lo-de-alla.org

The student movement and citizen protests against exclusion, neoliberalism and the lack of democracy

[Translation of an article from SubVersiones for August 25. See original here and related articles here.]

"This is our moment and this is our position: Free, quality public education" -- SubVersiones photo by Italo Retamal

by Claudia Villagrán Muñoz

Something changed in Chile on August 4. It was no longer only students who were mobilized but an important part of Chilean society actively joined in the students’ clear and concise demands: free, quality public education for all Chilean children and youths. The march, called by high-school and university students and by the professors, who on that day defied the authorities’ orders not to hold another march along the main avenue of Santiago, was brutally repressed by the Chilean police, who are under the command of the Ministry of the Interior.

There arose immediately a widespread indignation over the prohibition against the right to assemble freely to demonstrate, indignation against the police forces being used against minors who were not causing trouble, indignation over seeing downtown Santiago in a state of siege as in the worst days of the dictatorship, indignation because a just demand was not being listened to after three months of legitimate protest. When night fell, the most humble of the population, sectors of the middle class and even the well-to-do all over the country joined together for a cacerolazo [a noisy protest involving the banging of pots and pans] organized by the citizenry in a matter of hours, a massive spontaneous protest that had not been heard since protests across the country against the Pinochet dictatorship. (more…)

El Mostrador photo

Santiago mayor says armed forces could be deployed if demonstrations escalate

[Translations of three articles from El Mostrador of Santiago for August 14 and 15. See originals here, here and here and related articles here.]

University students reject dialogue with Congress, call for another march

University students have rejected a dialogue with Congress on putting an end to the demonstrations for better public education that have been taking place since mid-May and have called for another march next Thursday.

Meeting in extraordinary session in the city of Concepción, the students explained their decision by pointing out that the government is not responding to their fundamental demands and has passed up a settlement by plebiscite. (more…)

[Translations of two articles from Diario Tiempo of San Pedro Sula for August 15. See originals here and here and related article here.]

Education panel begins work today without students

Tegucigalpa – The Frente Amplio Estudiantil Revolucionario de Honduras (FAERH), which includes most secondary school students, has annnounced that it will not send representatives to the Presidential Palace today to take part in a dialogue called by the government, while leaders of teachers’ groups have confirmed they will attend.

The heads of the executive and legislative branches, Porfirio Lobo Sosa and Juan Orlando Hernández, stressed that the talks will begin from scratch, with a view to putting together a new general education law. The executive extended the invitation again yesterday in a communiqué which makes it clear that the only non-negotiable point for the government is that “education is public and free for children, because education changes our lives.” (more…)

Diario Tiempo photo

With teachers’ support,  students occupy schools in response to proposed reforms

[Translations of four articles from Diario Tiempo of San Pedro Sula and El Heraldo of Tegucigalpa, for August 6, 7, 8 and 9. See originals here, here, here and here.]

Diario Tiempo, August 9

Police continue removing students from occupied schools

Tegucigalpa – Hundreds of Honduran police on Tuesday removed groups of high-school students who were occupying some ten schools in different departments of the country in opposition to what they consider a proposal for privatizing education, a police source reports.

“We have recovered eight institutions so that children in the capital can go to class,” declared police commissioner and coordinator of the operation, René Maradiaga, in an interview broadcast on ABC. “We have detained 48 people,” who were taken to police headquarters in the capital. (more…)

[Translations of two articles from El Mostrador of Santiago, Chile, for June 2. See originals here and here and related article here.]

Piñera’s approval rating falls to historical low

According to the Adimark poll for the month of May, President Sebastián Piñera and his administration are receiving the lowest level of citizen support since the right returned to power. And this in a period marked by citizen movements in opposition to the HidroAysén mega-project, student marches and the state of the union address of May 21.

According to the poll, 36 percent approve of the president’s performance, that is, five points less than in the Adimark poll for April. Disapproval, meanwhile, stands at 56 percent, seven points higher than in the previous poll. (more…)

[Translation of an article from Tiempo of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, for July 4. By tradition, an “autonomous” university in Latin America is one that provides protection and sanctuary for political dissidents by excluding the police and the military from campus.]

by Ivan Rosales

Tegucigalpa – A confrontation yesterday at the main entrance to the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH – National Autonomous University of Honduras) left at least ten injured, including students and police, several arrested and a storm of rocks and tear gas grenades.

Occupation of the main gates to the country’s leading center of higher education by members of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la UNAH (Sitraunah – Union of UNAH Workers) degenerated a few minutes after noon when police officers entered the university campus, thus provoking the demonstrators.

The union protest began about 8:00 in the morning as a means of pressuring university authorities to reinstate 134 employees fired in April. (more…)

Listin Diario photo

Eight injured, several jailed amid charges students were armed

by David Holmes Morris

Tear gas filled the air and classes were suspended at universities in San Francisco de Macorís and Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, during student protests on Thursday and Friday, March 11 and 12, primarily over physical conditions at the medical and engineering schools in San Francisco de Macorís, in the northeast of the country. (more…)