Chilean students unable to reach agreement with Santiago mayor

Chilean students protest in front of the Santiago Mayor's office, with a
banner reading "Students occupy, Capitalism in a coma."

High school students will continue to occupy schools in Santiago, after a Tuesday meeting between Santiago Mayor Pablo Zalaquett and student leaders ended without any agreements to speak of. Zalaquett had not issued a concrete decision at the time of publication, but said police may evict occupying students on Wednesday.


The meeting followed a series of notable school occupations or “tomas” at two of Santiago’s most prestigious public schools - the Barros Arana boarding school (INBA) and the National Institute.

Both schools were occupied early Monday morning, and went between a series of evictions and re-occupations throughout Monday and Tuesday.

“Our classmates said no to Mayor Zalaquett’s alternative, and the students that didn’t want this alternative will be evicted,” said Diego Mellado, vice president at the INBA student center.

Zalaquett had previously called for scholarships to be revoked for students who take part in tomas, which students had responded to by demanding increased scholarships. After the meeting, Zalaquett asserted that “the scholarships were never at risk.”

The conflict comes at an undesirable time for Zalaquett, who faces a difficult reelection campaign against Sen. Carolina Tohá , former president of the liberal Party for Democracy (PDD).

Tohá took the opportunity to strike out at Zalaquett, accusing him of “exacerbating the problematic environment.”

“I want to start working from day one to improve education and listen (to students),” Tohá told Radio Cooperativa.

By Miles Coleman - The Santiago Times