express my absolute condemnation of what happened today in Valparaíso,” the mayor, Jorge Sharp, political leader of the event, wrote on his Twitter account. “It does not represent in any case the meaning of the act that summoned more than 3,000 people, nor does it represent I Approve Transform or less I Approve. The action in question was not in prior knowledge,” he said. The mayor later uploaded a video to social media of him, where he apologized to viewers.
As we have said, what happened in Valparaíso does not represent Approve Transformar. But mistakes must be assumed, head-on, as always. Here’s a statement along those lines 👇🏻. pic.twitter.com/IZudqpenBi
– Jorge Sharp (@JorgeSharp) August 28, 2022
The shock wave reached the Boric government, which has spent weeks trying to reverse the advantage that the polls attribute to the rejection of the new Constitution. Camila Vallejo, representing Boric, said that “as the Government of Chile we strongly condemn and condemn the events that occurred in the performance of Las undetectables in Valparaíso. These facts not only offend our national symbols, but also attack children and adolescents.” She also asked not to spread the video on social networks.
The damage, however, had already been done. The former right-wing presidential candidate, José Antonio Kast, defeated in the second round by Boric, called for measures to “protect the children who witnessed this brutal act.” “The Approval of Valparaíso, led by Mayor Jorge Sharp, invites families to abort Chile and dishonor our national flag. The legacy of the Constitutional Convention”, he said.
The rejection of the new constitutional text leads between nine and 16 points, according to the last known polls before the ban on reporting new polls began. The ruling party, which has not concealed its option to approve the text, has worked to reverse the disadvantage or, at least, to ensure that it is narrowly lost. Although the polls give a clear advantage to rejection, nobody completely rules out a surprise.
Clashes in the center of Santiago
The coincidence of two marches for and against the proposed new Constitution ended in open confrontations in the center of Santiago. Some 300 cyclists in favor of approval who had gathered in Plaza Italia, the epicenter of the 2019 social protests, came across a demonstration for rejection organized by country people who came to the capital on horseback and in carts.
The tension was increase. As the riders hurled stones at their opponents, they were hit with the whips used to spur the horses. The situation got out of control when one of the carriages went at full speed down one of the lanes of the avenue and ran over some of the supporters of the Constitution. The scene was recorded on video.
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