Chilean students hold new protest for education reform

Tens of thousands of students took to the streets in the Chilean capital Thursday in a renewed bid to press for broad education reform. Protest leaders estimated that there were some 80,000 participants, including middle school and university students supported by teachers and social organizations. In a festive mood dancing to the music and wearing costumes, the protestors marched across the capital from the Santiago University to the downtown Almagro Park, but bypassed the Presidential Palace of Moneda. The latest protests erupted after failed negotiations during which government only agreed to two of the students' demands. "They are playing poker, betting on the student movement losing momentum, but that won't happen," said Giorgio Jackson, president of the Catholic University's Students Federation. Camila Vallejo, a spokeswoman for the students, said it was "regrettable" that the government wasn't showing more commitment to the talks and added that "the important thing is that we stay true to our convictions." Adding controversy to the five-month-long conflict, the government announced that 70,000 middle school students had lost credit for the last 2010-11 school year after a prolonged period in which they seized schools as part of the nationwide protests that have paralyzed Chile numerous times since early May.