Schoolchildren and student protests in Chile 2011–2012
The school and student protests in Chile in 2011 and 2012 , in which trade unions from the manufacturing sector also took part at times, called for extensive reforms in the country's education system. It was the largest protests in Chile since the return to democracy in 1989. The movement was mainly organized by student associations, but teachers, university professors and parents also took part at times.
The first protests took place in some universities in the country in late April and early May. For the first nationwide protest march on May 12, 2011, the alliance of student organizations from several universities called on Confech . In June and July 2011, the number of students protesting began to increase significantly. Other associations, especially the most important trade union in the country (Central Unica de Trabajadores - CUT), called for the protest march on August 9, 2011. The protests subsided towards the end of 2011. The last ones took place in November 2011.
background
In the past 20 years, many areas that were formerly the responsibility of the Chilean state have been privatized, and three quarters of higher education in Chile has also been privatized in the past 20 years. Only 45 percent of high school students in Chile attend a public school because the educational system is largely privately organized. The Chilean state invests the equivalent of around 800 US dollars per student per year in the education system (as of 2011).
70 percent of students have to take out private or government loans to finance their education. That is why most of them start their careers with high debts. Since many of the poorer students have previously attended the cheaper and poorly equipped public schools, their chances of admission to the coveted state universities are slim and they often have to enroll at the more expensive private universities. The decision to finance schools in the communities goes back to the time of Pinochet's dictatorship, so the quality of the education differs greatly. On average, a Chilean is in debt with 22.4 times his monthly wage, says the Chilean unionist Iván Saldías of the German newspaper Jungle World . In the year of the uprising, Chile recorded an economic growth of six percent.
"Penguin Protests" 2006
In 2006 there were student protests in Chile. They became known as the "Revolution" or "The March of the Penguins" because the school uniform is dark blue and white. It lasted from late April to early June 2006 and peaked on May 30th when 790,000 students were on the streets. This was the largest demonstration in the country in recent years and led to the first political crisis in the government of President Michelle Bachelet . The direct demands from 2006 were free travel on buses and the waiver of the fee for admission tests at universities (PSU). Demands were the abolition of the "Organic Constitutional Law" on teaching (LOCE), the end of the "communalization" of the subsidized education system, a reform of the all-day school (JEC) and "high quality education for all".
Demands and organization
The protest began with dissatisfaction with the privatized education system in Chile. However, the students quickly put their demands in the context of the increasing “neoliberalization of Latin America”. Social grievances and injustices played an important role in the demands and protests. According to trade unionists, the radicalism and persistence of the protests, which 80 percent of the Chilean population support, was due to the fact that it was not just about the right to free study, but a protest against the precarious working and living conditions as a whole. The horizontal organization of the protest movement and its uncompromising attitude supported many social groups. Paul Flor, international secretary of the Chilean student federation Confech , told the newspaper El Ciudadano about the reasons for the uprising : “The privatization of education at the continental level is being promoted today by the World Bank and the OECD. We believe that the capitalist system is in crisis, so we need to reclaim the public in our universities and our lives. "
Confech
The Confederation of Chilean Students (Confederación de Estudiantes de Chile, CONFECH) is the national student organization of Chile. It brings together most of the student organizations from government, private and indigenous universities in Chile. The then geography student Camila Vallejo from the Universidad de Chile became a symbol of the protests of Chilean students around the world . She was the leader of the student movement and the student representative in negotiations with the government. In 2011, Vallejo was President of the Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile (FECh) (Student Union of the University of Chile) and one of the spokespersons for the Confederación de Estudiantes de Chile (Confech) (Association of Students of the Traditional Universities of Chile) of the Juventudes Comunistas de Chile (Youth Association of the Communist Party of Chile).
Student protests
Students from many state schools joined the protesting students. In late August 2011, six students ended their hunger strike after 37 days. A pupil from the “German School” in northern Arica was expelled from school because she participated in the protests. After protests at the school, the school principal Juan Osorio ordered two police vans to arrive and 17 students were arrested after the school was evacuated.
The government launched a Don't Miss the School Year initiative urging students not to miss classes. Since a school leaving certificate extended by the strikes costs the respective student more money privately, the government tried to undermine the protests in this way.
Student protests
In Santiago de Chile and many other larger cities in Chile, hundreds of thousands of students took to the streets from the end of May 2011 to protest against the social situation in Chile and the education system. They called for free education and better instruction in state schools and universities. During the protests, hundreds of students gathered every morning at the Escuela del Derecho of the Universidad de Chile . 250,000 students boycotted lectures at various universities across Chile for over five months. After President Pinera's polls fell to 26 percent (Chilean polling institute Centro de Estudios Públicos ), the government entered into negotiations with a delegation from the Confech. Tens of thousands of students protested in Santiago in October 2011, even though the government had banned rallies.
Violence in the protests
The protests were largely peaceful until the end of August 2011. From August onwards, there were repeated attacks by violent demonstrators and security forces at large demonstrations. Protesters built barricades, set fire to cars, threw stones, and the police used tear gas and water cannons on a massive scale. The main roads in Santiago de Chile were blocked for weeks. The mass of the demonstrators remained peaceful. The protests were regularly banned by the government, which, according to the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, "was a guarantee that there would be numerous arrests and police violence against peaceful demonstrators." By August 2011, a total of around 1,400 people had been arrested. According to the authorities, 132 people were arrested in Santiago in October 2011 and at least 30 people were injured.
In August 2011, the police fired live ammunition at students for the first time in the port city of Valparaíso . In the same month, secret arms deliveries to the army became known. The right-wing mayor of Santiago de Chile called for the army to be used against demonstrators.
Occupation of the Ministry of Education
16-year-old Manuel Gutiérrez was shot dead by police on August 26, 2011. The youngster died in the Macúl district of the capital Santiago de Chile from a shot in the chest.
On August 30, 2011, the protesting students managed to occupy the Ministry of Education for two hours. Around 50 youths penetrated into the office of Minister Felipe Bulnes , who was not present. According to the ministry, the students broke open doors and smashed windows. The delegation called for the resignation of Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter , whom they held responsible for the death of Manuel Gutiérrez . The police then peacefully cleared the building.
New forms of protest
In addition to filling their schools and faculties, the students tried to generate attention with creative actions. For example, students performed the song Thriller by Michael Jackson in front of the presidential palace . Students also held a water fight or a mass kissing marathon. When the education minister announced that the winter holidays would be held to dispel the protests, several hundred students spread their towels in the central Plaza de Armas in Santiago de Chile, imitating a bathing beach.
Workers protests
Many unions expressed their solidarity with the striking students and schoolchildren. On August 24th and 25th, 2011, hundreds of thousands of people responded to the call of the trade union federation CUT and over 80 other organizations to go on a nationwide strike. Civil servants, health care workers, copper workers, bus drivers, students, schoolchildren, teachers, university employees, and others took to the streets across Chile. According to the union, over 600,000 people took part in the actions. The protests were diverse and decentralized. There were closed authorities, human chains and countless marches not only in the capital, but in many parts of the country. 20,000 people protested in the southern port city of Puerto Montt , and 70 ships formed for a demonstration in the port.
On the first day of the strike in particular, there were clashes between demonstrators and the militarized police (Carabineros). There was massive use of tear gas and police violence . According to government sources, 348 people were arrested on the first day. The CUT trade union federation justified the call for a two-day strike with fundamental demands for social justice. For example, it was about the higher taxation of companies and the rich, the drafting of a new labor law, a reform of the health and education system and a constitutional reform.
Reaction of Chilean society
According to surveys, a large part of the Chilean population supports the protests. Many showed solidarity with the students. Thursday is the day on which demonstrations traditionally take place in Chile. From nine in the evening, many Chileans took up a form of protest from the Pinochet era and held the cacerolazos , the beating of pots and pans. This takes place not only on the street, but also out of open windows.
Government response
For a long time the then President Sebastián Piñera ignored the protests, he announced in August 2011 that free education was nothing more than an "assassination attempt on freedom." Education minister Joaquín Lavín had to resign in a cabinet reshuffle in July because he was accused of benefiting from the current education system through his participation in the private Universidad de Desarrollo , which is why he was hardly interested in reforms. His successor was the previous Minister of Justice Felipe Bulnes , Lavín moved to the head of the Ministry of Planning.
When the trade union confederation CUT called for a strike in August 2011, it was heavily attacked in advance by the government and the governing parties. The then Minister of Economic Affairs, Pablo Longueira, described the strike as "useless and unnecessary, it only caused damage". In particular, leaders of the right-wing Unión Demócrata Independiente (Independent Democratic Union) portrayed the protests as being borne by a minority and as "detrimental to the development of the country"; the strike would be directed against the citizens and working people . On August 30, the then opposition in parliament failed in an attempt to force Interior Minister Hinzpeter to resign because of the police operations against demonstrators in the weeks before. A corresponding request was rejected in the Chamber of Deputies.
In September 2011, the government finally announced that it would increase funding for public schools and universities by around seven percent. At a second meeting with Education Minister Felipe Bulnes , in which the student leaders wanted to enforce their core demand for free schools and universities, the negotiations were broken off. The government then announced that protesting students would lose their places and scholarships. Finally, the government proposed a new education fund. In December, Bulnes resigned as Minister of Education and was replaced by Harald Beyer . Although Bulnes officially justified his resignation on “personal grounds”, observers believe that he was disappointed with the tight limits the government had placed on him to negotiate with the students.
Repressions against protesters
In the course of the uprising, the government intensified the repression against the protesters. In October 2011 it did not pay any scholarships to students who had not completed their semester by October 7, 2011. With this she “punished” all those who took part in the protest. A long catalog of tightening the law contributed to the criminalization of the protests. She wants to fix conservative government occupations in criminal law as a criminal offense with imprisonment. Spontaneous demonstrations and road blockades are to be sanctioned more severely. The police are to be given more powers in the future, and police practices that are already in use are to be legalized. In this context, President Piñera stated in October 2011: "Anyone who wants to attack the peace of the normal life of citizens, or public or private property, will encounter tougher, firmer jurisprudence that will set penalties equivalent to those of criminal offenses."
Role of the media
The newspapers and radio and television stations in Chile reported on the protests in various forms. The student movement pointed out on several occasions that mainstream media in the country reported bias about the demonstrations. The Chilean association of non-governmental organizations complained to the supervisory body Consejo Nacional de Televisión about a report from the channel 13 . In his report with the title “The other side of the marches”, he presented as if the attacks had come from the students alone. The organization said of the report that it was capable of “criminalizing social movements [and would] constitute a serious distortion that undermines pluralism, democracy and social peace.” In the summer of 2011, around 200 students occupied Chilevisión television in protest the one-sided reporting. The former university channel, which belonged to Piñera from 2005 to 2010, is now owned by Time-Warner . Only when a message with their concern had been broadcast did the 50 protesting students leave the station.
Movement in Latin America
The uprising of Chilean students spread across Latin America . In December 2011 there were major demonstrations in almost all South American countries for the right to education. Students from almost all Latin American countries took to the streets simultaneously in December 2011. In Chile, Colombia , Peru , Argentina , Ecuador , Brazil , Mexico , [Costa Rica], El Salvador , Honduras , Paraguay , Uruguay , Bolivia , Guatemala and Venezuela they demonstrated against the privatization of the in the context of the "Latin American March for Education" Institutions and for a “right to education”. Student organizations in Colombia and Chile called for the Latin American March.
Brazil
In the capital of Brazil, Brasília , around 2,500 people gathered in front of the central bank building on August 30, 2011 to demand an increase in spending on education. The demonstrators shouted "Chile, friend, Brazil is with you" and emptied a tank truck filled with water in a symbolic action against corruption.
In November 2011, more than 1,000 students from the USP public university blocked the main thoroughfare in São Paulo , the country's largest city. The USP is considered the best university in Latin America. According to many students, social justice in education has not yet been achieved in Brazil, despite the large number of free and good public universities. Education at state schools is often inadequate, and social selection begins in childhood. Most prospective students prepare for the difficult entrance exams at public universities in courses offered by private providers. In Latin America, attention was paid to the fact that the comparatively privileged Brazilian students also took part in the protest.
Costa Rica
In 2011 in Costa Rica the students mainly demanded that the content of the agreements between the university directors and the World Bank be disclosed.
Mexico
Mexican students published a video showing solidarity. Mexico looks back on decades of protests against tuition fees. Today, education in state universities in Mexico is largely free.
Colombia
From October 2011, Colombian students protested against the education policy in their country and on November 16, 2011 they achieved their first partial success: The conservative government had decided to suspend “Law No. 30” for the time being. According to Western media, President Juan Manuel Santos did not want a situation like the one in Chile to arise.
Reactions in Europe
The student and worker protests in Chile received worldwide attention. In Germany, the unions showed solidarity. In 2012, at the invitation of German organizations, the activists Karol Cariola (JJCC) and Camila Vallejo (student association and JJCC ) were in Germany and reported on the protests. "The trend towards privatization, to earn money with basic rights like education, also exists in Europe," said Camila Vallejo in Frankfurt. They traveled through various European countries to publicize the protests of Chilean students for reforms in the education sector and the diversity of the resulting protest movement.
aftermath
In December 2011, student protests subsided. However, the tense social situation in Chile was shown again and again in 2012. In the south of the country a social movement was formed that demanded better quality of life and lower costs. In February 2012 this movement mobilized thousands of protesters. The port city of Aysén on the river of the same name is 1,640 kilometers from the Chilean capital Santiago. Largely cut off from the rest of the country, the people lack basic infrastructure, education, and medical care. The costs for many goods are extremely high because the delivery routes are long. Road blockades between Puerto Aysén and Puerto Chacabuco occurred in the early morning of February 22, 2012 in the Aysén region in Chilean Patagonia . "Our rights are being trampled on," said the chairman of the Puerto Aysén Fishermen's Association, Henry Angulo. For decades, the Chilean state has shone with absenteeism and people have not been able to pay the prices for staple food, energy, gasoline, wood and other goods. On February 23, the government appointed governor Pilar Cuevas, who was controversial in the region, as its only interlocutor. The demonstrators' demand to negotiate directly with the Chilean finance minister Felipe Larraín was rejected on February 24th as "unnecessary". in March 2012 the road blockades widened again and there was a threat of supply shortages. The Chile section of “Amnesty International” provided reports by victims of abuse and shortages in medical care for the injured.
Web links
- Chile Rising . Fault Lines, November 2011, documentation by Al Jazeera English (video, English, 25 min.)
Individual evidence
- ^ Sebastian Hofer: Protests in Chile: Kissing, dancing, rampaging. In: Spiegel Online . August 20, 2011, accessed June 10, 2018 .
- ↑ http://jungle-world.com/artikel/2011/48/44434.html accessed March 24, 2012.
- ↑ http://jungle-world.com/artikel/2011/48/44434.html JW 48/2011.
- ↑ taz.de
- ↑ spiegel.de
- ↑ dw.de
- ↑ zeit.de
- ↑ amerika21.de
- ↑ zeit.de
- ^ David Rojas-Kienzle: Education instead of private schools. In: Latin America News No. 445/446. 2011, accessed February 1, 2012 .
- ^ Nicole Jullian, Pablo Jullian: This time with emphasis. In: Latin America News No. 447/448. 2011, accessed February 1, 2012 .
- ↑ Quotes from articles from amerika21.de proteste-viol-chile
- ↑ oA: Education Minister in Chile resigned. In: faz.net. December 30, 2011, accessed January 11, 2012 .
- ↑ amerika21.de
- ↑ faz.net
- ↑ blickpunkt-latein America.de ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
