Chilean police sanctioned for repression of massive student protests
More than 700 arrests in a single day, plus an unknown number of people bruised or suffering the effects of teargas, was the outcome of the first day of the 'Revolution of the Penguins' in Chile's capital, Santiago, staged by secondary-school students aged between 15 and 18. Admitting that repression had been excessive, the government ordered the dismissal of several high-ranking officers of Carabineros, the paramilitary police. A second day of disturbances introduced a worrying new element to the confrontation: the appearance of adults and hooded persons intent on provoking a major riot.
The 'Revolution of the Penguins' has been so labelled in allusion to the typical dress of secondary-school students: blue blazers, white shirts and tie. It had been brewing since the beginning of May in the state schools, as student leaders ranging across the political spectrum demanded a reform that would raise the quality of teaching to those in the private schools, as well as such concessions as free bus passes. The lack of response from the authorities moved them to schedule, for 30 May, mass demonstrations in Santiago and other cities.
The one in the capital, the biggest in 34 years, attracted about 600,000 students, plus more than 100,000 university students, teachers and assorted sympathisers. There was no indication that the demonstrations were meant to be anything other than peaceful, but the Carabineros decided to break them up. They laid into the protesters with teargas, water cannon and batons, as they marched through the avenues or congregated in front of their schools. Journalists covering the event and bystanders were not spared.
By the end of the day some 730 arrests had been reported. Clear evidence that much of the police action had been unprovoked led President Michelle Bachelet to describe the police action as 'reprehensible' and the students' protest as 'legitimate'. She summoned the director of Carabineros, General José Bernales, for a dressing-down. As he emerged from the meeting, Bernales announced that he was relieving the chief of Carabineros special forces, Colonel Jara. Within hours he had also relieved Jara's deputy, and eight other officers directly involved in the repression.
The student protests continued on 31 May. For the most part they were peaceful, but as night fell groups of adults and hooded protesters turned up in central Santiago, at different points along the Alameda, wrecking telephone booths, smashing shop windows, in some cases looting, and attacking the police with barrages of stones. The police isolated the area, cut off all traffic and closed down the Metro stations, and laid into the rioters — though this time their action was much more carefully targeted. By the time calm had been restored, 50 people had been arrested.
Wary of seeing their protest action hijacked by 'infiltrators', the student leaders announced that they would be extending their protests indefinitely, but confining them to closing down their schools.
Underlying the protests is the fact that the poor quality of the state-sector secondary schools acts as a consolidator of the income disparities that make Chile the second most unequal society in South America (the first is Argentina). This is best illustrated by the results of the PSU, the university selection exam. Last year, 70% of those with the highest marks came from private schools, which are attended by only 10% of the students; 20% came from mixed public-private schools; and only 10% from the state schools where almost 90% of the students study.