Students Protest as Chilean President Arrives at BU

Protesters 1
Protesters 1
From left: Jasmine Gutierrez (CAS '13), Bianey Ramirez (CAS '13), and Alexa Justice (CAS '12) protest Piñera's education policies. | Photo by Lauren Michael.

On Friday morning, a group of BU students gathered outside the SMG auditorium to protest the arrival of Chilean president Sebastian Piñera and his controversial steps towards privatizing education in Chile. Piñera had come to BU to speak about his country and to address the current world economic situation.

“We’re here to show solidarity with the Chilean students, to protest repression,” stated CAS junior Zena Ozeir as she held a sign aloft, standing amidst the throng outside the auditorium.

Last month, students protested at Chilean embassies all over the U.S. to commemorate the death of a 16-year-old Manuel Gutierrez Reinoso, who was shot by police during a protest in Chile. At an early August protest in Santiago, over 900 students were arrested and police used tear gas and water cannons to dispel the crowd.

Among the protesters stood Ian Chinich, a third-year PhD student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, who referred to Piñera as “a right-winger who wants to privatize everything.” He and many other protesters liken Piñera’s strategies to government policies under former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet.

“Students are unhappy, unsatisfied with the education system in Chile,” said CAS junior Bianey Ramirez, pictured above holding a sign. “High school students, along with university students, have been doing hunger strikes, protests, peaceful demonstrations…and the government has been responding with repression.”

The protesters have little sympathy for Piñera, a billionaire who, according to Chinich, won the presidency “because he threw a lot of money around.” Further fueling the protesters outrage, Piñera stated to the Americas Society/Council of the Americas on Thursday that he would not support using government tax income to fund education.

Students crowd the SMG auditorium hear Sebastian Piñera speak | Photo by Gabriela Fernandez

Ramirez argues that Chile’s future as a nation depends heavily on the outcome of this situation. “There has to be funding, there has to be help for these students if there’s to be any progress in Chile,” she affirmed.

The protesters assembled through a Facebook group and by word-of-mouth. They were unable to listen to the speech because the auditorium filled up too quickly. Later that afternoon, students at Harvard University had scheduled a larger, similar protest.

Said Jasmine Gutierrez, a junior in CAS, “We’re a global society and we should be globally conscious of what’s going on.” She and thousands of demonstrators worldwide hope to bring attention to the issue and put pressure on the government, with the ultimate goal to bring free education to students in Chile.

About Lauren Michael

Lauren Michael (CAS '15) is majoring in international relations and minoring in French. She's working on her Keystone project in the Kilachand Honors College--just ask her about Scotland! She adores The Mountain Goats, the Song of Ice and Fire series, Amsterdam, and a lot of other things. Her goal in life is to flood the Internet with corgis. Watch out. DFTBA!

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2 Comments on “Students Protest as Chilean President Arrives at BU”

  1. As someone whose parents lived during the dictatorship I think it’s extremely disrespectful of these students to compare Piñera to Pinochet. It’s the equivalent to describing President Obama to Hitler or any other dictator. It just shouldn’t be done. Pinochet killed thousands of people. Piñera may (or may not) be one of the worst presidents Chile has had (I can’t say because I don’t live in Chile), but he certainly isn’t a dictator and shouldn’t be compared to one.

    And I would also like to point out that it’s really hypocritical of these students to demand free education in Chile (which would be great anywhere) when they themselves are paying upwards to $50,000 a year for a private education in the US. Just food for thought.

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