The news: http://santiagotimes.cl/state-security-law-invoked-to-deal-with-angry-drivers/

 The news written by Linn Helene Loken, talks about the conflict which “colectivo” drivers have with the government of Michelle Bachelet. The last Thursday (18^th of November), the drivers make a strike; they were blocking streets of many cities of Chile. The protestors insist on get some facilities for their work, like to be exempt from the combustible fuel tax, be available for them to receive a government bonus for the upkeep of vehicles and subsidies, as to those granted to Transantiago, the protesters were also demanding about not being able to drive in bus lanes, because they consider themselves a part of public transportation.

In this context, the government invoked the state security law; Carabineros say they arrested 10 drivers at the moment of the strike. Matias Salazar, Santiago’s Regional Secretary of Transport, justify the decision based on the “violence” against the freedom and security of Chilean people.

This is a strange form to confront the laboral claim of the union, in general, we use to hear the use of this judicial tool in cases associated to Mapuche conflict, being in all the opportunities an issue of controversy, but, sadly, it isn’t new to inkove the state security law in this matter, it was already used against port workers in San Antonio, (January in 2014), and against the Aysen Movement in 2012.

I choose this news because I believe that social sciences cannot be left indifferent in this matters, I read in the “colectivo” drives conflict an economic problem, an utilitarian demand, but it’s not a political movement, I remembered the strike made by Manuel Navarrete, Orlando Panza, Marcel Antoine, Armando Huerta y Demetrio Marinakis, owner of yellow buses, before the introduction of Transantiago. I think it’s so interesting, trying at least, propose alternatives readings of political processes in macro and micro structures, although it was a little text J

Good bye Lenin! (2003)

A movie that I enjoyed so much is called “Good bye Lenin!”, I saw it in 2010, when I was studying in Bachillerato, and we needed see it because in my class of sociology we had to do an essay related to some aspect of the movie. It was filmed in 2003, and the actors who participated are Daniel Brühl (Alexander Kerner in the movie), Katrin Sass (Christiane, Alexander´s mother) and Chulpan Khamatova (Lara, Alexander´s girlfriend). 

It is a fiction film, but it´s mixed with reality facts, because the history is located between 1990 and 1991 in East Germany (ex-RDA), and the argument is about a guy who isn´t interested on political events of Germany, his mother is an activist of communist party of RDA, almost blind of the speeches, until she suffer a health accident after her son is arrested in a public protest, and she lose her memory. Alexander have to make a sense for himself about his reality and for his mother, he has to create an environment preserved just like it was before the accident of Christiane, because she is in bed when the wall fall down, and she doesn´t know nothing about political changes.  

Well, I like this movie because it suggest an event for reflections about the individual life before, during and after the “greats” changes in political and social issues, and otherwise, it presents (from fiction) a way to think that big processes like an absurd sometimes into the movie, so daily life doesn´t have those rhythms.