Military draft for 57.000 18-year olds in Chile, alleging students’ disruption

Monday, October 17th 2011 - 21:53 UTC

Full article 6 comments

Vargas said the forces need a bigger pool to choose from to fill the 11.340 spots.

Chile is giving nearly 57.000 18-year-olds one month to report for potential military duty, saying the government needs to fill gaps in its armed forces because a nationwide student protest movement has reduced the number of volunteers it usually gets.

Military Service is compulsory in Chile, but there are usually enough volunteers to fill the ranks so that no one has to serve against their will.

So far this year, only 14,127 men and women born in 1993 have signed up, and Armed Forces deputy secretary Alfonso Vargas said they need a bigger pool to choose from to fill the 11.340 spots.

That's why 56.793 more teenagers will need to report in a month for potential duty in 2012, he explained on the draft office's website. Vargas blamed the student movement that has been campaigning since April for education reform for boycotting schools, and thus closing doors to military recruiters.

Brigadier Gen. Gunther Siebert, who directs Chile's military draft, also blamed the student movement in an interview published Monday in the El Mercurio newspaper, and said that 2.5 candidates are needed for every spot because many can't serve for physical or other reasons.

But Chile's military also had a shortage last year, before the movement began, and at that time they called up fewer than 39,000 for the draft.

Unlike in some other countries, attending a university does not enable Chilean 18-year-olds to avoid the draft. The only exceptions are physical limitations, providing the primary income for a family, being married or expecting a child; being convicted of an “immoral” crime, or being the child of someone imprisoned or tortured by Chile's 1973-1990 dictatorship.

Categories: Politics, Latin America.

Tags: Chile, military service, students.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules

GeoffWard2
One could imagine that service in the Chilean armed forces could give many the education they have been rejecting during their university years.
Oct 18th, 2011 - 10:43 am 0
rylang23
Oh Geoff... if you can't see that this is a direct attack against the protestors, then you need to learn to read between the lines. The government rhetoric is “because of the protestors we will need to draft young people”, which is called “divide and conquer” in most political circles. Pinera is desperate to stop the protests as his numbers are in the tank, so he pits youth against youth. I hope this fails miserably.
Oct 18th, 2011 - 03:17 pm 0
GeoffWard2
Hi, ry,
sorry, I was being to opaque. I was being sarcastic, though you could be excused from seeing it because my postings on this matter have largely been supportive of law & order and the use of the democratic process to address the 'education issue'.
Oct 18th, 2011 - 06:13 pm 0

Read all comments

Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!