Chile In Turmoil

[butcher]

There's been huge mobilisations by the students for a couple a months now. Also, there's just been a 48 hour national strike by the CUT and lotsa other big unions. Not sure why I've not posted on this before, there's a bit on the Spanish sub-forum here on (kinda a derail from stuff about the 14a).

Anywayz, Chile's next top model:



Recent news:

Chilean protesters clash with police
Police use tear gas and water cannons as two-day nationwide strike against unpopular president gets off to violent start

Protesters barricaded roads and burned tires in parts of Chile's capital, as a two-day national strike began against Sebastian Pinera, the country's unpopular president.

At least 18 flaming barricades were set up early on Wednesday morning, according to the Telam news service. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons. At least 2,000 officers were deployed in the city.

The strike, which was called for by Chile's main umbrella labour union in support of a massive demonstration movement for better access to cheaper and higher-quality education, started slow.

Protester demands went beyond educational change, ranging from a new constitution to a revamped tax system.

Clashes between protesters and police also occurred in the cities of Valparaiso and Concepcion, according to Telam.

While previous governments have faced one-day national strikes, it was the first 48-hour national strike since the fall of a 17-year dictatorship in 1990.

Government spokesperson Andres Chadwick said police defused some protests earlier on Wednesday, and that beyond traffic disruptions, the situation was "normal".

The government said it would not tolerate roadblocks and estimated that the strike would cost Chile about $200m each day.

Police have clashed with protesters in recent months as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to rail against Pinera, who, according to a recent poll, is the least popular leader in the two decades since the end of Pinochet's rule. The demonstrations have reportedly been the largest since the dictatorship ended.

While Latin America's economy expanded 6.6 per cent this year and is an investor magnet thanks to prudent fiscal and monetary policies, many ordinary Chileans feel that they are not reaping the benefits of economic prosperity.

Chile's student protesters reject proposal
More than 50,000 students march through Santiago demanding an end to profiteering and equal access to education.

More than 50,000 protesters have marched through Chile's capital to press the government for changes in the nation's education system.

Students who participated in Thursday's demonstration, dubbed the "March of the Umbrellas", were not deterred by cold or rain, reported Santiago's La Tercera newspaper.

Minor skirmishes broke out between police and protesters, and La Tercera reported that students set a small number of barricades on fire. Police said that all incidents were quieted by other students participating in the march.

More than 120km away, in Valparaiso, police reportedly clashed with stone-throwing protesters who demanded an end to education profiteering.

The "March of Umbrellas" took place hours after Chile's government offered a settlement that fell short of student demands for a better education system. Those demands have fueled months of demonstrations in Santiago and other Chilean cities.

Change, not reform

"We don't want to improve the system, it has to be changed," said student leader Camila Vallejo, responding to the most recent government proposal.

Vallejo, spokeswoman for the Chilean Student Federation, said the movement was not trying to reform the law that allows profiteering from education, but to abolish it.

Chile's student movement has been demonstrating against the government since May, with the largest protests the country has seen since the end of its military dictatorship in 1990.

Intense clashes between police and protesters have taken place throughout the past months, including pitched street battles between armed police and students with petrol bombs.

Among the students' demands are a state takeover of the public school system, which is currently run by local authorities. Protesters claim this system has created deep inequalities in educational access.

Students also want easier access to higher education, saying that the current system leaves university graduates in deep financial debt.

Tuition fees for higher education in Chile are the highest in the world when adjusted for the country's per capita gross domestic product.

Chile has the highest per capita income of any country in South America, but the continent's widest income gap between rich and poor.

Some Context:

Statement of the Convergence Against the Government’s Student Educational Reforms

Translated from Convergencia Estudiantil (10 December 2010)

Since the military coup of 1973 the various governments in the service of the rich and powerful have been promoting a thorough process of privatisation and elitist reorientation of education. This history has been marked by several milestones, which we shall specify:

First Milestone: reforms contained in the 1980 Constitution.

The military dictatorship that was installed on 11 September 1973 was not only aimed at the annihilation of consciousness, popular organisation and the destruction of a profound transformation project; another of the core goals was to lay the groundwork for the perpetuation of this new political and economic system in the midst of the annihilation of popular forces.

The day of 24 September 1973 old militants of the conservative right in conjunction with the neo-liberals who graduated from the School of Economics and Law School at the Catholic University, were the first “Commission for the Study of the new Constitution”. At the head of it was the former minister of justice of the right-wing government of Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez, Enrique Ortuzar. The commission submitted the draft constitution in late 1978 to a specially appointed board handpicked by the junta. Two years later, in mid-1980, the project had gone through all the reviews and approvals, including that of Pinochet and former President Alessandri Rodríguez. Thus on 11 September 1980, in full “State of Siege” and with a political opposition fragmented and prevented to demonstrate publicly, the new Constitution plebiscite was issued from the more perverse depths of the military dictatorship; and approved under a multitude of irregularities in a totally flawed ‘democratic’ process.

This new legal framework for our country ensured the super-exploitation of the working class, and at the same time strengthened the reproduction of these conditions of exploitation. With regard to education, and consistent with the interests of the ruling classes, the State was going to renege on the responsibility to provide education to all and at all levels. The new Constitution pointed out that education “aims at the full development of the person at different stages of his life”, with parents left with the right and the duty to deliver education to their children. The role of the State was limited only to “provid[ing] special protection for the exercise of this right” for parents, through fully funding basic education, whilst only “promot[ing]” early childhood education, secondary and higher education, in other words they would not be funded by the state (these rights would extend much later during the governments of the Concertación[1], reaching middle school and nursery). In this way the State is completely detached from the responsibility of providing quality education for all and at all levels, leaving the parents with sole responsibility for this important task (regardless of whether the families had the economic capacity to comply with it). In this way they succeeded in reducing state involvement in the process of educating to its minimum expression.

The Constitution stipulates the participation of the “community” in the process of educating with the aim to reinforce the duty of parents in this area, a particular point that directly promoted the participation of private providers of education, albeit with a view to profit. The State’s concerns limited to regulating institutions that provide education under a Basic Constitutional Law, and not interference, importantly, through the subsidisation of education.

Second Milestone: the Organic Constitutional Law on Teaching (LOCE).

The Organic Constitutional Law on Teaching (LOCE), or simply Act No. 18,962 , was enacted on 10 March 1990 (24 hours before the inauguration of Patricio Aylwin), and was preceded years before by the act of municipalisation of education and the law on subsidisation. The ideas contained in the LOCE can be briefly summarised by the following points:

Minimisation of state spending on education by ensuring only minimum levels of access free of charge.
Decentralisation of the administrative responsibility of the State, with this responsibility entrusted to municipalities.
The State, by means of the MINEDUC[2], would only minimally regulated establishments.

Under new regulations, the LOCE arrives to crown the process of liberalisation of education in Chile, driven from the outset by the military dictatorship and ending decisively with the State administrator, conductor and dean of education. Now the State adopts a single entity that subsidizes different social spheres, be they education, health, welfare, work, etc.

Since the implementation of the LOCE a string of laws that refine the education system step by step followed, such as the Ley Marco, the implementation of the Jornada Escolar Completa, the Crédito con Aval del Estado[3], amongst others.

In the year 2006 there was an explosion of multiple mobilisations that risk jeopardizing the Bachelet administration; secondary school students focused their attacks on the LOCE and demanded from the streets and occupied secondary schools the change in the organic law. Faced with a political disaster which paralyzes nearly all students in the country, the government had no choice but to work for the modification of the LOCE, forming a specialized council that after a year of work would result in a project called the General Education Law (LGE), which would be passed by both chambers on 17 August 2009.

The LGE incorporates several reforms to the former LOCE, among them: the reduction of primary education by two years, and it increases secondary school by two, laying down some mechanisms for schools to not discriminate economically students at the time of selection and increase the requirements for becoming holder of a subsidised establishment. The series of reforms is purely cosmetic; the substance remains virtually the same as the LOCE.

It is within this scenario that the new government-sponsored reforms come to position themselves as the third major milestone in the history in the destruction of Chilean education.

The Third Milestone: The New Educational Reform.

The government has begun with mergers and closures of municipal schools, has also decreased the hours of history and social sciences, and aims to change the Teachers’ Statute by liberalising the labour market of workers in education, advancing from exploitation to super-exploitation.

Merger and closure of municipal schools: since the implementation in the 80′s of municipalisation, primary and secondary education began to decline in quality in a brutal fashion, little by little the municipal schools began to bleed; with this growing poor quality of public education, families opted to make the extraordinary effort to pay for a subsidized college thus potentially provide a little better future for their children. There were exceptions where good level of education were maintained, as with the National Institute and Carmela Carvajal and a handful of others, which are transformed during the 90′s into the so-called flagship schools, due to their better academic results than the rest of the municipal secondary schools, over time these schools became elitist, now with the scarce presence of poor people among its enrolled.

Under this logic, the government has proposed and carried forward the idea of increasing the elite colleges to at least 50, expanding coverage to approximately 50,000 students out of the 1 million students in secondary education. The more than 950,000 remaining students must conform to the low performance high schools or permanently move to subsidised schools. To press this migration, the government has gradually began to close or merge schools, with the excuse of low yields. This has left hundreds of students on the streets and teachers without work. At present, nearly 50 high schools have closed, in the poorest communities and regions of the country, as in the Araucanía region (which has the highest regional index of poverty in the country) and in the communes of Cerro Navia and Maipu.

Decrease in hours of History and Social Sciences: From the year 2011, all students from the fifth year of primary until second year of secondary school there will be a one hour reduction in classes of history and social sciences, according to the government, because of the need to improve reading comprehension, which can only be solved by increasing the hours of language study. The ministry of education believes that it is necessary to “know how to read and understand what is read” to move forward in improving the quality of education.

However, those who concentrate in their hands the political and economic power, seek to eliminate discussion spaces that promote the development of knowledge, debate, critical analysis and the general themes of politics and society. On the other hand, it is trying to hide our history, by keeping the society steeped in ignorance… it is a good method to subdue, dominate and exploit without receiving any resistance. Thus with a deft and subtle touch, it is the poorest students who will suffer the consequences, while the children of the rich will continue to receive an enriched and complete education. This explains the reduction in hours of history, more than those of other, dispensable subjects such as, for example, religion.

Reform of the Teachers’ Statute: teachers, unlike the vast majority of Chile’s workers, have a Labor Code different, which has enabled them to remain on the fringes of increasingly precarious labour. What the government wants is to seize these advantages by implementing “voluntary retirement” which would allow teachers to retire early. Also the heads of the institutions would have a special allocation, which would enable them renew the teaching staff by 5 %, affecting teachers who obtain poor results in the assessment of teaching. Another lethal blow is the decrease in hours, which in recent weeks has left hundreds of teachers on the street.

The Background of the Reforms

Beyond the State’s pursuit for these specific reforms or the draft bill that you want to discuss with urgency in the congress, it is the background to the reforms we are most interested in highlighting in this statement:

For those sectors in power, the crisis of education occurs by inefficient use and of resources and expenditure, and is represented in lower yield (quality), ie, an unequal education system is not the problem, the real conflict for them are the low standards of performance, so (as a consequence of neoliberalism) the different sectors linked to the political and economic power have proposed a series of formulas and methods to modify this reality: more or less state intervention, more or less funding, more or less regulation of the market, more or less instruments and tools, etc. Considerations that are always utilitarianism: How do we make education more useful to us at a lowest cost, serving a functional role to the capitalist system?

In practice, it is not difficult to conclude, is that those in power are liquidating the last vestiges of public education in Chile. These days are the preparation of conditions to make education fully serve the interests of exploitation and the capitalist accumulation model, by stabbing directly and coldly the hearts of the students and the poorest families in our country.

The ‘Organised’ Response

It is no revelation to say that only the organised response of the people may contain, or in the best cases: reverse the policies that have been pushing against our class. This need for “organisation and struggle” to get ahead has formed the parts of speech and proposals of many, but despite the fact that such speech is correct and widely disseminated, in practice this has not happened. We have a student movement totally eroded, worn so much defeat, left scattered politically and ideologically, fragmented, atomised and fighting between themselves, and worse yet, within this left, we have a revolutionary left even more dispersed, devoid of a social and politically based historic project, busily engaged in fratricidal struggles with itself, deepening the defeat and the crisis even further. This year was a sad reflection of the above.

A few demonstrations at the beginning of semester, motivated by the rise in Transantiago ticket prices, made us think that perhaps this year it would have been possible to articulate a vigorous student movement, but in practice, beyond the medial demand for a freeze or rate reduction, a few seconds on television, or a few days in public opinion, we were unable to articulate anything serious, much less were able to get a victory, however small this would have been. More than ever, we noted the differences between political organizations, the lack of actual content and the absence of a unified will to confront the right wing government, the ministry of education and the policies of privatisation.

This year it was not possible to position demands or petitions identifiable to all students nor which offered a way out from the immediate problems, simply everything came to nothing: Neither the CONFECH[4], nor the ephemeral AME[5], managed to channel the needs of students. The CONFECH failed to achieve hegemony in the student movement to get them out of their classrooms to protest the timid demands they made, neither could they coopt sufficient strength in order to negotiate from the top and back to the students (as they always do) the claims covering only the most elite sectors of traditional universities. With the lack of grassroots work, legitimacy and coherent policy and proposals, they have passed the buck.

On the other hand AME launched into factional strife, and despite all the potential it showed in the first meetings with mass attendance, could not overcome the hyper-ideological policies of some political organisations, the fractionalist discourses, the lust for power and appearances of some, and so on. AME was destroyed from the inside, before even being born.

On the other hand, secondary school students headed by ACES[6], and assisted by the AES[7], with a more radical discourse and pragmatic actions was able to articulate a small movement, equipped with very concrete historic demands; however, despite the media coverage of certain actions such as the taking of public institutions and high schools, also failed to exceed three thousand students in the streets, and no momentous triumph in their demands.

Social & Political Unity

Political and social unity is becoming increasingly urgent, it is necessary that we, the student organisations sit down to talk and discuss, to overcome the differences which in many cases are more human than political, and work for an organised response of the poor students.

Comrades, the struggle is for education to serve the people and workers, if we do not do so today… tomorrow will be too late for our people.

From the Student Convergence, we make a sincere appeal to:

UNITE, WORK AND STRUGGLE FOR AN EDUCATION FOR THE PEOPLE!

FOR SOCIAL AND POLITICAL UNITY OF THE PEOPLE TO FIGHT!

TO CREATE, BUILD A STUDENT CONVERGENCE!

[1] Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (The Concert of Parties for Democracy), a broad coalition that emerged from the anti-Pinochet resistance (although it excluded the MIR and other revolutionary organisations). The first government of the Concertación marks the start of post-Pinochet governance following the Dec. 1989 election victory of Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin.
[2] Ministerio de Educación de Chile (The Ministry of Education of Chile)
[3] Framework Law, Full School Day & Credit Guaranteed by the State, respectively; the latter is a bit like HECS, on crack.
[4] La Confederación de Estudiantes de Chile (The Confederation of Students of Chile)
[5] La Asamblea Metropolitana de Estudiantes (The Metropolitan Assembly of Students)
[6] Asamblea Coordinadora de Estudiantes Secundarios (Coordinating Assembly of Secondary School Students)
[7] Asamblea de Estudiantes Secundarios (Assembly of High School Students)

There's been solidarity rallies here in Aus in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Here's the letter of solidarity we (LASNET - group I'm in) delivered to the Chilean Consulate during a rally last friday:

To: Chilean Government 19 August, 2011

Mr. Sebastian Piñera
President of Chile
Palacio de la Moneda
Santiago - Chile

c/- Diego Velasco von Pilgrimm
Minister Counselor, Consul General of Chile in Melbourne, Australia
Level 13, 390 St. Kilda Road,
Melbourne, VIC 3004.

Dear Mr. Piñera,

With the ongoing mass mobilisations of students, and their supporters, across Chile, we write to you to add our voices to those of our Chilean brothers and sisters in their struggle for free, quality education for all, at all levels; justice; and real democracy; amongst other demands.

We feel that quality education is a basic human right, not a luxury consumer good. As such, the Chilean State’s ongoing process of liquidation and commodification of public education (as embodied by the merger, closure and endemic underfunding of municipal schools in poor neighbourhoods, the high level of student indebtedness, and the increasing precarity of employment for teachers, amongst others) is reprehensible, and that students have mobilised in opposition to this process is both reasonable and of a necessity to ensure the fulfilment of this right.

Finally, we remain concerned for the health and safety of the number of students maintaining a hunger strike, and for those partaking in demonstrations and occupations; we find it unacceptable that harm has, and may continue to, come to those mobilised for the basic right to free, quality education.

For an education for the people, not profit!

Yours Sincerely,

Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET)
Movement for Peace and Justice - Brisbane
Memoria Viva – Sydney
Colombia Demand Justice Campaign
Chilean Popular & Indigenous Solidarity Network
Mt Nancy Town No mining No Forestry Campaign Friends of the Earth Melbourne
Mujeres Latinoamericanas, Community Radio 3CR
Chile Solidarity – Canberra
Solidaridad para América Latina - Tasmania
Human Rights Initiative - Tasmania
University Students Association
Latin American Solidarity Society - Latrobe University, Victoria
Australia-Honduras Solidarity Coalition

(names of individuals withheld)

[Bentheanarchist]

Chile is still a dictatorship. It is just hides it's dictatorship with fake democracy like The United States or Mexico, or Russia. Chile's ruling party right now is called National Renewal, and it is very Neo-Liberal.

[butcher]

fucking pig scum have murdered a kid, see:

Chilean teenager shot dead during protests
Boy, 16, dies in hospital after sustaining gunshot wound during mass demonstrations against Chile's president, Sebastián Piñera

reports i've read say he was watching the protests with his disabled brother when a police patrol cam past and fired three shots (proper bullets, not rubber bullets as some media is claiming), one struck Manuel Gutiérrez in the chest, killing him.
also reported is: "Three other minors were also shot last night in the same overpass where Manuel died, they are in hospital in a serious condition. As well, students from two "occupied" schools in the same sector were detained by police and accused of making molotov cocktails; plastic soft drink bottles were taken from the school and filled with paint thinner in a crass frame-up. The students were released after almost 24 hours in custody, and are now awaiting trial."

[Bentheanarchist]

fucking pig scum have murdered a kid, see:

Chilean teenager shot dead during protests
Boy, 16, dies in hospital after sustaining gunshot wound during mass demonstrations against Chile's president, Sebastián Piñera

reports i've read say he was watching the protests with his disabled brother when a police patrol cam past and fired three shots (proper bullets, not rubber bullets as some media is claiming), one struck Manuel Gutiérrez in the chest, killing him.
also reported is: "Three other minors were also shot last night in the same overpass where Manuel died, they are in hospital in a serious condition. As well, students from two "occupied" schools in the same sector were detained by police and accused of making molotov cocktails; plastic soft drink bottles were taken from the school and filled with paint thinner in a crass frame-up. The students were released after almost 24 hours in custody, and are now awaiting trial."

The police kill people all the time especially during protests and revolution. The Police should be punished for their crime, but most times they get away. That's why the world doesn't need Police to protect Capitalism and murder people with their weapons handed to them by the state.

[THEBLACKNOVA]

2:12am According to information from Radio Bio Bio, police clashed with masked protesters in Population Pincoya Huechuraba, where one police officer was wounded on one of his hands from a gun shot from the crowd.

6:10 Incidents at Irarrázabal and Vicuña Mackenna Avenue: hooded strikers set fire to barricades in the middle of the street preventing the passage of vehicles. Carabineros (local police) not yet on scene.

6:28 The Santiago Metro reported that train service is operating normally in all stations.

6:30 Police said the bomb alert in the Central Post was a false alarm and did not find any explosive devices at that location

6:34 Police are working to normalize traffic on Avenida Vicuña Mackenna with Irarrázabal and remove barricades set up by hooded strikers.

6:35 Av Matta, Augustine, Santo Domingo are some of the streets that have been taken over by barricades. Carabineros are working to normalize the traffic and break the barricades.

6:40 Barricades in Bellavista, Pio Nono and Santa Maria Av are cutting off traffic on both sides. Students stop light vehicles with large barricades. Carabineros have not been present at the site.

7:15 A lot of traffic congestion in Alameda caused by barricades outside the USACH. The Metro reports that the ULA station access is being controlled due to incidents in the suburbs.

7:20 At the intersection of Esperanza Romero a vehicle was burned out completely. Also in Providence with Eliodoro Yanez, barricades impede traffic.

7:25 Buin, on highway 5 South towards Santiago there is a barricaded of burning tires. High congestion in the area.

7:28 There are barricades at the intersection of Alameda and Pajaritos. Transit with caution.

7:30 – 11:00 Rotonda Atenas, Las Condes, Santiago. A small group of students were shouting and banging cazerolas (pots and pans) by the roundabout throughout the morning. This was accompanied by a heavy police and neighborhood security presence.

7:35 Manuel Gutiérrez Molina, 62 years was hit by Transantiago bus #207. In addition, they found “miguelitos” of different sizes in central Santiago.

7:40 Traffic on Av. San Diego is being diverted by Tarapacá, because of disturbances in the underpass of Allegiance.

8:20 Santiago’s International Airport remains open and functioning normally. A large number of police are in the area.

8:38 Barricades remain outside the headquarters of the University of Chile. Masked protesters pelt policemen with stones and sticks.

8:40 The Undersecretary of the Interior has made a positive statement of the first hour nationwide strike. He said that public transport remains normal and where there were barricades the situation remains under control.

8:51 A small group of hooded men cut off traffic on the Alameda in front of the headquarters of the University of Chile and clash with police.

9:00 Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport. Airport workers are protesting with music and dance at Chile’s main international airport.

9:05 The Transport Minister Pedro Pablo Errazuriz asked via Twitter to the CUT and Arturo Martínez to “condemn the barricades which are affecting thousands of workers in this country.”

9:20 Minister Laurence Golborne tweeted: “Inspecting the Santiago airport operation. So far so normal. Thanks to the workers who make it happen.”

9:23 Government spokesman Andrés Chadwick has said that everything is working in “very normal terms” but we do not want people to be put at risk.”

9:35 The Santiago Metro (@metrodesantiago) reported that its network is operational #paronacional

9:48 Police clashed with masked protesters outside headquarters of the University of Chile

9:52 The Santiago Metro has reported no one is being allowed to enter at the Santa Rosa on Line 4A because of disturbances outside the station.

10:08 The president of CUT, Arturo Martinez refutes the government saying that they are trying to show normalcy “When the whole country knows that the country is not normal today.”

10:18 Bellas Artes, Santiago. A small group of people waving banners, shouting and honking walked down Merced Av. towards Plaza de Armas. No buses were reported in the area.

10:18 Police officers used water cannons and tear gas to disperse a group of about 200 people at the intersection of Santa Rosa with Amerigo Vespucci, after they blocked traffic. Carabineros diverted the flow of vehicles going from west to east by Amerigo Vespucci south on Santa Rosa.

10:25 Police with tear gas had to face a group of 20 masked men who threw stones from the Architecture Building at the University of Chile, on Portugal street. Many of them were located on the roof of the building which features a canvas that says “Strong to the end.” Civilian passers-by were affected by tear gas fumes.

10:28 A policeman was slightly wounded after being bitten by a dog while facing those responsible for the barricades near the main Emergency Hosptial.

10:38 In Maipú, at least 300 workers at the Institute of Social Welfare (former INP) and others are conducting a march on the road east of Gladys Avenue Marin.

10:48 - Chile’s national carrier, LAN Airlines, has said its flights were operating normally during the day, but as a preventive measure called for passengers of international flights to arrive to the airport three hours before their schedule departure time and two hours for domestic travelers.

11:07 Approximately six people have been arrested by GOPE (Special Operations Police officer) in the operation to restore traffic in Santa Rosa and Avenida Americo Vespucio.

11:09 Copiapó–students maintain an occupation of various streets in the city and have been clashing with police since 7:30.

11:27 University and secondary students march on Macul, blocking traffic.

11:40 Sub-secretary Rodrigo Ubilla, says the government has realized a new balance of the security situation in the country.

11:41 Another group is marching from the south on Macul to Altura de Grecia according to the CUT.

11:48 CUT president Martinez says that the points of reunion this Thursday are Plaza Italia, Central Station, Mapocho Station and San Diego de Placer.

11:50 The transport operation authority reported that another march is heading north along Americo Vespucio Av. to Presidente Riesco Av. and through Pajaritos as well. There have also been disturbances reported in Alameda Av. by Irene Morales area.

11:55 Martinez says that the success of the strike shows that the workers have reason to protest.

12:00pm Grecia Av. with Macul Av., Santiago. Confrontations between protesters and carabineros (local police)

12:00 Plaza Baquedano, Santiago. Approximately 150 protesters, primarily students and workers, march down the streets towards the West along Alameda Av. Some scuffles with carabineros have been reported, but otherwise the protest remains calm.

12:04 Sub-secretary of the interior Rodrigo Ubilla, says that 35 people were detained and 11 injured during CUT strike. Nine injured were policemen 2 were civilians.

12:08 “The citizens have shown today that they do not support the paralysis of the country, as many have gone to their respective jobs today,” the president of the Workers Commission, Felipe Salaberry, said today.

12:11 The vice president of the ex-pedagogic student federation cited more than one thousand protesters in Grecia Av.

12:14 President Piñera states at a press conference today, “The instrument is wrong (…) It’s one thing to strike, it’s another to paralyze a country… When the country is paralyzed no one wins, everybody loses.” He further stated that the government is fully aware that there are many problems still to be resolved.

12:17 Plaza de Armas, Talca. A group of protesters are holding peaceful strike actions.

12:18 The transport authority announced that peak hour for the Santiago metro will be brought forward for 16:00. More trains will be frequenting the metro lines as is normal for 17:00, but the tariff will not be raised for this period.

12:22 Copiapó. Radio Cooperativa reports that the family of an 18 year old man stated that he was arrested on his way to the hospital for his child’s birth. Police believed him to be part of the students who were throwing rocks at a nearby school.

12:34 Atacama. Manifestations have been reported in the Atacama region, primarily in Antofagasta.

12:38 La Serena. Protest have been reported, but no significant incidents have occurred.

12:54 According to CUT a large line of people is marching to Gran Avenida, to the north, past Américo Vespucio.

12:54 Viña del Mar. A peaceful march has been carried out by workers and students from the main plaza in Viña del Mar. Aside from disrupting some traffic, no incidents were reported.

13:39 The Health Ministry reports that only 6% of a work force totalling 100,000 people have participated in the strike.

13:39 The Chamber of Commerce reports that the strike has had no effect on the metropolitan region’s business.

14:00 The Governor of Santiago, Cecilia Perez announced the authorized sections of the city for tomorrow’s simultaneous marches. “Any other routes than those proposed by the Administration are not authorized.” The Governor reiterated the need to have dialogue in order to avoid disturbances. Approved Routes include: Exposicion to Almeda West, Estacion Mapocho to Balmaceda, and San Martin and Cumming.

14:23 Hooded people launch molotov cocktails from the inside the University of Santiago.

14:30 The Chief of the Metropolitan Zone José Luis Ortega, said that there are concerns about tonight. There will be a large deployment of personnel in all of Santiago with some areas already being identified.

14:31 Carabineros shoot tear gas and water on Paseo Ahumada. The majority of businesses are closed.

14:39 Rocks are being thrown at police from both bridges on Alameda.

14:46 Sub-secretary of the Interior Rodrigo Ubilla says that the mobilization of the CUT was a huge failure and that the majority of cities are functioning normally.

14:49 Traffic was restored on the roads north and south of Alameda.

14:52 Metro Santiago reported that the metro will function as normal. At 16:00 hours the trains will increase and prices will remain as usual.

15:00 Following the incidents in San Diego with Alameda police are facing protestors with water hoses and tear gas.

15:34 Governors of Bío-Bío, Arauco y Ñuble announced a low turnout to the CUT strike. Trade and transport functioned normally in Bio Bio while only two percent of people adhered to the strike in Ñuble. Eight percent of people in Arauco participated. Most of the participants in Arauco were involved in health and human services.

16:00 The four routes that have been approved by the Metropolitan Municipality will be open for marching starting at 9:30. All routes will converge at Calle Cumming and Alameda. Demonstrations will be allowed until 16:00 hours Thursday.

16:07 The organizers of SANFIC reported that this afternoon’s events will be suspended at the GAM and Lastarria 90, because of the national strike.

16:46 Transportation Minister, Pedro Pablo Errazuriz is touring several stops in Transantiago to understand the situation users face.

17:00 Twitter users announce that several metro stations have serious operational problems, particularly at the Santa Ana station on line 5.

17:14 CUT responds to Piñera’s statements by saying that social inequality damages Chile.

17:30 Chile’s Ipsa index ended 0.1% lower today as investors got weary about the national 48-hour general strike.

17:31 The president of the Federation of the Ministry of Public Service said that they will participate in marches tomorrow.

17:45 The Health Minister is grateful that the students in Buin have ended their hunger strike.

18:01 ANEF (the national fiscal employee’s association) says that 80% of public employees adhered to the strike.

18:10 The Santiago Metro informs that all of its services are fully operational and there are no disruptions to transit schedules.

18:28 CUT has been given permission to march on Thursday as part of the national strike. The march route will end in the area of Cumming and Alameda in Santiago.

18:40 The operative unit for transit control in Santiago says that there is traffic congestion at Américo Vespucio Av. heading south to Tobalaba and Av. Kennedy.

18:48 Youths holding a UDI campus persist.

19:20 Speaking from La Moneda Palace government spokesman, Andrés Chadwick, reported on the first day of nationwide strike. According to Chadwick, so far 348 have been detained for public disorder. 19 policemen and 15 civilians have been injured nationwide. He said.”We feel very happy to see that the objective of the stoppage has not been fulfilled,”

19:29 As the hours pass fewer cars are seen in areas of Vitacura and Las Condes.

19:38 Transport Minister, Pedro Pablo Errazuriz, noted that most Transantiago drivers did not adhere to call to strike.

19:40 The Secretary of State announced that it has a contingency plan, including monitoring by the Task Force of Traffic Control (UOCT) and the Monitoring Centre Transantiago Buses to “apply quick detours “at roadblocks.

19:47 The operator SuBus reported that “except for services that operate from St. Bernard (201-211-211E-201c-211c-201)”, the rest of the fleet “operates as normal.”

19:51 The president of the Confederation of Workers, Arturo Martinez, acknowledged that three of the four paths proposed by the Metropolitan Municipality for the march called for tomorrow. The idea for the organization is at least one of the tours start at Plaza Italia and going down the Alameda to Ricardo Cumming.

19:55 Some supermarkets in eastern Santiago decided to close their doors early to avoid inconvenience to their employees.

19:59 Traffic on Av Colon, between San Ignacio and Las Heras, remains closed by roadblocks.

21:45 Up to 500 people gathered at Plaza Ñuñoa banging pots (cacerolazo).

21:56 One hundred people at Plaza Egaña are banging pots

21:59 Protesters begin to install barricades at Villa Francia, west of Santiago.

22:01 Metro station Santa Rosa closed on the line 4A due to protests on the surface.

22:06 At Rotonda Athens and Tomás Moro, Las Condes, a group of about 20 people are banging pots.

22:07 About 200 people in Victoria Square, Valparaiso bang pots, install barricades and attacked police with stones.

22:10 A demonstration blocked the road between Concepción and Talcahuano, in Alonso de Ribera, in the Bío Bío Region.

22:11 Transantiago reports three lines covering the area of Cerro Navia, 505, 510 and 513, have suspended services.

22:14 Protesters armed with chains break street lighting in a large area of Pincoya, north of Santiago, where this morning a policeman was injured.

22:18 A Hooded gang is surrounding a gas station in the area of Villa Francia.

22:55 A member of the press was hit by a pellet during incidents in Villa Francia, an area of west Santiago. Police dispersed gang at gas station.

23:12 A police officer was shot and wounded in the leg in the Pincoya area , north Santiago. In the same place, another policeman was injured by gunfire on Wednesday morning. The officer, identified as Christian Kunstmann, was taken to Hospital.

23:18 Neighbors reported sounds of gunfire in the area of Tobalaba and Grecia. The public transportation is all but nonexistent.

23:19 Shots heard in the community of El Bosque in the Los Morros, where police halted the attempted looting of a supermarket.

23:37 A criminal element looted a Unimarc supermarket in San Bernardo in the area of Padre Hurtado on the 13,900 block, according to witnesses.

[THEBLACKNOVA]

00:00am Neighbors reported attempts of looting of shops and homes in Villa Francia. SO far attempts haver been prevented by police.

00:04 The public transportation is virtually non existant in many of the capital’s major areas.

00:09 Violent clashes in the area of Lo Hermida area of Peñalolén, where hooded criminal elements disrupted traffic on avenida Grecia and threw Molotov cocktails at police services.

00:25 Three supermarkets were looting by mobs in the Los Morros, San Bernardo, according to police reports. Four people were arrested at night.

1:04 Hooded criminal elements threw Molotov cocktails in the area of Guerrero and San Bascuñán Isidro.

1:28 Unknown criminal elements ransacked a bakery in municipality of La Florida.

1:32 Chilean national newspaper (emol.com) has reported that three policemen have been injured by a bullets during disturbances late last night and this morning. Two of them were hit by gunfire during a shooting attack against the 54th Precinct in Huechuraba. The officers who were injured are: Christian Kunstmann, captain Claudio Barrios and a third officer, Sergeant Mora Ericson Borquez, who was hit by gunfire in Quinta Normal.

1:42 Criminal elements entered the neighborhood of San Ramon, located on Avenida Américo Vespucio and Santa Rosa, where they caused havoc.

2:02 A car set ablaze on the North-South highway in the area of General Velásquez with Los Penguins.

2:03 Another shop looted on Independence Street in the area of Diego Silva.

7:00 Barricades installed. at various locations throughout the country. At least three carabineros (police) were injured by gunfire.

7:20 According to the latest information, there are 348 detained people throughout the country, 19 injured police officers and 15 injured civilians.

8:04 Barricades impeded traffic flow on Av. Vicuña Mackenna and Matta.

8:40 Government spokesman, Andrés Chadwick, stated that the government would not restrain themselves from applying the law if protesters become unruly during today’s marches.

9:06 The Transantiago coordinator, Raimundo Cruzat, announce via Twitter that at 8:30 this morning there were 5211 buses circulating through Santiago and that they were operating at 98% capacity.

9:50 Traffic was interrupted for more than half an hour along Av. San Miguel which connects the Talca and San Clemente communes. This was due to students from the Universidad Católica del Maule took the road and installed barricades and started fires.

9:57 Hundreds of students gather at USACH in Santiago, occupying the south of Av. Alameda. Police diverted traffic from the area.

10:00 A group gathers in San Diego and Placer Av. to commence their march.

10:10 Santiago Metro says that all lines are fully operational, with exception of the Cal y Canto station where the access to Mapocho is closed.

10:15 Arturo Martínez, president of CUT, is at Plaza Italia to participate in the march.

10:30 The UOCT informs via Twitter that western Providencia Av. is redirected for traffic towards Eliodoro Yáñez/Puente Arzobispo (bridge Arzobispo).

10:32 n Concepción, protesters are circulating along Puente Llacolen 9Llacolen bridge) towards the city.

10:33 The march from Mapocho station begins. The crowd is estimated at 20 thousand people.

10:44 According to reports, only Gloria Negrete had been maintaining an active hunger strike among the students who announced the end of their hunger strike yesterday.

10:48 Thousands march along government approved routes.

11:14 Traffic blocked at the Arturo Prat and Aldunate intersection in Santiago.

11:15 Traffic along Plaza Italia has been restored along the northern lane of Alameda Av.

11:22 The groups have converged at Cumming Street.

11:24 At midday the general director of carabineros will go to the hospital to visit those who have been injured in the past few hours.

11:26 According to “Radio Bío Bío” Minister Longueira has affirmed that “if i couldn’t pay for my children’s education I would also be marching.”

11:28 Access is being controlled at station Santa Ana and San Martin.

11:30 A group of women identified as prostitutes have joined the march.

11:37 The secretary general of the UDI, senator Víctor Pérez, says that “the only people that have gained anything from the paralysis are vandals and delinquents.”

11:37 people living in building 860 on Curicó Street throw confetti to show their support.

11:37 About 7,000 people march in Valparaíso. The group is mainly formed with workers and university students. They will meet in Plaza Sotomayor and advance to congress from there.

11:45 64 detained in the Metropolitan Region for the disorganization yesterday. 44 of them are underage.

11:46 The march is moving down Street Paicaví and Bulnes in Concepción. near the center of the city.

11:49 Street 18 is blocked by police buses

11:58 On Alameda and San Martin there is a large contingent of Police personnel with water hoses and tear gas mounted on cars.

12:00pm Police call for calm through loudspeakers and redirect the march toward the routes approved by the government in Alameda and Cumming.

12:03 Parliament coalitions and the leaders of CUT begin a march in Plaza Italia on the authorized route of the Government.

12:20 The metro is functioning as normal. Places where they suffered the most damage have been fixed. La Moneda station is closed.

12:21 In the middle of the march a couple dropped to the ground and started kissing which captured the attention of all involved.

12:25 The routes around Providencia/Alameda are redirected around Miraflores (buses) and Mac-Iver (cars) access from Lord Cochrane to Santa Isabel is closed.

12:34 The attorney for Buin Liceo A-131, Marcos Aránguiz, demanded the government dismiss the Minister of Health Jaime Mañalich.

12:35 Carabineros started to install fences in the sector of Calle San Martín (street), where 3 of the 4 columns of protesters will meet up.

12:35 Close to 5 000 people participated in the march of the city of Copiapó. They met near City Hall.

12:40 People continue to arrive at Alameda, the demonstrations are allowed until 14:00 hours.

13:00 The Mayor of Santiago, Pablo Zalaquett, said to CNN “I would’ve liked it if the CUT had chosen a central place for the event because it seems dangerous to keep the people marching.”

13:00 Chilectra reported that 59,000 clients were affected by partial interruptions of service affecting some of the 12 communes of the Metropolitan Region during the first day of the strike.

13:03 Protesters climbed some bars located in the Palace Ariztía, headquarters of the Chamber of Deputies in the capital, in the area of Plaza Los Heroes.

13:04 Protesters set fire to a float on Manuel Rodriguez in Alameda.

13:10 The President of the FEUC Giorgio Jackson, called on the government to “put aside their ideological positions and give way to a position that appears to be a popular opinion in the country.””

13:12. The Metro station Los Héroes on line 1 continues to be open to the public to help with the quantity of people in the area for the march.

13:16 Leader of CUT, Arturo Martinez, said to radio Cooperativa that he didn’t know how many people were in the streets but said what was important was to know that the streets of Santiago were full and that people should take notice of this.

13:17 More than 10,000 people fill the streets of La Serena.

13:18 The artistic protests on Cumming Street take place peacefully.

13:30 According to radio Cooperativa, an unknown group threw stones at cars and buses that entered Constitución during the morning.

13:33 The National director of Security and Public Order of carabineros, Aquiles Blu said that 6 people in uniform were injured by a projectile in “one of the most violent nights in recent history.”

13:44 In San Martin and Alameda Av. a group of protesters made a human chain with their arms up to prevent hooded protesters from throwing lemons at the Police Special Forces for this action they were thanked via loudspeakers.

14:10 At the moment that some protesters have left, hooded people start to appear on Cumming.

14:11 Minister Matthei said that a little over 9% of laborers that could’ve participated in the strike today actually participated.

14:20 A small group of hooded people begin to throw stones at police officers who are blocking the way to La Moneda.

14:23 A protest causes injuries on San Martin and Alameda.

14:26 Barricades are burned in front of the high school, Los Salesianos, on Cumming.

14:38 Across the loudspeakers on Tucapel Jiménes Street and Alameda the Colonel of the Police Special Forces asked that “people who are acting in a violent way need to stop their actions and those who are acting peacefully should help us to control them. Helping us does not detract from maintaining a peaceful form of protest. As people are thankful that this march has been authorized in order to control people.”

14:46 A person is injured in the eye on San Martín and Alameda Av. Hooded protesters break the traffic signal and carabineros start to launch tear gas.

14:47 The protesters disperse to the other side of La Alameda.

14:49 Due to the clashes outside of the metro station Los Héroes, it’s only open for passengers to leave. According to Metro Santiago the rest of the metro is operating as usual.

15:00 The disturbances also occur on Alameda with Manuel Rodríguez street where a group of violent people are attempting to move east. Carabineros act.

15:01 On France Avenue and Brazil in Valparaíso there are barricades and confrontations with Police. The same is occurring on Errázuriz, another of the principle avenues of the region. According to police the march drew 40 000 people in Valparaíso.

15:07 New confrontations are reported on Alameda and Cienfuegos in Santiago.

15:10 Police shoot water hoses at the hooded protesters and the peaceful protesters applaud.

15:11 The metro station at República, part of line 1, is closed because of the protests outside. It is only open for passengers to leave.

16:10 Access to Valparaíso is stopped. Buses are impeded at the city port.

16:13 An anti-socialist group attack the neighborhood of República and begin to loot. Carabineros haven’t arrived yet.

16:16 The metro station at La Universidad de Chile is being controlled at streets Ahumada and Nueva York.

16:24 Businesses in the whole of the Alameda area and the surrounding neighborhood of República are closed.

16:30 Although criminal activity has decreased the metro stations. Los Héroes and República are being permanently controlled.

16:32 Hooded protesters tried to loot the bank Santander in the area of Alameda and República. But noticed a police presence inside and stopped.

16:33 The bank has broken glass all over the floor and chairs are being burned. The security camera captured the hooded figures on tape.

16:40 Certain sectors of Alameda have re-established vehicular transit.

16:44 Protestors maintain obstacles to transit with barricades on Colón Avenue and Rodríguez, in Valparaíso.

17:21 Arturo Martínez, the leader of CUT, said that more than 600,000 people mobilized in all of Chile today.

17:35 Carabineros (police) are distributed along commercial properties on Alameda Av. Traffic is running on both sides of the street though stone tossing and the application of tear gas continues.

17:38 20 to 30 individuals attempted to break through the doors and gates of a McDonalds in the República neighborhood in Santiago. They tried to escape with food and they scratched the walls of the locale.

17:49 According to radio Cooperativa, sales in Valparaíso came to practically zero due to the protests.

18:05 The national commerce, service and tourism committee (Cámara Nacional de Comercio, Servicios y Turismo de Chile) declared that business throughout Chile today operated positively. Relative normality in markets was noted in most major cities.

18:16 Carabineros dispersed protesters from the Universidad de Chile along Ahumada Av. with tear gas emitting vehicles.

18:17 Around 200 people have realized incidents in Plaza Perú in Concepción.

18:21 The Minister of Energy, Rodrigo Álvarez, announced at Chilectra that service has been restored almost to its entirety to the 12 communes which were affected earlier today.

18:45 ANEF states that more than 80% of public workers participated in the national strike today.

18:50 Government spokesperson, Andrés Chadwick, thanked everyone who did not participate in the protests today and for keeping the country going. He further called for a “night of peace” and renewed his invitation to the respective organizations for dialog.

19:12 Hooded protesters attack Iglesia Gratitud Nacional (national gratitude church) in downtown Santiago, setting the doors on fire and throwing paint and stones. It is a historical monument which was being repaired from damage from the earthquake in 2010.

19:23 Andrés Chadwick remarks that the national strike did not paralyze the country.

20:30 Barricades reported in Temuco, Valparaíso and Hualqui.

20:50 The governor of the Province of Concepción remarks that, according to estimates made by local police or carabineros, there are about 25 thousand protesters.

21:10 About 80 people gathered to start cazerolas (making noise with pots and pans) at Rotonda Atenas (roundabout) in Las Condes, Santiago. Carabineros are keeping an eye on the protesters.

21:15 About 500 people have gathered at Plaza Ñuñoa in Santiago to participate in cazerolas.

21:18 Small groups of protesters attempt to interrupt traffic in downtown Santiago. They were repelled by police via water cannon.

21:40 Fires interrupt traffic on Grecia Av. and Las Parcelas, Santiago.

21:45 Residents of La Pincoya to the north of Santiago have begun a cazerolaso (pots and pans protest) near the place where they had been attacked by carabineros ealier. No incidents reported.

22:00 About 30 students perform a cazerolaso at the occupied Casa Central (central house) of Universidad de Chile in Alameda, Santiago.

22:02 Several protesters confront carabineros, throwing rocks at bus stop 25 in Santa Rosa Av. in the south of Santiago.

22:18 Electricity cuts are reported in Puente Alto, Santiago.

22:20 There are reports of barricades installed in the communes of Independencia, Recoleta and La Pintana.

22:25 Plaza Italia, Plaza Brasil and Plaza Ñuñoa represent the points of Santiago where the greatest number of people have gathered to perform cazerolasos (pots and pans protest).

22:30 Up till now there are 210 people detained throughout the country for multiple reasons, 140 of those are from the Metropolitan Region.

22:41 Three women are detained in Chiguayante in the Biobío Region. They are accused of setting up barricades on Manuel Rodríguez Av.

22:42 Protesters clash with carabineros in Amanecer, Temuco. Cazerolas are reported throughout the city.

22:43 About 50 students continue to occupy the Universidad del Mar campus in La Serena.

22:45 Approximately 300 protesters are in Colón Av. in Valparaíso in front of the Eduardo de la Barra school. They attempted to march from Plaza Victoria to the National Congress.

22:46 In Villa Francia, an unidentified group of people set up barricades and confronted carabineros. Another grou0p attempted to sack a nearby service center. Gunfire was heard in the area.

22:50 Barricades block traffic on La Florida Av. at the intersection with Walker Martínez. Hooded protesters throw rocks at cars and buses and are charging a toll, threatening drivers if they do not
pay.

22:58 Gunfire has been reported by residents of various locations in the capital, such as in Villa Francia, Recoleta, Puente Alto and Ñuñoa.

22:59 Small businesses and kiosks are being set on fire in various parts of the capital.

23:11 According to news reports, students who had been occupying the San Joaquín campus of the Universidad Católica have decided to leave the premises peacefully.

23:30 Gunfire continues in Villa Francia, it has not ceased since it started.

23:40 Violent incidents reported in Peñalolén, including clashes between protesters and police and setting a school bus on fire, firefighters could not intervene due to barricades.

23:43 26 carabineros (police) are reported injured so far.

23:53 Carabineros inform that two 16 year olds have been detained for driving around in a stolen car along Vicuña Mackenna Av. in Santiago.

00:00am In Quilicura, a group of people took advantage of disturbances to vandalize the Juan Luis Undurraga Aninat school.

00:05 Serious clashes reported in front of the Ñuñoa Commission. Carabineros have asked for support from the PDI.

00:07 Students who had taken the Faculty of Humanities at the Universidad Católica have been removed after less than 4 hours since their take over.

00:20 Residents in La Pintana are reporting that a local supermarket is presently being looted.

00:31 According to social networks, gunfire is being heard in parts of Quilicura, Cerro Navia (hill) and Estación Central (central station).

[butcher]

Cheers blacknova, but can I haz dates (assume is the dayz of the 48 hour strike) and sauces (i assume its some media's live blog or something?) ?

[THEBLACKNOVA]

Chile, a timeline of a 48 hour nationwide strike…

Chile Day 1, August 24, 2011.
Chile Day 2, August 25, 2011

Source: I LOVE CHILE “Promoting English in Chile, Promoting Chile in English, Chile’s only English Language Media Group”

DAY 1
http://www.ilovechile.cl/2011/08/24/upd ... edit/27878

Day 2
http://www.ilovechile.cl/2011/08/25/chi ... ntry/28222

[THEBLACKNOVA]

Why are we fighting? (English) - Free Education in Chile

[THEBLACKNOVA]

Failed Education Reform in Chile Prompts Protests

Aug 4, 2011

Democracy NOW! DN! - In Chile, tens of thousands of students have been protesting across the country for the last several weeks demanding comprehensive educational reforms. Students have expressed frustration at President Sebastián Piñera's failure to respond to their demands. Last week, high school students in the port city of Antofagasta joined a hunger strike by students called earlier in the capital, Santiago. They are demanding an end to privatized education in Chile, which has left generations of students deep in debt. We speak with Chilean political scientist Patricio Navia in Santiago. He teaches at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University and at the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago. He writes regularly for the Chilean newspaper, La Tercera. Published with written permission from democracynow.org. http://www.democracynow.org Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license. Democracy NOW!, an independent non-profit user funded news media, recognized and broadcast world wide.

[THEBLACKNOVA]

Published on Aug 26, 2011 by AFP.

A 48-hour national strike in Chile has led to two nights of violence and hundreds of arrests, with clashes breaking out on Thursday during student protests demanding education reforms.

[THEBLACKNOVA]

Published on Aug 24, 2011 by Euronews

Chile has seen its first two-day national strike since the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

This follows clashes with police in recent weeks as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to demonstrate against conservative President Sebastian Pinera.

On the first day of the strike, protesters barricaded roads and burned tyres in parts of the capital, Santiago.

The strike was called by Chile's main umbrella trade union CUT. Other national strikes since Pinochet's time 20 years ago have been called just for one day.

[THEBLACKNOVA]

Chile leader wants talks; 1 dead, 1,400 arrests

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) Aug. 26, 2011— After three months of mass protests that provoked a sharp drop in his popularity, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera agreed Friday to negotiate with students and teachers demanding more state funding for education and profound changes in government.

Pinera, who leads Chile's center-right political coalition, made the call for dialogue as people recovered from a two-day nationwide strike called by the country's largest union organization. As students, teachers and pot-banging families around the country joined in, the strike turned into a huge protest against his 18-month old government.

Most marchers were peaceful but scattered violence marred the protests, and a 16-year-old boy was shot to death early Friday, allegedly by a police bullet, as officers responded to looting and riots. Nearly 1,400 people were arrested nationwide, and more than 200 police and civilians were injured.

"After more than three months in which we've seen violence and conflict flourish, now is the time for peace, the time for unity, the time for dialogue, the time for agreements," Pinera said.

He took care to invite representatives of all the sectors involved — students, teachers, parents, professors and those who run the nation's schools and universities — and say that education reform talks should take place in the presidential palace as well as Congress.

That represents an about-face for Pinera, who had avoided talking directly with protesting students or openly considering their demands before sending his 21-point package of education proposals to Congress.

The students had their own list when they began taking over high schools and universities three months ago, from more state funding to better teacher training, and a guarantee of free quality education to all Chileans. But their demands grew to include a new constitution to replace the top-down political system dictated by Gen. Augusto Pinochet's regime, and popular referendums to give Chileans a direct voice in their democracy.

Union organizers of the nationwide strike added their own list, including major changes to pensions, health care and the labor code.

Camilo Ballesteros, student president at the University of Santiago, praised Pinera's overture.

The student leader at the University of Concepcion, Guillermo Petersen, credited the movement's pressure for changing the president's mind, but said it remains to be seen how willing Pinera will be to make real concessions.

Students planned to decide this weekend how to respond. The presidents of Chile's House and Senate, representing leftist and rightist parties, had offered to sponsor negotiations, but Pinera and the students were both leery of participating.

Neighbors blamed the death of Manuel Gutierrez on police gunfire. Deputy Interior Minister Rodrigo Ubilla suggested the boy may have died while confronting police, and said the case should be clarified quickly.

Union members estimated that 600,000 people participated in Thursday's marches nationwide. Police offered no nationwide numbers, but estimated far lower crowds in Santiago. What is clear is that some isolated student boycotts have grown to become Chile's largest mass movement since democracy was reestablished in 1991.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... a565ff0a8b

[metalhead]

espero ke la mesa de dialogo sirva y lleguen a un acuerdo los estudiante y el gobierno del sr piñera lo uniko ke kiera mas dinero para ellos y los pobres ke no tendran derecho a estudiar menos mal ke mis hija tendran educ. pero tendre ke trabajar mucho pero la idea es la educ. primaria gratis x ke los niños tienen el derecho a estudiar y la educ. superior no subirles mas los aranceles espero ke todo esto termine pronto ya ke mis hijas tienen derecho ala educacion como la tuve yo o sino tendre ke salir a la calle x defender la educ. de mis hijas . El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido sr piñera !!!!!!!!

[THEBLACKNOVA]

Camila Vallejo, the Face of Chile’s Student Revolution

Published at 2:19 pm, August 29, 2011

http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com ... /cail3.jpg

In only 2 months, the 23 year-old leader of the student protests in Chile has received countless death threats while keeping Chile’s government in check.

Camila Vallejo Dowling has become the living nightmare of Chilean President Sebastián Piñera. Her beauty, brains, eloquent speech and the clarity and sheer strength of her ideas and proposals have made her one of the main actors in Chile’s current political stage—the face of the Student Movement in Chile.

Her image is in the face of every newspaper, and seems to grow popular at the same rate President Piñera’s grows unpopular. Vallejo has an admirable capability to solidly state the needs, and demands of Chilean students with the same intransigent humility and powerful, charismatic logic before thousands at a march, inside the chambers of the education ministry, or as a guest on a talk show.

“We don’t want violence, our fight is not versus the police or to destroy commercial shops … our fight is to recover the right to education, on that we have been emphatic and clear,” said Vallejo in a speech outside La Moneda, Chile’s presidential palace.

Hundreds of students had been marching peacefully, banging pots and chanting to demand education as a right, and not as a purchasable good, and were met with teargas by police. As she spoke, Camila was surrounded by a peace sign made with empty teargas canisters thrown at students, and symbolically returned to La Moneda.



“Here we have more than 50m pesos’ worth of teargas bombs,” said Vallejo. “Imagine how much was used on the regional or the national level? This is unacceptable, we want to reiterate our demand that we made to the minister of the interior that he step aside.”

Not in a long time a Latin American rebel leader’s voice resonated with such power among the people. Earlier this month, the government ordered Police protection for her, after she begun receiving death threats from opposition groups, by phone and on the social networks.

Tatiana Acuña, a former official from the ministry of culture was fired after suggesting protesting in Chile would end if Camila was assassinated.

Youth groups close to the government of Piñera hacked into her personal files, and published private information, including her home address.

Nothing though, has thus far stopped Camila from writing her mind on her blog, being a constant presence on twitter and becoming the icon of the Chilean Student Revolution.

Camila is the daughter of Reinaldo Vallejo and Mariela Dowling, former members of the Chilean Communist Party in the 1970s.

Vallejo lived her childhood between the communes of Macul and La Florida, and she studied in Colegio Raimapu, a mixed-private school in La Florida. In 2006, Vallejo entered the University of Chile to study geography, but the current state of the Chilean education system has complicated the completion and evaluation of her thesis, which she will publish once education in Chile is a right, and not a luxury.

http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com ... ideo/9932/

[THEBLACKNOVA]

‘It's like we're back to the Pinochet era’

29/08/2011 / CHILE /France 24-International news 24/7



Chilean President Sebastian Pinera called for a dialogue with demonstrators on Sunday after three months of protests culminated in violence during last week’s two-day national strike. Yet, as protest leaders prepare to meet with Pinera over the unrest, videos and stories of unprovoked police brutality have surfaced on the Internet, putting the country’s policing tactics into question.

Chile’s protests were first sparked by a student movement denouncing the country’s schools as dysfunctional and unequal. Their ranks quickly swelled as professors and parents joined the demonstrations demanding Pinera’s government provide the country with an adequate public education system. Before long, the protests grew to include workers unions calling for pension and healthcare reforms.

On August 24-25, thousands of people took part in a two-day national strike (600,000 participants according to event organisers versus a police count of 175,000). However, the demonstrations were marred by violent clashes between protesters and security forces. As the strikes wound down, the country took stock of the damage – more than 1,300 people had been arrested, and several police officers wounded in the unrest. Most tragically however, a teenage boy died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

In response to the violence triggered by Chile’s student demonstrations, Amnesty International has expressed concern about the excessive force used by police against protesters in a statement published on August 18, and has called for an investigation.

“I was beaten, insulted and then I was imprisoned”

"Matías J. Hernández is a student in Chile’s capital, Santiago. He participated in protests there on August 24.

I was arrested by police on Wednesday [August 24] while I was protesting peacefully with my mother and some friends. I was beaten, insulted and then I was imprisoned for more than seven hours. I found myself in a cell with a number of older men, who were there for different reasons than me. I was angry, because the only thing I had done wrong was to film the protest with my camera. I feel like we’ve returned to the time of Pinochet – a time when a citizen’s fundamental rights were denied [Augusto Pinochet Ugarte seized power in Chile during a 1973 coup, ushering in 17 years of military rule until he stepped aside in 1990].

The morning after my arrest, the police finally had to release me because they had no proof I had done anything wrong.

After this experience, I’m thinking about going to a human rights organisation because of the physical and psychological damage I’m suffering from. I’m also thinking about going after the individuals responsible for my arrest.”


A police officer pulls out his weapon in front of a group of protesters, before driving away on his motorcycle without making a single arrest. According to the daily news website El Mostrador, this scene took place in front of a high school in Santiago, where students and civil servants were attempting to disrupt traffic during the country’s two-day strike. The armed police officer arrived on the scene as a teacher attempted to intervene in the arrest of a student. Video posted on Youtube by buskaglia75.

"Police don’t attack peaceful protesters unless they’re not respecting the rules"

Marcelo Colomera lives in Temuco, south of Santiago.

"The only protests that end badly are the ones with encapuchados [masked individuals]. In this case, the police have to show their authority. Today, delinquents are no longer afraid of the police. They don’t hesitate to throw stones or Molotov cocktails at them. So, the police have to be firm.

With that said, the police don’t attack peaceful protesters unless they’re not respecting the rules. For example, if they don’t follow the predetermined protest route.

I respect democracy and therefore I respect the right to protest. But I don’t respect the actions of encapuchados."


A police officer throws a teargas bomb into the postal workers union headquarters in Santiago. Video posted on Youtube AkiraDaFlavor.


An unarmed man is hit several times by a police officer. He is then taken to a police van. Video posted on Youtube by Grck7.

“We hope that all incidents of police brutality will be brought before a court”

Ana Piquer is the director of Amnesty International in Chile.

"There’s no official census specifically on incidents of police abuse in Chile. There have always been cases of abuse, but these last few months of protests have had a serious impact on the number of people who have come forward saying they are the victims of random violence. For example, we’ve heard of police using teargas against innocent people or using excessive force.

The growing number of cases prompted us a few days ago to call on public officials to open an investigation into police brutality. In the two days that we’ve been waiting for an answer, several new complaints have been reported to us.

The argument that protesters should distance themselves from thugs in order to avoid being confused with them by police doesn’t hold. Security forces should be able to identify rioters from what are otherwise mostly peaceful protesters. Arrests should be made in accordance with international standards and respect the rights of the individual concerned. The police should respect innocent protesters. To say the contrary suggests that any protester could be subject to blind repression.

We hope that all incidents of police brutality will be brought before a court, but we’re not very optimistic. The public authorities have never showed any kind of willingness to investigate these kinds of cases.”


A young, unarmed protester is apprehended by a policeman, and beaten in the face. The person who filmed the incident hopes to identify the officer. Video posted on Youtube by DiarioLaVilla.

http://observers.france24.com/content/2 ... ity-pinera

[butcher]

“We don’t want violence, our fight is not versus the police or to destroy commercial shops … our fight is to recover the right to education, on that we have been emphatic and clear,” said Vallejo in a speech outside La Moneda, Chile’s presidential palace.

Had seen this Guardian article before.
Seriously, what sorta fucking pissweak reformist sorta communist is she anywayz?
Oh wait, a fairly typical one...
How long till the CONFECh succeeds in selling the students out i wonder?


oh and this:

Bullet from officer's UZI machine gun matches that found in student's body, prosecutor says.

The bullet that killed 16-year-old high school student Manuel Gutiérrez last week was fired from Carabinero police officer Miguel Millacura's firearm, prosecutor Jorge Martinez confirmed late Monday night. Martinez said that experts reviewed 160 weapons before concluding that Millacura’s was a match.

Millacura was asked to resign earlier Monday after admitting to using his firearm in the Macul borough of Santiago near where Gutiérrez was shot and killed Thursday night.
According to an announcement by Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter, Millacura hid his 9mm UZI submachine gun and changed the ammunition after the incident to avoid detection by the prosecutor's office.

In a press conference, Minister Hinzpeter also formally requested that the national director of Carabineros ask Gen. Sergio Gajardo, deputy chief of the Metropolitan Zone, to resign. Gajardo rejected the possibility of police involvement in the student's death last week and refused to open an internal investigation into possible wrongdoing within the police force.

Four other Carabinero officers were also discharged from the force Monday night in connection with the student death.

"Just as we have said on many occasions, we support the important, valuable sacrifices made by the Carabineros de Chile, but we demand that their actions be always within the framework of respecting the law, the rights of our citizens, and the norms that regulate these procedures," Hinzpeter said. "In this we are categorically inflexible."

He called both for recognition of the difficult situation that Carabineros have faced at ongoing student protests, and asked for the cooperation of both citizens and police officers in understanding and respecting the law and public order.

According to local media, Millacura, who has been with the Carabinero police force for 18 years, admitted early Monday to firing two shots into the air from an UZI machine gun close to midnight Thursday in the same area where Gutiérrez was reportedly shot in the chest. Gutiérrez died Friday morning in a nearby hospital.

Officer Millacura insisted that he fired his weapon only in response to other gunshots fired by protestors in the Macul area after Chile’s two-day national strike on Wednesday and Thursday.

Witnesses, including Manuel’s brother Gerson Gutiérrez who was with him at the time, have nevertheless maintained that Carabineros were responsible the youth’s death.

Carabinero officials immediately rejected these claims, however, initially refusing to even conduct an internal investigation.

Police maintained this stance until Monday, when Deputy Chief José Luis Ortega confirmed that Millacura was asked to resign for unauthorized use of his firearm. Ortega insisted that the measure was not related to possible involvement in the 16-year-old’s death.

There is still not enough evidence to connect Carabineros to Gutiérrez’s death, Ortega said midday Monday, explaining that an investigation of the bullet extracted from the youth would help officials better determine whether it came from Millacura’s weapon. Yet by Monday night Hinzpeter had confirmed the bullet to be a match for Millacura's machine gun.

The announcement about Millacura’s unauthorized firearm use on Monday coincided with public demands by politicians, national human rights groups and Chilean activists for investigation into alleged police involvement in Gutiérrez’s death.

"It's not reassuring that police officers use their weapons against civilians," said Supreme Court Justice and spokesperson Jaime Rodríguez after Hinzpeter's Monday night announcement.

Rodríguez likewise recommended that the case be reviewed by the military justice system, as the Carabineros police force is considered part of the Armed Forces.

On Saturday, student strike leaders demanded further investigation into Gutiérrez’s death as one of their pre-conditions for meeting with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera to discuss education reform. That same day, Lorena Fries, president of Chile’s National Institute of Human Rights (INDH), publicly criticized Carabinero police officials’ refusal to investigate the claims of police involvement.

“It does not seem like an adequate response by the Carabineros to say we are not going to investigate because we had nothing to do with it,” Fries told Radio Cooperativa, adding that the organization plans to take legal action if someone is not held accountable.

According to Fries, appropriate investigation into Manuel’s death is especially pertinent given the Carabinero police force’s fragile public image, especially in light of allegations of excessive force in the recent citizen demonstrations across Chile.

“We know that there have been incidents of excessive violence in different cities and regions of the country,” Fries said. “(Investigating Gutiérrez death) requires maximum transparency so as to not increase the public’s existing distrust of police activity.”

[nike]

Had seen this Guardian article before.
Seriously, what sorta fucking pissweak reformist sorta communist is she anywayz?
Oh wait, a fairly typical one...

cute little evita p. - any source on confech in english?

[THEBLACKNOVA]

Hunger is not bread: On political institutions and the plebiscite

The Santiago Times-Aug. 24, 2011

(Ed. Note: Fernando Atria is a constitutional law professor at the Universidad de Chile. His most recent published work is titled “Political Participation and Alienation: The Constitutional Problem.” The following analysis, which appeared on Aug. 22 in The Clinic, deals with the institutional problems at the root of education protests going on in Chile, but is equally applicable to a number of other protests.

(In the piece, Atria argues that Chile’s political institutions are handicapped and incapable of transforming Chileans’ need for serious reform into law. More specifically, he argues that the institutions were designed under the military regime of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) in such a way as to carry forward the military regime policies, supported by some members of the political right, rather than to represent Chileans.

(The institutions in question were established primarily through the 1980 constitution and laws passed in the 1980s. Atria focuses on two particular institutions established in the 1980 constitution: the supermajority quorum and the binominal system.

(Under the binominal system, two congressional candidates are elected from each district. The system is set up in such a way that in almost all circumstances, each district will send one candidate from each major coalition to congress. If coalition A were to get 65 percent of the votes in every election throughout the country and coalition B were to get 35 percent of the votes in each election, both parties would be equally represented.

(Chile also has special laws called “Organic Constitutional Laws,” or LOCs, which address major issues, such as the education system. Modifying a LOC requires a supermajority: four-sevenths of Congress. Between the binominal system and the supermajority quorum required to change a LOC, Atria argues the political right has maintained a disproportionate veto power since the end of the dictatorship.

(Finally, Atria discusses the concept of a plebiscite as an institutional way out of the unproductive political situation.

(The Concertación is the center-left political coalition that was in power from the end of the military dictatorship in 1990 until the 2010 election of President Sebastián Piñera.)

Hunger is not bread

Jeremy Bentham (who Marx once called, not without reason, “the genius of bourgeois stupidity”) used the expression that titles this piece to draw attention to a truth, which is evident, but often overlooked: the fact that something is necessary does not mean that we have it.

Today, as people discuss how to resolve the situation that student protests and the incompetence of the government have left us in, it’s a good idea to remember the expression.

The current situation is unstable: a political movement without precedent, a government that can’t begin to understand it, and an opposition unable to do the right thing, debating between support for the protest and loyalty to the country, which the opposition built. In this context, and as an alternative solution to the severe institutional deficit of our politics, the idea for a plebiscite on education has emerged.

The demand has been supported by (sectors) of the Concertación, while others object that it is a kind of confession by “the politicians” that they have been incapable of “doing their job.” Their arguments invoke all of the specters (real and imaginary) that they attribute to “plebiscitary democracies.”

It is important to note the difference between the current demand for a plebiscite and the idea of a democracy in which plebiscites are a standard tool for making decisions. The former is a demand justified, at the very least, by the identification of the problem, while the latter is, in the current context, a purely theoretical or speculative question. The latter is theoretical because it does not understand or respond to the problem at hand. It is important to ask oneself why it does not understand, when in reality the problem is obvious. The current demand for a plebiscite is based on radical dissatisfaction with the institutions of political representation. Those that respond with the typical arguments about “plebiscitary democracy” believe that that there is a “theoretical” dissatisfaction with the idea of representative democracy, which is to say, with the idea of a democracy mediated institutionally.

But this ignores the strongest idea behind the demand for a plebiscite: that the problem is not with the idea of a representative democracy, but rather with the mediating institutions under which we have lived for the past 20 years. The reason that Chilean political institutions (especially the parliament) are “incapable of doing their job” is not because a “democracy of institutions” is incapable, but rather that the institutions that we have were not designed to do a democratic “job.” To the contrary, they were designed specifically so that they would not be able to do it.

Parliament and Pinochet

During the last 20 years, the parliament has been a space where nothing really important has happened, because nothing really important can happen there. To decide any important issue requires four-sevenths of the votes, votes moreover that are not selected by the people, but rather designated by parties. [National parties have the power to centrally designate candidates to each congressional district.] As such, winning or losing parliamentary elections has not mattered for 20 years, because the important laws cannot be modified without the approval of the political right. And note here that it must be “the right” and not just “the minority,” because the rules that demand these supermajorities are not, nor have they ever pretended to be, neutral: they imply that unless the necessary votes can be gathered, the political program of the dictatorship will remain in effect.

The absurd binominal electoral system is not intended to build a representative parliament capable of making decisions, but rather to ensure that the political right has the necessary votes to block constitutional reforms. And of course, given that the design of parliament aims to neutralize any reform not approved by the political right, it is not unusual that it is not representative.

More than 25 percent of those that voted in 2009 (without even addressing the massive numbers of those that did not vote!) did not vote for the presidential candidate from the Concertación or the political right. But these votes had practically no effect on parliament: only 5 deputies [out of 120 available seats] (and no senators [out of 18 available seats]) were elected from parties outside of the Concertación and the right. Even under these conditions, the congressmen elected by the Concertación have held a majority in both houses of parliament for 20 years. Despite this, the laws of the dictatorship remain in effect. Of course we have a “crisis of legitimacy” in parliament! What world are the critics living in if they think that this crisis is due to the “quality of politics” or “politicians not doing their job?”

During these 20 years, the political right has been playing with loaded dice, and now the government spokesperson, with his brow wrinkled and eyes shut, calls for us to “take care” of these institutions and makes fun of the fact that people in the street and even members of the Concertación are making demands that go against decisions that the Concertación made when it had to govern under these conditions. It is shameful.

But there is a familiar response to this argument: it is not that the institutions of the so-called “1980 Constitution” are structured to give an advantage to the political right, but rather that the Concertación “sold itself out” to Neoliberalism. The most notable aspect of this response is that it conceals the responsibility of the political right: the Concertación tried to fund universal basic medical care (AUGE), to exclude for-profit businesses from education, to end the binominal system, to prohibit discrimination in primary and secondary schools, to end the abusive labor practice of passing the buck with subcontractors, etc. The political right has opposed all of this, and although it has lost every parliamentary election, the opposition has been sufficient: either because votes from the political right were necessary to carry out the reforms; because some Concertación congressmen made decisions based on special interests; or because after the law was passed, it was vetoed by the constitutional tribunal, the final guardian of the neoliberal regime of Pinochet.

The Concertación moved to the right

The problem of the Concertación was that it understood that to govern, it was necessary to ignore the fact that the institutions were rigged and not attempt the impossible. And of course, because everything (or almost everything) important was subject to the right’s veto, to only attempt politically viable changes meant only attempting changes supported by the political right. That was how the Concertación moved to the right.

And now there is no one who can articulate in political discourse the discontent manifested in the streets. The political right cannot do it, because the issues that drive the protests (the end of a profit motive in education, inequality, debt, etc.) have never been problems for the political right. The Concertación cannot do it because it is not trustworthy, given its “accommodation” during 20 years in power.

So what do we do? First we must remember Bentham’s observation: hunger is not bread. That it would be helpful to have institutions capable of articulating the discontent (such as political parties or parliament) does not imply that the discontent can be institutionally articulated today. And if it cannot be articulated, if it cannot be transformed into a credible political discourse, the discontent will sit, latent, even when the movement loses strength. And a few years later, it will explode, again and again if necessary, until it reaches a sufficiently large magnitude to break the restrictive mechanisms that Jaime Guzmán [author of the 1980 Constitution] thought that he could use to restrict political representation.

Because of this, a plebiscite on education does not solve anything: because to hold a plebiscite, it is necessary to transform the discontent into questions, and the questions’ formulation will be subject to the same old tricks that have maintained the order of Pinochet. Even if successful, the plebiscite must be transformed into law through the institutions that are subject to a veto from the right. This is the true problem. And because the problem affects precisely the political institutions in a way that prevents them from solving it, perhaps the solution is a plebiscite, but not one about education, rather one that will discuss the causes rather than the effects: to put an end to loaded dice.

To end the binominal system, which rigs parliamentary elections; to end the supermajority quorums (for legal reforms or for appointments to institutions like the constitutional tribunal, the central bank, the national budget office, the comptroller general, etc.), which give the political right veto power, even if they lose parliamentary elections. To abolish these two institutions of protected democracy and replace them with institutions that are not rigged does not immediately solve the problem of education, but it does solve the root problem of education: that representatives do not represent, that 20 years later the educational system (and the labor, tax, and health systems) respond to the will of the dictatorship and not the country.

But, isn’t it unconstitutional to carry out a plebiscite? Isn’t it necessary to make a constitutional reform that provides for a plebiscite? In reality, no. It is enough if the President of the Republic calls for it and this call receives support from the majority of members in both houses of parliament.

In effect, the ability to declare a plebiscite unconstitutional is exclusively held by the constitutional tribunal (article 93, number 5 of the constitution), but only if the tribunal “is called for by the Senate or the House of Deputies” (article 93, subsection 8). If the majority of senators and deputies support the call for a plebiscite, neither the House nor the Senate will be able to call for the intervention of the constitutional tribunal, and so no one will be able to speak on the constitutionality of a call for a plebiscite.

What this means is that the constitution itself distinguishes between a plebiscite as an exceptional mechanism to resolve political obstacles and a plebiscite as a regular mechanism of popular consultation; it is the latter that is excluded. The first is permitted, because the constitution itself prohibits the constitutional tribunal from intervention if the majority of deputies and senators support the call for a plebiscite.

Is this likely? The answer seems to be no. Most likely, the political right will hold on tightly to its loaded dice until the end, and they will last until popular discontent grows so large that no institution can resist it. Than the truth will get revenge.

http://www.santiagotimes.cl/opinion/opi ... plebiscite

[butcher]

Had seen this Guardian article before.
Seriously, what sorta fucking pissweak reformist sorta communist is she anywayz?
Oh wait, a fairly typical one...

cute little evita p. - any source on confech in english?

Convergencia Estudiantil mention them in passing towards the end here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7492#p51644

The CONFECH failed to achieve hegemony in the student movement to get them out of their classrooms to protest the timid demands they made, neither could they coopt sufficient strength in order to negotiate from the top and back to the students (as they always do) the claims covering only the most elite sectors of traditional universities. With the lack of grassroots work, legitimacy and coherent policy and proposals, they have passed the buck.

although this has kinda been outdated by events (it was written Dec 2010), regardless, the CONFECh is still the usual union deal ("negotiate from the top and back to the students"). A numbers of the more autonomist-y type folks seem to be constantly posting stuff about France 1968, obviously there is the (fairly well founded) concern that this may degenerate it something similar, namely a union negotiated reform (a pay rise, some student debt relief, etc). There are rather more aggressive criticisms of the CONFECh in some of the more insurrectionist @ and commie press, none of which is in English but...

The expat members of the Chilean CP are coming outta da bunkers down here, and they're planning to translate information into English for us ignorants, and of course, the only stuff of any interest is Camilla's speeches... So maybe in a few dayz, they'll have more info here:
auschileeducation[dot]wordpress[dot]com (talking shit about them may cause some issues here, hence broken linkys)