Chile: Thousands of students march for better education, against privatization
Friday, July 1st, 2011
- El Mostrador photo
[Translations of two articles, the first from La Jornada of Mexico City, the second from El Mostrador of Santiago, Chile, both from July 1. See originals here and here and related articles here.]
Hundreds of thousands of students demand education reforms
Confrontations with police result in 38 arrests, 20 injuries to cops
By Enrique Gutiérrez
Santiago, June 30 – In one of the largest demonstrations of the past 20 years, some 200,000 Chilean students rallied today at La Moneda, the presidential palace, to demand reform in public education and to reject privatization, resulting in isolated confrontations with the police, with at least 38 arrests and two dozen injuries to police officers, and a warning from the president, businessman Sebastián Piñera, that strikes and demonstrations will not improve the educational system.
“Un pueblo educado jamás será engañado” [“An educated people will never be deceived”], “Queremos educación pública gratuita y de calidad” [“We want free, quality education”] shouted the students, among whom were high school and university students as well as professors. “We want the government to understand that this is a political movement, that what we are fighting for is better education,” asserted student leader Camila Vallejos. (more…)