September 6, 2011

SANTIAGO, Chile/GENEVA – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile (IELCH) has played a mediating role as students of all ages in Chile mobilized to demand free education and better standards. In a series of sometimes strident protests, high school and university students, along with professors, called for changes in the country's educational system.

They said a more just system had been denied them since the era of military dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet. With its calls for dialogue and participation, the IELCH, a member of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), acted to help resolve the situation that had triggered violent clashes involving police and protestors. Support for the Chilean students came from counterparts in Argentina, France, Germany and Spain.

Justice Issues at Core

LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge noted that Chilean youth were following a pattern in other parts of the world revealing injustices in current social, political and economic thinking.

"A large segment of Chilean youth does not have access to free education of a good quality. These young people see their rights being curtailed and their future heavily mortgaged," said Junge.

Below the surface, the conflict was about moving Chilean society beyond a hard-line neoliberal approach to economy–an approach that had proven unable to address existing social inequalities and instead had exacerbated them, Junge commented.

"The conflict centers on the splendid macroeconomic image of the country and the dim microeconomic realities that many citizens face daily," the Chilean theologian remarked.

Junge said his prayers were for dialogue to prevail, "and that–as in other parts of the world–the clamor of the youth is understood as an opportunity for positive transformation."

A group of Chilean parliamentarians sent a letter to Minister of Education Felipe Bulnes urging him to visit a site where students had been on hunger strike, and for him to listen to them.

The IELCH through its Commission on Human Rights warned the community and government authorities that action was needed due to repressive measures being meted out to students on the streets.

More Inclusive Society

In a public statement, IELCH President Rev. Luis Álvarez Figueroa said that humanity and human dignity were fundamental principles of social, political and economic coexistence in making the Kingdom of God present. "We hope that the demands of our society will be heard, and feel deeply moved by the reality of poverty and of dehumanization in our country…given the neoliberal economic model that sustains economic globalization and increases inequalities," he stated.

"It scandalizes us that some become rich with the money of all and the interests of the financial and banking world take precedence over the rights of the people."

The letter supports the Chilean family and students in their demands for a more inclusive society, noting the State is "not able to sense how profound the clamor of the majority of Chilean people is, and the authorities express their fear of a popular consultation."

Álvarez demanded that the voice of the students and professors be heard, because it was the only way to reach an agreement. The State, he said, should be there to serve people and should avoid "purposeless, indiscriminate and totally disproportionate repression."

The IELCH leader invited all Chile's actors to open channels of participation and dialogue so that all youth, as a right, have access to education that is the best available and that is financed by the national budget.

Lutheran World Information
Héctor Carrillo of the Latin America and Caribbean Communication Agency [ALC] contributed to this report along with LWI writer Peter Kenny in Geneva.