Chile: More than one million bring Santiago to a halt
Sat 26 October 2019:
More than one million people took to the streets in Chile Friday for the largest protests in a week of deadly demonstrations demanding economic reforms and the resignation of President Sebastian Pinera.
The leader told the thronging masses that he had “heard the message” in a post on Twitter, characterizing the protests in a positive light and as a means towards change.
Demonstrators carrying indigenous and national flags sang popular resistance songs from the 1973-90 Augusto Pinochet dictatorship era as the country, usually seen as one of the most stable in Latin America, grapples with its worst violence in decades.
Santiago’s governor Karla Rubilar described it as “a historic day” on Twitter, praising “a peaceful march… representing the dream of a new Chile.”
Rubilar said more than a million were demonstrating around the country, while Santiago’s town hall put the number of people marching in the capital at 820,000, citing police figures.
For the past week, Chileans’ pent-up anger has spilled over in the form of protests against a socio-economic structure that many feel has left them by the wayside, with low wages and pensions, costly health care and education, and a big gap between rich and poor.
Authorities deployed some 20,000 police and soldiers in Santiago, using tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators.
Security forces have been blamed for five of the 19 protest-related deaths. Social media has lit up with accusations of torture and abuse.
The United Nations said on Thursday it was sending a team to investigate the allegations.
Serious incidents and arrests have decreased in recent days compared with the beginning of the movement.
But the violence has still been the worst since Chile returned to democracy after Pinochet’s right-wing dictatorship. And the protests show no sign of abating.
As demonstrators passed by the presidential palace in central Santiago, they hurled insults at Pinera and the military.
While the mass street movement may appeared organized, it still lacks recognizable leaders and was mostly roused through social media.
Regular media has also found itself a target of protesters’ ire with the distribution of leaflets calling for people not to turn on their televisions.
Earlier on Friday, cars and trucks took part in a protest against highway tolls, moving at snail’s pace as they clogged autoroutes and formed long caravans on roads leading out of the capital city.
The national human rights institute — INDH — said 584 people have been injured, 245 by firearms, and 2,410 detained during the protests.
Soldiers have been guarding Santiago’s metro stations as three of the seven lines — which usually carry three million people per day — have reopened.
The government said on Thursday that next month’s APEC trade summit in Santiago would go ahead despite the protests.
US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are among those expected to attend the November 16-17 meeting to discuss ending their trade war.
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