Chile: Attendance at student march exceeds expectations, stengthens demands for changes in public education
- La Tercera photo
More than 70,000 gather in Central Santiago
[Translation of an article from El Mostrador of Santiago for June 16. See original here and related article here.]
The president of the Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile (FECh), Camila Vallejo, has called attention to the large attendance of close to 70,000 at the march called as part of the Paro Nacional de la Educación [National Strike for Education] held in the capital, with other similar demonstrations at the same time in most of the other important cities of the country.
A column made up of university and high-school students, as well as workers, teachers and members of congress, began shortly after 11:00 in the Plaza Italia sector, moving westward on Alameda Street.
The leader described the mobilization as “glorious” and said that “students and workers have turned out today for this glorious march of citizens.”
“Some have said that people don’t want demonstrations, but today more than 100,000 people are saying that yes, we do want to demonstrate, that we do want to participate in restoring public education and in making the government take charge of guaranteeing the right to education,” Vallejo added.
The main event included representatives of the Colegio de Profesores [a teachers’ union] and Mariano Rendón, coordinator of Acción Ecológico and an opponent of HidroAysén [a highly controversial hydroelectric project]. Also included were the president of the Senate, Guido Girardi (PPD – Partido por la Democracia), who declared that “the most important social reform for the country is to take up again the debate on public education and on making education a right.”
He stressed, “We are at a breaking point. Let the discussion on strengthening public education, from pre-school age to school age, higher education and post-graduate level, begin again.”
Senator Jaime Quintana in turn said, “As legislators we would be prepared to sit down to produce a major reform in higher education, as long as the government takes on a real, concrete role in this matter.”
Finally, MAS [Movimiento Amplio Social] Senator Alejandro Navarro said, “The students hope that the ministry will not be a mere mailbox but a negotiating entity with whom they can sit and have a discussion from a position of equality. The students are not willing to waste time lying on a couch being heard, without being answered at all.”
Similar demonstrations were held in other cities of the country, like Valparaíso, Concepción and Talca. Joining the mobilization, called by the Confederación de Estudiantes Universitarios (Confech), were the Colegio de Profesores, officials of the Ministero de Educación and the Asociación Nacional de Empleados Fiscales, among other organizations.
Meanwhile, the president of the Colegio de Profesores, Jaime Gajardo, declared that so far the government “has given no indication” of wanting to resolove the conflict but, on the contrary, has made a point of “insulting the student movement.”
“We have mobilized the entire country. This is a great national strike for education. If there is anything bringing us all together it is public education for Chile,” Gajardo told the Efe news agency.
At the end of the demonstration, isolated groups of hooded individuals confronted the police, who used water cannons and tear gas to disperse them.
Tags: Camila Vallejo, Chile, Confederacion de Estudiantes Universitarios, Federacion de Estudiantes de Chile, Paro Nacional de la Educacion, student demonstrations