The demonstration was called “Family Sunday for education” and it was held in the country’s capital Santiago. Under the slogans “Pinochet’s education is going down” and “Referendum now!”, the demonstrators demanded a legally-binding popular consultation that will provide structural changes in the educational system that will go beyond the proposals that right-wing Piñera’s administration is trying to put on the table to calm down the protests.

The current system of education, which is mostly for profit, was implemented during the last military dictatorship that ruled the country between 1973 and 1990. This authoritarian period led by dictator Augusto Pinochet, put an end to the administration of socialist president Salvador Allende.

The demonstration held on Sunday was just another measure taken by students and teachers to protest against the education system in force and to demand a change from Piñera’s administration, in order to provide free education. Another measure is a hunger strike that is being carried out by 42 students for over a month. Three of them had to be hospitalized.

But Sunday’s mobilization was also the beginning of a week of intense demonstrations supported by main workers’ unions in the country, the Unitary Workers’ Central. The union is organizing a national strike in the coming days to demand a new Constitution, a democratic and distributive economic policy, and a referendum to solve the education crisis.

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