MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Military draft for 57.000 18-year olds in Chile, alleging students’ disruption
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. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesOne 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 - Link - Report abuse 0Oh 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 - Link - Report abuse 0Hi, ry,
Oct 18th, 2011 - 06:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0sorry, 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'.
I totally support the students right to protest peacefully. The problem here is the perception that the students represent the extreme left and the government is placed to the right. These extremes are sore wounds for a country that was so politically polarised in recent history. This move by Pinera will be seen to be reminiscent of some extreme measures that should well and truly belong in the past.
Oct 18th, 2011 - 08:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Thanks for the clarification, Geoff. I think I am a little prickly right now with reading too many negative comments about the Occupy Wall Street protests, which I, of course, support.
Oct 19th, 2011 - 12:02 am - Link - Report abuse 0I do not see what the problem is - just let all of the students go to Argentina. Everything is free there, including education, medical benefits, and the government will give you a monthly allowance to live on.
Oct 19th, 2011 - 04:31 am - Link - Report abuse 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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