Florencia Yáñez, president of the FEUC: "We will always seek to mobilize in order to have an impact on the discussion in Congress"

This Friday, Florencia Yáñez assumes the presidency of the Student Federation of the Catholic University (FEUC), a position that for decades has served as a platform for political figures such as Giorgio Jackson, Jaime Bellolio, and Claudio Orrego. A fourth-year law student and member of Nueva Acción Universitaria (NAU), the student leader became the tenth woman to head the organization, after winning with 57.37% of the votes in a runoff contested exclusively among left-wing movements. Her arrival comes amid the controversy over the 2027 Budget cuts to Education, a scenario in which she anticipates a critical stance and the intention to rearticulate the student movement. While she acknowledges the advances driven by the student generation that later reached La Moneda with Gabriel Boric, she also questions the unfulfilled expectations, such as the failed forgiveness of the CAE student debt. And in the face of the political violence that marked the university campaign — following an incident during a student march outside the main building — she asserts that her leadership will seek to restore dialogue and pluralism. What is the main threat you identify for students? With the budget cuts, there are several situations to address, but we see a threat to education as a fundamental pillar of society, and as a pillar of the country's development as well. This type of cut deepens the inequality gaps that are reproduced in the universities. In our university, they are reproduced very clearly. We see how President Kast's government promised a great deal about security, but we are seeing that the results are not coming. Likewise, President Boric, with the promise of forgiving the CAE, generated expectations that were later not fulfilled. Do you think the FEUC is willing to mobilize in this context? We felt that a student voice was missing from the discussion, and that is what the federation is for: to be able to articulate students, to be critical, and to mobilize as well. And also to put forward proposals and influence the discussion that takes place in Congress. A student voice is missing to say that this will translate into high tuition fees, into a decline in study conditions, among many other things. We must aim for that discussion, mobilize, and also propose around it. And how would you make this mobilization more concrete? There are several steps to follow here. First, we will always seek to mobilize in order to influence the discussion taking place in Congress, in the laws the Executive Branch is proposing. And also to be able to rearticulate the student movement to build an agenda, because this is not only about influencing the budget law, but also about talking about Education at the national level again. Here we see that for this government, education is not a political priority. What should the generation you represent do, in contrast to the student movement that managed to become government with Gabriel Boric? The generation that gave rise to an entire student mobilization managed to put the issue of education on the table. And that later became the political discussion about reducing the various inequalities that existed in the education system. Free tuition was achieved, the increase in BAES grants, and many other achievements. Those are experiences that the current student movement must draw upon. See the good, see the bad, and what can be done differently, such as managing expectations regarding what is being sought, or the specific measures that can be promised. Main building of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Why? Because for politics to make sense to people, there must be a capacity to respond to needs and also to the promises made during the campaign, whether through mobilization or otherwise; otherwise, hopelessness is generated. We see how President Kast's government promised a great deal about security, but we are seeing that the results are not coming. Likewise, President Boric, with the promise of forgiving the CAE, generated expectations that were later not fulfilled. During the FEUC campaign, the debate was marked by the aggression against right-wing students at a march. Do you think there are groups that have stopped tolerating differing opinions? Our university community is enriched by the diversity of opinions, by pluralism, and by political discussion. And we emphatically condemn violence as a method of political action. What interests and moves us is precisely to achieve that contest of ideas, not only at the university level, but also to take that discussion to the national level, and to put forward a model of society that is coherent with that. One that is just. This is the second consecutive year that the FEUC elections have been decided between two left-wing slates. Do you take this as a sign of strength for the sector, or as a reality confined to its own internal disputes? What we always seek is to create a federation project that makes sense to our fellow students, that responds to the needs that arise on campus, that workers present to us, and to build a project accordingly around that. From the center-left, it is not our place to look at what is happening in other political projects; what corresponds to us now is to lead the Federation and the Superior Council and to deepen that contest of ideas. Because we also generate expectations in them, and we want to represent all the students of the university. Florencia Yáñez, president of the FEUC 2026-2027. What would have to happen for your generation to mobilize massively again, as we saw in previous years? Little by little, we have managed to return to a student movement. We will continue on that path, because we understand that the students of the Catholic University are also students of Chile, and because there is a role for young people in putting the issue of education back on the agenda. In addition to the threats we see, we must restore hope, restore the belief that it is possible to create politics that does respond to people's needs. Are you interested in continuing to contribute to politics after the FEUC? The truth is that the responsibility I now assume is to serve my fellow students, the university, and to lead the demands that arise within it and also raise them at the national level. But for me, personally, I don't see it as a political projection. I love my degree program very much and plan to finish it. I don't like to see this position as something personalist, but rather as a project.