September 3, 2026 from Santiago Chile
Students protest the right wing Madrid Forum.
Today thousands of high school and college students marched through downtown Santiago, Chile, in a large-scale protest against the economic and repressive agenda of President José Antonio Kast.
The demonstration, organized by the Coordinating Assembly of High School Students (ACES) along with organizations such as Vencer and Rebelión, denounced budget cuts to education and school meals, the rising cost of living, and the government’s increasingly harsh security policies.
Furthermore, the demonstration—one of whose epicenters was the area around the Baquedano Metro station, an iconic gathering point during the 2019 social uprising—coincided with the start of the fifth edition of the Madrid Forum, the international far-right summit that brings together conservative leaders from Latin America and Europe in the Chilean capital.
This event, founded in 2020 by the leader of the Spanish party Vox, Santiago Abascal, is being held on September 3 and 4 in Santiago and features figures such as Argentine President Javier Milei, Kast himself, U.S. Under Secretary Sarah Rogers, the head of The Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, and Hungarian MEP Kinga Gál.
During the opening of the meeting, Milei celebrated Kast’s electoral victory in Chile and stated that the region is undergoing a “historic moment” oriented toward “Western values.”
In his remarks, the Argentine president argued that the social unrest of 2019 occurred because “Chile neglected the battle of ideas” and labeled “leftist movements” on the continent as a “cancer.”
Meanwhile, human rights groups and progressive parties gathered outside the La Moneda Palace to protest the event. “Those who come to promote hatred and denialism are not welcome in a land that knows the pain and cost of losing democracy,” asserted Esteban Navarro, regional political secretary of the Communist Party of Chile.
Escalating Tensions and Calls for a National Strike
This day marks a new chapter in the series of student protests against the Kast administration, following the marches held on April 29 and May 14 in protest of the suspension of programs by the National Board of School Aid and Scholarships (Junaeb).
Student organizations criticize government initiatives such as the “Protected Schools” bill or attempts at constitutional reform under emergency powers, arguing that they seek to criminalize social protest and establish mechanisms of control.
Added to this are recent allegations of police abuses, such as the mistreatment reported by students in Quellón, who were forced to undress by the Carabineros, and the killing of rapper Vegetal at the hands of police officers on August 17.
In light of this situation, youth leaders called for assemblies to be held in all high schools and universities across the country to lay the groundwork for a potential national strike.
Source: Telesur