Camila Vallejo: the woman of the South American Revolution

“Beautiful, even if communist“: in this way Erika Riggi ironically starts an article dedicated to one of the most explosive female figures in South America, in these days in Italy for some conferences: Camila Vallejo, 23 years old, vice president of the National Federation of University Students of Chile and activist of the Communist Youth who, since 13 July 2011 is awakening the nation with protests and flash mobs.
Hugely followed on Facebook and Twitter, she has been able to take into the streets hundreds of thousands of people (not only students) to protest against the presidency of the millionaire Sebastián Piñera and his handling of education, economy and labor market.
The guys of Chilean Winter (after the “Arab Spring” in Chile was born “El Invierno Chileno “) went into the streets of Santiago with the “Moonwalk” flashmob inspired to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the “Besathon” during which thousands of couples have kissed for 15 minutes in front of the Palace of La Moneda (symbolizing the passion of the movement), or jogging for weeks in a row under the presidential office waving a black flag with the words “Free Education Now” to show their resistance: a non-violent movement (despite the persistent infiltration of vandals of various kinds) that has on its side an civil extraordinary mobilization.

They are asking for public university education (students now are forced to have rather important debts with banks to be able to get a degree, as if culture was a consumer good: public investments in the sector are only 0.84%), a reorganization of the precarious labor market, the nationalization of natural resources and the regulation of capitalism that has invaded the system (actually there is a fee for children who are born outside of office hours 9 – 17).
This 23 years girl owes her media power also to her beauty, that pierces the video, enchants the crowds, and that has borne her full-pages of many international journals and magazines: but without saving her from threats and intimidation.
“Kill the bitch to make the brood die” (Muerta la perra se acaba la leva) Pinochet had said the day Salvador Allende was assassinated: on Twitter Camila has been delivered the same message from an official of the Ministry of Culture, together with many other intimidations.

But the girl does not give up: takes part in talk-shows, prepared and rigorous, stays impassive when asked to justify someway her beauty, invites people to march in the streets or to play out the window pans with spoons, and destroys with numbers and irony a government that starts to shake (its popularity has plummeted from 70% to a 20%).
A true force of nature.