Student Protests Intensify in Chile

SANTIAGO — The past week has seen young students in Chile return to “occupy” their schools. Some of Chile’s most emblematic schools have once again been taken over. Local authorities are not willing to allow the schools to be taken over once again, ordering police special forces to dislodge the students.

More than two hundred people have been arrested, with most of the tomas taking place in the Santiago and Providencia municipalities. After violent clashes between students and police at Dario Salas and Miguel de Cervantes in the city center, the occupations expanded, with the barricades went up at several other schools. The students use desks and chairs from within the school walls to barricade the front fence of the school. Some students display banners declaring the school en toma.

Police wait outside Colegio Lastarria in Providencia. Photo: Daniel Boyle

Colegios taken over in Providencia included Carmela Carvajal, Liceo 7 and Lastarria. As well as the high schools, the Casa Central of Universidad de Chile was occupied by approximately 30 students. So far, this movement has not been ratified by FECh, the student federation of Universidad de Chile.

Schools throughout Chile remained en toma for six months during 2011. Many students were forced to repeat their school year after losing half the year of classes.

The coming week will see a range of mobilizations, including a cycling event on Wednesday and a call from secondary students on Thursday for a national strike.

Chile’s government spokesman, Andrés Chadwick rejected the use of tomas and claimed that the student movement of 2012 was different to that of last year, stating that they were dealing with small groups in each school.

“These occupations are an act of violence. They do not respect the right of the students who want to continue with their classes. A minority have prevented normal classes,” said the minister.

FECh vice president Camila Vallejo delivered a letter to the Municipality of Santiago, calling on mayor Pablo Zalaquett to take responsibility for those injured in the dislodgements of the schools.

After a meeting between university leaders and their secondary counterparts, Universidad Católica student leader Noam Titelman stated, “We are discussing the next steps and how to support the secondary schools. Not by a paternal spirit, because we know their demands are the same as ours. Notably absent here is the Minister for Education, Harald Beyer.”

In many of the schools, the students vote on whether or not to take the school. In many cases the vote has been close to fifty percent either way, with many students not wanting to lose their classes once again.

Many of the schools that were forcefully dislodged remain under police watch, in order to avoid retomas. When police went to remove students from Colegio Lastarria in Providencia, they found the students had left by another exit. This was described by some as a toma fantasma (ghost occupation).