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. 

Environmentalists pressure the President to stop other harmful energy projects

President Sebastian Piñera’s decision to “ask” the GDF Suez energy company to relocate its coal-burning Barrancones thermoelectric plant near Punta de Choros sparked a series of reactions around the country – both negative and positive.

Some believe changes will negatively affect interest in teaching careers

Education Minister Joaquín Lavín this week announced several initiatives to improve the quality of education in Chile, including raising entrance exam scores for teaching programs, creating “High Schools of Excellence,” and increasing direct subsidies to schools. Many of his changes directly connect with teacher quality, which he said was very important.