Movements in Chile
I have been moving down the Chilean coast for the last two months alongside an entirely different movement, which started in this country long before I did. It has mainly been visible in the cities. I have seen signs of a student strike From Antofagasta in the north to Valparaiso in the middle of the country. In Antofagasta there are chairs hanging on the schoolyard fence instead of standing on the classroom floor. In Valparaiso the students are writing political phrases on the school building instead of writing down new knowledge in their notepads. Between the cities, I am cycling through the desert and during some hard and heavy pedaling up a hill I see a handwritten sign in the middle of nowhere that says “Free education now”. I am reminded that I am not the only one in this country who is in an uphill struggle.
The Chilean government has given certain guarantees and has promised some improvements, but the students demand for free education has not been met. They have gathered nationwide in an attempt to decrease the differences between those who can and who cannot afford quality education, in a nation where the socioeconomic differences are already wide. The resistance that they are subjected to seems to be inherited from previous military dictatorships. In Valparaiso I meet a Swedish documentary filmmaker who recently was at a high school when it was charged by the police force. He describes the assaults committed in there as torture.
In the same city, I am staying with a man who is teaching mathematics at one of the universities. He says that he supports the students, even if it means that he has not been able to earn an income since May. As I am leaving the city he is however returning to work, after a vote at his university, where the students have decided to resume their studies. They are ending the strike because they want to receive and achieve knowledge, others continue the strike for the same reason. Some students continue the protest with hopes of a future education system for all the young people of Chile.
My acclimatization to altitude is diminished after two months at sea level, but I move east to cross the Andes anyway. The student movement is also diminished but not destroyed, it continues to struggle even if their mountain seems even higher than before.
Peace
We are living in Mendoza. Family of four. Heading out on our own bike tour in first week of January. Find us on warmshowers or send an email. Best.
How wonderful with a family bike tour. I am in Mendoza now with two other cyclists and will send you an e-mail.