Well, I had a wonderful time when I accidentally ran into the small but riotously (not a riot!) passionate protest that was just beginning outside the Chilean Consulate near my home (and, coincidentally in the same building as the English lessons I give!!). The protest was part of an international campaign demanding the release of the indigenous Mapuche political prisoners in Chile who have been on a hunger strike for over 55 days now.
Luckily two of the young women who work at my favourite café close by were very much part of the protest (I knew they were radical lefties by the look in their eye when they prattled on in Spanish... no, they speak a little English and we´ve talked of the injustice and bullshit that goes on in countries, theirs, mine and everywhere). They didn´t need to explain the situation to me, but I had to explain my allegiance to them, and they got excited that some Australians are sympathetic enough to stage their own protests at the Chilean consulate in Australia. I have permission to publish the following photos. The top one with the "sticks" was from a demonstration of an indigenous ceremony in Chile during my time there (where I attended the protest in Santiago de Chile soon after I arrived). Hope you enjoy, and hope you get angry and active. (You can get active in Australia - check out http://www.stopwarcoalition.org/news/news_items.php?shownews=1758)
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