2011 Chilean protests
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Chilean protests,Chilean Winter (in particular reference to the massive protests of August 2011) or Chilean Education Conflict (as labelled in Chilean media) are a series of ongoing student-led
protests across Chile
, demanding a new framework for education in Chile
, including more direct state participation in secondary education and an end to the existence of profit in higher education. Currently in Chile, only 45% of high school students study in traditional public schools and most universities are also private. No new public universities have been built since the end of the Pinochet era, even though the number of university students have swelled.
Beyond the specific demands regarding education, there is a feeling that the protests reflect a "deep discontent" among some parts of society with Chile's high level of inequality. Protests have included massive non-violent marches, but also a considerable amount of violence on the part of a side of protestors as well as riot police.
The first clear government response to the protests was a proposal for a new education fund and a cabinet shuffle
which replaced Minister of Education Joaquín Lavín
and was seen as not fundamentally addressing student movement concerns. Other government proposals were also rejected. Student mobilizations continue to date, with periodic marches, occupations of high schools and universities, and a two-day general strike on August 24–25.
Student protestors have not achieved their objectives, but they have contributed to a dramatic fall in Piñera's approval rating, which was measured at 26%-30% in August polls by respected Chilean pollsters. August 2011 polls also showed that 72% to 81% of Chileans support the student movement.. However, by November of 2011, a majority of Chileans were no longer supporting the tactics of the movement, although the general goals maintained 2/3 support.
On August 31, the Education Committee of the Chilean Senate approved 4-1 a bill that would prohibit indirect or direct state support of for-profit educational institutions, a fundamental demand of the student movement.
explained the protests as being the result of "one of world’s lowest levels of public funding for higher education, some of the longest degrees and no comprehensive system of student grants or subsidised loans" and a flat job market as the detonant. Historian Gabriel Salazar
describes the student conflict as being the continuation of a long strife between popular citizen movements and civic and military dictatorship
s. BBC
have attributed "students' anger" to "a perception that Chile's education system is grossly unfair - that it gives rich students access to some of the best schooling in Latin America while dumping poor pupils in shabby, under-funded state schools."
Many newspapers and analysts have traced the protests back to the 2006 Penguin Revolution that occurred during the government of Michelle Bachelet
, some claiming that these are the same secondary students who headed the 2006 movement that when in university are heading the 2011 student protests. Bachelet have defended the legacy of her government and said that in the aftermath of the Penguin Revolution the right-wing opposition prevented them from eliminating for-profit activity in education. Ruling party politician Cristián Monckeberg responded to this by saying that if Bachelet would have solved the problem in 2006 the students would not be protesting now. In June 5 it was noted in the Chilean TV discussion show Tolerancia Cero that the Chilean students protests followed a cyclic pattern with major protests every 2 or 3 years.
Víctor Lobos, intendant
of Biobío Region attibuted the protests to the increasing number of children born outside matrimony claiming that this condition made them susceptible to anarchism.
, a national body made up of student governments at Chilean universities and led by Camila Vallejo
of the University of Chile and Giorgio Jackson of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
. The CONFECH's proposal, known as the "Social Agreement for Chilean Education" (Acuerdo Social por la Educación Chilena), demands:
Additionally, some segments of the student movement have called for additional changes, such as a constitutional amendment guaranteeing quality education, an increase in the tax rate of higher earners (which is low in comparison to OECD countries), higher taxes for foreign extractors of or renationalization of Chile's copper resources.
. It is also important to note that the student protests began on the heels of other national protests, over the HidroAysén
dam project and gas prices in Magallanes Province
. The protests are commonly portrayed as a new social movement loosely based on Spain's 15-M Movement or even the Arab Spring
.
The protests were triggered in part by the initiative of the then Minister of Education Joaquín Lavín
to increase government funding of non-traditional Universities. Although, officially nonprofit, some of these institutions were known to use legal loopholes to turn profits. Lavín had invested in several firms that render services to Universidad del Desarrollo.
According to students cited by El Mercurio
on June 13, there were 100 schools being occupied by students as a form of protest, of which 80 were in the Santiago Metropolitan Region
Sources differ; Chilean police listed on June 13 only 50 schools as occupied.
On June 30, there was a massive demonstration that mobilized between one hundred and two hundred thousand demonstrators.
The student protests have included several creative acts which received foreign media attention, such as flash mob
s and kiss-ins.
announced in a televised speech educational reforms that his government planned to do in order to satisfy the student demands. The plans announced revolved mainly around a project labelled "GANE" (Spanish acronym for Grand National Accord of the Education making up the word win), which would cost 4.000 million dollars. The project is to be, if implemented, financed from the Funds of Economical and Social Stabilization (Fondo de Estabilización Económica y Social or FEES) with which a fund named Fund for the Education (Fondo por la Educación) will be created from which the dividends and interest (under 300 million dollars) will be used annually to support public education.
Piñera also announced the shaping of a new legal framework for universities which will allow higher education providers to legally engage in for-profit activity and rejected the public ownership
of education proposed by students as a "serious mistake and something that damages deeply the quality as well as the freedom of education
".
The announcement was received with skepticism by students, some of whom criticized harshly the announcements. Camila Vallejo
, one of the movement's spokespersons and the president of the University of Chile student federation said that the presidential discourse "was a great disappointment and a backward step" and emphasized that the proposal to legalize for-profit activity in education, which is currently illegal but widely practised in private institutions, goes against the Chilean state of law
and that the government rejected categorically the main point presented by the secondary students
which was to place public secondary and primary education under state management instead of being under municipalities.
Additionally, some opposition senator
s from the center-left Concertación criticized the speech, signaling that the proposal was not "in tune with the student movement" After the televised speech students of the University of Chile went out from the university to protest against the proposal blocking transit in Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins before confrontations with special forces of the police
.
mine that were on strike in one of the largest protests since the return to democracy in Chile
two decades prior. Although the protests were downplayed by the Chilean government, they were described as a complete success by the organizers. On July 18, Chilean Minister of Education Joaquín Lavín
was replaced by Felipe Bulnes
, as President Sebastián Piñera opted for a cabinet shuffle in response to the months of protest. The change came two weeks without any clear movement on the issues, Lavín received a new ministerial role as Minister of Development and Planning. Meanwhile, the Chilean student federation insists that it will continue its occupations and other mobilizations, as well as attempt to broaden the movement into other political areas. On July 19, La Tercera reported that 148 high schools remain occupied, but some universities such as the Universidad Austral de Chile
and the Universidad de Santiago de Chile were ending their occupations
However, student leaders did not accept the proposal and signalled that the student movilizations would continue with a national strike and march on August 4 and an official written response on August 5. In interviews, they noted that the proposal did not criminalize profiteering in education, did not seek to provide free or equitable access to higher education, and was not specific. Using the same language that was used to describe the July proposal, the August proposal was called "a backward step" and "a band-aid solution."
The protests of August 4 were the most confrontational of the movement to date. 874 protestors were detained, and the center of Santiago was called a "state of siege" by University of Chile student federation president Camila Vallejo
. Police cordoned off the streets and used tear gas. Protesters destroyed signs and set small fires in the street. Additionally, 90 carabineros (militarized police) were injured and a La Polar
department store was burnt down. The evening saw a cacerolazo
protest, where protesters bang pots and pans, often from their homes.
organized a nationwide two-day strike on August 24 and 25. During the strike, four separate marches took place in Santiago, as well as additional protests across the country. According to union officials, a total of about 600,000 people were involved in protests. On the 24th, upwards of three hundred people were arrested, with six police officers wounded in Santiago, where protesters constructed roadblocks and damaged cars and buildings. On the 25th, another 450 people were arrested with several dozen reported injured. In Santiago, police forces used tear gas and water cannons on protesters at the end of the demonstrations; earlier, some protesters had thrown stones and started fires. One person, 16-year-old Manuel Gutierrez Reinoso, later died from gunshot wounds to the chest; witnesses claim that he was shot by a police officer.
According to Claudio Urrutia, an official at the Workers' United Center of Chile, said that the Chilean government "is a right-wing government that has demonized social demonstrations [...] This government doesn't seek dialogue. We have to change the tax regime in this country." According to Labor Minister Evelyn Matthei
, unions had refused to begin discussions with the government, and she was "working actively trying to resolve problems [...] in education and in labor and many problems that come from the past."
's 1973 coup d'état against socialist president Salvador Allende
on 11 September 2011, police arrested around 280 people in protests in Santiago
. One 15-year-old girl suffered a bullet wound. "There were more than 350 places with barricades and blocked streets, and 130,000 homes suffered power cuts," said Deputy Interior Minister Rodrigo Ubilla.
A day later on 12 September 2011, 30 people stormed the headquarters of the Communist Party of Chile
Central Committee assaulting party workers, and destroying computers and furniture. Carabineros
attempted to storm the building on 4 August.
. The students withdrew from negotiations October 5 citing that the government had in their words only proposed and improved version of their "GANE" proposal from July, something students considered a "provocation". Camila Vallejo
said that it was government that broke the negotiations by lacking "political will" and "capacity to attend the demands of the majority of the country". Students reported that minister Felipe Bulnes
attacked David Urrea during the negotiations saying to him "you came here to break the negotiations, you are in a hostile position". In a meeting held in the Isla Teja
Campus of the Southern University of Chile the Chilean university students union (CONFECH) representative David Urrea made a call to radicalize the movement and to "prepare for harsh times".
Government spokesman Andrés Chadwick
blamed "the ultras" and "the intransigents" in the student movement as responsible for the breakdown of negotiations. Giorgio Jackson said of these coments that the label "ultra" form part of a strategy aimed to divide the student movement, a strategy Jackson said the government have been using since the beginning of the conflict.
Student voice
Student voice describes the distinct perspectives and actions of young people throughout schools focused on education."Student voice is giving students the ability to influence learning to include policies, programs, contexts and principles."...
protests across Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, demanding a new framework for education in Chile
Education in Chile
Education in Chile is divided in preschool, primary school, secondary school, and technical or higher education .- Levels of education :The levels of education in Chile are:...
, including more direct state participation in secondary education and an end to the existence of profit in higher education. Currently in Chile, only 45% of high school students study in traditional public schools and most universities are also private. No new public universities have been built since the end of the Pinochet era, even though the number of university students have swelled.
Beyond the specific demands regarding education, there is a feeling that the protests reflect a "deep discontent" among some parts of society with Chile's high level of inequality. Protests have included massive non-violent marches, but also a considerable amount of violence on the part of a side of protestors as well as riot police.
The first clear government response to the protests was a proposal for a new education fund and a cabinet shuffle
Cabinet shuffle
In the parliamentary system a cabinet shuffle or reshuffle is an informal term for an event that occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet....
which replaced Minister of Education Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín José Lavín Infante is a Chilean politician and economist. He is a member of the Independent Democrat Union party and former mayor of Santiago and Las Condes municipalities of capital Santiago...
and was seen as not fundamentally addressing student movement concerns. Other government proposals were also rejected. Student mobilizations continue to date, with periodic marches, occupations of high schools and universities, and a two-day general strike on August 24–25.
Student protestors have not achieved their objectives, but they have contributed to a dramatic fall in Piñera's approval rating, which was measured at 26%-30% in August polls by respected Chilean pollsters. August 2011 polls also showed that 72% to 81% of Chileans support the student movement.. However, by November of 2011, a majority of Chileans were no longer supporting the tactics of the movement, although the general goals maintained 2/3 support.
On August 31, the Education Committee of the Chilean Senate approved 4-1 a bill that would prohibit indirect or direct state support of for-profit educational institutions, a fundamental demand of the student movement.
Background
The onset of the 2011 Chilean protests have been attributed to several causes. The EconomistThe Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
explained the protests as being the result of "one of world’s lowest levels of public funding for higher education, some of the longest degrees and no comprehensive system of student grants or subsidised loans" and a flat job market as the detonant. Historian Gabriel Salazar
Gabriel Salazar
Gabriel Salazar Vergara, is a Chilean historian.-Awards:*2006 - Chilean National History Award 2006...
describes the student conflict as being the continuation of a long strife between popular citizen movements and civic and military dictatorship
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
s. BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
have attributed "students' anger" to "a perception that Chile's education system is grossly unfair - that it gives rich students access to some of the best schooling in Latin America while dumping poor pupils in shabby, under-funded state schools."
Many newspapers and analysts have traced the protests back to the 2006 Penguin Revolution that occurred during the government of Michelle Bachelet
Michelle Bachelet
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria is a Social Democrat politician who was President of Chile from 11 March 2006 to 11 March 2010. She was the first woman president of her country...
, some claiming that these are the same secondary students who headed the 2006 movement that when in university are heading the 2011 student protests. Bachelet have defended the legacy of her government and said that in the aftermath of the Penguin Revolution the right-wing opposition prevented them from eliminating for-profit activity in education. Ruling party politician Cristián Monckeberg responded to this by saying that if Bachelet would have solved the problem in 2006 the students would not be protesting now. In June 5 it was noted in the Chilean TV discussion show Tolerancia Cero that the Chilean students protests followed a cyclic pattern with major protests every 2 or 3 years.
Víctor Lobos, intendant
Intendant
The title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
of Biobío Region attibuted the protests to the increasing number of children born outside matrimony claiming that this condition made them susceptible to anarchism.
University students
University students are represented by CONFECH, the Confederation of Chilean Student FederationsConfederation of Chilean Students
The Confederation of Chilean Students is a student organization in Chile that congregates the federations of students of universities in Chile.- Structure :...
, a national body made up of student governments at Chilean universities and led by Camila Vallejo
Camila Vallejo
Camila Antonia Amaranta Vallejo Dowling is a graduate student of geography from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Chile, and was elected president of the University of Chile Student Federation in November 2010 - she is the second woman to hold this post after Marisol...
of the University of Chile and Giorgio Jackson of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile is one of the six Catholic Universities existing in the Chilean university system and one of the two Pontifical Universities in the country, along with the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. It is also one of Chile's oldest universities and...
. The CONFECH's proposal, known as the "Social Agreement for Chilean Education" (Acuerdo Social por la Educación Chilena), demands:
- Increased state support for public universities, which currently finance their activities mostly through tuition
- More equitable admissions process to prestigious universities, with less emphasis on the Prueba de Selección UniversitariaPrueba de Selección UniversitariaThe University Selection Test or, as it is more commonly referred to, PSU, is a standardized university admissions examination used in Chile. It replaced in 2003 the Prueba de Aptitud Académica which had been working on since 1966....
standardized test - Free public education, so access to higher education doesn't depend on families economic situation.
- Creation of a government agency to apply the law against profit in higher education and prosecute those universities that are allegedly using loopholes to profit. The students oppose direct (fellowship and voucher) and indirect government aid (government-backed loans) to for-profit schools.
- A more serious accreditation process to improve quality and end indirect state support for poor quality institutions
- Creation of an "intercultural university" that meets the unique demands of MapucheMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
students - Repeal of laws forbidding student participation in university governance
High school students
High school students are more loosely organized than the university students, with no national federation. However, their demands have also been included in CONFECH's proposal and include:- Central government control over secondary and primary public schools, to replace the current system of municipal control which allegedly leads to inequalities
- The application of Chile's school voucher system in pre-school, primary and secondary levels be applicable only to nonprofit schools. The Chilean system, although defended by researchers linked to the conservative Heritage FoundationHeritage FoundationThe Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...
, is criticized by researchers like Martin Carnoy, blaming it for the tremendous inequalities across all the Chilean educational system, measured by OECD's standards. - Increases in state spending. Chile only spends 4.4% of GDP on education, compared to the 7% of GDP recommended by the UN for developed nations. Additionally, Chile ranks behind only PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
in educational segregation among the 65 countries that take the PISAPisaPisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
test. Prominent Chilean education researcher Mario Waissbluth has called the Chilean system "educational apartheid" - Use of student bus pass throughout the year
- Development of more vocational high schools
- Reconstruction of schools damaged during the 2010 Chilean earthquake
- Moratorium on the creation of new voucher/charter schools
- Higher pay for teachers and a national plan to attract the best talent to the profession and raise its social stature.
Additionally, some segments of the student movement have called for additional changes, such as a constitutional amendment guaranteeing quality education, an increase in the tax rate of higher earners (which is low in comparison to OECD countries), higher taxes for foreign extractors of or renationalization of Chile's copper resources.
First wave of protests
The 2011 student protests in Chile began gradually in May, and can be traced to the so-called "penguin revolution", or 2006 student protests in Chile2006 student protests in Chile
The 2006 student protests in Chile were a series of ongoing student voice protests carried out by high school students across Chile from late April to early June 2006...
. It is also important to note that the student protests began on the heels of other national protests, over the HidroAysén
HidroAysén
HidroAysén is a controversial megaproject that aims to build five hydroelectric power plants in Chile's Aysen Region. Two on the Baker River and three on the Pascua River....
dam project and gas prices in Magallanes Province
Magallanes Province
Magallanes Province is one of four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena . The provincial capital is the city of Punta Arenas.-Geography and demography:...
. The protests are commonly portrayed as a new social movement loosely based on Spain's 15-M Movement or even the Arab Spring
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
.
The protests were triggered in part by the initiative of the then Minister of Education Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín José Lavín Infante is a Chilean politician and economist. He is a member of the Independent Democrat Union party and former mayor of Santiago and Las Condes municipalities of capital Santiago...
to increase government funding of non-traditional Universities. Although, officially nonprofit, some of these institutions were known to use legal loopholes to turn profits. Lavín had invested in several firms that render services to Universidad del Desarrollo.
According to students cited by El Mercurio
El Mercurio
El Mercurio is a conservative Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. Its Santiago edition is considered the country's paper-of-record and its Valparaíso edition is the oldest daily in the Spanish language currently in circulation. El Mercurio is owned by El Mercurio S.A.P...
on June 13, there were 100 schools being occupied by students as a form of protest, of which 80 were in the Santiago Metropolitan Region
Santiago Metropolitan Region
Santiago Metropolitan Region or simply Metropolitan Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions. It is the country's only landlocked administrative region and contains the nation's capital, Santiago...
Sources differ; Chilean police listed on June 13 only 50 schools as occupied.
On June 30, there was a massive demonstration that mobilized between one hundred and two hundred thousand demonstrators.
The student protests have included several creative acts which received foreign media attention, such as flash mob
Flash mob
A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, artistic expression...
s and kiss-ins.
July 2011 Government proposal
On July 5 Chilean President Sebastián PiñeraSebastián Piñera
Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique is a Chilean businessman and politician. He was elected President of Chile in January 2010, taking office in March 2010.- Education :...
announced in a televised speech educational reforms that his government planned to do in order to satisfy the student demands. The plans announced revolved mainly around a project labelled "GANE" (Spanish acronym for Grand National Accord of the Education making up the word win), which would cost 4.000 million dollars. The project is to be, if implemented, financed from the Funds of Economical and Social Stabilization (Fondo de Estabilización Económica y Social or FEES) with which a fund named Fund for the Education (Fondo por la Educación) will be created from which the dividends and interest (under 300 million dollars) will be used annually to support public education.
Piñera also announced the shaping of a new legal framework for universities which will allow higher education providers to legally engage in for-profit activity and rejected the public ownership
State ownership
State ownership, also called public ownership, government ownership or state property, are property interests that are vested in the state, rather than an individual or communities....
of education proposed by students as a "serious mistake and something that damages deeply the quality as well as the freedom of education
Freedom of education
Freedom of education is a constitutional concept that has been included in the European Convention on Human Rights, Protocol 1, Article 2 and several national constitutions, e.g. the , the Belgian constitution and the Dutch constitution...
".
The announcement was received with skepticism by students, some of whom criticized harshly the announcements. Camila Vallejo
Camila Vallejo
Camila Antonia Amaranta Vallejo Dowling is a graduate student of geography from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Chile, and was elected president of the University of Chile Student Federation in November 2010 - she is the second woman to hold this post after Marisol...
, one of the movement's spokespersons and the president of the University of Chile student federation said that the presidential discourse "was a great disappointment and a backward step" and emphasized that the proposal to legalize for-profit activity in education, which is currently illegal but widely practised in private institutions, goes against the Chilean state of law
Rechtsstaat
Rechtsstaat is a concept in continental European legal thinking, originally borrowed from German jurisprudence, which can be translated as "legal state", "state of law", "state of justice", or "state of rights"...
and that the government rejected categorically the main point presented by the secondary students
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
which was to place public secondary and primary education under state management instead of being under municipalities.
Additionally, some opposition senator
Senate of Chile
The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.-Composition:...
s from the center-left Concertación criticized the speech, signaling that the proposal was not "in tune with the student movement" After the televised speech students of the University of Chile went out from the university to protest against the proposal blocking transit in Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins before confrontations with special forces of the police
Carabineros de Chile
thumb|250px|Carabineros de Chile, patrolling a street in [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]]The Carabiniers of Chile, are the uniformed Chilean national police force and gendarmerie, created on April 27, 1927. Their mission is to maintain order and create public respect for the laws of the country...
.
Continued protests
Students marched on July 14 together with contractors from El TenienteEl Teniente
El Teniente is an underground copper mine in the Chilean commune of Machalí in Cachapoal Province, O'Higgins Region, near the town of Sewell, above mean sea level in the Andes. Mining at El Teniente is reported to have started as early as 1819...
mine that were on strike in one of the largest protests since the return to democracy in Chile
Chilean transition to democracy
The Chilean transition to democracy began when a Constitution establishing a transition itinerary was approved in a plebiscite. From March 11, 1981 to March 11, 1990, several organic constitutional laws were approved leading to the final restoration of democracy...
two decades prior. Although the protests were downplayed by the Chilean government, they were described as a complete success by the organizers. On July 18, Chilean Minister of Education Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín Lavín
Joaquín José Lavín Infante is a Chilean politician and economist. He is a member of the Independent Democrat Union party and former mayor of Santiago and Las Condes municipalities of capital Santiago...
was replaced by Felipe Bulnes
Felipe Bulnes
Felipe Bulnes Serrano is a Chilean lawyer and National Renewal politician. He assumed office as minister of education following a cabinet shuffle amidst the ongoing 2011 Chilean student protests.- External links :...
, as President Sebastián Piñera opted for a cabinet shuffle in response to the months of protest. The change came two weeks without any clear movement on the issues, Lavín received a new ministerial role as Minister of Development and Planning. Meanwhile, the Chilean student federation insists that it will continue its occupations and other mobilizations, as well as attempt to broaden the movement into other political areas. On July 19, La Tercera reported that 148 high schools remain occupied, but some universities such as the Universidad Austral de Chile
Universidad Austral de Chile
Southern University of Chile is a research university in Chile based in Valdivia although it has some institutions and careers in Puerto Montt. Founded by decree on 7 September 1954 it is one of the eight original Chilean Traditional Universities...
and the Universidad de Santiago de Chile were ending their occupations
August 2011 government proposal and subsequent protest
On August 1, the government of Sebastian Piñera introduced a new 21-point proposal to reorganize Chilean education from pre-school to higher education and thus reach an agreement with the student movement. The proposal included many of the students' demands, such as:- a constitutional guarantee to a quality education
- allowing student participation in university governance
- the end of local control over public secondary education
- increase university scholarships and provide help for people with unpayable student debt
However, student leaders did not accept the proposal and signalled that the student movilizations would continue with a national strike and march on August 4 and an official written response on August 5. In interviews, they noted that the proposal did not criminalize profiteering in education, did not seek to provide free or equitable access to higher education, and was not specific. Using the same language that was used to describe the July proposal, the August proposal was called "a backward step" and "a band-aid solution."
The protests of August 4 were the most confrontational of the movement to date. 874 protestors were detained, and the center of Santiago was called a "state of siege" by University of Chile student federation president Camila Vallejo
Camila Vallejo
Camila Antonia Amaranta Vallejo Dowling is a graduate student of geography from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Chile, and was elected president of the University of Chile Student Federation in November 2010 - she is the second woman to hold this post after Marisol...
. Police cordoned off the streets and used tear gas. Protesters destroyed signs and set small fires in the street. Additionally, 90 carabineros (militarized police) were injured and a La Polar
La Polar
La Polar is the fourth largest retail company in Chile, behind Falabella, Paris S.A and Ripley S.A.The company has more than 30 stores in Chile with products focused on the Chilean middle class....
department store was burnt down. The evening saw a cacerolazo
Cacerolazo
A cacerolazo or cacerolada is a form of popular protest practised in certain Spanish-speaking countries – in particular Argentina and Chile – which consists in a group of people creating noise by banging pots, pans, and other utensils in order to call for attention...
protest, where protesters bang pots and pans, often from their homes.
Third government proposal
On August 18, the government offered a third proposal for ending the conflict; primary among the new means was a reduction of government-backed student loan rates to 2% APR. However, this proposal still has not placated the students, who held a massive march (100,000 marchers) on that date and another massive (estimates of attendance from 100,000 to 1,000,000) concert/protest on August 21.August 24—25 protests
The Workers' United Center of ChileWorkers' United Center of Chile
The Workers' United Center of Chile is a union federation in Chile. The CUT was founded in 1953, but it was suppressed after the Chilean coup of 1973. It was refounded in September 1988 near the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship....
organized a nationwide two-day strike on August 24 and 25. During the strike, four separate marches took place in Santiago, as well as additional protests across the country. According to union officials, a total of about 600,000 people were involved in protests. On the 24th, upwards of three hundred people were arrested, with six police officers wounded in Santiago, where protesters constructed roadblocks and damaged cars and buildings. On the 25th, another 450 people were arrested with several dozen reported injured. In Santiago, police forces used tear gas and water cannons on protesters at the end of the demonstrations; earlier, some protesters had thrown stones and started fires. One person, 16-year-old Manuel Gutierrez Reinoso, later died from gunshot wounds to the chest; witnesses claim that he was shot by a police officer.
According to Claudio Urrutia, an official at the Workers' United Center of Chile, said that the Chilean government "is a right-wing government that has demonized social demonstrations [...] This government doesn't seek dialogue. We have to change the tax regime in this country." According to Labor Minister Evelyn Matthei
Evelyn Matthei
Evelyn Rose Matthei Fornet is a Chilean economist and politician.Matthei entered Chilean politics in the late '80s and early '90s, as part of the National Renewal party's youth group called Patrulla Juvenil, along the future President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, and future fellow senator and...
, unions had refused to begin discussions with the government, and she was "working actively trying to resolve problems [...] in education and in labor and many problems that come from the past."
Pinochet coup anniversary protests
On the 38th anniversary of Augusto PinochetAugusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
's 1973 coup d'état against socialist president Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
on 11 September 2011, police arrested around 280 people in protests in Santiago
Santiago
Santiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"...
. One 15-year-old girl suffered a bullet wound. "There were more than 350 places with barricades and blocked streets, and 130,000 homes suffered power cuts," said Deputy Interior Minister Rodrigo Ubilla.
A day later on 12 September 2011, 30 people stormed the headquarters of the Communist Party of Chile
Communist Party of Chile
The Communist Party of Chile is a Chilean political party inspired by the thoughts of Karl Marx and Lenin. It was founded in 1922, as the continuation of the Socialist Workers Party, and in 1934 it established its youth wing, the Communist Youth of Chile .In the last legislative elections in Chile...
Central Committee assaulting party workers, and destroying computers and furniture. Carabineros
Carabineros de Chile
thumb|250px|Carabineros de Chile, patrolling a street in [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]]The Carabiniers of Chile, are the uniformed Chilean national police force and gendarmerie, created on April 27, 1927. Their mission is to maintain order and create public respect for the laws of the country...
attempted to storm the building on 4 August.
October breakdown of negotiations
In October the student representatives engaged in negotiations with government representatives headed by education minister Felipe BulnesFelipe Bulnes
Felipe Bulnes Serrano is a Chilean lawyer and National Renewal politician. He assumed office as minister of education following a cabinet shuffle amidst the ongoing 2011 Chilean student protests.- External links :...
. The students withdrew from negotiations October 5 citing that the government had in their words only proposed and improved version of their "GANE" proposal from July, something students considered a "provocation". Camila Vallejo
Camila Vallejo
Camila Antonia Amaranta Vallejo Dowling is a graduate student of geography from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Chile, and was elected president of the University of Chile Student Federation in November 2010 - she is the second woman to hold this post after Marisol...
said that it was government that broke the negotiations by lacking "political will" and "capacity to attend the demands of the majority of the country". Students reported that minister Felipe Bulnes
Felipe Bulnes
Felipe Bulnes Serrano is a Chilean lawyer and National Renewal politician. He assumed office as minister of education following a cabinet shuffle amidst the ongoing 2011 Chilean student protests.- External links :...
attacked David Urrea during the negotiations saying to him "you came here to break the negotiations, you are in a hostile position". In a meeting held in the Isla Teja
Isla Teja
Teja island is an island in the city of Valdivia, Chile surrounded by three rivers: Cau-Cau river to the north, Cruces river to the west and Valdivia river to the sout east...
Campus of the Southern University of Chile the Chilean university students union (CONFECH) representative David Urrea made a call to radicalize the movement and to "prepare for harsh times".
Government spokesman Andrés Chadwick
Andrés Chadwick
Andrés Pío Bernardino Chadwick Piñera is a Chilean right-winged politician and lawyer, member of the Independent Democrat Union party. Chadwick was elected deputy for the District #33 in 1989, and was re-elected in 1993...
blamed "the ultras" and "the intransigents" in the student movement as responsible for the breakdown of negotiations. Giorgio Jackson said of these coments that the label "ultra" form part of a strategy aimed to divide the student movement, a strategy Jackson said the government have been using since the beginning of the conflict.
See also
- 2006 student protests in Chile2006 student protests in ChileThe 2006 student protests in Chile were a series of ongoing student voice protests carried out by high school students across Chile from late April to early June 2006...
- 2008 student protests in Chile2008 student protests in ChileThe 2008 student protests in Chile were a series of protests and other manifestations by citizens of dissatisfaction against the state of education in Chile. The protest were the largest student protest in Chile ofter the 2006 student protest. Both secondary and university students participated...
- 2011 Colombian student protests2011 Colombian student protestsThe 2011 Colombian student protests in an ongoing student protest movement in Colombia. The protest begun as a reaction against a planned reform on the education system in Colombia...
- 2011 Magallanes protests2011 Magallanes protestsThe 2011 Magallanes protests were a series of protests provoked by the rising of natural gas prices in the Chilean region of Magallanes, in January 2011...
- Education in ChileEducation in ChileEducation in Chile is divided in preschool, primary school, secondary school, and technical or higher education .- Levels of education :The levels of education in Chile are:...
- HidroAysénHidroAysénHidroAysén is a controversial megaproject that aims to build five hydroelectric power plants in Chile's Aysen Region. Two on the Baker River and three on the Pascua River....
- Leaders of the 2011 Chilean protestsLeaders of the 2011 Chilean protestsThe 2011 Chilean protests over the education have been primarily led by the CONFECH, the student unions association of Chile's 25 traditional universities, and CONES the student union association of secondary students of Chile. The student union leaders of emblematic universities and schools The...