Chilean students defy government ban
CONTINUING REPRESSION against the student movement
is creating an explosive situation in Chile. On 6 October, students
demonstrating for free education were met by savage attacks from riot
police. Water canons, tear gas and police horse charges were deployed
before students could even finish assembling.
The massive student movement against the for-profit
nature of the Chilean education system has been taking place for over
six months. Dozens of universities have been shut down for months and
over 100 high schools are occupied by students. Families must cover 85%
of university costs for their children in Chile. Schools are often sold
in the classified sections of Chile’s newspapers as ‘very profitable’
businesses.
Talks held between student leaders and the
government on 5 October "made no major progress", according to Chilean
education minister Felipe Bulnes. This announcement came as no surprise.
On the one hand, student representatives demanded a hike in taxes on the
rich and nationalisation of the copper industry to pay for universal
free education. On the other hand, president Sebastian Piñera’s
government of billionaires prepared laws to criminalise demonstrations
and to put students who occupy schools in jail for three years.
Student leaders called for a protest outside La
Moneda (the presidential palace in the capital, Santiago) on the
following day. Piñera’s government banned the demonstration in a move
that echoed the days of the Pinochet dictatorship. Despite the ban and
the merciless violence carried out by riot police, the students marched
on La Moneda. The protestors even managed to block the main street in
Santiago, for five hours between ten o’clock in the morning and three in
the afternoon. On top of the police attacks, 250 students were arrested
by the end of the day.
Polls have shown that around 70% of the population
supports the students’ demands, and find the government’s response
inadequate, according to Chile’s leading newspaper, La Tercera. Piñera
has only 22% of public support, a record low in Chile.
Despite this, the government is seeking to turn
public opinion against the student movement by provoking confrontations
and then portraying the movement as vandals and looters. While the
strategy of violent repression against the students may provide some
results, it is very dangerous for the government. It is leading to an
extreme and rapid radicalisation of a generation of Chilean youth.
The response of the student movement to the extreme
violence of the police was to call a general strike. The CUT (a major
trade union federation) backed the call and has declared a two-day
national general strike on 18 and 19 October.
There is a deep questioning of the ‘market’ system
taking place among this new generation. Chile was the first country in
the world to suffer the effects of neo-liberalism. Almost 40 years after
the crushing defeat inflicted on the Chilean working class by General
Pinochet’s coup, young people are attempting to re-win the gains that
were lost. They are beginning to challenge the idea of a profit-driven
system and have already recognised the need to link their movement with
the power of the organised working class.
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