CHILE: 7 JULY UPDATE: Hoping To Calm Protesters...Pinera Proposes $4bn For Higher Education; Starbucks Workers Plan Strike.

                                       LINK CHANGE / REUTERS


President Sebastian Pinera's administration has been beset by regular mass student protests...even rioting met with water cannons and tear gas...over education standards and costs.
New polls show that Pinera's approval rating dropped to 31%...down by 15 points in June.


Now he has proposed $4bn usd for higher education...to try to calm protesters and regain support.


But the protesters apparently...are not buying it. They recently held a kiss-in protest.


"It's not just a student movement. There's a strong and widespread discontent that Spain's 'indignados' are also expressing," said a political analyst .


Those education protests...along with large recent protests against  proposed Patagonian energy projects... and a possible strike at state copper giant Codelco...have threatened his legislative plans.
AND: Some union workers at Chile's Starbucks...will walkout over low pay and benefits.
New hires get $2.50 per hour...a rate that hasn't changed in 8 years.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/07/starbucks-idUSN1E76523020110707

CHILE: Pinera Eyes Defense Budget For Rebuilding.

AP/ MIAMI HERALD/   The immense cost of rebuilding Chile's infrastructure destroyed by the massive earthquake may give new President Sebastian Pinera the opportunity to tap the 10% of Chile's copper revenues reserved for defense spending and required by law. Chile has outspent every other major South American nation in military expenditures except Colombia, where the FARC rebels have been waging a decade-long guerrilla war. But overcoming military leaders won't be an easy task.

CHILE: Copper hits 15-Month High As Strike Is Threatened.

LAHT/
Workers at the Chuquicamata mine have voted to strike on January 1st. The state-owned mine was forecast to produce 565,000 tons of copper in 2010. A strike would cost the firm around $8 million a day. This is the first time Codelco workers have voted to strike since 1996.
Copper hit $7,285 per ton with the three-month contract up 3 per cent after closing in London on Christmas Eve at $7,070 per ton.