Chile Proposes Bills To Resolve Mapuche Hunger Strike

“Human rights are not just a moral issue, they’re also a legal issue,” Esteban Beltrán tells the Santiago Times

Esteban Beltrán has worked in human rights for more than 25 years and is currently the director of Amnesty International in Spain.  Last weekend he was in Santiago to promote his book “Twisted Rights: Topics, Half Truths and Lies About Poverty, Politics, and Human Rights,” (title translated from Spanish). 

In an interview with the Santiago Times this week, Beltrán defined human rights as the minimum resources a person needed to still have dignity.  The two most important human rights issues in Chile, he said, are Mapuche rights and women’s reproductive rights. 

A bug that was originally introduced to the Western Hemisphere in order to control pest populations, the Chinese Ladybug known as the Harmonia, has now developed into an invasive species. The bugs have become an increasing problem in Valparaiso and Santiago, and scientists fear they can have a serious effect on wine production.

Researchers Audrey Grez and Tania Zaviezo, faculty members in the Veterinary and Animal Sciences department at Universidad de Chile, recently had their report on the insect published in the journal of Science and Agricultural Research. They conducted experiments on the effects the Chinese ladybugs can have on alfalfa crops and concluded that the species was, in fact, invasive.

With most students in the Santiago Metropolitan Region on winter break, the governments of various boroughs are planning recreational and educational activities so that the children spend their breaks in a healthy and safe environment.

In areas such as Las Condes, the municipal stadium will offer many activities for the students. Kids will even be able to camp in the stadium, and there will be several workshops on nature, as well as sports and recreational activities.