SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Chilean Artist, Activist 'Liberates' $500 Million Dollars of Student Debt -- By Burning It
Artist known as Papas Fritas took debt notes during student takeover of university, burned them to ash
May 21, 2014
An artist and activist in Chile has "freed" university students from their student debt by burning $500 million dollars in debt notes.
The action last week was the work of visual artist Francisco "Papas Fritas" Tapia, who took the debt notes during a student takeover of the University del Mar, burned them to ashes, and put them on display as an exhibit.
"Authorities began shutting down" the university "last year for financial irregularities and encouraged students to seek out alternative universities," the Santiago Times reported, but "the university is still collecting on its student loans." It is slated to close at the end of this year.
Chile has been hit since 2011 by waves of student protests that have denounced the Pinochet-era education policies that have enabled 'profiteering' and privatization at the nation's schools, and have prompted demands for education to be a public good, not a commodity.
Papas Fritas -- which means "french fries" -- released a video in which he passionately describes his burning of each note, turning them to ash and "freeing this debt."
He hoped it would help "us .... find ways to do things that free us from the fear, that free us from all the things that continually repress us in our faces, in our bodies and in our minds."
"Calmly I went one by one, burning each one of them, freeing each indebted University del Mar student from this debt."
"You don't have to pay any more, my friends... no more. Don't be afraid," he says in the video.
"I'm a person like you... I'm a person who within art finds the possibility of saying that things i have to say, or that my friends and brothers want to say..."
"It's over."
"You are free from debt. You don't have a single peso to pay."
"I'm the same as you; I'm stuck with a shitty life, living day-by-day. With a lot of love I gave this not only to the students but also to everyone who will watch this video and every person who will see the exhibition."
Last week police confiscated the ashes of the debt notes which had been on display at the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral.
It is unclear at this time what, if any, jail time Papas Fritas faces.
Papas Fritas' video "confession" can be seen below, in Spanish:
Francisco "papasFritas" Tapia's confessionThe Chilean artist Francisco "fried chips" Tapia confesses and self-denounce as the perpetrator of the burning of debt instalment ...
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
An artist and activist in Chile has "freed" university students from their student debt by burning $500 million dollars in debt notes.
The action last week was the work of visual artist Francisco "Papas Fritas" Tapia, who took the debt notes during a student takeover of the University del Mar, burned them to ashes, and put them on display as an exhibit.
"Authorities began shutting down" the university "last year for financial irregularities and encouraged students to seek out alternative universities," the Santiago Times reported, but "the university is still collecting on its student loans." It is slated to close at the end of this year.
Chile has been hit since 2011 by waves of student protests that have denounced the Pinochet-era education policies that have enabled 'profiteering' and privatization at the nation's schools, and have prompted demands for education to be a public good, not a commodity.
Papas Fritas -- which means "french fries" -- released a video in which he passionately describes his burning of each note, turning them to ash and "freeing this debt."
He hoped it would help "us .... find ways to do things that free us from the fear, that free us from all the things that continually repress us in our faces, in our bodies and in our minds."
"Calmly I went one by one, burning each one of them, freeing each indebted University del Mar student from this debt."
"You don't have to pay any more, my friends... no more. Don't be afraid," he says in the video.
"I'm a person like you... I'm a person who within art finds the possibility of saying that things i have to say, or that my friends and brothers want to say..."
"It's over."
"You are free from debt. You don't have a single peso to pay."
"I'm the same as you; I'm stuck with a shitty life, living day-by-day. With a lot of love I gave this not only to the students but also to everyone who will watch this video and every person who will see the exhibition."
Last week police confiscated the ashes of the debt notes which had been on display at the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral.
It is unclear at this time what, if any, jail time Papas Fritas faces.
Papas Fritas' video "confession" can be seen below, in Spanish:
Francisco "papasFritas" Tapia's confessionThe Chilean artist Francisco "fried chips" Tapia confesses and self-denounce as the perpetrator of the burning of debt instalment ...
An artist and activist in Chile has "freed" university students from their student debt by burning $500 million dollars in debt notes.
The action last week was the work of visual artist Francisco "Papas Fritas" Tapia, who took the debt notes during a student takeover of the University del Mar, burned them to ashes, and put them on display as an exhibit.
"Authorities began shutting down" the university "last year for financial irregularities and encouraged students to seek out alternative universities," the Santiago Times reported, but "the university is still collecting on its student loans." It is slated to close at the end of this year.
Chile has been hit since 2011 by waves of student protests that have denounced the Pinochet-era education policies that have enabled 'profiteering' and privatization at the nation's schools, and have prompted demands for education to be a public good, not a commodity.
Papas Fritas -- which means "french fries" -- released a video in which he passionately describes his burning of each note, turning them to ash and "freeing this debt."
He hoped it would help "us .... find ways to do things that free us from the fear, that free us from all the things that continually repress us in our faces, in our bodies and in our minds."
"Calmly I went one by one, burning each one of them, freeing each indebted University del Mar student from this debt."
"You don't have to pay any more, my friends... no more. Don't be afraid," he says in the video.
"I'm a person like you... I'm a person who within art finds the possibility of saying that things i have to say, or that my friends and brothers want to say..."
"It's over."
"You are free from debt. You don't have a single peso to pay."
"I'm the same as you; I'm stuck with a shitty life, living day-by-day. With a lot of love I gave this not only to the students but also to everyone who will watch this video and every person who will see the exhibition."
Last week police confiscated the ashes of the debt notes which had been on display at the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral.
It is unclear at this time what, if any, jail time Papas Fritas faces.
Papas Fritas' video "confession" can be seen below, in Spanish:
Francisco "papasFritas" Tapia's confessionThe Chilean artist Francisco "fried chips" Tapia confesses and self-denounce as the perpetrator of the burning of debt instalment ...
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.