Brazil & Southern Cone - April 2013 (ISSN 1741-4431)

This month two threats facing the Coaliciόn por el Cambio (CC) government of President Sebastián Piñera vis-à-vis education materialised; the main confederation of university students (Confech) staged its first national demonstration of the year on 11 April in opposition to Chile’s fee-paying education system and Education Minister Harald Beyer was dismissed after the legislature impeached him for dereliction of duty. Both developments spell problems for Piñera and suggest that the issue of education is likely to take centre stage ahead of the 17 November general election.

The march, organized by Confech, which was behind the mass protests in 2011 and 2012, saw 250,000 people take to the streets across the country, with a turnout of 150,000 in Santiago, making it one of the largest demonstrations in the capital since Chile’s return to democracy in 1990. Clashes between the protesters and Carabineros resulted in 12 people injured - including eight Carabineros - and 129 arrests. The head of the Santiago regional government, Antonio Peribonio, a member of Piñera’s Renovación Nacional (RN), has since warned that permits for future marches might not be granted. This, together with the threat of two legal cases against protesters, one for disorder and the other for an attack on a Carabinero, could further fuel tensions with the students, who have already set 8 May as the date for the next national march.

Less than a week later, on 17 April, the 38-member senate, which is controlled by the opposition quadripartite Concertación coalition, voted by 20-18 to impeach Beyer for dereliction of duty. The motion, which was approved by the 120-member lower chamber on 4 April, was triggered by Beyer’s handling of the proposed closure of Universidad del Mar, which was implicated in a corruption scandal at the national higher education accreditation commission (CNA) late last year [RBS-13-03]. More generally, it related to his failure to clamp down on alleged illegal profiteering in the country’s private universities. Piñera came out strongly in favour of Beyer, his third education minister, who was named to the post in late December 2011, insisting that the censure motion was electoral, ahead of the November vote. This was echoed by the presidential pre-candidates for the ruling coalition, Andrés Allamand (RN) and Laurence Golborne, of the conservative Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI), while Beyer himself said of his ouster that "the worst face of politics has taken precedence." Piñera has since named Beyer’s replacement as Carolina Schmidt, the minister for women’s affairs, his most popular cabinet member and a close member of his inner circle (see sidebar).

Beyer’s ejection was well received by the student movement with leaders such as Diego Vela, the president of the Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad Católica (FEUC), hailing it a “symbolic” victory. However the appointment of Schmidt was met with scepticism by the Confech, which identifies the young conservative deputy education minister, Fernando Rojas (38), as the real source of power in the ministry. Local media outlets such as current affairs weekly, Que Pasa, report that Rojas, who has been in his post since Piñera took office, has a “direct line” to the President and has been the main obstacle in talks with the student movement. Confech has directly accused him of putting “brakes” on previous ministers in their efforts to bring about change.

The Confech has yet to throw its weight behind any of the other parties ahead of November, warning that it will not permit its demands to be used for “purely electoral purposes”, only to be discarded after the election. The current presidential favourite, Piñera’s left-wing predecessor Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010), who has finally declared her intention to stand (see box), has failed to attract the support of the students. Camila Vallejo, the charismatic former student leader who is close to securing a deal with the Concertación to run for a deputy seat for the Partido Comunista (PC), has come out against Bachelet, criticising the lack of education specialists on her campaign team. Students also remain sceptical about Bachelet’s record in office, given the failure by her previous government to address education reform. In her first media interview after announcing her intention to run, published in a local weekly, The Clinic, Bachelet blamed the opposition for blocking her attempts in 2007.

Bachelet announces her candidacy

At a 27 March event held at a civic and cultural centre in her home municipality of El Bosque, in Santiago province, Bachelet formally announced her presidential pre-candidacy ahead of the 30 June primaries. In a clear attempt to emphasise her strong personal links with the public, the presidents of Bachelet’s Partido Socialista (PS) and the Partido por la Democracia (PPD) – the other Concertaciόn party backing her in the primaries – were not present at the event.

While failing to provide any manifesto specifics, Bachelet said she would promote policies to reduce inequality – a key complaint levelled against Piñera. She cited the still-low minimum wage despite strong economic growth (averaging about 5.9% annually under the Piñera government – see sidebar) and education. Yet Bachelet has sent out mixed messages on education. She has said that if elected she would send a bill to congress to end ‘for-profit’ education, while subsequently also insisting that higher education will not be free “for those who can pay”.

Bachelet also revealed plans to implement a major tax reform in order to address economic inequality and generate funds for education, dismissing the tax reform introduced by Piñera in September 2012 [RBS-12-09] as a mere “adjustment”, equivalent to just “0.3% of GDP”. Bachelet said that she had convened a group of experts to draw up a package of tax measures by the end of May.

• Schmidt

Carolina Schmidt is one of the original members of President Piñera’s so-called “cabinet of business managers”, known for their business, technical and independent profiles. At the time of her appointment as women’s affairs minister in February 2010, she was general manager of Foods Compañía de Alimentos CCU, which is part of Quiñenco: one of Chile’s biggest business corporations. The most recent poll by Adimark, published on 5 April (prior to Schmidt’s appointment as education minister on 22 April), gave her a 71% approval rating– the highest in the cabinet (along with the arts & culture minister Luciano Cruz-Coke Carvallo, also on 71%).

• Minimum wage proposal

On 19 March Economy Minister Felipe Larraín unveiled the government’s proposal for a 6.2% annual increase in the monthly minimum wage from C$193,000 (US$408) to C$205,000 (US$435). The proposal has so far been rejected by both the senate and the lower chamber of congress, with talks ongoing.