Chile: Welcome to the newbies of 2013! Welcome to those who struggle!

The State has legitimized the educational project of the country's ruling class, that understands education as a consumer good, geared to meet the needs of the model whereby corporate interests prevail over popular interests. We realize that our structural demands are alerting the class whose interests are served by the current form of market education, so we need a strong people, able to effectively break the model, if we are to win. [Castellano]

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Welcome to the newbies of 2013! Welcome to those who struggle!

This is a crucial year for those who are committed to social transformation. Beyond sterile wordmongering, we believe we can put an end to the consolidation of the neoliberal model and begin an offensive for a social movement for education and other social rights, toward a victorious future. This year we invite you to be a part of the libertarian project.

This offensive goes beyond the fetishism of revolt, it comes through consolidating our advances, crystallizing the dignity that has given us the struggle for the just demands of the people. In a year of huge demonstrations, where students put forward their own programme of demands - in line with a new educational project, making education a social right that can inform and transform society - the popular movement could not help but feel part of the students achievements.

The State has legitimized the educational project of the country's ruling class, that understands education as a consumer good, geared to meet the needs of the model whereby corporate interests prevail over popular interests. We realize that our structural demands are alerting the class whose interests are served by the current form of market education, so we need a strong people, able to effectively break the model, if we are to win. There are no shortcuts for this. We know that the path to the construction of popular power leads from below and involves everyone, but we are happy that this year we intend - with new courage - to take on once more that slow work needed to achieve the social revolution.

For the transformation of all of society, we cannot make education an effective social right without threatening the social relations of domination that keep today's rich getting richer. Nor can we do it without extending these contradictions to other demands. For this reason we libertarian students work in agreement with the popular movement. We do not place ourselves in front of, nor behind of this movement - we are inside it, because we are part of the people.

We in the Libertarian Student Front [ed. Frente de Estudiantes Libertarios - FEL] organize ourselves differently: without authoritarianism, without leaders, horizontally and federally. We are active on a national level and are also part of a larger revolutionary and libertarian project along with other social activists (workers and ordinary people), is characterized as revolutionary and libertarian.

On the road to social revolution, let's build from below all together!

Welcome newbies!

Welcome to those who struggle!

Frente de Estudiantes Libertarios

Universidad de Chile

Translation by FdCA - International Relations Office.