SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) \u2014 Thousands of people marched on Sunday in Santiago and other cities in Chile to mark World Water Day following the withdrawal of dozens of environmental decrees by arch-conservative President Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast.
The decrees rolled back by Kast\u2019s administration had been signed during the government of left-wing former Chilean leader Gabriel Boric, whom Kast replaced as president earlier this month.
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The demonstration, called by several environmental organizations under the slogan \u201cDon\u2019t \u2018Kast-igate\u2019 Nature,\u201d drew thousands more participants in 15 cities across the country.
Crist\u00f3bal Rodr\u00edguez, national spokesperson for the Movement for the Defense and Access to Water, Land and the Environment \u2014 one of the organizers \u2014 said that in Chile there are still 1.4 million people without access to drinking water.
The new president \u201crepresents a setback that reflects his Pinochet-era roots and is commodifying nature to levels never seen before,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said.
The new Chilean president ordered the halt of 43 environmental protection regulations one day after taking office. These measures protected species such as Darwin\u2019s frog and the Humboldt penguin, created national parks and outlined decontamination plans, such as for Lake Villarrica, among other things. They also regulated emissions from thermoelectric plants.
\u201cWe want to generate the best possible public policy around full employment, always respecting the environment,\u201d Kast told the press after the decision.
Rodr\u00edguez said that the new administration \u201cuses nature as a battleground to favor the interests of big capital\u201d and that the removal of the \u201c43 decrees shows an environmental chainsaw approach.\u201d
Both in his government plan and during campaign statements, Kast acknowledged the existence of climate change, but said that he is in favor of economic deregulation and prioritizing technical criteria over what he calls \u201cenvironmental ideologies.\u201d
Kast\u2019s rise marks Chile\u2019s most right-wing turn since 1990, when the country restored democracy after 17 years of brutal military rule under Gen. Augusto Pinochet \u2014 a leader that Kast campaigned for in his youth.
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