Santiago de Chile, August 3 (RHC)-- Chilean teachers began a new 48-hour strike on Wednesday to demand a response to a list of demands presented to the government of the South American country.

The president of the Chilean Teachers' Association, Carlos Diaz, indicated that the 48-hour national strike is due to the lack of response from the Ministry of Education to an 8-point petition.  Among the demands of the teachers' union are the reparation of the "historical debt", the payment of delayed retirement bonuses, the cessation of labor harassment and the creation of better conditions for their work.

The union leader said that a total of 130 buses will leave from various regions of the country bound for Valparaiso, to participate in the concentration in front of the Congress headquarters.

The teachers' union announced that if an agreement is not reached with the Ministry of Education before August 17th, the teachers' union will discuss the beginning of a national strike of indefinite character.