La Marcha

Politcal activism is something we take for granted in the United States. We all know that we have the right to protest and that is just dandy. When we have a problem with legislation we write to our Representatives and Senators in Washington. Sometimes, a vocal minority actually goes down to D.C. and marches, as has occured in the past few years in protest to the war in Iraq. The Chileans, however, take protesting very seriously.

On Tuesday I went to class as normal and when I showed up there was a mass of people standing outside of the main building on campus, La Casa Central. I walked up to the doors and found a wall of desks and chairs blocking the entrance. I asked a student what was going on and he informed me that one of the majors at the school had started a "Toma." (The verb tomar means to take). Literally, they had taken the building in protest of recent government legislation to raise the student bus fair about 100% in an effort to assist the struggling public school systems. This was just the last straw for the students as the government has also been threatening to privatize UPLA. Also, there has been a strong student movement since I have been down here to have a public school at the same caliber as the expensive private schools in Chile. All this has lead to "paros" or strikes in a few of the majors, thus, I only had one class this week.

Today was a nation-wide day of protest for the students and naturally I couldn't resist a little jaunt with my camera right into the thick of it all. The National Congress is located here in Valparaiso and today there was a giant march, of all the college and high school students in the city down the main avenue, Pedro Montt. The students marched from one end of town to the Congressional building, blocking off the entire street. At the Congress the Caribinieros (Police) waited with riot gear and some crowd control equipment as seen below.

Those intimidating, green, military-esque vehicles blocked the road to the congress. The one to the left is known as a Guanaco. The truck is loaded with water that smells like sewage and has a high pressurized super soaker on top.

At first the March was peaceful, people where chanting, clapping, even sitting down in the street as they waited. They had submitted a letter to Congress earlier that day with all of their wishes and concerns and where waiting for a response. I was accompanied by a friend from my Philosophy class, Lizardo, and he was able to fill me in on everything going on. All of a sudden a group of people to our right began to throw rocks and bottles at the Carabinieros. Lizardo informed me that these were all the high school students. None of the college aged kids where looking for violence and they shouted and booed the agitators. The kids continued to throw rocks and Lizardo and I were surprised by the restraint the Carabinieros showed. When the kids broke down the barrior and threw a barrage of rocks, glass, and wood they got the reaction they were waiting for. The trucks revved their engines and moved quickly at the assailants. The Guanaco shot the shit water in the direction of the crowd and a mass stampede ensued as the Carabinieros chased after the aggressors, arresting a few and ultimately breaking up what was once a peaceful protest.

We hung around for a bit afterwards and watched as kids continued to mess with the police. I saw one of the my more worse behaved students from the Colegio pick up a piece of sidewalk and smash it on the road into smaller pieces for ammo.

This is the second day that I have seen a violent clash between citizens and police. Yesterday I witnessed a group of protestors throwing eggs and rocks at the Municipality building. They were protesting the construction of a proposed mall here in Valpo. It was broken up when a Guanaco rolled in and sprayed the protestors, followed by Carabinieros wrestling people into a paddywagon. This country faced serious repression under the dictatorship of Pinochet. Some people suffered tremendously, some benefitted, some disapeared, and some died. Political activism was a crime and taken very seriously. Today it is still taken very seriously and these students are going to fight until someone listens. Unfortunately, in every large protest there are going to be people who are only there to start trouble. To a sixteen year old, angry teenager there is nothing more beautiful than a rock in a cop's face. Some high school students will have a story to tell tomorrow, other's will be in prison. Unfortunately they did nothing to achieve the goals of the protest and ultimately tarnished the goals of the student majority.