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Auntie Pikachu, elected Chilean constituent.

Auntie/Tía Pikachu first showed up in the October 25th (2019) protest which gathered at least over a million Chileans all over the country, some estimating up to around 3 million (we're a country of 19 million people). This is the video with which she went viral on November 2nd, 2019:

She became famous because she wore an inflatable Pikachu costume and showed up jumping and dancing, cheering up the protesters as they chanted "Baila Pikachu, baila" with drums. Honestly, I wish I had the lungs and energy levels this lady has. I watch videos of her dancing and I'm the one getting secondhand tachycardia + an asthma attack. After that day she started showing up to protest pretty much every day along everyone else.

She's a 45 years old mother, grandmother, and school bus driver from Lo Hermida, an impoverished area of Peñalolén, Santiago. She had the costume because her 7 years old son ordered it off of Aliexpress some time before the social outbreak without permission behind her and her husband's back. They almost sold it off but chose to keep it for Halloween, and on October 25th, she decided to wear it to the protest to cheer people up, never expecting for it to become such a huge sensation, or much less for it to be the start of her political career.

She's been right there with the other protesters from very early on, facing state brutality like all the others, running from the teargas and water cannon trucks, one time being shot on the foot. She's also had her costume damaged. After the Apruebo won at last year's referendum, she went on to become a candidate for the constituent elections, as a candidate in the List of the People, a leftist list of candidates both members of political parties and independent.

She hasn't built her platform just on being quirky and nice. From before the Apruebo won she's been working with social ground organizations to bring food to the poor during the pandemic, meeting with the people and listening to them. She's been protesting alongside feminists, and using her popularity to spread awareness on issues such as water rights.

This is one of her ads:

Translation:

Hi, my name is Giovanna Grandón Caro. I never thought my name would be printed on a ballot. Maids, kindergarten assistants, cooks, kiosk runners, school bus drivers... All of us who work ourselves to exhaustion to keep our families afloat; women such as myself, who were never able to go to university or even finish school because we had to bring food to the table; we never even dreamed before of our voices being heard. We could've never imagined either that we could partake in politics.

My mother is a maid, my father is a temporal worker. I grew up in villa René Schneider in Lo Hermida, in a country where your address dictates your chances at life, where your address dictates your future. I was born poor, and despite working myself to the bone, the most likely thing is that, unless things change, I'll die on a waiting list, because this system suffocates us, it marginalizes us.

October 18th of 2019 made us wake up. The youth jumped over the turnstiles and showed us that the impossible was possible, that we can dream bigger, that we can say NO to all these injustices, that together the power is ours, that together they won't be able to silence us ever again.

I, Giovanna Grandón Caro, became Auntie Pikachu on the day of the biggest march of Chile. It was a magical moment that turned me into a symbol of the people's struggle; the people who, when it falls, is pushed, or stomped over, gets back up again and keeps fighting against the violence of the system.

We need a country in which any job can allow us to lead a dignified life, in which children can be happy, because happy is how they're born, but this system steals the joy away from them. They deserve to develop themselves to their full potential, with an inclusive, free and high quality education. We need a country in which access to quality healthcare isn't a privilege, in which we take care of our environment, because the lives of our grandchildren depend on that, in which our old folks get to live their last years enjoying their grandkids with dignity, without feeling like a burden to their families. We need a justice system that treats everyone equally, no more jail for the poor and ethics classes for the rich. I, Giovanna Grandón Caro, will not rest until dignity becomes costume.

This past weekend she got elected and will be one of the 155 people involved in the process of drafting our new constitution. Here she is celebrating her official success:

Auntie Pikachu, Elected Chilean Constituent.

SPANISH:

Este triunfo es por los jóvenes que saltaron el torniquete. Por aquellos que nunca más volvieron a sus casas porque murieron en el intento de pedir un país más digno. Por aquellos que perdieron sus ojos. Por aquellos compañeros que todavía están presos. - firma, Giovanna Grandón.

ENGLISH:

This triumph is for the youth who jumped over turnstiles. For those who never returned home because they died trying to ask for a more dignified country. For those who lost their eyes. For those comrades who're still in prison. - signed, Giovanna Grandón.

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barbsilv

5 years ago