- Title: Chileans mount mass protests in Santiago
- Date: 23rd October 2019
- Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (OCTOBER 22, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS, PEOPLE AND SMALL CHILDREN HOLDING SIGNS, PROTESTING, CHANTING (Spanish) "THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED" CHILD HOLDING SIGN READING (Spanish) "IT'S NOT A WAR" CHILD HOLDING SIGN READING (Spanish) "CHILE WOKE UP AND I'M CHILEAN" PROTESTERS JUMPING, CHANTING (Spanish) "CHILE WOKE UP" CHILEAN POLICE IN PLAZA PROTESTERS BANGING POT, CLAPPING PROTESTERS AND POLICE SPEAKING VARIOUS, TOP VIEW OF PROTESTERS CLAPPING, WAVING ARMS VARIOUS, TOP VIEW OF CROWD OF PROTESTERS WITH TWO PEOPLE STANDING ON TOP OF VEHICLE TOP VIEW OF LARGE CROWD OF PROTESTERS DANCING AROUND IN CIRCLE PROTESTERS ON STATUE TOP VIEW OF LARGE CROWD OF PROTESTERS PROTESTERS JUMPING LARGE CHILEAN FLAG AT PROTEST WITH TEXT READING (Spanish) "CHILE WOKE UP" WATER CANNON SPRAYING WITH PROTESTERS IN FRONT OF VEHICLE SECURITY PERSONNEL LINED UP ACROSS ROAD PROTESTERS IN STREET VARIOUS, WATER CANNON VEHICLE DRIVING DOWN STREET
- Embargoed: 6th November 2019 01:25
- Keywords: Chilean President Sebastian Pinera violence mass students protests Chile repression water cannons Santiago
- Location: SANTIAGO, CHILE
- City: SANTIAGO, CHILE
- Country: Chile
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001B2BHIRR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Massive protests continued in Chile on Tuesday (October 22) even as lawmakers called for reforms to tackle inequality in response to countrywide riots that sowed chaos in the South American nation and led to 15 deaths and the arrest of more than 2,600 people.
Protesters, still unsatisfied, gathered again in central squares in Santiago and in other cities as the demonstrations against inequality showed little sign of ending. Police in places began to disperse the crowds with gas and water cannons. The protests were bigger than demonstrations on Monday (October 21).
Ten cities have been placed in a state of emergency and under a night curfew overseen by the military after riots broke out on Friday (October 18) in the worst unrest in decades in one of Latin America's most stable countries. The curfew was confirmed again for Tuesday night.
Rioters destroyed much of Santiago's metro system, among the region's most modern and extensive, causing upwards of $200 million in damages. Vandals looted hundreds of grocery stores, homes, hospitals, and government buildings throughout the country, leaving widespread wreckage in once subdued cities.
The widespread protests sowed destruction across the city. Street cleaners and working parties of volunteers on Tuesday struggled to tidy and repair Santiago's central Plaza Italia, the focal point of much of the unrest, was littered with broken glass and stone, graffiti and still-smoldering fires.
By mid-day, protests had resumed anew there.
Many downtown streets still reeked of tear gas, and the majority of schools across the city remained closed on Tuesday. Traffic and public transportation were snarled across the city during the morning rush hour.
The protests were sparked by an increase in public transport fares in early October. But they reflect simmering anger over intense economic inequality in Chile, as well as costly health, education and pension systems seen by many as inadequate.
(Production: Jorge Vega, Esteban Medel) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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