Chilean Protests Against Nonsense Education System

[Col_Buendia]

Glad to see they've taken their cue from the Greeks and have got a riot dog on the go in that last video!

 

[rekil]

Glad to see they've taken their cue from the Greeks and have got a riot dog on the go in that last video!

There are stray dogs all over the place. They attack police horses occasionally.

Lots of protests and roadblocks in the Aysen region over the construction of the hydro plants and the cost of fuel. One man lost an eye from whatever the police were shooting people with.





The Guardian's Latin America correspondent Rory Carroll, who was conspicuously silent about what went on in Chile throughout 2011, comes out with this kind of poisonous shit.

Protesters in southern Chile have blocked roads and turned thousands of tourists into "hostages", prompting some to try to escape by trekking to the airport on foot.

Tourists are dragging luggage for miles to and from Punta Arenas airport as roadblocks paralyse transport in a dispute with the government over fuel subsidies.

Tourists, mostly from Argentina, Europe and North America, staged their own demonstration to complain about dwindling food, money and patience, with some saying they had been "kidnapped".

 

[rekil]

Santiago Times report on what's been happening in Aysen.

Leaders of the region told El Mostrador that one of the most violent episodes happened on Monday between police and a group of bus drivers in El Claro, near Six Lakes.

According to El Mostrador, police escorting two fuel trucks attacked protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets for 25 minutes.

After the protesters dispersed, the trucks continued into the city to find a group of protesters at a gas station, who were aware of what happened by the press. Further clashes took place and seven people were injured.

The bus drivers now maintain two road blocks in Coyhaique.

Luis Oyazun, a spokesman for the bus drivers said they would stay there day and night.

“Our families are supporting us, and people in transit are bringing us food,” Oyazun said.

The Ibáñez Bridge in Puerto Aysén was a battle zone from late Tuesday night, according to El Mercurio.

About 800 protesters attacked police with stones and Molotov cocktails. Fighting continuing until 10:30 the next morning.

The regional radio reported serious fighting there as well and said police had entered houses firing rubber bullets and tear gas, according to El Mostrador.

The situation was so grave that several regional parliamentarians we called to help, but they were asleep.

Late Tuesday night members of the Department of Human Rights (DDHH), a government agency were distributed strategically in the city, at hospitals, and at road blocks to observe any abuse of human rights, according to El Mostrador.

At 1 a.m. on Wednesday, DDHH members arrived at Puerto Aysén to find serious clashes involving Molotov cocktails and tear gas. This incident continued until dawn.

During this time several protesters were injured, including children of two leaders of the movement, Misael Ruiz and Ivãn Fuentes.

Meanwhile, in Puerto Chacabuco, demonstrations were rife with police shooting indiscriminately and tear gases lingering from the lack of wind, El Mostrador reported.

Councilor of Aysén and resident Guido Jaramillo said, “The police were crazy shooting to the right and left. The gases they are using are really strong.”

 

[andrew fanshion]

hey which nation is in in south america with the largest economy again I forget? brazil? paraguay?

 

[chilango]

Get the fuck off this thread, please.

 

[andrew fanshion]

venezuela maybe? peru? mexico? I don't know any more south american nations so hopefully we get to the bottom of this soon!

 

[Col_Buendia]

Lots of protests and roadblocks in the Aysen region over the construction of the hydro plants and the cost of fuel. One man lost an eye from whatever the police were shooting people with.

Losing eyes seems to be a thing this week. (Not sure if you want me swapping L.Am anecdotes on yr Chilean thread...?) A bloke posted a video on Youtube of the protests by peasants and fisherpeople against the building of the hydroelectric dam in Quimbo in Huila, central Colombia. The riot police chased the locals (literally) into the water, and one bloke lost his eye after being hit by a tear gas grenade.



Needless to say, the bloke who made and posted the video ended up being the story, rather than the issue at hand for the people being displaced by the dam. He received death threats within days of his video (title: The Video The Colombian Government Doesn't Want Us To See), after the video went viral and picked up over half a million hits. At one point the story was that he had had to leave the country, but the latest I've heard is that he has come to Bogota to escape the death threats.

 

[rekil]

Get the fuck off this thread, please.

He thinks Chile has a larger economy than Brazil. That's just not good enough is it.

Losing eyes seems to be a thing this week. (Not sure if you want me swapping L.Am anecdotes on yr Chilean thread...?)

No harm in it. I watched a TG4 documentary on Colombia's peace and justice law farce last night. Available for a bit here on their site under documentaries - Impunity.

 

[Col_Buendia]

Ah, Impunity is the latest offering from Hollman Morris, who has just been named by the new lefty Mayor of Bogota as director of the city's public TV station. He's had quite a career denouncing human rights abuses here, done loads of good work. I really like the critical aspect of his work, but I can't stand his clowning in front of the camera - the aesthetics of Colombian telly permeate even radical critical documentaries! Haven't seen Impunity yet, ta for the link.

 

[rekil]

Womens day demo last week. Scuffles, watercannon etc at around 11.30.



An unauthorised demo by secondary school students was broken up today. Student HQ was attacked by police and Gabriel Boric says he was batoned. Also, Camila Vallejo and some JJCCers occupied the UDI's HQ for a bit (article here) in protest at ongoing repression (article here) in Aysen.

 

[Col_Buendia]

Beeb has article on protests today here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17395016

Makes it sound bigger than what you describe above. And they have the surprisingly inspiring caption to the accompanying photo thus: "The student protest movement shows no sign of fading".

 

[rekil]

Beeb has article on protests today here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17395016

Makes it sound bigger than what you describe above. And they have the surprisingly inspiring caption to the accompanying photo thus: "The student protest movement shows no sign of fading".

It was difficult to get an estimate of the numbers because it was an unauthorised demo and they got dispersed before they could converge. That caption was removed from the BBC report.

Julio Cortes Morales, the lawyer who defended the anarchists in the 'bombs case' was arrested when he tried to stop police from fucking about some youngsters who had a wee banner (video here) and gave his account here. Crammed into a little police van with 16 teenagers and driven around for hours when it was about 35 degrees outside basically.

Coppers brandishing some sort of anti-schoolgirl gun. No idea what it fires, gas pellets maybe.

Same lady in the pic above is at the end of this video.


There were very bad scenes in Aysen on Tuesday when police reinforcements had to shoot and teargas their way through people who had tried to stop them arriving. Report here.

There were demos this week in support, plenty of fighting etc. Telesur report with English subs.



40 minute docu on the student protests and demands. No subs, all in forrin! But I'll just leave it here anyway.

 

[rekil]

Russian tribute tune to Camila Vallejo. Take it away Samara combo Mysterious Land.



Large gallery of Aysen protest pics.

Boric getting a smack with a baton while shooing coppers out of the HQ.

Mounted police bokking a young man.

Women sarcastically congratulating coppers in a restaurant in Aysen.

Hinzpeter Bill passed Lower House. It's up to the Senate its final approval. If passed, Hinzpeter Bill will allow police to snatch cameras off journalists' and citizens' hands without a warrant.

The Day Of The Young Combatant is on March 29th, commemorating murdered MIR members Rafael and Eduardo Vergara Toledo.

 

[rekil]

The government appears to have retreated a bit over Aysen. Report.

The government has signed an agreement with the Aysén Social Movement (MSPRA) after several meetings in Santiago which addressed the movement’s demands.

Secretary General to the Presidency Cristián Larroulet said the government plan for Aysén has been enriched with proposals from MSPRA.

Ivan Fuentes and others from the Aysén Social Movement returned to Aysén on Monday after successfully reaching an agreement with the government.

“The plan includes improvements in health, education, conditions of employment, connectivity, infrastructure, investment, fishing sector, forestry, and quality of life for the Aysén people,” Larroulet told La Tercera.

Larroulet also asserted a solid agreement on fuel subsidies on top of a subsidy for fire wood in the region.

“The fuel subsidies are set in concrete and we will go into more details of the plan in the coming weeks, but we will do so in a spirit of cordial agreement with MSPRA,” Larroulet said.

Along with this Larroulet announced a work-force bonus which will be paid directly to the workers and a creation of a tax-free zone in the isolated region which will go ahead once the relevant legislation is approved, according to La Tercera.

MSPRA has petitioned the government since February to resolve issues that are facing the Aysén locals. They used roadblocks, attracting conflict between police and protesters, to reinforce their message to the government.

The energy minister resigned because he was excluded from talks. Report.

Energy Minister Rodrigo Álvarez has resigned after being excluded from the government meetings with the Aysén Social Movement (MSPRA) in Santiago, according to La Tercera.

Rodrigo Álvarez resigned as energy minister on Tuesday.

There were 1300 people picked up and arrested the day before the day of the young combatant. There was a fair bit of rioting and that and also some shooting on the day itself.

 

[rekil]

The supreme court approved the hidraysen dam project, 3 votes to 2. One of the judges. Pedro Pierry, happens to own 96 million Chilean pesos worth of shares in Endesa the major stakeholding company. Link.

Government approval at 29% (23% in Santiago) according to the latest poll.

Adimark reported that the protests in Aysén, which captured national attention last month, are likely to blame for the most recent dip in approval numbers. Approval for government response to the Aysén protests was only 22 percent while disapproval was 70 percent.

The statistics, however, show that Piñera’s approval rating is now at the second lowest point in his presidency. His approval rating was 27 percent in August of last year, when student protests were at their height.

The Aysén protests were so popular in Chile that the approval numbers were on par with the student protests in 2011. Only 11 percent of the population disagreed with the demands made by the Aysén leaders and 85 percent of Santiaguinos supported the cause.

Large New York Times article with unspeakably shit title by novelist Francisco Goldman on the student movement here. Something to annoy everyone in there.



Giorgio Jackson presentation at Berkeley with simultaneous translation. 80 minutes long, with the last half hour or so consisting of questions from the audience.

Big demo slated for April 25th.

 

[rekil]

Article in the Economist. There's the usual nonsense, inaccuracies, statistical jiggery pokery and upbeat happy clappy tone one expects from a source like this but it doesn't avoid acknowledging chile's deep inequities, the bent political system and the ineptitude of Pinera's government, and it doesn't patronize the students, so in those respects it's a step up from that wank in the NYT and especially the fucking Guardian's disgraceful efforts. Vallejo declined an interview apparently.

That Jackson video is interesting btw, but it's long so if anyone wants I'll timestamp the key points or something, time permitting.

 

[rekil]

That economist article caused a bit of a stink, it was fairly humiliating for the government. They did not like it one bit.

Large demos yesterday. Scuffles towards the end.
.


CNN.



Telesur.



Prensa Opal

http://www.flickr.com/photos/reporteos/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/__indignado/

BBC Report. First line is wrong as Santiago attendance estimates were between 60-80000.

 

[rekil]

Oops.

 

[rekil]

Some half-arsed developments.

Bloomberg.com

Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera will raise corporate taxes to fund education as he looks to head off a repeat of last year’s students protests that shuttered schools and led to weekly confrontations with police.

The government will increase the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 18.5 percent, while reducing income taxes and the stamp duty on loans, Pinera said in a televised address to the nation last night. The state will also cut fuel costs through a sliding tax rate and increase taxes on hard liquor. The measures will raise as much as $1 billion a year, Pinera said.

The government decided to overhaul the tax system after students led seven months of demonstrations last year to pressure authorities to increase spending on education. Protests resumed this week with at least 48,000 students marching through Santiago, the biggest demonstration in seven months, according to police estimates.

AlJaz report and discussion featuring affable prof sort, Cato institute scumbag bot and council of the americas waspy prick.

 

[rekil]

Fantastically mental Wall Street Journal piece. Googletransed version here as the English one is paywalled.

Chile's Cautionary Lesson for Americans - A free economy is at risk when a demand for equality is not answered by a defense of liberty.

Camila Vallejo is described as a “red-diaper baby” who was "brought up by supporters of former Chilean President Salvador Allende." Chile is a “poster child for liberal economic reform” but is “desperately short of voices able to defend the morality of the market and the sanctity of individual rights.”

"Although the material benefits of the market economy have accumulated for decades, Chile has been flooded by leftist ideas intellectually. The common principle is that economic inequality is immoral and the state has an obligation to correct it. Instead of fighting against this invitation to tyranny, the right often concedes the moral supremacy to its proponents."

It goes on a bit concluding that Pinera is being too soft.


Mayday ended with some rucks. Patrico Mery, director of panoramas news, was arrested and beaten by about 10 coppers. Story & Vid.

Proletarian Action.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerraz/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/el_ciudadano/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtellezcar/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chilefotojp

 

[rekil]

More demos on the 16th. Pinera down to 26% in the polls. 10 new watercannon on the way, costing over $600k each, with anti-molotov sprinklers, and a cannon at the rear apparently. 2 or 3 have been destroyed but this is possibly more to do with someone identifying a business opportunity.

 

[rekil]

Very big turnouts yesterday.

In an attempt to re-assert its demands for a more equitable education system, The Confederation of University Students of Chile (Confech) organized its second march of the year in Santiago on Wednesday. The event brought together more than 100,000 students and supporters from across the country, according to estimates from the event’s organizers.

This march, however, was also marked by specific attempts to reach out into issues beyond education.

“This social movement is not limited to students and professors, there are also workers,” Boric said. “We’re not here only to fight for a better education, but we’re also here to fight for a change in the character of the state and to fight for a new democracy.”

 

[treelover]

edited as incorrect..

 

[SpineyNorman]

Surprised Laurie Penny's excellent piece in Worker's Girder hasn't made it onto this thread!

 

[chilango]

There are truly incredible photos on this thread.

 

[rekil]

Police vehicles captured and set on fire in Freirina, a tiny town somewhere in the atacama region. where locals are protesting against the pollution and stench from a pig slaughtering plant.

 

[Streathamite]

I am awed and humbled by Vallejo and her comrades. what a shining example to us all

 

[rekil]

Surprised Laurie Penny's excellent piece in Worker's Girder hasn't made it onto this thread!

I leave out a fair bit of stuff, can't flood the thread with stuff in forrin, can't be fucked posting some counterfire wank, too many videos slows people's machines down and that, but Laurie's WG article is the single most important piece of literature on Chile and neoliberalism in the last 40 years, so here it is.

"Chile? You’ve Probably Never Heard Of It" - by Laurie Penny. Read it you ghastly normals.




Pinera's state of the nation address ceremony was on in Valparaiso today. Government members were practically praying that there wouldn't be major rucks.

The new Pablo Larrain (Tony Manero, Post Mortem) fillum, No, is out soonish. Chicago Tribune Review.

 

[rekil]

Eloisa Gonzalez, 16 or 17 year old spokesperson for the secondary school student organisation ACES, and 7 or 8 others arrested and detained yesterday.

Chronology of Pinera's address here. Lots of lies. Odd stuff about elderly women being bussed to the ceremony with promises about a day at the beach and being given juice, biscuits and "chocman" bars.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nerraz/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/__indignado/
Cooperativa.cl

 

[Col_Buendia]

This image of protests against Pinera in Valparaiso was on the front of one of the freesheets handed out in Bogota today. Not actually sure if it is from now or a stock image. Quite a good photo though: