Providencia Mayor Jaime Bellolio has denounced the alleged involvement of adults in recent acts of violence at Liceo José Victorino Lastarria. Speaking before the Chamber's Education Commission, the municipal leader revealed evidence suggesting that third parties are financing vandalism within the public education network.
According to reports from cnnchile.com, Bellolio stated that one of the youths detained by Carabineros admitted to being hired to participate in the unrest. “We are convinced that adults are involved. One of the youths who was detained by Carabineros yesterday indicated that someone had paid him to do this,” the Mayor declared.
The Mayor emphasized that the municipal administration will not allow students to be used as tools to attack public education and pledged to defend the district's schools.
Alleged coordination of vandalism
Bellolio detailed that the incidents on Monday, April 13, involved very young students. During that episode, students from 8th grade and 10th grade had to be restrained by their own classmates to de-escalate the situation.
The Mayor praised the students' actions as an act of bravery to reclaim the school as a safe space. However, he also recalled an incident from two weeks ago, where three students attempted to set fire to the establishment.
According to cnnchile.com, two of those involved in the arson attempt were from a school in Santiago, having been expelled under the 'Aula Segura' (Safe Classroom) protocol. Bellolio criticized what he described as a “musical chairs” of violence.
In this most recent episode, the Mayor noted that an adult woman from the school itself allegedly participated in smuggling incendiary materials into the premises. The Mayor called on parliamentarians for support to eradicate organized violence in these historic schools.
“There can be no more violence in these spaces. We must eradicate it in all schools, but especially in those that have faced years of organized violence that they can no longer withstand,” Bellolio concluded.
