2011–2013 Chilean student protests
The 2011–2013 Chilean protests – known as the Chilean Winter (in particular reference to the massive protests of August 2011) or the Chilean Education Conflict (as labelled in Chilean media) – were a series of student-led protests across Chile, demanding a new framework for education in the country, including more direct state participation in secondary education and an end to the existence of profit in higher education. Currently in Chile, only 45% of high school students study in traditional public schools and most universities are also private. No new public universities have been built since the end of the Chilean transition to democracy in 1990, even though the number of university students has increased.
Beyond the specific demands regarding education, there is a feeling that the protests reflect a "deep discontent" among some parts of society with Chile's high level of inequality.[3] Protests have included massive non-violent marches, but also a considerable amount of violence on the part of a side of protestors as well as riot police.
The first clear government response to the protests was a proposal for a new education fund[4] and a cabinet shuffle which replaced Minister of Education Joaquín Lavín[5] and was seen as not fundamentally addressing student movement concerns. Other government proposals were also rejected.
Student protestors have not achieved all their objectives, but they contributed to a dramatic fall in Piñera's approval rating, which was measured at 26–30% in August 2011 polls by respected Chilean pollsters and had not increased by January 2012.[6][7]
On August 1, the government of Sebastian Piñera introduced a new 21-point proposal to reorganize Chilean education from pre-school to higher education and thus reach an agreement with the student movement. The proposal included many of the students' demands, such as:
However, student leaders did not accept the proposal and signalled that the student mobilizations would continue with a national strike and march on August 4 and an official written response on August 5. In interviews, they noted that the proposal did not criminalize profiteering in education, did not seek to provide free or equitable access to higher education, and was not specific. Using the same language that was used to describe the July proposal, the August proposal was called "a backward step" and "a band-aid solution."[33]
The protests of August 4 were the most confrontational of the movement to date. 874 protestors were detained, and the center of Santiago was called a "state of siege" by University of Chile student federation president Camila Vallejo. Police cordoned off the streets and used tear gas. Protesters destroyed signs and set small fires in the street. Additionally, 90 carabineros (militarized police) were injured and a La Polar department store was burnt down. The evening saw a cacerolazo protest, where protesters bang pots and pans, often from their homes.[34][35][36]
Pinochet coup anniversary protests[edit]
On the 38th anniversary of Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup d'état against socialist president Salvador Allende on September 11, 2011, police arrested around 280 people in protests in Santiago. One 15-year-old girl suffered a bullet wound. "There were more than 350 places with barricades and blocked streets, and 130,000 homes suffered power cuts," said Deputy Interior Minister Rodrigo Ubilla.[44]
A day later on September 12, 2011, 30 people stormed the headquarters of the Communist Party of Chile Central Committee assaulting party workers, and destroying computers and furniture. Carabineros attempted to storm the building on August 4.[45]
October breakdown of negotiations[edit]
In October the student representatives engaged in negotiations with government representatives headed by education minister Felipe Bulnes. The students withdrew from negotiations October 5 citing that the government had in their words only proposed an improved version of their "GANE" proposal from July, something students considered a "provocation".[46] Camila Vallejo said that it was government that broke the negotiations by lacking "political will" and "capacity to attend the demands of the majority of the country".[46] Students reported that minister Felipe Bulnes attacked David Urrea during the negotiations saying to him "you came here to break the negotiations, you are in a hostile position".[47] In a meeting held in the Isla Teja Campus of the Southern University of Chile the Chilean university students union (CONFECH) representative David Urrea made a call to radicalize the movement and to "prepare for harsh times".[46]
Government spokesman Andrés Chadwick blamed "the ultras" and "the intransigents" in the student movement as responsible for the breakdown of negotiations.[47] Giorgio Jackson said of these comments that the label "ultra" form part of a strategy aimed to divide the student movement, a strategy Jackson said the government have been using since the beginning of the conflict.[48]
Second cabinet shuffle[edit]
In December 2011 Education Minister Felipe Bulnes was replaced by Harald Beyer, an analyst with the Center for Public Studies.[49]