- Title: CHILE: Chaos ensues in Chilean capital as 48-hour national strike kicks off
- Date: 25th August 2011
- Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (AUGUST 24, 2011) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS BEING SPRAYED BY TEAR GAS PROTESTERS MOONING POLICE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BEING DOUSED BY WATER CANNON TRUCK SPRAYING TEAR GAS DRIVING AROUND VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS THROWING ROCKS AND STICKS AT POLICE VEHICLES VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BEING DOUSED BY WATER CANNON AND GASSED BY TEAR GAS TRUCK
- Embargoed: 9th September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Chile, Chile
- Country: Chile
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA2OIUHCN4BT2507KZ18TE5KULZ
- Story Text: Protesters barricaded roads and burned tires in parts of Chile's capital on Wednesday (August 24) as a two-day national strike began against unpopular President Sebastian Pinera.
The strike, called by Chile's main umbrella labor union CUT and coming on the heels of huge demonstrations by students demanding free education, got off to a raucous start with demonstrators clashing with police.
The protesters played a game of cat and mouse with police who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds.
Protester demands went beyond educational change, ranging from a new constitution to a revamped tax system.
While previous governments have faced one-day national strikes, it was the first 48-hour national strike since the 1973-1990 Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.
Pinera told reporters his government was prepared to listen.
"This is a government that listens, that listens with a lot of attention and listens with goodwill but the path to resolve problems isn't a path of molotov cocktails, nor rocks, nor setting fire to schools," he said.
Protesters clashed with police in recent weeks as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to rail against the conservative Pinera, who, according to a recent poll, is the least popular leader in the two decades since the end of Pinochet's rule.
Workers at some of the world's biggest copper mines have stage strikes of their own. Workers at BHP Billiton's Escondida, the world's No.1 copper mine, halted a two-week strike earlier this month that stoked global supply fears.
While Latin America's model economy is seen expanding 6.6 percent this year and is an investor magnet thanks to prudent fiscal and monetary policies, many ordinary Chileans feel they are not sharing in an economic miracle fueled by high copper prices.
Pinera, who took power a year and a half ago and appointed a Cabinet filled with technocrats, has alienated many Chileans with his policies. He is less than halfway through his four-year term.
A major Cabinet reshuffle last month, the second since Pinera took power, failed to quell unrest.
The slump in Pinera's support is seen hindering him in Congress, and delaying the passage of capital market reforms aimed at turning Chile into a financial hub to rival Brazil. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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