We condemn the violence perpetrated against the demonstration called by the Confederation of Students of Chile

El CLACSO Working Group on Educational Policies and the Right to Education condemns the violence perpetrated against the mobilization called by the Confederation of Students of Chile CONFECH on March 25 of this year.

We express our support and solidarity with our colleague and GT member Rodrigo Cornejo, father of one of the victims of the repression, and we extend our solidarity to his family and friends. We condemn all acts of violence that undermine the fundamental principles of the rule of law and the forms of coercion used against young people who mobilize in public spaces to demand social justice in various parts of Latin America.

We support the decision to clarify the facts in a country whose repressive structures have persisted without substantial changes since the Pinochet dictatorship; and we share the public statement of family and friends.

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On March 25, the Confederation of Students of Chile (CONFECH) made the first call for mobilization in 2022, and also the first of the government of Gabriel Boric, former student leader, who recently assumed the presidency of the Republic.

The street march concluded with one protester shot in the chest by the Carabineros (Chilean police), and several students beaten by civilians, apparently street vendors, who have not yet been identified. One of the brutally beaten students is a student at Liceo 7 (High School 7), the son of our colleague and friend, Rodrigo Cornejo, a professor at the University of Chile. He was hospitalized in critical condition that same Friday due to the severity of his injuries, the result of the beating which is still under investigation.

The following day, Undersecretary of the Interior Manuel Monsalve declared that a lawsuit had been filed to investigate those responsible for the beatings inflicted on the students, in what he described as "a dispute that ended with injuries that have put their lives at risk."

In light of this, it should be noted:

1. The situation Rodrigo's son is experiencing is not framed within a "dispute." Based on more than a dozen witness accounts, graphic images, and audiovisual recordings circulating on social media (and which are in the hands of the Investigative Police, PDI), it is easy to infer that we are dealing with a emboscada orchestrated by a group of armed individuals against a group of protesters, mostly minors and unarmed;

2. The evident inaction of the Carabineros has led many people to assume a possible cover-up or even collusion, which must be clarified promptly, especially given the background information that the uniformed police have accumulated in this matter (the Prosecutor's Office counts 112 Carabineros formally charged with drug trafficking offenses between 2010 and 2020 in: CIPER, 01/31/2022);

3. The objective of the mobilization was to claim a basic social right: food, demanding an increase in the amount of the food scholarship for higher education (BAES) which has been stagnant for 10 years, and which currently does not reflect reality given the rising cost of living. Once again, it is the students of Chile who are taking to the streets to demand justice. and to denounce the precarious situation in which thousands of Chileans have been left after two years of the pandemic, with policies that fail to protect our social rights and have only exacerbated the extreme inequality that exists in our country. According to ECLAC, in its report "Social Panorama of Latin America," published in January 2022, Chile is ranked among the countries with the greatest increases in inequality between 2019 and 2020. According to official data, extreme poverty rose to 13,8% in 2021, and the wealthiest 1% of the population (the highest socioeconomic group) holds 50% of the country's total wealth. It is unacceptable that young people who demonstrate to draw public attention to these injustices should risk losing their lives.

We continue to closely monitor the progress of our friend's son. This criminal act cannot go unpunished. We expect the government to take full action. to determine who is responsible for this atrocity and to ensure that measures are taken to protect the rights and integrity of people demonstrating in public spaces.

We urge everyone to look with special attention, and in pursuit of a full clarification, at the inaction of the Carabineros, so as to understand the possible responsibilities they may have as an institution.

Santiago de Chile
March 26th 2022
CLACSO Steering Committee
CLACSO Working Group
Educational policies and the right to education
Group of family, friends and acquaintances of Rodrigo Cornejo

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This statement expresses the position of the Working Group Educational policies and the right to education and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.

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