Chile Proposes Bills To Resolve Mapuche Hunger Strike

Physical problems reported

Thirty-two imprisoned Mapuche activists reached the 50th day of their hunger strike over the weekend. The Mapuches were jailed for acts of violence under an anti-terrorism law created during the regime of dictator Augusto Pinochet.     

The majority are members of CAM (Arauco Malleco Co-ordination), an organization formed in 1998 known for its ongoing attempts to recover Mapuche territory.

While defending cancelling of controversial coal plant

Chilean President Sebastian Piñera visited Punta de Choros on Saturday and held a press conference on the town pier to defend his cancelling of the construction of a thermoelectric power plant near the nature reserve. 

Though his intervention has been criticized, Piñera didn’t discuss the matter in the press conference. Instead, he repeated his promise to change the plant’s location through negotiation with the company, Suez Energy, and said he planned to offer a bill in Congress in the next weeks to establish clear environmental rules for power production.

The Consortium for State Universities voted this week to raise the bar for students applying to teacher education programs in Chile.

The consortium unanimously decided to raise the minimum score of the PSU -- a college entrance exam similar to the SAT in the United States – from 450 points to 500 points, for students applying to teaching program at these universities.