SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The presidential residence of Gabriel Boric, the leftist millennial leader of Chile elected three years ago in the wake of public...
in the wake of public unrest over income inequality, shares a street in downtown Santiago with an overwhelmed homeless shelter.
Chile said it has registered 21,126 homeless people this year, compared to 15,435 in 2020. Government figures rely on single-night snapshots by municipalities. Social workers put the real count around 40,000. The sheer visibility of so many homeless people in Chile — a country considered far wealthier and more stable than its neighbors — has pushed the problem up on the agenda. “There is a lot of pressure from the neighbors to recover the public spaces,” said Carvajal.“Police come and take everything, my tent, my blankets, my HIV medication,” said 43-year-old Paris López who sleeps outside in downtown Santiago.
“Entire families have lost their resources to pay rent," said Ximena Torres, another advocate from Hogar de Cristo.Lavish pandemic aid — including a measure allowing Chileans to withdraw their pensions early — stoked inflation. The unemployment rate doubled to a record-breaking 13% from 2019 to 2020, making itHousing prices jumped 70% over the last decade, said economist Gonzalo Durán from SOL Foundation, a Chilean think tank.
They didn't find what they hoped for. At first, they lived in a flimsy tent encampment in northern Chile. Then they moved to Santiago, where they slept outside in a public park. Upon taking office in March 2022, Boric vowed to build 260,000 new government-sponsored houses during his four-year term. Given the scale of the problem, many fear that will not be enough.“We are making steady progress," he insisted in a recent speech inaugurating a new public housing development in Santiago. “You should judge us by the end of our term.
Homeless Population SANTIAGO Chile Hogar De Cristo Karen Salazar South America
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