Noting that there are some who have just claims, Education Minister Marco Antonio Ávila addressed the students “who have opted for the path of violence,” after registering the fourth day of student protests in Santiago.
“We have seen certain outbreaks of violence in some of these establishments, and in that we must be very clear. Here we have two groups that are clearly defined, one of students who have just claims and with whom we have no difficulties with a peaceful mobilization, and on the other hand, there is a group of students who have opted for the path of violence and who have damaged what they claim to defend, precisely public education, often generating fires inside the establishments, burning inspectorates and teachers’ rooms, and on the other hand, interrupting traffic or burning buses,” said Minister Ávila, in conversation with Meganoticias.
To this last group of students, he said that “we call on you to depose these attitudes. That does not collaborate, damages what they claim to defend and attacks the people themselves. In a micro who moves is probably the most vulnerable population, with more difficulty, who often come or go tired of their work. Therefore, I do not see even a political motive there, but rather a fetishistic use of violence.”
The secretary of state acknowledged “those debts that our education system has in terms of infrastructure, equipment, tools and working conditions that affect,” but, “that does not mean that we validate acts of violence,” he said.
“There are some complaints from students also related to the food issues that Junaeb delivers. On the other hand, there are some difficulties that especially women face, about protocols of violence or sexual harassment,” said the head of Mineduc, explaining that all this “is part of a petition that we have faced from day one and that is why so far we have reassigned more than 100 billion in resources for the repair of school infrastructure and we have had more direct conversations with the providers of the food service.”
It is worth mentioning that the young people came to the sector of Plaza Baquedano, epicenter of the protests of the social outbreak of 2019, to demand demands ranging from the improvement of the conditions to study to a new constituent assembly, after the triumph of the Rejection in the constitutional plebiscite on Sunday.
“Education is revolution”, “For a new constituent process” or “Dignity” were some of the slogans displayed on posters and banners during the protest, called by the Revolutionary Secondary Coordinator (CSR) and other anti-capitalist and left-wing student organizations.
Students demand “minimum conditions to study”, better access to the internet, better infrastructure, free transportation, paid and insured practices and tools, universal access to university, comprehensive sex education and the repeal of the “safe classroom law”.
Carabineros intervened at various times of the day with water-throwing vehicles and pepper spray. Shortly before 6 p.m., when a more massive call was scheduled in Plaza Baquedano, the police evicted the demonstrators who had previously arrived at the place, with the marches in the early afternoon.
The police intervention and the clashes of the young people with carabineros lasted more than an hour in the Plaza Baquedano and its surroundings.
On Tuesday, groups of young people mobilized through the center of the city to demand the convening of a constituent assembly that gives continuity to the process after the triumph of the rejection in the constitutional plebiscite last Sunday.
On Wednesday, the protest was a call to occupy the metro stations and forced the closure of some of them and interrupt the regular flow of trains in the center of the capital, as happened on October 18, 2019, on a day that marked the beginning of the social outbreak, the most massive protest of Chilean democracy.
In different stations, high school students were seen sitting on the edge of the platform, jumping turnstiles and demonstrating inside the stations.
On Thursday, the march tried to reach the Palace of La Moneda with the intention of reaching the Ministry of Education, which they could not reach due to the presence of Carabineros, whichand ended up intervening.
The new Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, and the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, have so far filed 6 complaints for disturbing public order and acts of violence.
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