Chilean GOT Actor Pedro Pascal Shows Support for Protests

Chilean actor Pedro Pascal, famous worldwide for portraying the roles of 'Oberyn Martell' in Game of Thrones and 'Javier Peña' in the series Narcos, has manifested Sunday his support for the demonstrations raging in his homeland Chile.

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Through his Twitter account and under the hashtag #ChileResiste (Chile Resist), Pascal denounced the economic and social inequalities of Chile, a country dominated by a neoliberal model for over 40 years now, in which the most vulnerable classes, including poor workers and students, have become victims.

“Santiago [the capital]’s subway ticket costs four times more than the Subway in Buenos Aires and is more expensive than the Subway in New York,” the star twitted, adding that “the economy has systematically grown in Chile, while poverty paradoxically increased.” “Who gets the money?” he asked himself.

Pascal published a series of 12 tweets condemning the inconsistencies of the country's economic system and the privileges of the ruling political class, comparing the South American country to its Latin American neighbors including Uruguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Venezuela, and Cuba where higher education is free, as well as to other European countries like Germany where “private health care is three times less expensive.”

The actor's comments come as Chile has been shaken by a series of protests and violent incidents since last week. The demonstrations were triggered by the government’s decision to increase 30 pesos in the price of the subway tickets to 830 pesos, or US$1.20, at rush hour.

Outrage around the second price hike this year was amplified when the Minister of Economy Juan Andres Fontaine said that passengers should get up early to take advantage of the lower fare in effect between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.

Following a week marked by extremely tense protests led by students and subway users, President Sebastian Piñera announced on Saturday that the Santiago subway fare increase was revoked. 

Nevertheless, the president’s step back did not help calm the situation down or ease the demonstrator’s anger. 

On Sunday, three people died after a supermarket in Santiago was set alight by demonstrators, simultaneously many flights into the city's airport were suspended as the crew was unable to get to work, according to the city's governor said.

The military authorities in charge of security in Santiago extended Sunday the curfew measure in the metropolitan region of the capital, suspending the freedom of movement and assembly.