CHILE: STUDENT MOVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS CHILEAN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
The Chilean student movement that began in 2011 manifested its strength April 11, with a march of 150,000 people in Santiago. The union federation and Workers’ United Center of Chile joined the protest, marching in support. The organizers announced that the protest was a wake-up call to the candidates of the upcoming November presidential election, holding them accountable to campaign promises related to education. Former president Michelle Bachelet announced her candidacy for reelection, declaring that if reelected, education would be her priority. This first student protest in 2013 was against education for profit. The protesters’ slogan is, “Education is not for sale. Education must be defended.”
MEXICO: MILITIA GROUPS, THIRD FORCE IN THE WAR AGAINST NARCO CARTELS
Militia groups have emerged in Mexico as a by-product of the country’s inability to provide security to its communities. These groups have become a third force in Mexico’s drug war, wrote the journalist Ioan Grillo in an article published in Time magazine. “Currently, there are cartel squads of gunmen, state security forces and these groups of armed citizens,” wrote Grillo. Armed with rifles, shotguns and automatic pistols, these militiamen, who are from 15 to 70 years old, take to the streets day after day with the sole purpose of protecting their families and their communities. The militia groups are saying that they now feel much safer in their day-to-day lives. “Many of the criminals have fled from our cities since we began,” stated Esteban Ramos, one of the leaders of these groups in the state of Guerrero. “They are afraid of committing crimes with us here. We have succeeded in the last few weeks in doing what the police and soldiers have been unable to do in years.”
GUATEMALA: RIOS MONTT TRIAL ANNULLED
On April 19, Judge Carol Patricia Flores annulled the proceedings of the trial of former president Efrain Rios Montt, who was accused of genocide. The decision to annul upset the prosecutors who denounced it as illegal and “an unfair treatment of the victims.” Judge Jazmin Barrios, who was presiding over the case, suspended further testimony to await a ruling from the Constitutional Court (CC) to resolve this controversy. She indicated that this suspension will last as long as it is necessary for the CC to rule on Flores’ decision. “Let it be noted that we are not obligated to respect orders that are manifestly illegal. No public official is above the law,” asserted Barrios. Montt is being tried for the killing of 1,771 Ixil indigenous people between 1982 and 1983.