Camila Vallejo in English

A leader we should know about

Camila Vallejo has changed Chile's politics in less than a year. We in the English-speaking world need to know more about her and those in her movement. This blog is an attempt to learn about her and make her known to people outside Latin America.

Castro: We have to support Camila Vallejo's ideas on education

Via BioBioChile, an AFP report: Fidel Castro: Debemos apoyar las ideas de Camila Vallejo respecto a educación. [Fidel Castro: We have to support the idea of Camila Vallejo on education] Excerpt, with my translation:

Entre estas cosas, dedicó unas cuantas palabras al movimiento estudiantil dirigido por la ex presidenta de la FECH, Camila Vallejo. 

Among these matters, he gave a few words to the student movement led by the ex-president of FECH, Camila Vallejo.

Respecto a la exigencia de educación gratuita y de calidad -que realizaron los jóvenes chilenos durante más de 7 meses en que paralizaron todas las actividades universitarias- bajo la dirección de líder Camila Vallejo, el mandatario expresó: 

In respect to the demand for free quality education, which Chilean students made during over 7 months in which they paralyzed university activities under Camila Vallejo's leadership, Castro said:

“Debemos apoyar las ideas de la joven chilena en el sentido de luchar para que la educación alcance igual para todos. Que no sea solo una educación general y gratuita, sino preocuparnos por lo que se enseña”, añadió.

"We have to support the ideas of the young Chilean in the sense of struggling for equal education for all. It should not be only a general free education; we have to be concerned about what it teaches," he added.

Adbusters takes note of Camila Vallejo

Adbusters, the organization here in Vancouver that ignited the Occupy movement last summer, has finally noticed Camila Vallejo and linked to this Guardian video: Chilean Students Ignite. But she seems still well ahead of the Occupiers and indignados; she's already answered Adbusters' question "What is our one demand?"

Camila Vallejo: The New York Times takes note

Via The New York Times: Just Don't Call Her Che. Excerpt:

Late last month the British newspaper The Guardian asked readers to vote for its person of the year. The candidates included household names like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Egyptian techno-revolutionary Wael Ghonim and the Burmese pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. All placed far behind a striking, nose-ringed student from Chile named Camila Vallejo. 

Though far from a familiar face in the United States, the 23-year-old Ms. Vallejo has gained rock-star status among the global activist class. Since June she has led regular street marches of up to 200,000 people through Santiago’s broad avenues — the largest demonstrations since the waning days of the Pinochet regime in the late 1980s. 

Under her leadership, the mobilization, known as the Chilean Winter, has gained nationwide support; one of its slogans, “We are the 90 percent,” referred to its approval rating in late September. 

Ms. Vallejo’s charismatic leadership has led commentators to make the obligatory comparisons to other Latin American leftist icons like Subcomandante Marcos and Che Guevara. Yet “Commander Camila,” as her followers call her, has become a personality in her own regard. 

She skewers senators in prime-time TV debates and stays on message with daytime talk-show hosts hungry for lurid details about her personal life, while her eloquence gives her a preternatural ability to connect with an audience far beyond her left-wing base. 

In perhaps the most poignant set piece in the year of the protester, Ms. Vallejo addressed a dense ring of photographers and reporters in August while kneeling within a peace sign made of spent tear-gas shells, where she calmly mused about how many educational improvements could have been bought with the $100,000 worth of munitions at her feet. 

Ms. Vallejo, like many of her fellow student leaders, is an avowed communist. But while she has publicly commended other regional leftists like Presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador, she and her generation have little in common with the older left of Fidel Castro or Hugo Chávez. They are less ideological purists than change-seeking pragmatists, even if that means working within the existing political order. 

Still, there’s no question that the movement is upending Chilean society. True, it is centered on a policy question, namely reforming an educational system that disproportionally favors the children of wealthy families. But the earth-shaking Paris protests in 1968 also began with calls for university reform — before spiraling into street battles between radicalized students and truncheon-wielding gendarmes, opposing symbols in the culture war between old and new France. 

The same process is under way in Chile. As the protests increasingly devolve into rock and tear-gas exchanges between students and the police, it’s becoming clear that more than education policy is at stake: a nonviolent social revolution in which disaffected, politically savvy youth are trying to overthrow the mores of an older generation, one they feel is still tainted by the legacy of Pinochet. 

It is not just about policy reform, but also about changing the underlying timbers of Chilean society.

Vallejo overseas: We'll dispute political space and demand the vote

Via The Clinic Online: Vallejo dice que disputarán espacios políticos y demanda voto en el extranjero. [Vallejo overseas says they'll dispute political space and demand the vote] Excerpt, with my translation:

Camila Vallejo está de gira por Europa, pero sigue con la cabeza puesta en Chile. Y hoy, en Berlín, declaró que el movimiento está en una etapa de reflexión en la que analiza cómo incorporar a otros sectores sociales y si podría pasar a la política. 

Camila Vallejo is touring Europe, but continues to keep her face turned toward Chile. And today in Berlin she said the movement is in a reflective state, analyzing how to include other social sectors and considering whether to move into politics.

“Estamos en una etapa de repliegue, los movimientos no son lineales. El movimiento no tiene todos los recursos de que disponen los poderes fácticos o el Gobierno, el Parlamento, los medios de comunicación, el poder económico”, afirmó en una rueda de prensa en la Fundación Rosa Luxemburg. 

"We're in a stage of curving; movements aren't linear. The movement lacks the resources of the real powers—the government, parliament, the communication media, the economic power," she said at a press conference in the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.

Por ello, el movimiento, que calificó de “masivo, amplio y transversal”, se encuentra en “una etapa de profundo análisis de lo que fue el 2011 para poder proyectar el 2012″, señaló. 

The movement, which she described as "massive, wide, and transverse," finds itself in "a stage of profound analysis of what it was in 2011 so it can move forward in 2012."

Según la vicepresidenta de la Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile (Fech), “el movimiento tuvo bastante conciencia de que las demandas que se planteaban no eran demandas que fácilmente fueran resueltas por un gobierno de derecha y bajo el actual sistema político”. 

According to the vice-president of the Federation of Students of the University of Chile (Fech), "the movement was well aware that its demands were not demands that a right-wing government, under the present political system, could easily meet."

Pero, a su juicio, logró “poner evidencia a las carencias del sistema y llamar a la población a plantearse la necesidad de un cambio estructural”, dijo. 

But in her judgment the movement "provided evidence of the deficiencies of the system, and called on the public to raise the need for a structural change."

La dirigente estudiantil, de gira por ciudades europeas, agregó que el objetivo para 2012 es consolidar el movimiento “en su base territorial” para “tratar de desplazar a los sectores que no nos permiten avanzar, que son los más reaccionarios y conservadores de nuestro país”. 

The student leader, touring European cities, added that the objective for 2012 is to consolidate the movement "in its territorial base," to "try to displace the sectors that don't let us advance; they're the most reactionary and conservative in our country."

Se trata de “fortalecer los espacios de trabajo y de discusión territorial con una caracterización multisectorial” que incluya no sólo a estudiantes y profesores, sino también a trabajadores, movimientos ecologistas y otras organizaciones “con perspectiva antineoliberal”, explicó.

The movement will "strengthen the space of work and of territorial discussion with a multi sectorial characterization" that includes not only students and professors but also workers, environmental activists, and other organizations "with an anti-neoliberal perspective," she explained. 

Camila Vallejo starts tour of Europe

Via El Mostrador: Camila Vallejo inicia gira por Europa. [Camila Vallejo starts tour of Europe] Excerpt, with my translation:

La líder estudiantil chilena Camila Vallejo iniciará ese jueves una gira por Alemania, Suiza, Suecia e Italia, para reunirse con distintos actores sociales y políticos, informaron a Efe fuentes de la Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile (Fech). 

The Chilean student leader Camila Vallejo will start a tour of Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Italy on Thursday, to meet important social actors and politicians, sources in the Federation of Students of the University of Chile (Fech) told Efe.

La dirigente estudiantil partirá este miércoles desde Santiago con rumbo a Berlín, donde este jueves sostendrá un encuentro con la Junta de Federaciones de Sindicatos de Alemania. 

The student leader will leave Wednesday from Santiago en route to Berlin, where on Thursday she will meet with the Council of the German Federation of Trade Unions.

La vicepresidenta de la Fech, militante del Partido Comunista de Chile, explicó en una reciente reunión con corresponsales que este viaje responde a una invitación que la Fundación Rosa Luxemburgo, ligada al partido alemán Die Linke, extiende a jóvenes comunistas.

The vice-president of Fech, a militant of the Communist Party of Chile, said in a recent meeting with journalists that this trip is in response to an invitation that the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation, allied with the German party Die Linke, extends to young communists.

Voices of protest: Camilo Vallejo is among them

Via The Guardian: Voices of protest: five protesters tell their stories. Camila Vallejo is among them, speaking in Spanish with English subtitles.

Camila Vallejo book launch plus municipal politics

Via biobiochile.cl: Lanzan libro de Camila Vallejo en tradicional Fiesta de Los Abrazos de Partido Comunista. [Camila Vallejo's book launched at traditional Communist Party Festival of Embraces] Excerpt, with my translation:

El Partido Comunista ha conversado con la Concertación para pedir al menos 20 candidaturas a alcaldías, de las cuales 9 ya han sido aseguradas por la Concertación, según dijo el secretario general del Partido Comunista, Lautaro Carmona. 

The Communist Party has talked with the Concertación to ask for at least 20 candidacies for mayoralties, of which the Concertación has confirmed 9, according to CP General Secretary Lautaro Carmona.

Una de las candidaturas del PC es la del actual Presidente de la Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Santiago, Camilo Ballesteros, quien fue anunciado ayer como carta para alcalde por Estación Central, y señaló que durante el 2011 los jóvenes ganaron participación. 

One of the CP candidacies is the current president of the University of Santiago Student Federation, Camilo Ballesteros, who was announced yesterday as running for mayor of Central Station, and who said that in 2011 the young people had gained participation.

Otro de los dirigentes estudiantiles que ganaron participación política durante el año pasado fue Camila Vallejo, quien en la ocasión lanzó su libro “Podemos cambiar el mundo”, y explicó que no sólo habla de temas educacionales. 

Another of the student leaders who gained political participation last year was Camila Vallejo, who at the event launched her book We Can Change the World, explaining that it's not just about education issues.

El libro está a la venta en la Fiesta de los Abrazos por su lanzamiento a un precio de 5 mil pesos, y ya se han vendido más de 4 mil 500 ejemplares.

The book is on sale at the Festival of Embraces at a price of 5,000 pesos [US$9.80] and has already sold over 4,500 copies.

Speaking as a Canadian writer, I would say a sale of 4,500 copies right after publication day, in a small country, is extraordinary. I note that her followers on Twitter are all hoping the book, like Chilean post-secondary education, will be "free and of quality."

 

Camila Vallejo launches her first book

Via ADN Radio.cl, a Galería Fotográfica of photos taken at the launch of Podemos Cambiar el Mundo, Camila Vallejo's first book, at a Communist Party "Festival of Embraces" in Parque O'Higgins.

Chile to change school curriculum after Pinochet controversy

Via I Love Chile News: Chile to change school curriculum after Pinochet controversy. Excerpt:

The decision to change references to the military rule of General Augusto Pinochet from “dictatorship” to “military regime” sparked controversy around the world. Alicia Lira, President of the Association of Relatives of Victims of Political Execution, described the move as “a serious offence to victims of state terrorism.” 

The criticism has forced the new Education Minister Harald Beyer to make some swift changes to the plans. He joined the weekly meeting at La Moneda with the political committee of President Sebastián Piñera, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, Cristián Larroulet and Andrés Chadwick. 

The government has had to react to worldwide criticism to a plan changing textbook descriptions the Pinochet rule from "dictatorship" to "military regime." 

Minister Beyer made a statement saying, “I wish that it never intended to ignore the undemocratic nature of the military regime and human rights violations that occurred there.” The statement went on to say that the new curriculum had been developed with a panel of experts, who used surveys to consult with over 10,000 teachers. 

The government announced the plans as a move to make a more general term, while opposition members angrily reacted, with Hugo Gutierrez, president of the Communist Party, saying “There is a clear attempt by the ruling party at distorting the past history of Chile.”

Camila Vallejo in a quarrel with Minister Hinzpeter

Via Publimetro: Camila Vallejo en picada contra ministro Hinzpeter. [Camila Vallejo in a quarrel with Minister Hinzpeter] The report, with my translation:

Mediante su cuenta Twitter, la vice presidenta de la Fech, Camila Vallejo, criticó los dichos del ministro Rodrigo Hinzpeter respecto al origen de los incendios en La Araucanía. 

Through her Twitter account, Fech vice-president Camila Vallejo criticized the comments of Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter about the origin of the fires in Araucanía.

La dirigenta arremetió con una fuerte declaración en su cuenta en contra del ministro: “Después de toda la represión, amedrentamiento político, tortura y las recurrentes acusaciones irresponsables y fascistas, todavía Hinzpeter en el poder?“ 

The student leader, in a strong declaration, blasted the minister: "After all the repression, political intimidation, torture, and recurrent, irresponsible, fascist accusations, how is Hinzpeter still in power?"

Esto se produjo tras las declaraciones efectuadas por la autoridad al momento de ser consultado sobre si el Gobierno considera que los incendios hayan sido provocados como una acción terrorista. 

This followed statements made by the minister on being asked if the government considered the fires caused by terrorist action.

En declaraciones a radio Duna, el ministro dijo que: “Sólo quiero ser preciso: El accionar terrorista tiene como objetivo generar pánico o terror en la población civil de ser víctima de ser de una situación similar. Y el incendio es una herramienta apta para producir pánico terrorista de acuerdo a nuestra ley".

Speaking to Radio Duna, the minister said: "I only want to be precise: Terrorist action has as its goal the generation of panic or terror in the civil population about being victims of a similar situation. And fire under our laws is a suitable weapon for producing terrorist panic."