On the benches of the school
Despite a high literacy rate (96% in Chile and 98.1% in Argentina) in two countries with relatively efficient education systems, Patagonia is an exception due to its isolation and low population density. In this vast rural area, where schools are rare and universities almost non-existent, differences in school enrolment are notable, to say the least, compared to the rest of Argentina and Chile. Since the Lagos reform of 2003, schooling in Chile has been compulsory from age 6 to 18, and access to university is based on passing the Prueba de selección a las universidades (PSU) exam. Private education is quite common in Chile, sharing students with the public sector. Depending on their PSU results, students can enroll in universities, vocational institutes or technical training centers. Unfair and much-criticized, the education system is now in crisis: families often have to go into debt so that their children can study, and the difference between public and private education in terms of cost of study and quality of teaching is very great. As a result, more and more Chilean students are crossing the Andes to study in Argentina, where the school system is recognized as one of the most advanced in South America. Despite some shortcomings aggravated by the 2001 crisis and the favoritism of private institutions, Argentine universities are more accessible than the Chilean education system. It's also worth noting that Argentina's university system, with its morning or evening timetables and the possibility of spreading courses over several years for the same exam, enables young and not-so-young working people to continue their studies or start new ones while working. In Patagonia, universities are few and far between: while the University of Temuco has just under 10,000 students, the University of Punta Arenas has barely 1,000. In Argentina, there are just five universities: the National University of Tierra del Fuego opened its doors barely ten years ago. Many students finish school at 14 before taking over the family business or specializing in agricultural work. As far as primary education is concerned, the infrastructure is still lacking. An interesting detail: before the 1980s, when the Chilean Carretera Austral had not yet been built, Chilean children had to cross the border to study in Argentinean schools. In the most isolated regions, pupils still travel to school on horseback, swallowing miles of steppes in a stormy wind. Finally, school programs are sometimes adapted to the geographical and cultural specificities of the region: caring for animals, training in agricultural techniques or learning Mapudungun, all of which are specific to Mapuche schools.
At work
Often owners of their land for generations, heirs to a know-how and a culture that marginalize them from the rest of the country, the Argentines and Chileans of Patagonia escape the metro, work, sleep of the big cities. Without neglecting the industrial jobs that exist in the mining or fishing sectors, a large proportion of the working population lives from a multitude of odd jobs as employees or self-employed workers (known here as " monotributistas ") in service activities. Many Chileans in northern Patagonia live off the land or sea: the landscapes are verdant, sheep farms abound and the fjords are teeming with fish. Sheep farming is a very active industry: with no predators or competition for pasture, Patagonia is the world's most important region for this type of breeding (up to 21 million head in 1951). Between oyster farming and mussel farming, fishing and aquaculture provide employment for 25,000 people. Finally, even if Argentina and Chile are among the best economies in Latin America, social inequalities persist... and Patagonia is no exception. Most inhabitants know that they have to work hard to earn a little and still meet their needs. Social gloom is everywhere in Patagonia, fuelled by the shrinking of public services and welfare benefits, and a feeling of abandonment of rural areas and small towns by an indifferent government unconcerned about the plight of the working classes.
A strong and distinctive identity
It can feel like being alone in the world in these vast, infinite spaces, but when you cross paths with a Patagonian, you soon feel surrounded. Patagonia is a land of encounters with those who, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, settled in these once inhospitable territories. All suffered from isolation, bad weather, capricious nature, hard work and dependence on their neighbors. Yet, proud of their history and the traditions they still preserve, these descendants of the pioneers who stayed on the Grand Sur have inherited a unique identity. For a long time, they lived by exchanging products within a close-knit community, far removed from geopolitical interests and indifferent, even, to the concept of borders. For while Patagonian identity is obviously nuanced by nationality (whether Chilean or Argentinean), for many it is above all an art of living carried by a free spirit (embodied by the strong symbols of the gauchos and huasos). In Alex Bowen's film "Mi Mejor Enemigo", Argentine and Chilean military patrols meet during a conflict in 1978, without knowing which side of the border they are on. Chileans or Argentinians? No, Patagonians. An identity with no obvious markers, an allegory for the whole concept of Patagonia - a region and a mystical identity shared by both countries. Like its borders, the Patagonian identity cannot be precisely described, but it is possible to paint a picture of certain character traits. Humble and discreet, the people of Patagonia are both generous and selfless. Having made particular life choices in a hostile territory, they have the ability to put things into perspective, to move forward and to rely on the elements around them. They are kings of improvisation and quilombo (chaos, bazaar), a belief that invites us not to get organized, to let things happen and things come, in order to experience the best that life has to offer. Isolation is a certainty, but solitude is less so: any occasion is good for getting together and feasting, over a maté or an asado. The family is the basis of all social relations: friends are cousins, acquaintances are childhood friends. Social classes rarely mix! On the roads to the south, they'll give you a wave and are always up for a chat. Conservative and religious, the men are sometimes macho, preferring their daughters to marry before devoting themselves to a career. And even though the borders don't seem to mark any major differences, the Chilean personality stands out from the Argentine mentality. Renowned for their good humor and nonchalance, Argentinians are passionate, seductive and quick to give their opinion on everything. the saying goes,"Argentines are Italians who speak Spanish, think they're English and dream of being French". If you're not very tactile, be warned: you may be greeted with a " mi amor" when you first speak to them, or an " abrazo " when you signal your departure. Chileans, on the other hand, are hospitable, quiet and very attached to social rank: it's not uncommon to be asked about your family name, your educational background or your diplomas. Unappreciated by their Latin American neighbors, they are often referred to as desgarro chileno (the Chilean "tear" or "fracture"), in keeping with their equally fractured nature. Their unique approach to the world is said to come from the Mapuche. For the Mapuche built no famous monuments: their monument was the spoken word, mapudungún. No official history book, but an acidic sense of humor, proud, empty words that value "being" more than "having". A proverb puts it this way: "Humanity is divided into three categories: Chileans, who know nothing; foreigners, who know a little; and the Mapuche, who know everything". And yet, we're not far from thinking that the fresh wind of new social freedoms blowing through the country today finds its expression (and its birth) in the complexity of a proud, warrior identity inherited from the Mapuche.
Women's rights
Despite some progress in recent years, Chile and Argentina remain under the considerable influence of the Church. Faced with the abject plight of abused women, Chile decided to react in 1994 with the enactment of the Law of Intrafamily Violence, which defines violence within the same family as unlawful behavior and liable to prosecution. The figures show just how important a role women play in a country like Chile, with almost 30% of them providing the entire household with a salary that is the same as or higher than that of their spouse. It was for these women, in fact, that the government decided to create a support program in 1991, known as the National Women's Service (SERNAM). In 1989, Chile ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. And divorce has only been legal since 2004. There was still the thorny issue of abortion, recently decriminalized. After two years of parliamentary debate, the Constitutional Court finally validated the law decriminalizing abortion on August 21, 2017. From now on, abortion is authorized in Chile in cases of risk to the pregnant woman, non-viability of the fetus and rape. A victory for President Michelle Bachelet, a pediatrician by training, who fought this battle throughout her term of office under the weight of conservatism. On the legislative front, since obtaining the right to vote in 1947, women have benefited from several positive discrimination laws: in 2021, Chile elected a parity Congress (with equal representation between the sexes), marking a major step forward for women's rights in politics, even if parity is not yet on the agenda.
Argentina, for its part, became the first country in the world to adopt a minimum quota for women's participation in the legislative process, although the figures are sometimes hard to meet in practice. President Cristina Kirchner, who is deeply committed to the cause of women, strengthened the law against white slavery and prostitution in Argentina in 2008, and imposed a law against violence against women in 2010. Among other things, this law makes it possible to record offences in order to establish a snapshot of the situation of violence against women in the country, and to provide free assistance to victims. According to the association La casa del encuentro, 277 feminicides were recorded in 2014, some of them aggravated by acts of extreme violence, and 235 in 2015. Following several particularly atrocious feminicides, a spontaneous movement was born in the streets of the capital in the spring of 2015, which railed against violence against women and quickly spread across the continent: "Ni Una Menos" ("Not one more dead woman"). As for abortion, a first step was taken in March 2012; it was legalized, but only in cases of rape or threat to the mother's life. Then, in March 2018, the law to legalize abortion was rejected following an unfavorable vote in the Senate: Argentina missed the historic opportunity to adopt legislation that had been demanded by a majority of the population. But Argentina's new president, Alberto Fernández, who had openly advocated the legalization of abortion during his candidacy, supports a new bill presented to the Chamber of Deputies, which is passed on December 11, 2020. The Senate, renewed by a third since 2018, validates the project on December 30, 2020, putting an end to no less than 400,000 clandestine abortions a year. In November 2019, in the midst of a wave of social protest in Chile, the country's feminist movements shook up the international scene. In the heart of Santiago, the Chilean collective Las Tesis began "Un Violador en Tu Camino" (a rapist on your path), a poignant choreography accompanied by a song with incisive lyrics. Denouncing sexist and sexual violence, the performance quickly went viral and was taken up all over the world, from Istanbul to Sydney to Paris, on International Women's Rights Day. The Chilean anthem became a global rallying cry.
Sexual diversity
A region subject to the politics of two conservative countries and regularly in the spotlight in recent years following its advances in this area, Chile and Argentina are waging a long-running battle for the recognition and rights of homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals. Since 2012, a law has finally sanctioned discrimination based on sexual orientation, but equality before gender and sexual orientation is far from achieved. In Chile, in June 2018 and 2019, the "Marcha del Orgullo", or Santiago Gay Pride March, took place. Under rainbow flags, LGBT people gathered to claim their identity and accuse the homophobic acts recorded last year, in 2017. Dubbed "the year of fury", the figures recorded are bloodcurdling: with 45.7% more complaints than in 2016, it was the year of all records in terms of homophobic and transphobic violence. On December 7, 2021, the Chilean Congress passed the law allowing same-sex marriage, and the law came into force on March 10, 2022. The move marked the end of a long battle for equal rights within Chilean society, and the realization of another project: in addition to legalizing marriage, the law also paved the way for adoption by same-sex couples. This means that same-sex couples can now adopt children, with the same adoption rights as heterosexual couples. In Argentina, since 2006, the city has been a revelation to the gay public, so much so that it is increasingly being dubbed "Buenos Gayres". Prefecture statistics show that 20% of tourists entering Argentina every year are gay, representing around 500,000 visitors each year. In 2008, the local social security system extended the right to a widow's pension to same-sex couples with at least 5 years of cohabitation. In 2010, amid controversy and waltz-hesitations between the judiciary and Argentina's political class, the first gay and lesbian marriages began to take place. Of course, it goes without saying that, as is the case everywhere, the capital and big cities are more progressive in this area, while the countryside remains more conservative. In May 2012, the Senate approved a bill on sexual identity, allowing transvestites and transsexuals to declare the gender of their choice to the authorities.
