Chilean Student Protest Deteriorates Into Chaos

By Gwynne Hogan

Santiago Times, Thursday 27 September 2012 21:46

http://www.santiagotimes.cl/chile/education/25210-chilean-student-protest-deteriorates-into-chaos

 Police report 100 arrests after violent clashes with protesters.

The article is about chilean student protest. The narraton says that thousands of university and high school students marched on Thursday from Central Station of Santiago City, along La Alameda, to express their discomfort with the government.

The protest was organized by the Coordinating Assembly for Secondary Students (ACES), the National Coordination of Secondary Students (CONES) and supported by the umbrella organization the Confederation of Chilean Students (Confech). It was a prelude to the congressional debate over the 2013 budget, which pretends spend a twenty percent of the budget in the education item, but students insists it isn´t enough. It was repeated in cities like Concepción and Valparaíso.

During the protest, ACES tries to convince to boycotting municipal elections at the end of October as response to government inaction. The students know that elections won't change anything, so they are calling to vote null or not vote and they invited to participate in the social movements. “If we want something we have to fight for it." They think that they don´t have more options to express their ideas.

The peaceful protest for education became to a burst of violence, arrested students for launch glass bottles, molotov cocktails, and tear gas and water cannons from the police barricade. The witnesses say that there were too many police this day, which arrested protesters without motives and respect for human rights.