15) HUGE PROTESTS DEMAND FREE EDUCATION IN CHILE
PV Vancouver Bureau
Students and their supporters have taken to the streets of Chile this summer to demand state‑funded high‑quality education for all. On August 9, 100,000 students, teachers and copper miners marched peacefully in Santiago and elsewhere for the fifth time in two months to demand that President Sebastian Pinera's right‑wing administration scrap tuition fees and establish a "free and equal" education system.
Five days earlier, police attacked a banned march and arrested nearly 900 young protesters. The arrests sparked riots and attempts by protesters to break through police barricades blocking the way to the presidential palace. Officers unleashed tear gas into huge crowds and later deployed tanks armed with water cannons.
"The results have shown one more time that the organisers do not have control of the marches," Chilean Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter declared. But the overwhelming majority of protesters had heeded organisers' call to march in a "massive, peaceful manner."
Writing in the Australian Green Left Weekly, one journalist described the scene: "As I walked out of the tercera comiseria (police station) on August 4, it hit me what had transpired on this incredible day. All I could hear were the sounds of the cacerolazo, people beating pots and pans in protest, every street corner occupied by protesters who had erected barricades and lit bonfires. The echo of an updated song from the time of the Pinochet dictatorship sounding through the streets. The police, who spent most of the day throwing tear gas canisters and beating the shit out of people, could only look on as the people took control of the streets. The central store of La Polar, a giant chain of department stores implicated in a huge fraud of investors and customers, had been burnt to the ground."
The student revolt has been building since May. At one point, more than 180 schools and university campuses were occupied by students, who were often violently evicted by police and security forces.
Officially, Chile claims to enjoy the best education system in the region. In 2009, the country was first among Latin American states in the OECD's PISA rankings, which compare educational standards. But of the 65 countries that participated in the PISA tests, Chile ranked 64th in terms of segregation across social classes in its schools and colleges. Only Peru has a more socially divided system, described as "educational apartheid". Over half the schools in Chile, and most of the universities, are privately‑run.
The student struggle has seen protests every Thursday, as tens of thousands of schoolchildren and university students take to the streets. Tactics have been diverse, from a mass kiss‑in for education, to unfurling a huge Chilean flag with "free education" written on it during a key soccer match, to putting up barricades and burning tires in the middle of Santiago's morning traffic.
Hoping to crush the movement, the government banned the August 4th march called by the FECH (Student Federation of La Universidad de Chile), which announced the march would go ahead. Interior minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter declared that if anyone died or was injured, it would be the fault of FECH President Camila Vallejo.
Police were deployed to prevent students from gathering along the Alameda, the main street of Santiago, even preventing anyone who looked like a student from taking the subway at key stations. Many students and onlookers were beaten and arrested. For six hours, pitched battles were fought around the city centre.
Organised public‑sector staff and copper miners have announced their intention to launch industrial action in support of the students' demands.
In July, as his approval rating fell to 26%, President Pinera announced a massive reshuffle of the cabinet. But protest actions sparked by poverty and inequality keep growing, and demonstrations have become a daily occurrence in Santiago.
Starbucks baristas recently held a two-week hunger strike. In late July, a group of commuters, mainly builders and domestic workers, took over buses to protest against price hikes which force many to pay US$320 for monthly passes. Environmentalists have marched against a plan to build a big hydro‑electric plant in Patagonia. Copper miners have staged major strikes. Gay rights campaigners have stepped up demands for full equality. Transport workers have protested about job insecurity. Farmers have rallied about the impact of the strong Chilean peso on exports.
The era of economic growth under the neoliberal model has also meant a vast widening of the gap between working people and the rich in Chile. The upsurge in protests signals that the Chilean people are renewing their radical political traditions.
(The above article is from the September 1-15, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)