Karol Cariola

Karol Aída Cariola Oliva (born April 1, 1987) is a Chilean politician, and former president of the Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Concepción (University of Concepción Student Federation) for 2010. She was elected General Secretary of the Juventudes Comunistas de Chile, abbr. JJ.CC., (the youth wing of the Communist Party of Chile) at the organizations XIII Congress held in October 2011.[1] Cariola is the second woman to hold this post in the Communist Youth of Chile after the late communist leader Gladys Marin (1941-2005).[2]

Karol Aída Cariola Oliva
Karol Cariola in 2013.
Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Independencia and Recoleta district
Assumed office
11 March 2014
General Secretary of the Communist Youth of Chile
Assumed office
November 2011
Preceded byOscar Aroca
President of the University of Concepción Student Federation
In office
2010–2011
Preceded byJose Piña
Succeeded byGuillermo Petersen
Personal details
Born (1987-04-01) April 1, 1987
Santiago, Chile
NationalityChilean
Political partyCommunist Youth of Chile
New Majority (Chile)
Alma materUniversity of Concepción
WebsiteJJ.CC.

On August 4, 2013, Cariola emerged as the leading congressional candidate in the New Majority coalition's primary elections for the electoral district of Recoleta and Independencia. [3] Subsequently, during the Chilean general election held on November 17, 2013 she won 38.47% of the votes and became the deputy-elect for the 19th electoral Santiago district of Recoleta and Independencia. She commenced to serve a four-year term in the Chilean Congress on 11 March 2014.[4][5]

Student movement for public education

Cariola was elected General Secretary of the JJ.CC. amidst one of the most significant mass social mobilization in recent Chilean history – referred by the media as the Chilean Winter. This mobilization saw students across Chile refuse to return to school or university, from April 2011 to the end of the academic year, in protest and to demand an end to the privatization of education. Cariola has stated that the student mobilization, protests and strikes had a political nature and she refuted the statement made by the Chilean government spokesperson Andrés Chadwick that the CONFECH (Chile's Confederation of Student Unions) has been taken over by extremist elements.

In an interview with CNN Chile Cariola stated that it was a grave mistake to refer to the student movement in that manner:

I think our country is at a historic moment, that it is necessary to generate structural changes….We have had a process that has led this country to develop a new consciousness. Chile today is not the same that it was 6 months ago, there is an eagerness to generate changes and the need to do so.” [6]

Parliamentary candidature and general elections

Cariola has stated that "Chile and its people have to draft a new constitution"[7] and has said that within the Nueva Mayoria coalition she intends to fight for a Constituent Assembly to oversee a change to the existing Chilean Constitution. Cariola - in line with the leader of the Nueva Mayoria, Michelle Bachelet - believes that the Chilean Constitution is illegitimate because it was introduced in the absence of political democracy by the Pinochet regime on September 11, 1980.[8][9] Cariola also states that if she wins a seat in the Chilean Chamber of Deputies she will work to see a fair labour code implemented with an institution to protect workers' rights and the automatic unionization of all workers in or entering the workforce.[10]

New Majority coalition's primary elections

The primary elections for the New Majority coalition commenced on August 4, 2013. These parliamentary primaries were set to determine which two candidates from the Nueva Mayoria pact in a given electorate will stand for the Chilean elections in November 2013. In the primary election for the 19th Santiago electorate of Recoleta-Independencia Cariola received the highest number of votes from the local constituents.[11][12]

District Electoral Division Candidate Party Votes % Results
19 Recoleta Óscar Santelices PPD 1439 18,3 Candidate
María Francisca Zaldívar PDC 1206 15,3
Francisco Díaz PS 1125 14,3
Karol Cariola PCCh 4100 52,1 Candidate

Chilean general elections 2013

Candidate Pact Party Votes % Results
Karol Cariola Oliva New Majority PCCh 35.604 38,47 Deputy
Claudia Nogueira Alliance UDI 22.992 24,84 Deputy
Óscar Santelices Altamirano New Majority PPD 13.929 15,05
Eduardo Cuevas Rosselot Alliance RN 6.934 7,49
Roberto Cofré Pinto New Constitution for Chile Ind. 4.214 4,55
Galvarino Sazo Bolbaran If You Want It, Chile Changes PRO 3.005 3,24
Juan Francisco Valdés Valencia If You Want It, Chile Changes PRO 2.424 2,61
Claudio Méndez Rojas Humanist Party HP 2.051 2,21
Eduardo Patricio Purán Purán Humanist Party HP 1.378 1,48

Criticism

Karol Cariola is currently a candidate for the Chilean parliamentary elections to be held in 2013. This strategy to reach political power by Cariola and other members of the Communist Youth and ex-leaders of the educational social mobilizations such as Camila Vallejo and Camilo Ballesteros, has been bitterly questioned by some student factions who consider it a betrayal to the principles of the mobilizations.[13][14] Other critics point to her explicit support for the governments of Fidel Castro[15] and Hugo Chavez.[16]

See also

References

  1. "Dirigenta estudiantil, Karol Cariola, es la nueva Secretaria General de la JJ.CC" (in Spanish). Tercera Informacion Spain. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  2. "El Partido Comunista y su recambio generacional" (in Spanish). CNN Chile. 3 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  3. "Karol Cariola y Cristián Cuevas triunfan en primarias de la Nueva Mayoría" (in Spanish). El Clarin. 5 August 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  4. "Resultados electorales del PC" (in Spanish). PCCh.cl. 18 November 2013. Archived from the original on 28 November 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  5. "RESULTADOS DE LAS ELECCIONES/Diputados/Región Metropolitana/Distrito 19" (in Spanish). 18 November 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  6. "Es un desacierto del Gobierno pronunciarse así frente a este movimiento" (in Spanish). CNN Chile. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  7. Saleh, Felipe (19 July 2013). "Karol Cariola: "Tengo mucho en qué contribuir"" (in Spanish). Publimetro. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  8. "Bachelet ofrece Constitución en primer año si resulta elegida" (in Spanish). La Razon. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  9. "Abogado: Hay que agotar vía institucional antes de la Asamblea Constituyente" (in Spanish). Cooperativa. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  10. "Adhesión de las JJCC al Paro Nacional del 11 de Julio convocado por la CUT" (in Spanish). JUVENTUDES COMUNISTAS DE CHILE. 19 June 2013. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  11. "Primarias en Nueva Mayoría: Karol Cariola triunfa en Recoleta" (in Spanish). 24 HORAS. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  12. "PRIMARIAS NUEVA MAYORÍA: LOS 17 CANDIDATOS A DIPUTADOS ELEGIDOS" (in Spanish). La Nacion Chile. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  13. http://www.publimetro.cl/nota/cronica/eloisa-gonzalez-camila-vallejo-representa-al-pc-no-al-movimiento-estudiantil/xIQmcy!7NXmHtO3bGewY/
  14. http://redprisma.org/latam/index.php/entrevistas-politica/3292-karol-cariola-qentramos-al-sistema-porque-queremos-cambiarloq
  15. http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2012/04/05/karol-cariola-y-camila-vallejo-las-reflexiones-de-fidel-son-luz-y-esperanza-para-chile-video/
  16. http://radiokabudari.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/camila-vallejo-karol-cariola-y-claudia.html

Interviews and talks

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