Chile's Student Activists: A Course in Democracy

[struggle4progress]

By Monte Reel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, November 25, 2006; Page A01

SANTIAGO, Chile -- ... Extracurricular activities for student leaders this year meant negotiating with senior government officials. When they text-messaged friends, at times it was to organize rallies that attracted as many as 800,000 people. A few became nationally known public figures in their own right.

"Graduation will be hard, and there are going to be a lot of emotions that come back from this year," said Karina Delfino, 17, who became one of the voices of the student movement during her senior year. "All the friends made, the difficulties and the successes -- this was one stage in life that has been good, but very tough. The only thing I can do now is to try to end this stage as best I can and get ready for whatever is next." ...

The students' actions turned them into the most powerful social movement since the strict military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet was replaced by democracy 16 years ago. They forced the government to increase education spending and -- more important for many of the protesters -- prompted it to reexamine the roots of an educational system flawed by vast inequalities between the country's rich and poor populations ...

"I believe their greatest achievement was to change the way people think of the youth of the country," said Rodrigo Cornejo, with the Chilean Observatory of Educational Policy at the University of Chile. "A lot of people thought the young people were simply individualistic, selfish consumers. But the long-term changes the students were pressing for this year weren't going to directly benefit them -- it was for their younger brothers and sisters." ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112401362.html

[trixr4neoconkids]

1. Chile

Funny how American kids only care about their iPOD playlists, getting hammered at a bitchin' party or do these jeans make my ass fat. The crucible of democracy--America.

We need to import some of those Chilean students here.