Camila Vallejo in English

Two Communist lawmakers are suddenly setting the agenda in Chile

Via Bloomberg: Two Communist Lawmakers Are Suddenly Setting the Agenda in Chile. Excerpt:

In a country that’s long stood out as the beacon of free-market principles in Latin America, two young communist women are capturing much of the attention in government circles. 

A labor-reform bill introduced by Chile’s Camila Vallejo and Karol Cariola, who made a name for themselves as student-movement leaders eight years ago, is gaining widespread support -- and putting the two Communist Party lawmakers in the crosshairs of right-leaning President Sebastian Pinera. 

At issue is a plan to cut the country’s maximum work week to 40 hours from 45. Pinera has called the bill unconstitutional, vowing to fight it in court if it wins approval. He has his own proposal that’s struggling to move forward. 

For Pinera, a 69-year-old billionaire in his second stint as president, the labor squabble and congressional gridlock are far from what was envisioned near the midpoint of his term. He was elected in late 2017 under the promise of bringing in major reforms that would usher in an economic boom. Now, growth is expected to cool as key tax and pension bills are also stalled, just as the U.S.-China trade war is hitting prices for copper, the country’s top export. 

“The government should be setting the agenda and using its political capital,” Macarena Lobos, who served as deputy finance minister for Pinera’s predecessor, Michelle Bachelet, said in an interview at radio Pauta Bloomberg. “Instead, it’s being pushed aside in its key reforms.”  

The economy has already showed signs of weakness, with the central bank cutting its growth estimates for 2019 to 2.8% from 3.6% at the beginning of the year. The country’s benchmark IPSA stock index is down about 6% this year, while the MSCI EM Latin America Index is little changed. 

Student Protests 

In Chile, the president has powers to decide what’s discussed at the legislative level, making the rise of the communist duo’s bill all the more surprising.  

Vallejo, 31, and Cariola, 32, could be considered early versions of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York congresswoman who’s become a leftist star in America. Vallejo gained notoriety during Pinera’s first tenure by leading student demonstrations over Chile’s education system. Hundreds of thousands of people joined the protests, fueled by discontent over inequality.  

Pinera’s response included a cabinet shuffle and a new education fund, but Chilean students were unsatisfied. His approval ratings sank while Vallejo became a rising star of the Communist Party, backed by popular support. Polls in 2011 showed she was even more admired than Bachelet or famous revolutionary songstress Violeta Parra. 

Cariola, also a young activist of the Communist Party, joined the ranks of the student leaders and traveled around the globe with Vallejo as a representative of the movement. They became congressional deputies in 2014, turning into powerful politicians on the left, and Pinera’s adversaries. 

Like Ocasio-Cortez, Vallejo “is a young person in the opposition who is an incisive critic of the government and is skilled at placing issues on the congressional agenda,” said Kenneth Bunker, a Chilean political scientist.

The Vallejo-Cariola bill aims to cut down the labor load for a country that ranks sixth for hours worked among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The lawmakers, aiming to increase productivity and bolster quality of life, have cited how European countries like France have implemented similar measures with positive results.  

The bill has been approved by the Lower House and garnered 74% popular support in a respected Chilean poll. It will then have to go through “particular discussions” before it can move on to the Senate.

Chile government to present controversial education bill

Via the Buenos Aires Herald: Chile gov’t to present controversial education bill. Excerpt:

The Chilean government yesterday announced that a bill for higher education reform will be sent to Congress today despite the fact it lacks the backing of state university deans, several ruling-party lawmakers, and students. 

At the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago yesterday, government officials met for an emergency meeting convened by Interior Minister Mario Fernández to discuss the flagship bill. 

President Michelle Bachelet last night made an announcement, looking to calm elements opposed to the reform package. 

“With this announcement, the president meets another of the promises set out by her government, implementing a system for access to education from the earliest formative years, from kindergarten and primary school, to higher and technical education,” read a government statement. 

Minister of Education Adriana Delpiano said before entering the emergency meeting with Fernández yesterday that the bill will not be delayed and that it will meet all deadlines, although there are several government lawmakers who have requested the bill be postponed. 

Bachelet promised wholesale reform in her election campaign, but her government has so far failed to deliver its promise. 

‘More work needed’ 

Communist Party deputy and member of the Education Committee Camila Vallejo, a symbolic leader of the student movement in Chile before entering politics and being elected to office, appealed to the ruling centre-left New Majority (NM) coalition, stressing that they must deliver what was promised. 

“We need to work on this bill so that it won’t fall by the wayside, but improves on and adheres to what we said, as did the New Majority, would strengthen state institutions, combat debt burden and advance freely and regulate the private sector,” Vallejo said. 

According to the students, who have called for a new march for tomorrow despite not having official approval, the bill contains a “market logic” and leaves the door ajar to profiteering from university education, as well as violating the promise of free universal education as promised by the government. 

Free access to university education has been one of the main demands of students since they took to the streets in 2011 to demand their right to study free of economic constraint. 

The initiative was included in Bachelet’s manifesto for her second mandate, establishing that 70 percent of Chile’s most vulnerable students shall have free access to university education. 

However, following the sharp economic slowdown that hit the country this year, the government has cut the quota considerably.

How former protesters are leading the next generation of Chilean politics

Via Americas Quarterly: How Former Protesters Are Leading the Next Generation of Chilean Politics. Excerpt:

As student leaders in 2011, they mobilized some of the largest protests Chile had ever seen. They frustrated authorities, inspired millions of young people and earned a fair share of international attention. In 2013, before the age of 30, they were elected to Congress in a national election that many considered proof of the Chilean left’s resurgence. 

Now, two years later, Camila Vallejo, Giorgio Jackson, Gabriel Boric and Karol Cariola are learning just how hard it is to change the system from within. The reforms they demanded in the streets and promised as candidates – above all to the country's education system – have been held up by disagreements over how they are to be achieved. 

As the so-called bancada estudiantíl, or student caucus, they have found consensus hard to come by, a reminder of their time representing competing factions within university politics. While the Chilean and international media group the four deputies together, the reality of partisan politics has made such an association more or less irrelevant. 

“Blaming a bancada estudiantíl for not being successful is a bit unfair since there isn’t a bancada estudiantíl,” Patricio Navia, an expert on Chilean politics who teaches at New York University, told AQ. “The four legislators got elected on three different coalitions – two of them in the New Majority, one as an independent, and the other on a different independent list.” 

The group's differences are plain to see. Independent deputy Boric accuses the government’s coalition – of which Vallejo and Cariola a part – of making too many concessions to business when it comes to education reform. The deputies also disagree on the role the state should play in a reformed education system. 

Still, the four have the popular legitimacy to keep education reform high on the national agenda. Two of them, the Communist Party’s Camila Vallejo and Independent Giorgio Jackson, sit on the House of Deputies’ 11-member education committee. 

Vallejo, who as a nose-ringed 23-year-old was voted The Guardian’s “Person of the Year” in 2011, serves as the committee’s chair. The youngest deputy in Congress, she finds herself representing the president’s coalition in the halls of Congress, balancing the demands of Chilean students and the political needs of a president she once said she’d never campaign for. 

“She finds herself in somewhat of a difficult position,” said Navia. “She’s influential and she has power, but she needs to see that the reforms move forward, and in politics that often means that you have to compromise, and I think that has been the [former student leaders’] biggest challenge.” 

Vallejo and her fellow young deputies have been criticized by some established legislators for not compromising enough, with one opposition deputy denouncing their “all or nothing” approach. But the former activists haven’t shied away from promoting legislation that challenges the status quo and Chile’s political establishment.

Chile: Two students' deaths trigger huge protests in Valparaíso

Two students in Valparaíso were shot dead today while marching in a demonstration calling for free education. Via diarioUchile.cl: Masivas manifestaciones en repudio por crimen de jóvenes en Valparaíso. [Massive protests against the murder of youths in Valparaíso]. Excerpt, with my translation.

La parlamentaria comunista Camila Vallejo, en conversación con la tercera edición de Radioanálisis,  calificó de “repudiable, muy triste y lamentable” la muerte de los jóvenes, además “por la sensación que deja porque nos preocupa también qué va a pasar con las manifestaciones después de esto, la sensación ambiente y cómo podemos condenar desde ya y hacer que no se repita el hecho de que algunos por el hecho de proteger la propiedad privada crean que pueden acometer este tipo de delitos contra cualquier persona”.

The Communist deputy Camila Vallejo, in an interview with the third edition of Radioanalysis, called the youths' deaths "despicable, very sad, regrettable." She added: "Given the shock, we're also worried about what will happen in the protests as a result, and how we can condemn it  and ensure that some people don't think the protection of private property allows them to commit such crimes against anyone."

Camila Vallejo and Salvador Allende appear in Bolivian campaign

Via El Mostrador, a very interesting article: Camila Vallejo y Salvador Allende aparecen en campaña boliviana. [Camila Vallejo and Salvador Allende appear in Bolivian campaign]. Bolivia lost its access to the sea after a 19th-century war with Chile. Excerpt, in my translation:

El gobierno de Bolivia llamó a sus ciudadanos a un “gran tuitazo” para este viernes con el fin de apoyar a la delegación boliviana que presentará su réplica a los argumentos chilenos en la Corte Internacional de Justicia de la Haya. 

The Bolivian government has called its citizens to "big twitterstorm" for this Friday, with the goal of supporting the Bolivian delegation that will present its reply to the Chilean arguments at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Para tales fines el Ministerio de Comunicación del país altiplánico utilizó imágenes y frases dichas por la diputada comunista Camila Vallejo y el ex Presidente Salvador Allende, quienes expresan un apoyo explícito a la solicitud de una salida soberana al mar de Bolivia. 

For this purpose the Bolivian Ministry of Communication used images and phrases from the Communist deputy Camila Vallejo and the late president Salvador Allende, who have expressed explicit support for the idea of a sovereign Bolivian link to the sea.

Citan la siguiente frase de la parlamentaria correspondiente a una entrevista en 2013 con TeleSur: “Creo que es lamentable al punto al que hemos tenido que llegar, pero sí estoy de acuerdo con una salida soberana al mar para Bolivia en el marco de una política de integración”. 

The ministry cited a statement by Vallejo from a 2013 interview with TeleSur: "I think it's unfortunate that we've come to this point, but I agree with sovereign access to the sea for Bolivia as a sign of political integration."

En tanto, reproducen una cita del ex Mandatario que corresponde a un un inserto en el diario El Mercurio el pasado 22 de febrero, la que dice: “Bolivia retornará soberana a las costas del Pacífico”. 

As well, the Bolivian quote a statement by the former president mentioned on February 22 in the daily El Mercurio: "Bolivia will return sovereign to the coast of the Pacific."

Las autoridades bolivianas convocan al “tuitazo” a partir de las 10:00 horas de esta mañana a través de la popular red social, usando el hashtag #MarParBolivia.

The Bolivian authorities will launch the twitterstorm at 10:00 this morning on the popular social medium, using the hashtag #MarParaBolivia.

Camila Vallejo has her own radio program

Via LaNación.cl: Camila Vallejo al micrófono: debutará como conductora de programa de entrevistas. [Camila Vallejo to the microphone: She'll debut as leader of interview program] Excerpt, with my translation:

Este sábado a las 13 horas debutará como conductora de su propio programa de entrevistas la diputada Camila Vallejo en la Radio Universidad de Chile. 

This Saturday at 1:00 p.m., Camila Vallejo will debut as star of her own interview program on University of Chile Radio.

“La entrevista de Camila Vallejo” es el nombre del espacio de 30 minutos de duración que liderará la presidenta de la comisión de Educación de la Cámara, donde entrevistará a diversos actores sociales, políticos y culturales. 

"The interview with Camila Vallejo" is the name of the 30-minute show in which the head of the Chamber's Education Committee will talk with various social, political and cultural figures.

Y el primer entrevistado que se sentará frente a la ex presidenta de la Fech es el mismo rector de dicha casa de estudios, Ennio Vivaldi. 

And the first to sit down with the ex-president of FECH is the rector of that university, Ennio Vivaldi.

En palabras de la misma parlamentaria del PC, el programa busca “abrir una ventana para airear el debate público en un país donde se concentra la propiedad de los medios de comunicación en los poderes económicos”, según consigna Emol.

In the words of the Communist deputy, the program will try to "open a window to let in fresh air for the public debate, in a country where control of the media is in the hands of the economic powers."

Here's the link to University of Chile Radio. 

Chile's women in power: Michelle Bachelet and Camila Vallejo

Via The Guardian, a six-minute video: Chile's women in power: Michelle Bachelet and Camila Vallejo. Click through to watch it. The text:

At the turn of the century, the third millennium development goal identified a lack of women in leadership roles. But change has been slow and, 15 years on, only one in five MPs is female. 

One country bucking the global trend, however, is Chile, where Michelle Bachelet became the first female president in 2006 and is now serving a second term. 

Together with Camila Vallejo, a member of congress in her coalition, Bachelet talks about efforts to improve women's rights in Chile, and the added scrutiny and pressure that comes with being a woman on the political stage

Camila Vallejo heads parliamentary education committee

Credit: La Tercera

Via La Tercera: Camila Vallejo asume como presidenta de comisión de Educación de la Cámara en año clave para reformas.[Camila Vallejo assumes presidency of the Chamber's Education Committee in key year for reforms] Excerpt, with my translation:

Un punto de prensa con actores del mundo estudiantil será la primera actividad de la diputada del PC Camila Vallejo tras asumir la presidencia de la comisión de Educación esta tarde. 

A press conference with actors in the student world will be the first activity of the Communist Party deputy Camila Vallejo after assuming the presidency of the Education Committee this afternoon.

La ex presidenta de la Fech y líder de las movilizaciones estudiantiles de 2011 encabezará la instancia en un año clave para la reforma educacional del Ejecutivo, donde se tramitarán iniciativas como la ley sobre carrera docente, fortalecimiento de la educación pública y gratuidad universitaria.  

The former president of FECH and leader of the student mobilizations of 2011 will lead the body in a key year for the Executive's education reform, where initiatives will be transacted such as the law on teaching careers, strengthening public education, and free university.

Una vez asumida la presidencia de la comisión, Vallejo destacó la labor encabezada por su antecesor, el DC Mario Venegas. Este último manifestó muy confiado en que la diputada hará un buen trabajo, destacando su capacidad, seriedad, sentido de lo público y responsabilidad, “hoy como parlamentaria y ayer como dirigente estudiantil. Así que sólo visualizo una gran gestión de parte de la diputada y le deseo el mayor de los éxitos”.

Once in the position, Vallejo praised the work led by her predecessor, Mario Venegas. He expressed confidence that the deputy will do a good job, pointing out her capacity, seriousness, public spirit, and responsibility, "today as parliamentarian and yesterday as student leader. So I expect only a great effort from the deputy and I wish her the greatest success."

Camila Vallejo will take presidency of Education Commission

Via La Tercera: Camila Vallejo asumirá la presidencia de la comisión de Educación. [Camila Vallejo will take presidency of Education Commission] Excerpt, with my translation:

Dos diputados del Partido Comunista (PC) estarán a la cabeza de sectores claves para el gobierno de la presidenta Michele Bachelet. La diputada Camila Vallejo asumirá la presidencia de la comisión de Educación, momento en que se tomarán importantes decisiones relacionadas a la reforma que impulsa el gobierno.  

Two Communist Party deputies will be at the head of key sectors in the government of President Michele Bachelet. Deputy Camila Vallejo will take the presidency of the Education Commission, at a time when important decisions will be taken for the reforms the government is taking.

Vallejo, ex presidenta de la Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile (Fech), fue uno de los líderes estudiantiles durante las movilizaciones de 2011. 

Vallejo, former president of the University of Chile Student Federation, was one of the student leaders during the demonstrations of 2011.

This is a remarkable step forward for Chilean (and Latin American) education, and evidence that a movement can take its cause from the streets to an elected government.

Camila Vallejo proposes law to end profit in education system

Via El Dínamo.cl: Proyecto de ley de Camila Vallejo establece fin al lucro en todo el sistema educativo y aumenta sanciones. [Bill by Camila Vallejo would end profit in the whole education system and increase penalties] Excerpt, with my translation:

Adelantándose a los planes legislativos del Ministerio de Educación, las ex dirigentas estudiantiles y hoy diputadas comunistas Camila Vallejo y Karol Cariola anunciaron hace unas semanas el envío de su primer proyecto de ley en conjunto: Una iniciativa que -finalmente- prohíba y castigue el lucro en el sistema educacional. 

Accelerating the legislative agenda of the Ministry of Education, former student leader Camila Vallejo and Karol Cariola, now Communist deputies, some weeks ago announced the launch of their first joint legal project: An initiative that finally prohibits and penalizes profit in the education system.

El Dínamo tuvo acceso al documento, que nace de la idea fue redactado por la diputada por La Florida Camila Vallejo. El proyecto después fue revisado por Karol Cariola y Giorgio Jackson, también ex líderes estudiantiles, quienes apoyaron y aportaron con indicaciones. El resto de los parlamentarios que firmará la iniciativa legal son los diputados PPD Cristina Girardi y Rodrigo González -integrantes de la Comisión de Educación- y los comunistas Guillermo Tellier y Hugo Gutiérrez. Aquí presentamos sus principales definiciones: 

El Dínamo gained access to the document, which originated with La Florida deputy Camila Vallejo. The bill was then revised by Karol Cariola and Giorgio Jackson, also former student leaders, who supported it and contributed some amendments. Other parliamentarians who will support the initiative are PPD deputies Cristina Girardi and Rodrigo González—members of the Education Commission—and Communists Guillermo Tellier and Hugo Gutiérrez. Here we present their principal definitions:

Las diputadas comunistas presentan como principal antecedente del proyecto sobre “Giro Único Educacional” la concepción mercantil que adquirió la educación en Chile, producto de las transformaciones impulsadas por la dictadura. El documento establece que hoy, la educación ”ha devenido en una mercancía más a adquirir, de acuerdo a los patrones de consumo promovidos por el mercado y las capacidades económicas de las familias, afectando a la educación en términos de sistema, fomentando el individualismo y la competencia”. Y añaden que “la organización de la educación se hace a partir de las leyes del mercado, con una interacción entre las familias (‘clientes’) y los oferentes (‘sostenedores’)”. 

The Communist deputies present, as a key premise of the "Unique Educational Turn" project, the concept of Chilean education as a commodity, which was promoted by the dictatorship. The bill argues that today, education "has turned into a commodity to be acquired, according to consumption pattern promoted by the market and economic capacities of families, affecting the education system by encouraging individualism and competition." They add that "The organization of education is based on the laws of the market, with an interaction between families ("clients") and suppliers ("supporters").