In Orkney we have a super local cinema, The Phoenix, located in The Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall. Along with the Blockbusters it shows films that have not had the  budgets of the big  studios to rely on.

One of the films it was excellent to see in Kirkwall was Nae Pasaran – recently shown on BBC Scotland.

Nae Pasaran is about something that took place over 40 years ago, 1974, in Scotland when a group of East Kilbride factory workers refused to work on Rolls Royce engines used in planes of the Chilean Dictator Pinochet. You can read more about that by clicking on this link: Nae Pasaran 

A small thing in the great scheme of protests but which had an incredible impact: the Butterfly Effect.

Today I’m not just bringing this up to encourage people to watch that film – but please do – but because Chile is again repressing its people.

A state of emergency has been declared. People have been killed and tortured.

The army has been deployed in the streets of Santiago. Several subway stations have been burnt, limiting transport access to the city centre, and a night-time curfew imposed.

Metro prices were increased which was the trigger for the unrest but on the streets protesters denounce the privatisation of social services, raging inequalities and economic policies benefiting a wealthy elite.

Two major international meetings are about to take place in Santiago: Cop25 – the UN Climate Change Conference and APEC – the Asia Pacific Economic Conference. And yet Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile, continues the brutal oppression of the right to protest.

Climate Change News reports:

Manchester City and Chilean national football player Claudio Bravo said on Twitter last week: “They sold our water, electricity, gas, education, health, retirement, medicines, our roads, forests, the Atacama salt flats, the glaciers and now the transport to the private ones. We don’t want a Chile for a few, we want a Chile for everyone”.

There was a demonstration on Sunday 27th of October in Glasgow in support of the people of Chile.

And on Friday those workers from East Kilbride, now retired and a wee bit older, sent their messages of support.

Sending support from Scotland may be a small thing – but so was refusing to work on Rolls Royce engines.

Reporter: Fiona Grahame