- Title: CHILE: Police battle protesters
- Date: 26th August 2011
- Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (AUGUST 25, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CLASHING WITH POLICE IN STREETS PROTESTER ESCAPING CAPTURE BY POLICE VARIOUS OF POLICE TRUCK FIRING WATER AT PROTESTERS PROTESTERS THROWING ROCKS AT POLICE VARIOUS OF PROTESTER BEING FIRED AT WITH WATER AND TEAR GAS TEAR GAS BEING FIRED EXTERIOR OF UNIVERSITY OF CHILE
- Embargoed: 10th September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Chile, Chile
- Country: Chile
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9IH93VTBWTAIIFHOEBEE2RX39
- Story Text: Protesters battled police in Chile's capital on Thursday (August 25) on the second day of a 48-hour strike against President Sebastian Pinera.
Police used water cannon and tear gas against activists protesting against conservative billionaire Pinera's policies.
Organizers said around 600,000 people had joined the protest across Chile, while Reuters reporters estimated crowds in the capital alone at around 200,000 people. The government gave no immediate estimate.
While the day started off with a massive march, clashes with police increased as the day went on.
Youths threw rocks at riot police and water cannon that fired on them to clear Santiago intersections.
The strike was called by Chile's main umbrella labor union CUT, and follows huge demonstrations led by students to demand free education and greater distribution of the spoils of a copper price boom in the top world producer.
While Latin America's model economy is expanding, many ordinary Chileans feel they are not sharing in Chile's economic miracle.
Previous governments have faced one-day national strikes, but this is the first 48-hour national strike since the 1973-1990 Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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