A Crime To Be Poor And Study Gearid Loingsigh In the very week that the Comptroller General in Colombia announced

d that in real and absolute terms the budgets for Colombias public universities had been cut since Uribe came to power, creating difficulties for the students they mobilised and protested and were criminalised by the President for defending public education. he reduction in the budget affects the !uality of education but also the !uantity. " smaller budget means fewer students. #ome $%,&&& people apply each year for 'ust (,&&& places in the )ational University in *ogot+. "lthough the )ational University was designed for the poor sectors of society and the fee is a percentage of income up to a ceiling, many rich people who would in other times have gone to the more famous private universities such as the ,averiana and the "ndes now apply to the public universities. his is particularly the case in prestige degrees such as medicine, where the public system outshines the private universities. "ll of this pushes more low income families out of the system as rich children, educated in private schools with private lessons etc score higher points -not unlike the system in the .ree #tate./ he students at the )ational University took matters into their own hands on .riday 01th of 2ctober by blocking the 3irectors car and preventing it from leaving the University or indeed from reversing back. he stand off lasted nearly four hours. hey demanded that the 3irector discuss with the students the budget for the University. 4e refused. he stand off was eventually brought to an end by the intervention of other staff and the calling of a meeting for the following 5onday, which 6asserman did not, in the end, attend. 4owever, Uribe intervened and countermanded the 5ayors office by ordering the riot police to enter the University, something which they had never done due to the international agreements on the independence of campuses around the world. hey immediately set about baton charging the students even though the issue had been resolved and the students were dispersing. hey arrested a number of people. 2nce again the President intervened, turning up to declare alongside a meek 6asserman that the students were terrorists and that they would be charged with kidnapping, punishable by (& years in 'ail. his is not the first time that Uribe has usurped the powers of the prosecutors office and the 'udiciary. 4e has neither the power nor the authority to decide upon arrests, charges etc. he Police, true to form, followed up by saying they were investigating whether the guerrillas were behind the 7kidnapping8. his is part of a wider campaign since Uribe took power to criminalise any form of protest, peaceful or otherwise. In many ways it is still safer to be a guerrilla fighter, than take part in peaceful and legal protest. It remains to be seen whether the prosecutors take their cue from the President and charge them with kidnapping, though it is unlikely as the law is very specific on the issue

and it would be hard to make it stick. )evertheless, the immediate result was that in the media the demand for proper funding of the Universities was criminalised and the new budget will go through paving the way for privatisation, which is Uribes ultimate ob'ective. 9ducation will be only for the elite and the U# model is very much admired in the circles that send their children abroad for post graduate study.