Geographies of violence: the Chilean police militarization and surveillance methods

Abstract

The direct targeting of protesters’ eyes during the October 18, 2019, is an example of the systematic policy of violence carried out by the Chilean state against the protest. The abuses by the shock forces extend beyond causing blindness to the protesters and encompass a range of physical and psychological abuses. These abuses are a legacy of the institutional tools of the Chilean dictatorship, designed to depoliticize revolutionary movements. From a geographical, institutional, and anarchist perspective, the research sought to understand, through the analysis of data and content from over 3,000 files, the actions of the police from the period of 1973 to the present, which promote the dismantling of revolutionary movements, thus historically reproducing connected acts of violence in areas of popular conflict. This phenomenon is recognized as “violent geographies”. The research revealed that institutions, organizations, and coercive agencies, through their process of militarization and politicization, employ various mechanisms of social control. On the one hand, there are tangible aspects, such as armament and the militarization of spaces, as well as confrontations. On the other hand, there are intangible factors, such as administrative vices, categorizations, and stigmatizations. These mechanisms contribute to discrediting organized groups and territories and foster both direct and indirect forms of violence, which can be more insidious and ongterm. Nonetheless, within these violent geographies, “protest geographies” also emerge, representing collective actions of mutual support and cooperation. These actions keep the flame of the uprising alive continuously.