Emblems of Violence

El Líbero, October 8, 2022

Those young people who should be the future of Chile have become, along with street vendors, a significant headache for the Municipality of Santiago.

The schools for which many make extraordinary efforts to ensure their children receive a quality education that will open doors in the future have now become emblems of street disturbances. The white overalls are not new; they have been around for some time, rather, for years. Since 2019, they have disrupted public order in the streets of Santiago. They began at the Instituto Nacional, running across the rooftops of the establishment with Molotov cocktails, hindering the normal functioning of the city. Following them are the Internado Nacional Barros Arana (INBA)—from which students attacked a nearby military barracks—and the Liceo de Aplicación—where a Transantiago bus was burned in front of it. 

Those young people who should be the future of Chile have embraced violence as a method of political action, validating disturbances and disorder. It seems that dialogue is not part of the solution. They claim to have demands related to issues at their institutions, but they raise a political discourse that strays from their everyday student life. Along with street vendors, they have become another headache for the Municipality of Santiago.

Students, who should be filling themselves with knowledge in classrooms, run through the streets attacking military personnel and burning public furniture. They interrupt their educational process and that of many other young people who do not wish to participate in the disturbances.

These schools, which have educated several presidents of Chile, are now becoming emblems of violence and add another dimension to the public security issue that the government must address. 

Authorities have stated that they will file complaints against those responsible for the disturbances at INBA; the principal of that institution has said that students found with incendiary materials have been expelled, but the matter goes beyond that. Harassment of a military facility or any state institution cannot be permitted. Violence as a method of political action only harms democracy. Expelled or not, these young people will continue to engage in violent actions, and that is precisely what our authorities must not accept. Violence cannot be validated as a form of protest.

Perhaps the past of many current government officials as student leaders transforms them, in some way, into both judge and party. However, they must not forget that they are no longer in the streets as they were years ago and have the duty to provide security to all Chileans and, along with that, protect our democracy. 

Some of us do not forget when then-deputy Boric, in October 2019, confronted military personnel in Plaza Italia and demanded that they leave. Now in La Moneda, I hope he protects those military personnel and, through the appropriate authorities, develops clear protocols in response to any attack on a barracks. And he should not forget why these schools are known as Emblematic High Schools. A quality education is the first step toward peaceful coexistence in society and respect for democracy. 

Pilar Lizana
Researcher, AthenaLab

Source: El Líbero