Facing students’ challenge, Piñera presents record spending budget on education
Chilean President Sebastian Piñra unveiled an education-heavy 2013 budget bill on Sunday, as he seeks to improve the conservatives’ credentials before municipal elections in October and next year's presidential election.
The budget bill proposes increasing public spending by roughly 5% next year, Finance Minister Felipe Larrain said as he submitted the proposal to Congress. The measure would bring total spending to around 63 billion dollars, a record high.
Piñera is under pressure to increase spending after more than a year of massive marches over what protesters charge is a stratified, discriminatory, poor quality and costly education system.
The education demonstrations have become the greatest challenge of the Piñera administration that has been successful in helping the Chilean economy recovery higher growth rates.
“Our citizens are rightly every day more conscious of their rights and demand solutions to their problems” said Piñera, who cannot run for consecutive terms, said in a national address.
“But we can't fall for the populist cries ... Amid this world in crisis, the Chilean economy is healthy, continues to grow and generate jobs and opportunities. We have to keep advancing.”
Chile, the world's largest copper producer, is seen growing around 4.7% this year, boosted by the mining industry, robust domestic demand and its forestry, salmon and wine exports.
While Chile has long been held up as an economic model in Latin America, it has the highest income inequality among OECD countries and the rate has barely fallen since 1990, according to a report by the body last year.
Billionaire Piñera is Chile's most unpopular leader since General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship ended in 1990, although polls also show the centre-left opposition bloc, the Concertacion, as unpopular.
Piñera's Economy, Public Works and Defence ministers are seen as potential presidential candidates in next year's presidential race. The social-democrats is pinning its hopes on a comeback by popular former president Michelle Bachelet, who has not said whether she will run.
The 2013 budget puts education spending at a record-high 12.8 billion dollars, Piñera said. But the move is set to fall short in the eyes of many student groups, which are seeking a massive revamp of the system including free schooling for all.
“The education budget for 2013 increases in 1.2 billion dollars, incorporates 100% of the resources created by the tax review, grows 9.4% in real terms and reached 12.8 billion dollars, the highest investment in education in our history”, underlined Piñera in national television.
”The president insists in maintaining the fallacy that parents have the right to choose (in terms of education). The ones who choose in Chile are only the ones who have money,” student leader Gabriel Boric said on Twitter after the speech.
Piñera also said the bill puts a special emphasis on combating crime and drug trafficking. Congress has 60 days to approve or reject the bill.
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There aren't many countries in that luxury position these days. In fact public spending has increase 127% in the last 6 years - without increasing debt!
The problem is that today's celebrated spending increases are what everyone takes for granted tomorow. It is much harder to decrease public spending, just look at europe.
This is a tighly run ship my friends, lets keep it that way.
Quatermaster! three sheets to the wind!
Stil, Snr Pinero take a look across the water at your neighbours eucation system.
FIG spends 25% national budget on education which includes sending its' citizens to UK universities free of charge
Bachelet should never have left office. Our constitution allows only one term in office, which in this case has been counter-productive. Bachelet left office with 80% approval. I think having to remove a popular leader is almost as undemocratic as not being able to remove an unpopular one. At the end of the day, the majority have not got what they want and this leads to unrest and the situation we have now. In this climate the right policies lose out to political tribalism, which is bad for everyone. I am not a Bachelet supporter but I would have preferred the political cycle to flow naturally, rather than curtail democratic wishes.
The one-term law was an understandable knee-jerk reaction to the dictatorship, but it needs to be changed. In the words of your national bard: “..
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!”
The great irony is that, if we had had a second Bachelet term, Hidroaysen would have gone ahead and the students wouldn’t have got their way. Did you follow the student protests in 2006? More tear gas, more water cannon, less outcry. Wonder why?
Many have come to the conclusion that 2 terms is a safe and wise limit. In a country with strong institutions and strong rule of law there is not a big danger of allowing more than two terms. However Argentina has neither of these things. If you actually wanted what was good for Argentina you would not want CFK in for a 3rd term. I do not support the Concertacion, but I can say (and have said) that I would have preferred Bachelet to continue because it would have been better for national unity – I am not tribal, I want my country to succeed.
“the post-Pinochet straitjacket “: You fundamentally misunderstand the Concertacion. During the first 4 post Pinochet years, you could have said there was a psychological straightjacket, due to a fear that the army may come back. But since then there has been nothing holding or restraining policy, other than legitimate political opposition. The Concertacion’s strict fiscal control was their own policy, there are no two ways about it, no one would deny it, least them. They are (rightly) very proud of it. During the credit crash the finance minister (Andes Velasco) boasted about it and made clear that Chile’s resilience to the crisis was due to the gov’t policy of building up reserves. And he was right. The reason he crowed was because prior to the credit crash he had been under pressure from all sides to loosen policy and use the reserves more aggressively. He was Bachelet’s right-hand man, but if he decides to run, he will be a serious contender for president.
I just found this for you:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=56BGJ5wtVhk
I had never heard him speak English before, which he does very well. At min 17 he touches on what I am saying. This is not a man in a straight jacket. This is a man who is an acclaimed economist and had the balls to hold the line, do what was difficult, unpopular, but right. As he says Lehman Bros proved him right.
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