Chileans angry over social and economic issues clashed with security forces for a second day Saturday despite a state of emergency declared to quell the worst violence in years in one of Latin America’s most stable countries.
Following a day of stunning violence in Santiago that saw buses and buildings burned and dozens of metro stations destroyed by fire, Saturday started peacefully as thousands of Chileans banged pots and pans in protest in the capital and other cities.
But this eventually gave way to clashes between hooded demonstrators and riot police and soldiers in several areas of Santiago, AFP observed.
Protesters again set buses on fire in downtown Santiago, a city of seven million.
Clashes erupted in Plaza Italia, ground zero of Friday’s violence, and outside the presidential palace. Bus service was later suspended altogether.
Demonstrators shouted “enough with abuse,” while the hashtag “ChileDesperto” — Chile woke up — made the rounds on social media.
People awoke Saturday to a ravaged city as burned-out buses, bikes and garbage littered streets patrolled by soldiers — the first such deployment in decades.
The spasm of unrest was triggered by an increase in metro fares but reflected a much broader anger over economic and social conditions, including a yawning gap between rich and poor.
The conservative government of President Sebastian Pinera has been caught flat-footed by the worst social upheaval in decades.
It declared the state of emergency late Friday and put a general in charge of national security, ordering 500 troops into the streets.
More than 300 people have been arrested, and 156 police injured, as were 11 civilians.
“It is sad, but this destruction was people’s way of demanding they be heard. Chile was a pressure cooker, and it exploded in the worst way,” said a civil servant who would only give her first name Maria, waiting to catch a bus amid the detritus of Friday’s protests.
People were infuriated by a photo of Pinera eating pizza in a restaurant with his family while the city burned.
On Saturday he announced a plan to ease the pain of the metro fare hike for low-income people. He gave no details.
Soldiers patrolled some parts of the city Saturday in their first such deployment since Chile returned to democracy in 1990 after the Augusto Pinochet rightwing dictatorship.
AFP
