Chile vs Education

[Santiago, Chile]

as of late it is almost impossible to move about Santiago without encountering some sort of protest.  universities and primary schools are barricaded by stacks of desks and chairs draped with red and white demands for the state to reform its education budget.  athletics, hippies, mothers, and businessmen join together under the cry SIN REPRESAS, Patagonia without dams.  farmers and copper miners demand fair pay, cyclists want to be protected from speeding traffic, homosexuals want equal rights.  the state has not seen protests in such volume since the 1980’s when tens of thousands took to the streets to end the bureaucratic-authoritarian regime of Augusto Pinochet.

the image above was snapped today on the way to the metro (just around the corner to the left.)  bystanders flee to escape tear gas released by tanks rallied to break up a student protest.

for more on the protests, check out this article from The Economist.