In one of the cases a student was admitted with severe asthmatic condition according to the Coordination Assembly of Secondary Students (ACES in Spanish initials) in a press release and reported by the La Nación newspaper and the ANSA news agency.
Sergio Aguilera, the director of the medical facility to which they were admitted, explained that the students are “in grave danger” and that the situation will evolve “in the short term”.
*“In 48 to 72 hours they could have serious complications and this goes from a risk to their life to any number of kidney and heart complications and could even leave them permanent damage,”* he added.
*“In reality we are all at risk, those of us who have been doing this longer are at critical risk of something happening to us along the way,”* said Gloria Negrete, the most seriously ill young person, before being hospitalised. She urged President Sebastian Piñera to, *“put his hand on his heart,”* and warned him, *“The strike is to the end.”*
Another of the strikers and spokesperson for ACES reiterated that the strike will remain despite the consequences to the health of the young people.
*“I know that I could die and if I have to give my life for education I’ll do it. This is our slogan: ‘life for education.’ (…) We blame 100% the President and his Government for still not giving real solutions to the secondary students,”* he added.
The Government, whose popularity has fallen to historic lows, is assessing whether to ask for the intervention of the Judiciary, having failed to convince the parents to talk their children out of it.
The hunger strike, copied in several regions, coincides with massive marches for free and good quality education that have been battering Chile for three months with a new call to March tomorrow, a protest that the government hopes to disarm today with new announcements. (Télam)
