Pandemonium

In the last days of the Chilean dictatorship Pinochet passed the notorious LOCE laws. Among other things, these laws privatized all education and reduced the power of educators in the system. People across the board have widely criticized it, but for the past 20 years nothing has been done. Frustrated with the slow pace of reform and faced with progressively worse school conditions, students shut down schools in 2006. This year they have done the same. At its peak in 2006 almost 800,000 students protested, and this year's strike wasn't much smaller.

Up until now my encounters with the protesters were fairly brief. A song here, a marching band there. Complicating manners was always my ignorance of the language, making it impossible to tell protesters from revelers. The rule of thumb seems to be that mixed gender marching teens with banners are probably protesting, groups of people with music and masks are probably protesting, and those old ladies walking their dogs are probably protesting. Mostly the protests congregate around a school or school district, and can reach hundreds strong. For example, the Quinta Normal protest happened earlier today.

I silently wished them luck and went on my way. My mind wasn't on the protests of a country half a world away from my home. I was worried about groceries, getting to work, keeping my bike in shape... mundane things, blithe compared to the culture war going on around me. Today was the protesters' day, though, and that was not the only rally happening. Nor was it the largest. I left the neighborhood and biked south. I had to cut east along O'Higgins, the main artery of Santiago, before I would reach the university.

I biked right into another protest. This one was slightly different from the first. Instead of hundreds of students, it had thousands. Instead of stopping at the traffic lights, it forced cars into the side alleys. Soldiers and policemen rerouted buses while armored trucks sedately followed the crowd. Or were they prowling? I parked my bike near the path and fumbled for my camera. Everything was peaceful, uniform, students smiling and singing songs and waving banners and chanting their minds. I got my camera out and switched it to video.

Then someone threw a gas bomb and everything went to hell.

I didn't get a shot of the ensuing chaos. I was a safe distance away from the cloud, but when you're faced with five thousand screaming people you run. I don't remember too much aside from the shrieks and roaring convoys. I almost ran over a man. All around me where panicked crowds, all around except behind. Behind was the slowly advancing wall of white.

I got behind a building and caught my breath. By some miracle everybody else did too. When the gas dispersed people picked up their tattered banners and continued marching. This time I was able to get a video. It only captures a fragment of the original protest. Even this is just a fragment.

With things a little steadier I also had the chance to take some pictures. They didn't come out too well, partially because I was still shaking too hard to keep the camera stable.

After five seconds after I got that second picture the next round of bombs went off. The fragile order collapsed again and the last dregs of protest completely shattered. This time I was safer. I managed to get a video of the panic and another round of pictures.

I watched the spectacle die. Within minutes the street was quiet again. Seemed like as good a time as any to leave. That was not the end of the protests, though. I ran into at least three more in the last stretch to work. I snapped a few uninteresting pictures of one. I ate lunch next to another. After that I went to work. It was pretty interesting, mostly working out a tricky analysis, but I'll spare you the boring details.

I later found out that at least some of the clouds were tear gas. I watched APCs run through clouds of white, and I saw rioters throw streaming cans. Which side used the gas? Both? Who knows? I've been working over a few scenes in my brain. Trying to match up the sounds, sights, and emotions. I feel like I've experienced something special. Despite all of the chaos and frenzy, I feel almost blessed to have been there.

The rest of the day passed quietly. Work. Went out with Peter and a friend from work. That deserves a post, but it feels sacrilegious to put it here. Got lost on the way home, ended up walking two or so kilos. All minor things not really worth talking about right now. For me, today was about the riot. I prefer to keep it that way.